1978 Chevy K20 longbed with nearly 500,000 miles! LS Swap begins!

[Nick_R_23]

The transmission adapter seal wasn't included in either the transmission or transfer case kits, go figure! I swung by the parts store and picked one up, as well as a pinion seal and some vent line.



The new seal is installed!



Coupler sleeve installed!



Mated to the transmission.



Before going any further with the engine and transmission, I wanted to address this pinion seal leak on the front axle. Eventually, the outer seals and U-joints will be replaced as they are worn out also, but for now I wanted to knock out this one, as it'll be much easier without the engine in the way.

Here's a trick I use to hold the yoke from spinning while removing the nut. You can also see that I've written how many turns the nut took to remove, in order to set the nut back in the correct place and not affect the pinion crush sleeve.



Removing the yoke.



New seal installed!



Yoke back in place and nut tightened back to it's original position.



Part of the reason these seals are all bad is because of the vent system. The hose was cut and packed full of dirt, and the nipple was half broken off.



Tapping the hole for 1/8" NPT.



New, better fitting installed.



I ran new vent line for the front axle.





Replaced the upper line as well.

[Nick_R_23]

Now we're finally ready to go in!



I had to remove the hood for this one. I didn't think I'd ever have a chance of wrestling that SM465 back up from underneath, so it goes in from the top!



Since I'm using the Dirty Dingo Sliders, I started at the transmission mounts, since the crossmember and transmission mounts are fixed, and that will determine the engine setback.



There is tons of clearance all the way around the stock truck pan!



Here are some pictures of the 2010+ Camaro exhaust manifold clearance to the frame. Sorry for the fingers in a few pictures, the LED shop lights are almost blinding!

Passenger side:





Driver side:







The engine and transmission are completely bolted in! The return line on the power steering pump required a very slight bend away from the frame, but otherwise, it's a perfect fit.





Removed the hoist plate to install the valley cover.





And the cover installed!

[LT7A]

You seem to be matter of fact about fixing things along the way that others, including myself, would be frustrated by. This is going to be a very solid rig when you are finished putting it together your way.

[Nick_R_23]

Thanks! This is definitely far from my first swap, and I have two more in line once this one is done! I worked as a professional technician for years at some pretty fast paced shops, and it forces you pick up the ability to think up solutions on the spot for the weirdest problems. I also work 4 10’s and get a 3 day weekend, so work evenings are pretty much spent doing HOURS of research on what I want to use and to plan ahead to make sure I have all the parts needed to knock out a good chunk over the weekend. Which still doesn’t work as I spend half the weekend running to the parts stores for THAT little part I missed

[Willowrun]

Nice write up on an LS swap! Great history on the truck and looking forward to seeing it up and running again.

[Nick_R_23]

Thank you!

Nothing too exciting happened this weekend, I got busy with 4th of July plans and the holiday also pushed back some parts I was expecting in. I did get the fuel tanks and filler necks pulled, and the tank brackets sent off to powder coat though!

[93M6Formula]

Really like this build and great progress so far. Reminds me of my build, get everything mechanically in shape and make it pretty later.

[Nick_R_23]

Thank you!

My small Summit box showed up today, with new intake gaskets and the power steering return line.



It's a cut-to-fit piece, so now it should hopefully fit!



Perfect length, I left just a little extra in the bend to compensate for any engine movement.

[Nick_R_23]

Alright, this was a very productive weekend, although I jumped around doing all kinds of little things, so this post will be a little sporadic!

A great start to every weekend - more parts arriving! These are the shift boots and trim rings for the transmission and transfer case shifters (one is on backorder momentarily), hardware, and new radiator mounts.



A new parts kit came with the shift boot, greasing up the handle for installation.



Transmission shifter and retaining hardware installed!



The boot fit right on.



I took some time and cleaned up the shift knobs.



About this time, the powdercoaters called and said that the tank brackets were done! I swung down and picked them up before they closed for the weekend.



I sidetracked myself and removed the old battery tray and all the wiring harnesses in the engine bay.



I also painted the transfer case shift lever.



The weather turned pretty bad and started pouring rain, so I decided to come inside for a bit and get started on assembling the fuel tanks.



Installing new tank pads.



I cheated and used electrical tape to hold them in position while the hangers were installed.



