Glock's new project: "Fred" w/ 5.3L LS swap info

[glock35ipsc]

MAJOR improvement today!! Went and picked up the crew cab rear seat this morning. Just got back home a little while ago and cleaned it up, swapped brackets and got it put in.

What a huge difference!!! I knew the other seat foam had worn down a little, not too bad, but you definitely sat low in it. This seat sits you up nice and high, and the colors are bright too.

Old seat:



"New" seat:



End result:

[menace121978]

wow huge improvement!! that is one heck of a tip too!! your really cleaning ol fred up. nice job buddy.

[Palf70Step]

Nice work! I'll have to remember that about the seat.

[HuggerCST]

That is a great addition Bob. The old seat was never very comfortable to me, especially on long trips. I like to kick back a little though.

[JohnC]

Looks great man, that did make a huge difference, with little effort!

[Driveway Dreams]

Bob, Fred is coming along well. I can't wait to see 'him' in person. That seat looks great. I always liked the red interior. Not sure why I like the red. I have the grey that everyone loves. Its nice but its not gonna stay forever.

[glock35ipsc]

Good news! I dropped off some parts at Adams house tonight, and the glove box door from the Burb was there. So I grabbed the SPID off of it. Did some deciphering when we got home tonight, and the Burb rear end has 3.42's! That's what I wanted to put in Fred all along, so I will be swapping rear ends soon.

Gerald (Driveway Dreams) came over this morning to get some parts off the Burb. I had a tall air dam for him from Adam, but after doing some measuring, he figured it wouldn't last but one trip down Mulberry Street. So we pulled the short air dam off of Fred for him and we installed the tall one in it's place. Looks good on him!

I also forgot to mention.... the crew cab I got the seat out of also had a good drivers door arm rest, so I snagged that too. Got it cleaned up and installed when I did the seat. I was so excited about the seat that I forgot all about that.

I was going to get a new 700R4 in the next month or two, but I think I 'll just keep saving and looking for the 5.3L/4L60E setup. I figured there was no point in spending the cheddar on the 700R4 only to yank it out in a year or two.

[LEEVON]

That seat looks good, it really makes a difference when you're not falling out the door around corners huh?

You can use the 700R4 behind a 5.3, just need a cranshaft spacer ($40), the TV kit from Bowtieoverdrives for vortec intakes ($150), and to program the pcm for a manual trans. The benefit of the 700R4 is keeping the factory speedo cable, otherwise you have to use aftermarket guages or modify a 90-up suburban electronic speedo guage set.

[glock35ipsc]

Dang dude, you are full of good info for me! First the seat, now this!

I never even gave a second thought to the speedo situation. OK, I guess I'll still go for a 700R4, which will go well with the 3.42 rear end.

[JohnC]

The 3.42 rearend will be a great ratio. It will give you good torque, but still give you good highway driving.

[glock35ipsc]

OK, so here are my new plans for the engine and transmission.

I decided against the 700R4. Instead, I will do the 5.3L/4L60E swap. How cool is 325HP at 20-22 MPG?! My old 2003 Chevy 2wd ECSB with a 5.3L/4L60E/3.73 got 19-21 MPG on the highway, that's mostly the kind of driving I do. Even when I had the Whipple supercharger on it, I still got 19 MPG! I imagine Fred is lighter then the 03 ECSB was.

So, I adjusted my budget for the rest of this year. Next month I will buy an engine. September I will get a transmission, and for the rest of the year I will gather the rest of what I need. I can build my own motor mounts, those are easy, and do any mods that need done to the trans crossmember and frame (if needed). This will then be my winter project for the truck.

I have been talking to the local LKQ rep, they have several 45,000-55,000 mile engines in the $550-$650 range. Still working on them as to what accessories I can wring out of them as part of a deal. I already have shorty headers that were on my 03, and an ECM from an 06 which had drive-by-wire, plus a new MAF.

This winter is gonna be fun! Then I won't have to worry about that pesky surge I have!

[silvereagle07]

That sounds like a good plan glock. I like the truck. The 5.3/4l60e is a great combo that you can get plenty of miles out of. I considered the same setup for my 84. Now I'm condisering the 6.0L like my TBSS.

[72BlckButy]

Sounds like you're making some nice progress... nice work!

[glock35ipsc]

Oh, Wynne - I am going to keep the NOS bezel in the box. I found this for $40 at cheyennepickup.com. It's a stick-on cover to repair your old bezel. I can peel off the old insert, clean it up, and stick this one on. If the bezel is cracked, I can plastic weld it.

[HuggerCST]

Cool! I didn't realize that anyone sold just the aluminum face, I looked for one before I bought the bezel, but couldn't find one. You're gonna love that 5.3/4L60. I can't wait to see it done & painted.

