5.3 swap costly parts

[chevyistheway]

ok the motor is gone in my 98 4.3 and there isnt any in my area used for sell w/o over 100k
there is a shop willing to do this swap for me since i dont have a place and probly not the abilities to do this swap
so the guy is wondering what will he run into
i know that there are a ton of nickel and dime things but im trying to find out the big things like having to notch the cross member and will i have to have my driveshaft shortened w/ my original tranny, and will they have to do any power steering modifications
i do not plan on running a/c so i know thatll save a bunch

any answers??

[lilsonoma]

The tranny will most likely be pushed back a little ways depending on how far back you can mount the motor. Mount it as far back as possible. The driveshaft will be need to be shortened. You can re-use your transmission just get the spacer and bolts to push the 5.3L flywheel out. I would beef up the transmission a little with new clutches, steels and gaskets but if money is tight and the transmission ran well with the 4.3L, leave it, and replace things as needed later down the road. That will save about $500-1000 now. So your mechanic doesn't have to waste time making mounts, order the JTR mounts for the 2wd S-truck/LS1 swap. Use F-body manifolds to save money on headers, just lengthen the collector tube downward past the firewall. You'll need two O2 sensors.

The crossmember will have to be notched no doubt which isn't an issue as long as it's boxed in afterwards with at least 3/16" thick plating and a strong welder in the right hands. Just re-use the truck pan so your oil filters can be found by just looking up the donor truck's part number at your local parts store. To save on labor costs, possibly do an e-fan conversion yourself which will knock a good 3-4 hours of labor from the total bill. If you're not running A/C, measure the area you have in your core support and stuff the largest radiator in there you can, preferably with a tranny cooler. If you can fit the 4.3L radiator in there, I would because then replacement parts are easy. The biggest issue with stuffing a V8 in a tight engine compartment where radiator surface area is at a minimum is air flow THROUGH the radiator. Look for a Taurus electric fan and incorporate that into the wiring harness. It will pull twice that of the SPAL dual 11" fans and #210 fan from Flex-a-lite and fits the 4.3L radiator core nicely. If you put the radiator into the core support and hook up the fan ahead of time, you'll save money by not having the mechanic do it for you. To make wiring simple though I would run the Flex-a-lite variable speed controller. Look on summit, type in Variable Speed Controller and you'll see the $90 some dollar unit that comes up.

I think the easiest route for fuel will be the Vette regulator listed in the sticky so that your mechanic can just run a single hose from that to the fuel rail on the 5.3L instead of messing with the gas tank and aftermarket pumps. The power steering pump should hook right up as long as it's not a hydroboost design for the heavier trucks or SUV's. I would, at the minimum, replace the starter and timing chain if the motor has over 100k miles (need to take that off for a cam swap anyway) and spark plugs of course. If money is tight, don't even disassemble the motor if you know it ran before. These motors can easily go to 200k miles and still pull hard like day 1 at the GM factory. Have the shop do your piping from exhaust manifolds back, and to save money on pipe and time I'd opt for a Magnaflow dual in dual out muffler that already has the crossover X-pipe inside it. Wiring is easy and will save a lot of time monkeying with manuals...Current Performance Wiring. $825 well spent.

That should just about cover you. It'll be a huge upgrade from your 4.3L. You'll be sitting at about 310hp and 345lb-ft of torque with the stock camshaft, and with the Z06 cam maybe 20+ hp/lb-ft torque increase which can be found for around $100 bucks on classifieds. Match that camshaft with springs off the Lingenfelter website for $53 bucks and you'll have a stout valve train that puts a smile on your face.

Good Luck!

[chevyistheway]

thank you very much thats the information i was looking for

[chevyistheway]

money wont be too terribly tight as long as labor is at $3000
is that high hopes, the guy said he swaped a lt1 donor car to a 59 pick up for about $4000

[lilsonoma]

The above listed will cost about $3500 give or take, done well. Add labor accordingly. The wiring harness, actual motor and exhaust will probably cost the most. But wait for a few more responses from guys to get a better idea of what other options you have. Two heads are better than one, three better than two, four than three, ect ect.

Things I'd start buying now:
-Lowest miles you can afford 5.3L
-98-99 F-body manifolds.
-Approximately 4" wide, 3/16"-1/4" thick steel. You'll need about 2 feet of it to box crossmember.
-Taurus E-fan and VSC wiring kit from Flex-a-lite
-Call Current Performance once you have a donor motor.

Then just go from there.

[chevyistheway]

im seeing quite a few $375 5.3s but i dont believe they have any accessories
i already have a efan, do i need the 5.3 pcm or can i use mine, and do i need its wiring harness i cant remember

[97 SS 350]

We charge $2800 for the installs. So if they get over $3000, find someone who knows what they are doing.

[chevyistheway]

Quote: Originally Posted by 97 SS 350

We charge $2800 for the installs. So if they get over $3000, find someone who knows what they are doing.

in my area its hard to even find someone who will do the swap, i believe most people dont want any part of it

[chevyistheway]

ok so im trying not to spend much more than 6k if possible, i want to do this right so that i dont leave myself wanting more, ill get a shift kit, headers and the cam black x used, other than that i dont believe theres anything else i want, i have nitrous but thatll come after im done having fun
im probly going to try and get a motor w/ less than 80k, should i get one w/ all the accessories or would i be better off getting just the motor considering what i want to do

[lilsonoma]

The more complete the engine is, the fewer parts you'll have to track down. I'd look for a 100% complete motor that has the power steering, alternator, A/C compressor, flywheel and wiring harness with PCM. Sell the wiring harness for $75-100 shipped and have Jared tap into the PCM with his harness.

A camshaft like BlackX's will run you $327.88 shipped of eBay or $400 something everywhere else. It wont be much better than the Z06 cam for $100 shipped.