New straps were installed on the hangers with 1/4" rivets.



Looks like a good fit!



Two completed tanks!

[Nick_R_23]

Mounted and torqued the transfer case shifter.



Installed the boots, shift knobs, and the trim ring that came in.



This isn't exactly restoration correct, but I remember my dad adding this way back when I was a little kid. I thought it would be a neat touch to put it back on!



Cut and trimmed, perfect fit! I think it's pretty funny the odd details that get remembered!



I forgot to take a picture of the installed sensor, but I removed the rear coolant plug and installed a turned down 1979 coolant sensor to run the gauges. The factory CTS will be for the EFI system.



Made another parts store run and picked up some fluid for the transmission and transfer case, miscellaneous clamps that will be for different things throughout the rest of this build, and some 3/4" heater hose. I already had a perfect length of 5/8" hose!



I robbed the heater hose stand from the 2013 5.3L, since that project will not be utilizing a heater, and bolted it to the inner fender to keep the hoses away from rubbing on it.



Both hoses installed!



So, I realized something very interesting about the radiator I picked up. This is the part number if anyone wants to use this!



New radiator! But wait, does anyone see what I'm seeing?



This radiator includes a 1/8" NPT port for a steam line! I was planning on tying into the heater hoses, but this will make it much easier!



I cleaned up the radiator upper mount.



Bolted in place, radiator is installed!



I went to Autozone and picked up this 1/8" NPT to 1/4" barb adapter, and two 5/16" block off caps for the transmission cooler ports, since they won't be used with this swap. Not really necessary, but it does make it look better! Also snagged a new radiator cap and some wiring bits for later on.



Adapter and caps installed in the radiator. Who knew it would ever be this simple?!



And the radiator cap to make sure any stray coolant doesn't get in until I'm done hooking up the hoses.

[Nick_R_23]

Jumping back a little to the fuel system, this is the harness from gmachinz here on the board for a dual tank, in tank pump system. It's a piece of art, but one issue is that the Holley in tank pumps use a 4 wire connector, and this harness uses the stock 2 wire connector.



We're in luck though, since the connectors are the same Delphi Weatherpak connectors, so instead of building an adapter harness, I'm just going to de-pin these connectors and combine the two! Holley's provided pigtail and the gmachinz stock connector both disassembled.



Here's one side with the two wires from the harness (+12V pump wire, and sending unit wire) clipped into the proper position to work with the Holley pump, and the two ground wires fed back through.



Both sides completed! Again, not the end of the world to have built an adapter, but it makes the installation that much cleaner in the end!



Starting on the interior, I'm removing the dash, gauges, steering column, interior harnesses, and pedal box assembly in preparation for the new interior and fuel tank harnesses, and the hydraulic pedal box. I decided to do a little work on the gauge cluster bezel first though! All the factory trim paint had worn off, so I reapplied it!

Cleaned up, before:



After! Looks much better!



Up close, you can also spot the difference between the auxiliary gauges and the speedometer trim which I hadn't gotten to yet. The lower part of the bezel was completely worn off!



Finished stripping most of the interior that I needed to!



Cleaned up the inside of the dash! This is where I'm leaving off for this weekend!

[TwoFiftyShifter]

You are a force of nature in the shop. It's coming together nicely.

[Nick_R_23]

Being single and having 3 day weekends every week certainly helps! I have a pretty good system going, work on it all 3 days and get what I can done, and figure out what I need for the following weekend, and order it before I leave back for work. That way, when the next weekend comes, I’m loaded back up with parts and things to do!

[focusedontheprize]

The truck is looking great. Even though you won’t see the dash once it is buttoned up, there is a great feeling knowing it is clean and organized under there. Nice wiring job also!

[Nick_R_23]

Thank you, I agree. It's nice knowing everything is in good shape under there, even if it's not seen.

So, EXCELLENT start to the weekend! The Holley Terminator X arrived! I'm stoked to try this out, the reviews have been great so far. It's essentially supposed to be a replacement for the junkyard ECU/swap harnesses with much more tuning capability. I also got two sensors, one for oil pressure and one to read fuel pressure, as well as a quick connect to 3/8" hose adapter.



My lower battery tray support showed up. The last piece to move the battery over to the driver's side.



