What would you do if you were me at this point in my build???

[Chris04]

Hey guys, I have been working on my 70 c10 now for awhile and have accepted the fact that I want it done right no matter how long it takes so I'm
Starting from the bottom up so far I have removed bed, front clip, and cab so all I have is rolling chassis with the stock 350 and 3 speed manual trans which I will be removing next in order to sandblast the frame completely. I have decided I want to do away with manual trans and go to a automatic and I would love to do a ls swap maybe a 5.3l. but decided awhile back not to do to the fact it prob wouldn't be a easy conversion, but now that I have completely removed all the wiring harnesses from the truck I was thinking it might be pretty easy to do
The ls swap since I'm starting from scratch I'm just worried about it being a hassle to convert to fuel injected or I thought about going carbureted on the 5.3l if it was easier, so what do y'all think and will the 4l60e trans work or will it require a lot of modification, I'm very new to these trucks I just didn't know if they make swap harness kits or what for the ls engines, any help is appreciated, I just figured if I was going to have to install a auto trans why not go ahead and get a 5.3 with trans I have seen some good deals on the package, thanks guys

Chris

[leftybass209]

Some people that have done the swap will be able to help you out more than I, but to get you started...

No, it's not any harder than the original wiring, just time consuming. You have already gutted your wiring, and there's a lot of intuitive "kits" that make the LS swap easy.

The 4l60e is no harder than any other automatic swap. The transmission crossmember and driveshaft shortening are your only minor issues. The wiring won't be any easier or harder than the ls and again, there's kits to make the swap easy.

I won't insult your mechanical abilities, but if you've entertained the thought of swapping an engine and transmission at all, then I'm sure your mechanically inclined enough to pull this off. Search LS swap here and there will be a wealth of knowledge to help you through.

I can't speak for the engineering of CPP, but they have an LS swap kit that includes your motor mounts, headers, and other key items. I'm sure there's other companies that can put together something similar for you.

[Tinkermc]

It only takes 2 things for this to work well, time and money. There are many here that have gone before you and lot's of help should be here. That's my 2 cents worth.

[Mindl3ss]

Sounds like a similar situation to where I'm at.

I'm stripping it all apart and going slow from the ground up. Always wanted to do an LS swap.

I was thinking about putting the 350 back in until I could afford the LS swap, but the more I get in to it I think it's just going to be better off going with the LS right off.

[GoaterAz]

If there is no urgency, close your eyes and picture how you want the truck at the end of the day.

Anything less than that, you will always wish/wonder about having a different setup.

It's all personal preference.

[Chris04]

Thanks guys, I figured a lot of ppl have done it and y'all are right I'm sure it will take some time just making sure everything is right. And mindl3ss I feel the same man while i got the room and everything is off I figured what better time to do it than now only makes sense. Maybe some guys who
Have done the swap will chime in I have searched thru older threads but earliest I found was from 2010 I figured since thin there is prob a handful of companies that make the swap easier and more up to date, again thanks for
Input guys

[hugger6933]

I've done LS swaps before, several of them. My first was back in like 06 or 07 when the support was not as easy to obtain as it is now.I've done older stuff like a 68 Lemans Pontiac and a 89 Chevy C1500 just to name a couple of the ones I've done. I rebuild late model truck and have from time to time junked out some so those drive trains end up piling up around my place from 4.8 4L60 stuff to 6.0 4L80E, [lately been my best seller]So I sell some local. The trans is a good idea but if you are going with a carb, your gonna still need a computer to control the shifting of the trans and then on the carb you will need a TPS to help control the shifting and also speed sensors. The MSD boxes to run the LS motor without a computer is still not cheap[but great]. I would say that if you weigh it all out you probably would be close to the same money to using the computer stuff on the LS motor if you can find a complete take out. When I sell a motor I sell one like I would want to buy one with every thing you could possibly think of. It still has the PCM bolted to the motor and the trans[if that is part of the deal]mounts, wiring and all. These motors are getting really reasonable priced in certain parts of the country. Around here the 4.8's with a trans will go for around $800 to $850 5.3's will bring $850 to $1000 and 6.0 4L80E will bring $1250 to $1750.
Now these are not an offer to sell anything as I don't sell to people here because I never got my membership and I don't feel it is fair to the ones who have bought theirs. I use this site as a place to share info and idea not drum up business for myself. Jim

[Chris04]

Originally Posted by GoaterAz

If there is no urgency, close your eyes and picture how you want the truck at the end of the day.

Anything less than that, you will always wish/wonder about having a different setup.

It's all personal preference.

