6.0 swap questions?

[71blksuper4x4]

Hey guys, seems there have been several ls swaps over here on the blazer side that I have seen. I have a few questions for you. I am debating swapping in a 6.0 ls engine in my 72 jimmy. Should I look for a 700r4 or a 4l60e? Also, can the engine be hooked up to stock gauges?? I know I will need an adaptor from AA to hook up trans to transfer case, but is there any big piece to swap besides $$ and time besides those listed above? Trevor

[Mint68]

I too wonder about the gauges. I believe you will need a engine cross member from pacific fabrication, or custom make one due to clearance issues. I think the 4l60 would be the way to go, and you can usualy find them together for a decent price. I have heard that the front drive shaft can have clearance issues with the tranny pan, so there may need to be some attention there as well.

[Firebirdjones]

Gauges are easy. I kept the original mechanical gauges in mine.

For the temp gauge, I drilled and tapped the passenger side head where the extra water passage plug is. Originally metric, but I tapped it for your standard pipe thread size and simply screwed in the original temp sender for the truck.

On the oil pressure gauge, I drilled and tapped the small cap/cover above the oil filter (held in with 2 bolts) and installed the 1/8" pipe tap fitting for the oil line. Piece of cake.

As far as the trans goes, if you plan to keep the fuel injection as I did, you may as well use the 4L60E trans since the engine computer will run that too. No sense in going backwards with technoligy and running a TV cable 700 when you have the ability to run the electronic trans and have tuning choices at the tips of your fingers Not like you have to buy a $600 controller to run it now that you are going electronic fuel injection.

On the front drive shaft I had no clearance issues at all. I even used the factory GM deep transmission pan and it cleared my front shaft fine, (I am even at stock ride height).
Nice thing about the factory deep GM tranny pans is that they are actually shallow in that far right front corner which gave me the necessary clearance. They are only deep throughout the rest of the pan where it's no consequence.

The only other big obstical (since you already know about the AA adapters for the trans) would be the engine crossmember.
If you are a 4x4 (I assume you are) then Pacific Fab makes a drop in crossmember just for this swap. Worked slick for me, dropped in with no mods and really made the swap a breeze.

There are other brand cross members out there but I've heard and seen they are somewhat of a crapshoot, and require some extensive fab work to get them "just right" and a couple I've seen weren't even close to clearing the oil pan and/or the front diff. Just something to keep in mind.