The shift boot trim ring also came in for the transmission shifter.



The CPP steering box flare-to-oring adapters arrived too.



I did some junkyard scouting and scored this hydroboost manual pedal! I didn't really plan on this conversion, but for $10...that's hard to say no to!



I also came across an uncut set of battery cables for a 99-02 Chevy, these should work perfectly with the driver's side battery!



Back to the truck, I decided the harness still wasn't complete, so I tied the grounds together and added a single termination point for the frame, and also ran it to the front to connect to a forward ground point. Shouldn't have any ground issues with this setup!





Next up, I started on transferring the hole for the clutch master cylinder. I took a thin piece of cardboard, scissors, and pen to the junkyard and traced out the area out using the harness hole as a guide.



Cut out.



Not too bad of a fit!



Outline traced out, and verified against the online template measurements. I had to adjust my template slightly to the right, but otherwise it was pretty spot on!



Cut out the holes, I believe this was 1.25" that needed to be ovalled.



The clutch pedal itself had a deep groove worn into the pin where the clutch slave rode.



I removed the pedal and built some weld up along the worn groove. The weld is harder than the material, and should prevent the spot from wearing back out as quickly.



Perfect fit!



Oh yeah, I picked up a new clutch master cylinder to test fit this!



I started painting the pedal box, pedals, and all related parts.



Getting ready to install the new bushings and pedal pads.



Fresh bushings and grease....mmmm!



Pedal box reassembled!



I removed the gas pedal for the same treatment, and drilled and tapped the housing as a place to mount the fuel pump relay block up and out of the way.

[Nick_R_23]

Gas pedal cleaned and painted. This was a chore to scrape and wipe out every single little groove on this thing!



All pedals finally mounted in place!



Started mounting the fuel tank relays and harness.





I decided that since I'm going to go with a hydroboost setup, I should add a cooler to the system, since my 2002 1500HD utilizes one. I happened to have a spare one and modified it a bit. I cut off the lines and flared them for 3/8" line.



Rear standoff:



Mounted in all it's glory!



Next up, the fuel system. I capped off the return ports on the Pollak valve as they won't be used with the Holley returnless system.



The main harness ran from the firewall:



And around to the passenger side. Tank switching valve also mounted!



Inner fuel lines and wires ran on the passenger side:



Passenger side tank completely mounted!



I reused the grommet that originally would house the sending unit wires on the stock tanks for running the vent lines through the frame and tying them together. I will have to pick up more line, but it will run towards the back and terminate at about the same height as the rear axle vent line.



Driver's side fuel tank is mounted and wiring ran:



Both tanks fully installed, wired, and plumbed! I still need to pick up a new terminal for the ground wire near the switching valve.





Shiny new filler necks! This definitely won't match the rest of the truck



Passenger side:







Driver side:

[Nick_R_23]

Another slightly sporadic update, I kicked through another handful of small things this weekend.

The PTO cover plates were still leaking on the transmission, even with new gaskets. I decided to ditch those and picked up some nice machined aluminum ones which should also benefit by cooling the oil a little more. I picked up a hydroboost rebuild kit for when I come across a rebuildable unit. The power steering cooler fittings came in, along with a Y-block for the fuel sensor, and some wiring connectors for later on in the game.



My oil pressure sending unit adapter came in from Ebay. I believe this is off a late 80's/early 90's corvette. It has a dual outlet for both the stock and Holley sensors.



I also picked up a new brake light switch, oil pressure switch, and a bottle of brake fluid for the clutch cylinder. A few things also came in from Summit, a couple fuel fittings, fuel hose fire liner, and the firewall grommet for the Holley harness.



Assembled the fuel Y-block.



This is how it will mount with the sensor.



I trimmed the grommet up to the 1" mark and ran it under hot water for a couple of minutes to soften it up more. This was still a TIGHT squeeze!



But now it's on, and looks great! I ran the USB cable inside it as well, and will wait until I go to lay the harness out before I secure it in place.



Installed the fittings on the power steering cooler.



Next, I drilled the holes for the nutserts required for mounting the battery tray to the driver's side fender.



These were an absolute PITA to install. I had to use a two foot extension on the setting tool!



