So after owning this truck for the last two years I finally decided to swap it. The 4.3l in it ran great but was a turd. It put down 132/179 on my dyno lol, which is honestly right where it should be being it�s rated at 160bhp.

plans for the swap:
stock 5.3l out of 2005 suburban parts truck I bought and drove home.
700r4 trans from the 4.3l, most likely will do a corvette servo on it and change the governor springs and weights to raise the shift point
custom harness using a 2001 1500hd dbc harness off my old truck since the buddy who bought it is going with holly terminator on it.
full 3� exhaust with a 2015 camaro zl1 muffler with the bi mode valve in it.
all gauges will work
will be tuned on regular 89 octane
most likely will run the full size truck oil pan because it worked great in my turbo 5.3l first Gen s10 I did.
nnbs Intake manifold and eBay 92mm tb, swap headers. Leaving the cam stock for fuel economy, drive-ability and towing (plan on towing my little boat allot with this.

so far the 4.3l came out today, 5.3l has harness about 80% done, need to notch the front cross member, repaint the frame rails, replace heater core since it�s been leaking for 2 years now. It�s been ballz cold up here the last week like 25ish degrees most days so that�s slowed my progress and motivation a little.

last few pics are of my little boat. 15�5� seaswirl tri hull. It�s used 100% for fishing and crabbing and suites my needs perfectly. Just did new floors, waiting on the temps to come up a little bit to put a layer of 1708 fiberglass on top of them and once that�s cured I�ll do some Eva foam boat decking on top to make it look nice.



Gay little 4.3l

 

Nice! Subscribed!

How are you controlling the 700r4? 🤔

Why not swap a late 4L60e to keep everything electrically simpler? I'm very positive the later transmission is more durable than the 700R4. Just thinking out loud here.

 

700r4 is not electronic

IIRC the v6 700r4 are different than the v8 variants? It has been a very long time since I've messed with one. Will the v6 bolt up to the ls?

 

(*) IIRC, the 4L60e in the S10 had the weakest internals (which wasn't inherently bad, given the much lighter weights of those trucks.) That's why I was suggesting the later "LS" top bellhousing bolthole 4L60e, the one that came with the 5.3 or any fullsized GMT800 of that generation.

 

Tell me more about that Camaro muffler please.

 

I know we're both digging in the back of our memories but I thought the v6 variant had a different length input shaft.

 

Yes.

Here's a thread on the sister forum that shows some pictures:
https://ls1tech.com/forums/automatic...-shaft-v6.html

The 300 mm is the stronger input shaft (relative strength.)

 

aside from fuel mileage, why not just drop in a crate 350?
i almost did that in my 99 nbs to simplify my v8 conversion.

 

looking back now I should have went with a ls 4l60e. I had one and sold it thinking it would be a big pain to use and I was wrong if anything it would probably be easier.

I�ll be using the tv cable for the 700r4 and I�ll also have the torque converter lockup ran from a switch through a pressure switch that is tapped into the servo housing then to the trans connector. Not sure if I�ll need anything else wired up for it but there�s only the speed sensor and 4 pin connector for it. I wanted all my stock linkage to work along with my stock speedo but now I know I could have had the stock speedo work with the 4l60e I wish I would have went with that. I had assumed that the 700r4 used a cable driven speedometer not an electric signal.

I have been slowly grinding away at the project. New heater core is in with new heater core hoses, cross member is clearanced and should allow me to run a full size truck oil pan. Xj steering shaft has been modded to work for the s10 steering column.

I realized that the dirty dingo swap mounts I ordered two years ago weren�t what I ordered lol. They look like they might be for a z car ls swap. Idk how I didn�t notice it till just now. Been almost 2 years since I�ve done a swap and I think I�m getting rusty. Also holy **** since when did parts go through the roof. Like everything from spark plugs to heater core hose is at least 2x what it was 2 years ago.

 

You can thank Covid-19 and the current administration....