How many swapped guys are in here?

[onedayjake]

I have an 87 2wd Burb that I got from a buddy. He wanted the motor back and it had a bad trans so I decided it would be a good swap candidate.

Here's how I got it.


This is what I got to put in it. 5.3 out of an 02 Avalanche.

Out with the old.

Mocking it up.


All together and running now! I've driven it around for about a week now and I love it! Except for the noise in the rear end.

[landsub]

Im thinking of doing a swap myself on my 91. Do you have the actual 4l60e or the 700r4 mated to your 5.3?

[justpball]

yea details bro? i am fixing to put a 5.3 in mine...what did you do about wiring?

[SBTork]

Originally Posted by justpball

yea details bro? i am fixing to put a 5.3 in mine...what did you do about wiring?

also curious....

[onedayjake]

I'm running a 4L60E because I like to be able to control shift points and my 5.3 is drive by wire. At first I didn't think I'd like the DBW but I've gotten used to it and I like it a lot now. I did the wiring myself and it really wasn't that bad. I had to use a painless auxiliary fuse box, it had seven fuses, to run the injectors, coils, O2's... When I get more time I'll post more pics. Any other questions feel free to ask. I would do this swap again in a heartbeat, it runs awesome! I just wish I would have started with a better shell.

[Da88burban]

Got anymore pics of the burb?

[kikkegek]

subscribing! sounds great! and interesting!

[1984 t type]

about how much would you say it cost you to do the swap other than the price of the engine ?

[iluvmy72]

Originally Posted by onedayjake

I'm running a 4L60E because I like to be able to control shift points and my 5.3 is drive by wire. At first I didn't think I'd like the DBW but I've gotten used to it and I like it a lot now. I did the wiring myself and it really wasn't that bad. I had to use a painless auxiliary fuse box, it had seven fuses, to run the injectors, coils, O2's... When I get more time I'll post more pics. Any other questions feel free to ask. I would do this swap again in a heartbeat, it runs awesome! I just wish I would have started with a better shell.

OK....so you didn't have to use the harness from painless? I am doing a similar swap but I am using a vortec 454 from a 1998 2500 in my 1991 burb. But you probably ran into the same issues as I am about to. I have been told I can't use the stock harness and have to go with a custom made one from painless or Howell. These are Howell techs that have told me this and I almost believed them until I saw this post. If you used the stock version, I'd like to see pics on how you ran your dash connections with as much info as you can give. I will contact painless on their "auxiliary fuse box" thing a ma jig and see if it can work for me. Did you need your computer to be re-programmed? I am so close to finishing my burb. The vortec 454 is in along with the computer. I need to put the 4L80E tranny and NP-241C transfer case(passenger side drop) in and finish the wireing. The wireing is my biggest hold up so far. But I have the ODB2cats ready for the dual exhaust setup as well as all four 02 sensors that are brand new. What else can I be missing?

[narx66gmc]

great project! have u seen the new hot rod magazine where they made 594 hp with a cheapo chinese turbo on a 150k mile 5.3?

[iluvmy72]

Originally Posted by narx66gmc

great project! have u seen the new hot rod magazine where they made 594 hp with a cheapo chinese turbo on a 150k mile 5.3?

I've seen lots of stuff like that done....but I think he wants to drive it longer than 10,000 miles. I once wanted a whipple but not sure what it would do to my engine in the long term.

[onedayjake]

Originally Posted by iluvmy72

OK....so you didn't have to use the harness from painless? I am doing a similar swap but I am using a vortec 454 from a 1998 2500 in my 1991 burb. But you probably ran into the same issues as I am about to. I have been told I can't use the stock harness and have to go with a custom made one from painless or Howell. These are Howell techs that have told me this and I almost believed them until I saw this post. If you used the stock version, I'd like to see pics on how you ran your dash connections with as much info as you can give. I will contact painless on their "auxiliary fuse box" thing a ma jig and see if it can work for me. Did you need your computer to be re-programmed? I am so close to finishing my burb. The vortec 454 is in along with the computer. I need to put the 4L80E tranny and NP-241C transfer case(passenger side drop) in and finish the wireing. The wireing is my biggest hold up so far. But I have the ODB2cats ready for the dual exhaust setup as well as all four 02 sensors that are brand new. What else can I be missing?

Oh I think it's such a shame people waste so much money on an aftermarket harness. I'm fortunate enough to work in a shop that has Alldata so wiring diagrams were easy for me to print out for both trucks and weed out what I didn't need. The PCM itself just needs battery positive, ignition positive and grounds. Alot of the harness is self contained. You will need to run some wires inside for the data link connector, tach, etc.
This is the fuse block I used I think or one like it.
http://www.jegs.com/i/Painless+Perfo...70107/10002/-1
I did have to program the theft out of the PCM, I did it with HP tuners.

[onedayjake]

Originally Posted by Da88burban

Got anymore pics of the burb?

With ugly 80's stripes, ew.

Without, yay!


I've got new tires on the way, I need a bunch of front end work, ball joints, idler arm... So I'm going to cut a coil or so off of the front springs to bring it down a bit. I'm also getting some patch panels so I'm trying to decide whether to paint it all satin black or keep it white. I'm leaning toward white only because there are so many people "murdering" everything anymore.

[onedayjake]

Originally Posted by 1984 t type

about how much would you say it cost you to do the swap other than the price of the engine ?

More than I want to sit down and think about

Engine with harness and PCM- 500
Ebay swap mounts- 40
P/S pump, used- 40 (this is nice because you can used your lines with a little tweaking).
P/S bracket- 20
Starter, used- 25
Delco EP381 fuel pump- 86 (this fits right into the hanger if yours is all ready EFI and has the correct pressure, I think it's for 96-97 Tahoes).
Aux fuse block- 78
Radiator fans, used- 60 (not needed but I wanted them, off of LS1 Camaro. Also you can program PCM to run them with HP tuners).
Rad fan relay kit- 17 (Speedway motors)
89-91 Cluster, used- 75 (I needed this because of my 4L60E electric speedo).
GM spacer and flexplate- 60
Water temp sender- 20ish?
I'm sure there is more and more, I'll edit this as I remember them.

[onedayjake]

Originally Posted by narx66gmc

great project! have u seen the new hot rod magazine where they made 594 hp with a cheapo chinese turbo on a 150k mile 5.3?

I'm trying to piece together something like this for my '47 now! I have an L33 long block, the all aluminum 5.3, that I'm pricing up pistons and rods to make it more dependable. I also have a Holset off of a Cummins that I may try on there. Anyone want to buy a 454 so I can fund this project?

[evolve991]

JEALOUSY!!!! I would LOVE a Vortec in my 'burb! I used my buddies Sierra 5.3 to get to work a few times and MAN did it have pep! I swapped out a diesel 6.2 to a 350 out of an 89 GMC burb a couple years ago,nice but the new gen Vortecs are awesome! Good luck dude