Test fitting the lower bracket and drilling the dimpled holes in the core support and inner fender for mounting.



Why they sell the battery tray and battery try mount as two separate pieces is beyond me...seems like one of those parts that should come pre-assembled. Oh well, at least I can fix that! I marked the area for the holes to be drilled.



Transferred the holes to the tray, and cleaned the areas to bare metal.



Started plug welding on one side. The tray was slightly tweaked, so I had to transfer the clamp halfway through the job.



Finished, top side!



And on the bottom side.



Cleaned up the welds and shot it with a coat of paint, it actually looks factory!



Next up, I bench bled the clutch master cylinder and installed it, and bled out the whole system. Seems to work well, the pedal feels soft for a short bit of travel, but I think that is just taking up the air gap on the throwout bearing, as it does engage the pressure plate fully. The hood hinge hits the reservoir in the closed position though, so I'll have to modify that mounting bracket to provide clearance.



Also cleaned up the fuel tank guards and installed them. Some slight trimming on the "lip" on the sides, but other than that, they fit the aftermarket tanks very well.





I installed the Ebay Corvette adapter and installed the two oil pressure sending units.



And finally, installed and routed the positive battery cable. I'll be fine tuning the fitment once the new power steering pump and lines are installed, this old one has a sensor and different style of line taking up real estate behind the pump.

[Nick_R_23]

It's the weekend, so more goodies! The headlight harness and taillight harness showed up from Harnessworx. I picked up some more fuel line to do both the fuel tank vents and the engine lines when the time comes. I also picked up a length of power steering hose to route to the cooler. New heater slider knobs and a gauge cluster lens as well!



The hydroboost specific power steering pump and lines came in today from Napa. All that's left is finding a hydroboost unit!



I picked up the correct bolts for the PPE PTO covers for the transmission.



One installed! I'll finish the other up tomorrow

[LT7A]

This picture kind of captures it all for me. Warning! No, just kidding, what strikes me about this build and what I try to keep in mind on my own is the idea of taking it in stages. Making it a good running truck, cleaning it up, addressing cosmetics, etc. That you could be single-minded and install brand new parts right next to a rust hole shows dedication. I've had builds where I thought I had to fix everything at once and consequently the build stalled and I got discouraged. Hopefully this makes sense. Maybe I'll just summarize by saying good job!

[Nick_R_23]

I get exactly what you mean. I've owned well over 100 cars, and half of them were classic vehicles. It's easy to dive into something and have an amazing vision for it, only to be caught up in "project creep", where too much gets torn down at once because hey, while you're in there, you might as well take care of this as well! I used to do just that, and still do to some extent, but it's much easier now to step back and realize exactly what does and doesn't need to be done to simply maximize the time spent enjoying your ride in the best way possible - driving it! David Freiburger a while back had a quote that stuck with me, "Don't get it right, just get it running". Life is short and most of us that enjoy building cars like myself, invest a lot of time into them trying to make them perfect, my view now is that it doesn't need to be perfect to enjoy it. This is the way I try to tackle each of my builds:

1. Clean everything! I don't care how rough, how much rust, dirt, or grime is present, everything gets washed! It provides easy progress and lets you enjoy working on a car that already looks better from when you first got it, plus makes it much nicer to work on and may even let you spot potential problems that may have been hidden by the dirt.

2. Get it running! Sure, it's hard to hold back from tearing into a brand new project to just work on everything right away! But getting it running lets you: A. Determine the working condition of the drivetrain, B. Allows the car to be mobile so it doesn't become a source of frustration by being in the way, and C. Hey! Now you can drive it!

3. Make it safe! Even bringing back the most hopeless of engines is worthless if the car can't be driven safely. Steering, suspension, brakes, seat belts, and lights are all pretty easy fixes and ensure that no unwanted surprises can happen. Stick with rebuilding or replacing stock parts for the time being and perform large upgrades later on (disc or big brake kits, suspension kits, etc), as you can still drive it while saving up money or accumulating all the pieces.

4. Everything else! Once the car is running, driving, and safely operational, anything else you need to do is just a weekend project. Do one thing, or area, at a time. Try not to keep the car down for long periods, as this becomes discouraging if you aren't driving the car regularly.