Yea prob is I'm impatient which isn't good but I'm trying my best with
This truck I've had it close to a year and I've done pretty good so far, this is my first classic truck have always wanted one but one thing I have learned with
These trucks is you can do endless amounts of stuff to them they are awesome and I have loved it since the day I bought it. But your right I want to
Do it the way I want or I know I will regret it later

[Chris04]

Originally Posted by hugger6933

I've done LS swaps before, several of them. My first was back in like 06 or 07 when the support was not as easy to obtain as it is now.I've done older stuff like a 68 Lemans Pontiac and a 89 Chevy C1500 just to name a couple of the ones I've done. I rebuild late model truck and have from time to time junked out some so those drive trains end up piling up around my place from 4.8 4L60 stuff to 6.0 4L80E, [lately been my best seller]So I sell some local. The trans is a good idea but if you are going with a carb, your gonna still need a computer to control the shifting of the trans and then on the carb you will need a TPS to help control the shifting and also speed sensors. The MSD boxes to run the LS motor without a computer is still not cheap[but great]. I would say that if you weigh it all out you probably would be close to the same money to using the computer stuff on the LS motor if you can find a complete take out. When I sell a motor I sell one like I would want to buy one with every thing you could possibly think of. It still has the PCM bolted to the motor and the trans[if that is part of the deal]mounts, wiring and all. These motors are getting really reasonable priced in certain parts of the country. Around here the 4.8's with a trans will go for around $800 to $850 5.3's will bring $850 to $1000 and 6.0 4L80E will bring $1250 to $1750.
Now these are not an offer to sell anything as I don't sell to people here because I never got my membership and I don't feel it is fair to the ones who have bought theirs. I use this site as a place to share info and idea not drum up business for myself. Jim

Thanks for the info Jim! I think I will stay away from doing the carb on the ls then because I would rather have fuel injected, and yea that's about what they go for around here and with low miles around 60k and so on, they are great engines I have a 06 crew cab z71 daily driver with 5.3 and has almost 200k on it and never had problems with it. Thanks for info Jim

[Chris04]

Originally Posted by hugger6933

I've done LS swaps before, several of them. My first was back in like 06 or 07 when the support was not as easy to obtain as it is now.I've done older stuff like a 68 Lemans Pontiac and a 89 Chevy C1500 just to name a couple of the ones I've done. I rebuild late model truck and have from time to time junked out some so those drive trains end up piling up around my place from 4.8 4L60 stuff to 6.0 4L80E, [lately been my best seller]So I sell some local. The trans is a good idea but if you are going with a carb, your gonna still need a computer to control the shifting of the trans and then on the carb you will need a TPS to help control the shifting and also speed sensors. The MSD boxes to run the LS motor without a computer is still not cheap[but great]. I would say that if you weigh it all out you probably would be close to the same money to using the computer stuff on the LS motor if you can find a complete take out. When I sell a motor I sell one like I would want to buy one with every thing you could possibly think of. It still has the PCM bolted to the motor and the trans[if that is part of the deal]mounts, wiring and all. These motors are getting really reasonable priced in certain parts of the country. Around here the 4.8's with a trans will go for around $800 to $850 5.3's will bring $850 to $1000 and 6.0 4L80E will bring $1250 to $1750.
Now these are not an offer to sell anything as I don't sell to people here because I never got my membership and I don't feel it is fair to the ones who have bought theirs. I use this site as a place to share info and idea not drum up business for myself. Jim

Jim I have a question, what is best to work on my truck the drive by wire or cable driven throttle body, I'm not sure as to how either one would work so have you dealt with this on your swaps, thanks

[Chris04]

Anyone else, any tips and advice much appreciated

[Fitz]

Originally Posted by Chris04

Hey guys, I have been working on my 70 c10 now for awhile and have accepted the fact that I want it done right no matter how long it takes so I'm
Starting from the bottom up so far I have removed bed, front clip, and cab so all I have is rolling chassis with the stock 350 and 3 speed manual trans which I will be removing next in order to sandblast the frame completely. I have decided I want to do away with manual trans and go to a automatic and I would love to do a ls swap maybe a 5.3l. but decided awhile back not to do to the fact it prob wouldn't be a easy conversion, but now that I have completely removed all the wiring harnesses from the truck I was thinking it might be pretty easy to do
The ls swap since I'm starting from scratch I'm just worried about it being a hassle to convert to fuel injected or I thought about going carbureted on the 5.3l if it was easier, so what do y'all think and will the 4l60e trans work or will it require a lot of modification, I'm very new to these trucks I just didn't know if they make swap harness kits or what for the ls engines, any help is appreciated, I just figured if I was going to have to install a auto trans why not go ahead and get a 5.3 with trans I have seen some good deals on the package, thanks guys

Chris

You may have already seen the website but if not,

http://ls1tech.com/forums/

Has just about every piece of information you would ever need to put an LS engine into everything including Barack Obama's golf cart. There is a forum specific to every brand of LS there. Tread softly over there...those guys are a bit tougher then the folk here and they don't like trolling or sarcasm.

[Chris04]

Cool thanks a lot man