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

[MalibuSSwagon]

oh i did the 95 windstar fan, it was really easy to mount. I flipped it upside down, screwed the shroud directly to the oem mounts, and the bottom a couple of steel straps to connect it to the bottom shroud mounts.

[Nick_R_23]

Alright, not a super big update this weekend as I had a few other major things going on. One, was picking up a new truck! 2012 Silverado LTZ, 1 owner, 106k miles for $5k under book.



More parts! Exhaust clamps, door switches, and the wire for the starter switch.



This is what I’m starting with to make the starter jumper.



Cut down to a single plug.



Jumper made!



Door switches installed. These were the biggest pain in the ass to run the wires down to! 0/10 do not ever replace



I also made part of the jumper that will supply the Holley harness with +12v switched from the ignition wire on the engine harness, and also disconnect the fuel pump wire.



I started on the clutch reservoir bracket. It had to be mounted on the side due to the older style hood hinges interfering.



New mount bent up and fitted.





Added some side support to it.



And painted!



I also made a close off plate for the original clutch rod hole.

[rodstored-72]

nice work..

[WilliamFd55]

Great Find on the pickup. Looks like you got the same amount of snow I did, haha. Build is coming right along. Everything looks great!

[Nick_R_23]

Thanks guys! I’ve been enjoying the new truck and ordering new parts for that as well

Anchorage Sheet Metal was able to quickly knock out my fan shroud covers, and they turned out great! After test fitting, I did end up trimming off 1/4” from the bottom on both sides, as well as radiusing the corners and adding a bit more clearance around the hose areas. Very happy with how they fit.



Test fitting each panel.









Now that I’m satisfied with the fit, let’s get some color on them!



While the paint was drying, I worked on a few other projects. Transferred the bolt pattern of the clutch reservoir to the new bracket, and added some U-nuts.



Everything mounted up!



Now I have perfect clearance from the older style hood hinges!



This hole was also left over from the removal of the mechanical clutch rod.



I installed the cover I made with a bit of sealant, and it’s a perfect fit!



Now that the fan should be going in soon, the lower radiator hose was installed.



With the paint now dry, I installed the covers to the shroud.









Mounting complete!



Dropped the fan into the core support.



Fully mounted!







Fitment at the bottom tabs.



Upper radiator hose installed!





Steam hose installed.





One clip installed for the upper radiator hose, I still need to pick up another. This should also hold the Terminator X battery harness once that gets installed.

[400/400]

Nice work on your build. It’ll be a cool truck for sure.

[Nick_R_23]

Thank you!

I picked up an air box tray and core support mount from the junkyard for $10! It didn’t fit anywhere near as well as I was hoping that it would, but nothing that a few cuts and welds can’t fix.



Ended up going about this far to fit correctly.



Factory battery tray bracket and 07+ core support bracket joined together.





Fitment in the truck!





Also fabricated a fender bracket for the other side of the air box tray.

[Nick_R_23]

More test fitting of the air box tray!





All parts painted, and everything bolted down!





The ECU will be mounted on its own bracket directly behind the air box. Test mounting where the best spot will be.

[Nick_R_23]

Alright, another weekend of progress!

A few more components showed up in the mail. These are 1/4-20 rubber mounts with a 5/8" diameter body. They will be used to mount the Terminator X ECU.



This is an OE connector for the Ford Fusion fan. This will be used when the fan harness is built and integrated into the Terminator X.



New grommets came in for the airbox from the dealer!



I fabricated an ECU tray and installed the rubber mounts.



Tray and ECU installed! Wires were also routed during this time.





Next project, accessing the cooling fan. I picked up a mating connector for the fan at a junkyard, and picked up a PWM generator from Ebay. These cost less than $10 and will be a handy little piece for testing equipment in the future!



The test harness is made, and the fan works!



I've also made a video showing the PWM operation of the fan and the basic wiring needed to make it function!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hMEX...ature=youtu.be

As shown here, it pushes a piece of paper very well!



I also made the dedicated battery connections for the Holley ECU.



And finally, here's the engine bay progress so far!

[93M6Formula]

Coming together! Still love this build, you do good work.

[Nick_R_23]

Thank you!

I haven’t updated in a while due to some overtime weekends that came up, as well at taking care of those things that always pop up in life. But, during that time, I made a new score! Next in line for an LS swap



I was finally able to make it out to the powdercoaters and pick up the ceramic coated downpipes and midpipes. They turned out amazing, and should help out with durability and heat retention.



New flanged bolts and gaskets!



Drivers side downpipe installed



Passenger side downpipe installed



Both midpipes installed





Catalytic converters and mufflers secured!





And finally, tailpipes!





Next up, the final piece of the fuel system. I had to special order a package of 7/8” P-clamps.



I reused an extra battery terminal bracket I had, to mount the fuel distribution block and fuel pressure sensor.



Mounted to the side of the air box tray





Engine side fuel line ran with fire shield liner installed.



And a support bracket made for the line, and sensor wires.

[OutlawDrifter]

Wow, just made my way through this thread!

Amazing work and attention to detail for sure.

[400/400]

Nice work!

Always fun to pickup another project.

[Nick_R_23]

Thanks guys! It’s been a long while, but I’m finally ready for another real update!

In the meantime, I’ve picked up yet another project! A 1987 Chevy V10 that’s been turned into an off road truck. It needs a transmission rebuild, but I’ll post up another build thread once I have some time.



I’ve also been buying a few fun parts for the newer 2012 Silverado. It received new brakes, 28% tint to match the factory rear, 2014-2018 running boards, GM Accessory 22” wheels with Michelin Defender LTX tires, and the Denali/Escalade style side trim. The interior also received integrated Qi Charging in the center console.





Back to the ‘78, the engine bay and radio harnesses finally arrived from M&H!