I've been asked with many project cars before, that are mechanically pristine, but tend to be imperfect on the outside, "When are you going to paint it?! I can't believe you would drive it without finishing it!" My reply is simply, "It has paint on it, and the fact that it is worn or mismatched doesn't stop it from being driven. I may or may not ever get to it, but at least I'm out enjoying my car! Where is yours?" It does take a lot of self control to get there, but I feel that it allows you more time to enjoy these the way they were meant to be!

Alright, more parts have arrived! The hydroboost specific power steering pump showed up, along with the remaining hoses.



My Nick Williams 92mm cable driven throttle body also showed up, along with the throttle cable bracket! Quite a nice piece! I also picked up LED bulbs for all the exterior lights, and a new pair of taillight lenses (one showed up late).



Now that I finished up mounting the oil pressure sensors, time to get started on the intake! Stripped and sprayed on some cleaner.



All wiped down and detailed! There was quite a bit of oil on the inside I had to clean too.



New OEM intake gaskets!



I went to mount the throttle body...and was met with this surprise! The cable bracket hits on the nipple on the intake manifold! I wasn't very happy about this, as the bracket alone was close to $50! This is supposed to be about as top of the line as you can get for throttle bodies.



So I sucked it up and trimmed out a nice radius with the dremel and repainted the bracket...



...and then ran into this! The inner lip sit over the mounting flange of the intake. I'm pretty pissed at this point, how can they sell this with such a terrible fit? I've heard nothing but good things about NW parts up to this point.



I decided to set it aside and move onto other things. I flipped the fuel rail around and reinstalled it, and also added the Earl's quick connect adapter.



Intake is installed!



I had to also swap out the coolant crossover line as the old one wouldn't have allowed the hose to be installed as it was under the intake.



I ran the power steering cooling lines out front. I will need to get some conduit to protect the hoses before the front end goes back on.



Connected the line to the box.



Installed the other side PTO cover plate!



Came back to the throttle body and trimmed off the bottom lip from the bracket.



Aaaaannnnndddd it still hits. Seriously, I thought Nick Williams was supposed to be the best stuff out there. This is one of the ****tiest parts I've used on the truck so far!



Clearanced it one last time, and it finally fit! Jesus christ that was an ordeal. I also decided to take advantage of the "wiring trays" cast into the intake and routed the alternator wire up through one of them.



Finally, finally, finally installed!



Next, I moved to the rear and started changing out the taillight harness!



The new LED bulbs! Yes, they look like aliens.



One new taillight, at least!



Under bed routing









Cleaned this area up a little bit more.



Ran some conduit and layed some heat tape on the reverse light switch wire.



Installed!





And to end the weekend off, I ran the headlight wiring harness! The routing on the passenger side may have to get redone, as I'm not quite sure yet how I'll be mounting the air filter housing, but for the most part this is how it should end up!

[93M6Formula]

Originally Posted by LT7A

This picture kind of captures it all for me. Warning! No, just kidding, what strikes me about this build and what I try to keep in mind on my own is the idea of taking it in stages. Making it a good running truck, cleaning it up, addressing cosmetics, etc. That you could be single-minded and install brand new parts right next to a rust hole shows dedication. I've had builds where I thought I had to fix everything at once and consequently the build stalled and I got discouraged. Hopefully this makes sense. Maybe I'll just summarize by saying good job!

100% with you on this. Pretty much exactly how i'm doing my 82 and how i've done several projects. Rarely have I ever fully torn something down completely because i know damn well it will likely take much longer to do for one, and a lot of times interest gets lost due to the laundry list of things to do. Much easier to move in stages if possible. I usually don't dive into a project unless I have all the parts there to do it at once to reduce downtime. Much more fun to be able to enjoy than watch it sit on jackstands.

[93M6Formula]

Originally Posted by Nick_R_23

I get exactly what you mean. I've owned well over 100 cars, and half of them were classic vehicles. It's easy to dive into something and have an amazing vision for it, only to be caught up in "project creep", where too much gets torn down at once because hey, while you're in there, you might as well take care of this as well! I used to do just that, and still do to some extent, but it's much easier now to step back and realize exactly what does and doesn't need to be done to simply maximize the time spent enjoying your ride in the best way possible - driving it! David Freiburger a while back had a quote that stuck with me, "Don't get it right, just get it running". Life is short and most of us that enjoy building cars like myself, invest a lot of time into them trying to make them perfect, my view now is that it doesn't need to be perfect to enjoy it. This is the way I try to tackle each of my builds:

1. Clean everything! I don't care how rough, how much rust, dirt, or grime is present, everything gets washed! It provides easy progress and lets you enjoy working on a car that already looks better from when you first got it, plus makes it much nicer to work on and may even let you spot potential problems that may have been hidden by the dirt.

