Corvette swap

[R&B51]

Hey, looking for some advice. I have opportunity for a fully drivable low miles 93 40th anniversary Corvette to use as a donor. 50,000 miles on 5.7 L V-8. Can you swap everything off this car onto a 51 Chevy pick up? Front and rear suspension, engine and computer sensors and all? What about interior and steering wheel as well? Anybody know anything about these types of swaps?

[jweb]

Google "speedhunters 49 chevy truck" that truck uses most of a C5 corvette but it may help.

Flat Out Engineering makes a kit to adapt the C4 suspension to your truck. Also there are a few companies that make what you need to do the wiring/ ecu for an LT1.

[crossfire84]

Originally Posted by R&B51

Hey, looking for some advice. I have opportunity for a fully drivable low miles 93 40th anniversary Corvette to use as a donor. 50,000 miles on 5.7 L V-8. Can you swap everything off this car onto a 51 Chevy pick up? Front and rear suspension, engine and computer sensors and all? What about interior and steering wheel as well? Anybody know anything about these types of swaps?

I have a c4 rear in my 50. www.flatout-engineering.com has the parts you need.

[RevRup]

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[OrrieG]

Waiting for the mods to delete.....

[mr48chev]

Yes you do have to be a subscribing member to offer anything up for sale on this board.

The flatout engineering pieces tally up to 1690 front and rear and I have never seen any negative comments on them. As for myself I could do a lot my truck with the 6K difference between that and the one RevRup offered up but if my power ball ticket was a winner tonight I might not be so prone to want to weld my own.

It's interesting with your handle R&B51 R&B used to be one of the go to truck trinket suppliers out of Arlington WA that moved to Arizona a number of years and somewhat folded and I am pretty sure Premier Street rods picked up the pieces.

[YukonXL04]

Originally Posted by mr48chev

The flatout engineering pieces tally up to 1690 front and rear and I have never seen any negative comments on them. As for myself I could do a lot my truck with the 6K difference between that and the one RevRup offered up but if my power ball ticket was a winner tonight I might not be so prone to want to weld my own.

I'm with you on that one. However it would be really nice to just shell out some cash and have a ready to go, bolt up frame and suspension.

As for the interior. I'm sure it could be made to work, would take some fabrication but seats and what not are doable.

[R&B51]

Thanks all,
Looked online some and like your links and to hear somebody's used these parts. Saw online some of these year model corvettes had dogs for engines down in low to mid 200's on HP. I'll get more info on this car and see what deal I can make. Really don't want to make major mods on engine-draw was the low miles, ability to swap in without many changes to engine, computer, sensors, etc.

[R&B51]

By the way, off hand know what this suspension would do to ride height?

[Coupeguy2001]

1. engine and trans will swap over, but you have to make a custom trans mount because they don't have trans mounts. You could swap the tail housing though. Then while you have that off, get a gear and clip and spacer and pin from a non corvette GM rear wheel car to have a speedo cable.
2. engines in a 93 are LT-1 second gen small block. 300 horse, full roller, reverse coolant flow. weak point is the ignition system. cam drives distributor that is mounted on the front of the engine. The famous "optispark"
3. you can use the original harness for the computer, but the original computer in these cars mounts the computer in an aluminum case under the hood on the drivers side over the brake booster. So the harness is really short. the computer is chip-able.
Serpentine belt on the water pump.
4. steering column is short. too short for the truck. Steering wheel is for a telescoping/tilt column, and would probably work with some work.
Interior is all plasticky. seats are high back, and have a seat controller in the center console. Leather would have to be redone.
Seats have air pumps in the seat bases and lots of electronics and tubing. You might make them work, but they need pedestals to sit on. Corvettes are driven with you partially laying down with your feet out in front of you. Not adjustable for upright seating.
I would think that after a half hour or so in a truck, you would be uncomfortable.
5. gauges are not adaptable. they also have a yellowish lighting on silver with red.
6.You need to change trans gears for speedo. These corvettes have an electronic speedo, and no provisions for a cable. There is a trans place that makes a vehicle speed sensor that has a cable adapter as part of that unit. ummm monster something, forgot.
brakes are set up for 17 inch or larger wheels. If you want 16 inch wheels, get an 84-86 corvette donor.
7.These corvettes have a body control module. You might lose some features with out it.
Some of them have a key fob that unlocks the car when you get near it. This is a function of the BCM and PCM.
8.These cars came with 26 inch tall tires and 2.58 rear ends. small tires and short gears.
Gear ratios are stamped on the underside of the rear end.
9. These cars came with a monospring. Some people say they use them, and some don't. Corvettes tip the scale somewhere between 3000 Lbs, and 3400 lbs. coilovers might be a good choice.
10. Engines are set up for 45 PSI electric fuel pumps with a pressure return and a vapor cannister with solenoids and vacuum vent valves. removing them will trip codes in the computer unless chipped to eliminate some of these things.
other than that, i don't know anything about them

[R&B51]

Thanks Men. From what I can tell, the LT1s could have been in the 250 to 300 hp range. Not quite as bad as I thought but not nearly the engine the new LS 5.3's are from what I can tell. I will see what kind of deal I can make on this car, it is really straight and fresh at 50,000 miles after all these years. It is a one owner car and the guy kept it garaged as a collector since it was her anniversary edition so they're asking more than I probably want to spend. Doubt I can sell the rest of it for much if I stripped all this out. I sure like the idea of that whole suspension and the engine transmission computer package. There are a number of technical bulletins out on that engine and it sure seem to have a few things that went wrong with it in some cases. These modern LS engine seem to have a whole lot of reliability.

[R&B51]

Coupeguy, thanks for all the details, you really know what's what on these Corvettes. Any experience actually driving a truck with this suspension set up? I want to make sure it's worth it over at TCI style four link coil over set up as to ride and handling. Any adjustability with the Corvette set up on the ride height?

[1-ton of fun]

Originally Posted by R&B51

Thanks all,
Looked online some and like your links and to hear somebody's used these parts. Saw online some of these year model corvettes had dogs for engines down in low to mid 200's on HP. I'll get more info on this car and see what deal I can make. Really don't want to make major mods on engine-draw was the low miles, ability to swap in without many changes to engine, computer, sensors, etc.

head/cam/intake swap would make it a beast! probably would cost a few k though...