The engine harness as it arrived. It will be modified to accommodate the LS components, as well as upgrade the power feed wire.



First, completely removed the fuel tank sender wire, as the dual tank harness includes this already.



Replaced with a quick connect for future servicing!



I’m rewiring the large +12v wires a bit to more closely resemble the 99+ wiring, since that is mostly what is used on this build. The alternator +12v wire was removed and a larger one installed with a fusible link from the power block which runs direct to the firewall distribution block. The +12v starter feed wire was removed entirely since the firewall block is now fed from the battery’s power block. The +12V ignition (distributor power wire) was cut and routed to a sub harness as a trigger feed for the Holley ECU. The coolant sensor wire was also ran down with the purple starter wire, as the sensor was moved to the passenger side of the block.



Completed harness with all modifications applied!



Harness routed and installed!





Good view of the larger power feed wire here.



Temp sensor wire, and the +12v crank wire peeking out in the background.



I also upgraded the battery terminals for the Holley ECU to solid brass, as the previous ones were cheesy and would loosen up on the battery.

[Nick_R_23]

I added a pair of vacuum caps to keep the studs from corroding at the junction block.



Next step, installed the radio!



Support bracket that always seems to be missing



Gauge cluster going in!



Now that the internal dash and engine harness were in, I started testing the electrical side of things!



I had trouble with the drivers rear taillight and license plate lights not working. I tried several bulbs, the brake and turn function worked fine. I dove into the harness and couldn’t get continuity through to the bulb sockets. Turns out, the LH taillight wire never got spliced in!



All the lights work!







I got sidetracked and installed a new master cylinder



Finally, the new dash pad from the parts truck. Not perfect, but a better match than blue!



Dash pad and gauge bezel installed!

[WilliamFd55]

That V10 is Nice! We need more pics.

[Honest Bob]

Nice progress! Rebuilding my np205 was probably my favorite part of my build.

[93M6Formula]

Updates?

[Nick_R_23]

Nothing really as of yet, I’ve been tackling a lot of other “outside” projects before winter hits. Been contemplating a small intake issue, but I haven’t had a chance yet to walk the junkyards to look for what I need.

[Nick_R_23]

FINALLY, an update! I’ve been stressing about this intake issue for so long, that I thought I wouldn’t be able to come up with a solution for it! I haven’t touched on it much, but this is basically what happened - when mounting the air box, in order for it to clear the hood, it had to be installed perfectly flat, as the height available in that area is limited compared to newer trucks. I didn’t think this would be an issue, but it “tilted” the airbox outlet enough that it misaligned about 10 degrees compared to the intake tube - it doesn’t sound like much, but the couplers available were so short and rigid, that it would pop the airbox out of its mount after sitting for a few minutes. This facilitated the need for a flex joint, but this would mean the MAF would need to be removed in order to create the room for a flex joint, but this left a 4.25” to 3.5” size difference between the airbox and intake tube. Not a big deal to delete the MAF (I had only retained it for the internal IAT sensor), but finding any combination of 3.5” flex coupler and 4.25” to 3.5” reducer has been eluding me…until now!

Today, the solution fell into my lap completely unexpectedly, and on the last vehicle I would expect to find it on - I picked up a 96-98 Chevy SCSB 2WD for another project. It came with a junk V6, but sitting on top of that engine was a perfectly sized 3.5” flex joint - also with a grommet-mounted IAT sensor! To say I’m more stoked about an intake part over an entire new vehicle is an understatement!

The 4.3L V6’s intake system:



The stock filter gauge and grommet removed, the 4.3L’s IAT and grommet installed perfectly in its place!



And finally, the 3.5” flex joint cleaned and “installed”. I still need a reducer, but reusing the MAF’s rubber coupler, I can buy a 4” to 3.5” exhaust reducer and join the two together! I will order the reducer, along with an IAT sensor extension harness now that I know where the sensor will be mounted, from Summit in the morning!

[Nick_R_23]

Summit package arrived today! The IAT extension harness came in.



Installed!



As well as the exhaust reducers. I ordered two different sizes just to see which fit better. Both would need a little massaging, but I think I can get one or the other to work!

[Nick_R_23]

After a few test fits with the exhaust reducers, I determined they weren’t going to work. So, I ended up just ordering a new, cheap MAF sensor to be the adapter. At $25, the quality definitely wasn’t there for its intended purpose, but since I’m not using it for anything other than an adapter, it’ll work just fine.



Installed! The intake is finally done!



I also made the electric fan harness, which runs to the battery and will be controlled by the Terminator X.







And finally, the (just about) complete engine bay!



At this point, I believe the to-do list has gotten pretty short.
I know I still need:

• New front and rear driveshafts made
• Install O2 sensor
• Run wiring for and install rear speakers and dome light
• Install new glove box door
• Diagnose non-functional oil pressure gauge (pretty sure it’s the gauge itself)
• Shim master cylinder from hydroboost
• Eventually go through the front axle and steering components
• New tires

Getting close!

[OutlawDrifter]

Good progress!

[Nick_R_23]

Well, here’s the biggest update yet! IT RUNS! I brought my laptop home and temporarily installed the O2 sensor, set a basic profile in the Holley software, and it fired up immediately! I ran into a few initial setup issues, including a fuel leak, but it runs great and holds 45 psi of oil pressure at idle! This video doesn’t do it justice, but it runs!


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZhPRcW5gGqs


I also ran into a weird issue before starting the truck, I had an odd smell that seemed like a burnt electrical smell, but I couldn’t pinpoint it. After watching for a while, I finally noticed a faint puff of smoke from the wiper assembly. I popped the cover off and it seems like a coil melted! I’m not sure what would cause this, except maybe just an old part?

[OutlawDrifter]

Congrats on the start!