2. Get it running! Sure, it's hard to hold back from tearing into a brand new project to just work on everything right away! But getting it running lets you: A. Determine the working condition of the drivetrain, B. Allows the car to be mobile so it doesn't become a source of frustration by being in the way, and C. Hey! Now you can drive it!

3. Make it safe! Even bringing back the most hopeless of engines is worthless if the car can't be driven safely. Steering, suspension, brakes, seat belts, and lights are all pretty easy fixes and ensure that no unwanted surprises can happen. Stick with rebuilding or replacing stock parts for the time being and perform large upgrades later on (disc or big brake kits, suspension kits, etc), as you can still drive it while saving up money or accumulating all the pieces.

4. Everything else! Once the car is running, driving, and safely operational, anything else you need to do is just a weekend project. Do one thing, or area, at a time. Try not to keep the car down for long periods, as this becomes discouraging if you aren't driving the car regularly.

I've been asked with many project cars before, that are mechanically pristine, but tend to be imperfect on the outside, "When are you going to paint it?! I can't believe you would drive it without finishing it!" My reply is simply, "It has paint on it, and the fact that it is worn or mismatched doesn't stop it from being driven. I may or may not ever get to it, but at least I'm out enjoying my car! Where is yours?" It does take a lot of self control to get there, but I feel that it allows you more time to enjoy these the way they were meant to be!

You said it better than myself, but this is exactly the mindset i've adopted.

[Nick_R_23]

Pretty good start to this weekend already! The other side taillight came in!



I also got started on the power steering pump change, or the real fun part Pulley is off!





Old pump removed!





Here's our new pump, the pump and lines were ordered for a 2002 1500HD, as my DD uses the exact same parts. This pressure line is ran a little different than factory though. It will have to be fastened above the return line in order to clear the frame, rather than below it like the factory did. The lines also require a few easy tweaks.



New pump installed for test fit!



The pressure line will have to be bent so that the angle resembles the upper return line port.



It also needs to be slightly twisted into a more upright position parallel to the rear portion of the bend.



The lower return line needs to be slightly pushed down to sit horizontal.



And turned just a bit more inward to allow for line clearance at the frame.



This is how everything will fit and clear afterwards!





Lower return line hose routing.



Pulley clearance, at least 3/8".



Pressure lines now perfectly reach the hydroboost area! (I hope)

[Nick_R_23]

A few more things came in! The new H4 conversion headlights, a 99-09 Silverado throttle cable, and a TPS and IAC sensors. The throttle cable does not fit the Nick Williams throttle cable bracket, so I am even less impressed with their throttle body now. I will definitely not be wasting money on one of their products again.



Old headlights removed!



New lights! These are actually quite a bit flatter, unlike the stock ones which have a much more pronounced curve to the glass.







Installed!





Also installed the two sensors to the throttle body.



I picked up some license plate lights and battery terminal studs while I was out in town picking up parts for the Malibu.







Also scored a HYDROBOOST!



Installing connectors on the license plate lights.





These also came in, but I wasn't expecting them for another week! LED H4 fanless headlight bulbs.

[Nick_R_23]

So since I actually didn't expect these for another week, the headlights are coming back out to install them!

Included H4 adapters installed.



Dust boot installed!



Headlight reinstalled and bulb installed from the rear.



This is the reason I prefer the fanless bulbs - many times the fan won't fit in tight areas, especially most Chevy trucks. The fanless ones have copper belts, which can be formed to fit nearly anywhere!



Negative battery cable installed!





Core support ground finished.



The billet grille has definitely seen better days, but we'll see if it'll come back any. Before:



After knocking down the rust with steel wool and going over the metal with a polish. Much better than I expected!



Installed back onto the truck!



Headlight bezels reinstalled also!