New to the forum.
Just purchased a new GM '04 LS1 long block from Scoggin's. This LS1 will be the new donor for my tired TBI motor in my '95 C1500. It's currently a 5pd, but plan on dropping in a t56 as well.
Anyone out there successfully made a gen 3 transplant into a 88-98 GM 1/2 ton pickup?
Any help would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks.

use the search

Since this section is so new I think it is important to be as helpful as possible. I get so much from this site and some others about my swap that I have to add to the information base when I can. That being said...The best conversion sites are
ls1tech
ls1truck

I have gotten most of my wiring info from there. I am putting a LQ9 into a little older truck, a 1950.
The easiest way is to buy a harness from one of the sponsors and tell them what you have and the can make your harness to work with the existing wiring.

use the search

I'm sorry. I didn't even realize that we had a special section for this. Disregard my previous post.

I've thought about putting an LS1 in my '86 and if I couldn't find the info here I went to LS1Truck. Between the two you should be able to find plenty of help.

a guy on here by the name of 1BADC10 or something close to it put a 5.3 in his 86 C-10

a guy on here by the name of 1BADC10 or something close to it put a 5.3 in his 86 C-10

Thanks all for the input. OnyxsilveradoSS, throttlehappy7, and nightrunner.

Well I Just Got Mine Going I Put A 5.3 In In My 98 Chevy I Just Need To Get My Guages Working Again And Get It Tuned But It Turned Out Pretty Good Oh And One Thing You Wont Have A/c So U Can Say Bye Bye To That....but If U Need Any Help On Where To Get Parts Or What Parts To Get Just Let Me Know....good Luck If U Decide To Do It

yeah, 1BADC10 did it to his truck. I helped a little here and there with that one, but he did it the hard way by taking a stock harness and rewiring it in to the truck so he had a few setbacks.... now he just needs a transmission b/c he's killed at least 2 already.

Why no a/c? I assume it will require custom made hoses and some harness mods.?

Well On Those Ls Based Engine The Air Comp Would Go Kinda Low And It Would Hit The Frame I Would Have Had To Do Some Type Of Cutting On The Frame So It Could Sit In There And I Didnt Really Want To Do That....and I Also Had A Header Prob. On The Pass. Side I Had To Cut A Little On The Upper Control Arm Cus When It Would Move Up And Down It Would Scrape It A Little Bit Cus I Have A 5-7 Drop On It But U Wont Be Able To Get Long Tubes In There Unless U Have Someone Custome Make Them For You

S & P's accy bracket setup fixes the a/c compressor issue (mounts it up top on pass side), however you need to run a sandin style compressor instead of GM. I did not have any header clearance issues (this truck I did was bagged with 20's & 22's & driven daily thru the summer months).

1badc10 and a buddy of mine did it with great results.

It Is Actually Not That Hard It Is Very Simple With Just Some Adapter Plates And Relocating The Tranny Member And Using A Harness From Nelson And Banm You Got Urself A Great Sleeper I Did It To My Truck And Is Not That Hard Actually And We Also Did My Dads Truck Back In 2000 With A 1999 Motor And 4l60e Tranny Back Then There Was Pratacly Nothing On The Market On My Noledge That One Was Hard But Now With The Performance Market It Is Very Simple

If You Have Any Questions Just Pm Me And I Will Awnser Them Gladly

From my research it doesn't seem like its gonna be too hard....im currently doing the swap in my 1978 C-10 Pickup......im just now getting starting

WHy am I just now seeing this thread? :lol:

Saw Nick(tm)'s post, and wanted to comment. But... realized his post was over a year old. Trans issues are no more (knock on wood). My latest issue is fuel delivery related. There's a set of rubber lines that I have yet to replace. I need to remove the bed in order to do so. Don't really have the real estate to spare right now. Other than that, gotta pick up an OEM AC compressor, and get OEM lines modified to fit my application. One of these days, I'll be able to say it's 100% finished. Guess that'll happen after my three sons graduate high school in 18 years. ROFLMAO

It Is Actually Not That Hard It Is Very Simple With Just Some Adapter Plates And Relocating The Tranny Member And Using A Harness From Nelson And Banm You Got Urself A Great Sleeper I Did It To My Truck And Is Not That Hard Actually And We Also Did My Dads Truck Back In 2000 With A 1999 Motor And 4l60e Tranny Back Then There Was Pratacly Nothing On The Market On My Noledge That One Was Hard But Now With The Performance Market It Is Very Simple

If You Have Any Questions Just Pm Me And I Will Awnser Them Gladly


I WAS JUST ABOUT TO TELL HIM TO PM U CUZ I KNOW U ALL HAVE DONE THE CONVERSIONS BEFORE

I'm doing a 6.0/4l80e in my 86 c10. I thought it would be a nightmare, but so far it's not so bad. Hopefully I'll have the engine bay cleaned and shoot a little rattle can in there, then maybe Sunday I'll have time to set the motor/tranny in.
Used carshop plates, 87 fueltank/sending unit, walbro intank pump, vette filter/regulator.
Harness is at speartech right now. Picking up the thorley headers tomorrow afternoon to check the fit.