LS swap talk thread

I thought it would be a good idea to start a thread dedicated to LS swap talk.
I have decided that this is the route I will be taking. Found an aluminum 5.3 short block and thought it would be a great way to do a budget build (we'll see how that goes, hah) for my Tahoe. My plans are still in the air but have a decent platform to start with.

What are your thoughts on this subject?

If my motor ever goes I'll be swapping in a 454 out of a 2500 truck.

But if you're interested in doing a 5.3L swap chances are someone else is too. So you can put the details up even if it's to the benefit of only a handful of people.

There are a handful of them over at performance-trucks.net ... They are mostly pickup based but the basics are the same ...

i have to second the 454 idea. just need to find a 96 2500 truck or burban and pull its guts.

that is unless the LS swap is close to straight forward, may have to go that way as well.

96ProCompTahoe said:

that is unless the LS swap is close to straight forward, may have to go that way as well.

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It's not straight forward. There is a lot of wiring involved to make everything work.

I've read a lot on this subject and I guess if you know what you are doing it shouldn't be too bad. The wiring is a touch over my head as you have to run 2 PCM's and splice harnesses together. If you are going this route, make sure you get everything you can with the motor. The harness is essential. And I don;t know if it applies to Vortec engines, but with the TBI, you will have to have a 99-02 engine as the throttle body is drive by and not electric as seen in the 03 and up.

There is a lot of info on it. There was a guy over on GMFS that just put a 6.0 in his 99 2 door. I think his name is bama2door and he has a pretty good thread.

heres a good thread.
http://www.performancetrucks.net/forums/showthread.php?t=435201
and heres another
http://www.ls1truck.com/forums/lsx-truck-conversions/9535-obs-lsx-conversion.html

Bad bow tie said:

It's not straight forward. There is a lot of wiring involved to make everything work.

I've read a lot on this subject and I guess if you know what you are doing it shouldn't be too bad. The wiring is a touch over my head as you have to run 2 PCM's and splice harnesses together. If you are going this route, make sure you get everything you can with the motor. The harness is essential. And I don;t know if it applies to Vortec engines, but with the TBI, you will have to have a 99-02 engine as the throttle body is drive by and not electric as seen in the 03 and up.

There is a lot of info on it. There was a guy over on GMFS that just put a 6.0 in his 99 2 door. I think his name is bama2door and he has a pretty good thread.

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Are you sure about the dual PCMs?? I've seen several write ups and none have needed dual PCMs ...

Ya, I did a lot of research on them over the last couple of months too. You need the original PCM to run your dash, you keep your ABS computer and I think the airbag computer, the new one runs everything else. There are several places that make custom harnesses for these applications that are said to be a must have to make this a smooth transition.
You can still use the drive by wire if you have a TBI setup, you just need to get the pedal and wire from the donor truck.
I was REALLY leaning towards doing a swap into a 6.0 or 5.3 but it's my DD and I didn't have time to take on the project. The whole drive train can be had second hand with low miles for WAY less than a rebuilt 5.7.
One of the biggest expenses that I didn't find a way around was the AC, you have to get a custom bracket or an aftermarket AC and a custom bracket. At first glance it looked like I would have to pay as much for the AC as I was going to pay for the engine and trans; and you gotta have that here in S. Texas ya'll...
Overall it's said that you can get way better performance and better fuel economy out of the newer engines with just a cam and a performance tune and for a LOT less than it would cost to get anywhere close with our 5.7's
LS1truck has loads and loads of information on this topic if you want to study up for a project, wish I had the time to do it to mine but I just had to get it back on the road again

Great idea on the LS swap! I've seen it/read about it being done a few times now and it's a huge improvement and a really nice way to go. Definitely not something that you can do over the course of a weekend due to what's involved but would give that Hoe a huge boost in performance.

With the 454 ideas that sounds great and all but it'll be just as much work and the perfomance gains won't be nearly as great unless you plan on modding the stock 454 engine. Those 454's in the 2500's are built for torque so that they can tow heavy loads so don't expect to just stick a stock 454 in your rig and get much, if any, acceleration gains out of the swap.

IMO, if I had the choice between an LS swap and a 454 swap I'd got with the 5.3 or 6.0 LS swap any day over the 454.

07Burb said:

IMO, if I had the choice between an LS swap and a 454 swap I'd got with the 5.3 or 6.0 LS swap any day over the 454.

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i have to agree but theres just something about a truck with a big block in it. haha, can't remeber where i was reading but the 454 swap out of a same year truck is supposed to be straight forward like putting in a crate engine. mines a DD as well so no long drawn out swap for it at the time being.