[JohnC]

Originally Posted by glock35ipsc

Oh, Wynne - I am going to keep the NOS bezel in the box. I found this for $40 at cheyennepickup.com. It's a stick-on cover to repair your old bezel. I can peel off the old insert, clean it up, and stick this one on. If the bezel is cracked, I can plastic weld it.

Holy cow. They are here in town with me, and I didn't realize they had that. I need that for mine. Great find Bob. Your winter plan sounds like a great one! Can't wait to see what you do with it.

[glock35ipsc]

I stumbled across it purely by accident. I have no problem cutting the bezel that's in there for the stereo, but REALLY didn't want to cut the NOS one.

I can't wait to get everything together and installed. I also wish I would have kept the supercharger off of my 2003. That would have been really cool under the hood.

[benntn]

Originally Posted by glock35ipsc

We got the 85 picked up from HuggerCST and made it home Monday night with no problems. 12 hours on the road each way, 2 days..... I'm pooped! The kids decided to name this truck Fred. Not sure exactly where that came from, but it has stuck. So Fred it is!

I thought I would go ahead and start a project thread for this truck. Not much will be happening at first, but I will be doing little things here and there.

First thing this morning, I pulled off the bed rails and the push pads. Sorry you purists, I'm not a fan of those!

I went over the top of the cab and the hood with some polishing compound and the buffer too before I left for work. I think everything will buff out real nice and be nice and shiny for now.

Short term plans are:

* Finish waxing it. **DONE**

* Lower the front and rear a little, maybe two inches all around. The front sits a little higher than the rear right now, by about 3/4". So I'll try to get the front down just a touch lower than the rear. **DONE**

* O2 sensor. I need to add a heated O2 sensor. **DONE**

* Stereo! I must have my tunes! I have my trusty Alpine deck, Rockford Fosgate amp, RF component speakers, and RF 12" sub. I have the faceplate for the deck, now I just need to get a different box for the sub.

* Windshield. This one has some chips and a good munch on the lower left side.

* Power steering gear. Wynne said this one leaks, so I pulled the one off the 91 Suburban to swap out.

* Rebuild the door hinges. The drivers door shuts hard, the passenger is a little easier. Wynne included rebuild kits for those.

* Sport bumper for the rear.

* Rear tires. Drivers side is about gone, and the passenger will be great as a spare.

* Replace the seat cover. **DONE**

* Exhaust. The exhaust dumps on the back side of the rear end right now. I'm going to run it from there straight out the back with a pair of 3.5" x 18" tips. It sounds good as-is, but I really like those big tips!

That's mostly all for now. Later on I'll do the Suburban grill swap, fix the rust, swap in a TH700R4/3.42 combo, redo the interior, then paint it and replace all the moulding and trim with new stuff.

Awesome fine!!! I have a 84 GMC. If you chang the rear bumper, I'd liked to buy your old one. It looks to be in better than mine.

[glock35ipsc]

Well get yer butt on over there and get one! I never even looked to see where they were, that's pretty cool! I am going to order one today.

Ol' Fred seems to be digging up all kinds of good new stuff!

[N2TRUX]

Love the progress reports Bob. Your moving forward at a rapid pace. As a suggestion on the motor, if you can get a 6.0 go for it. Nothing wrong with a 5.3 but 6.0's are much more solid.
Besides, with a few bolt on you can have 500hp AND 20mpg.

[glock35ipsc]

Is 20 mpg really possible with the 6.0? My only experience with the 6.0 was in my 02 GMC 1500HD, and it got 14 on a good day. I would love the power of the 6.0 in a truck like this, but the mileage experience I had with mine had automatically ruled it out.

[JohnC]

Yeah my 03 1500HD is like you said 14mpg at it's best. However the 85 will be ALOT lighter, just don't know if it would equate to 20mpg. If Ken said so though I would believe him!

[glock35ipsc]

True, between the weight of the truck and the weight/friction loss of the 4wd components, it may be possible. I just have it stuck in my head since owning that truck that 6.0L = 14 mpg.

[JohnC]

I'm with ya. I made a trip to Dallas and back one day, and I got 14.5mpg, and I was ecstatic!

[SBTork]

Originally Posted by glock35ipsc

True, between the weight of the truck and the weight/friction loss of the 4wd components, it may be possible. I just have it stuck in my head since owning that truck that 6.0L = 14 mpg.

That and the 4L80e and 14 bolt rear axle that came in a 1500HD both take a lot of power to turn. I'd run a built 4L60e or 4L65e. They're not as bullit proof but built right they can be strong. Something to consider.

Congrats on the progress, it's going to be a nice truck.