LT1 GenV swap

[dec010974]

nice build thread. subscribed! is there an easier way to swap in the LT1 gen V engine and transmission? is it so new that the aftermarket hasn't caught up yet? Are there any issues with this swap? Who makes a LT1 GenV harness? are there Adapter plates to mount the motor? who flashes the PCM's to operate in a standalone? the reason im asking these question is because ive done a few LSx Gen 3 and Gen swaps. im trying to stay abreast with this information.

[87chevy.com]

Driver side just needs the collector diameter shrunk down to 2.5" before welding itto the header but other thanthat, driver side is done.



Final tube fit great after fully welding it .. phew





Fits great around the motor mount, knock sensor shield and stock linkage





Gonna take the collector to work and use the shrinking cone to see if I can have one less weld...

Clint

[87chevy.com]

Made the mock up passenger side header, not as easy as I thought, but not to bad.



One down, 3 to go..

Clint

Knocked out one more



Got the first 3 bends cut out for #1 and the. Called it a day.. as difficult as #1 looks, is easier to work with than #3. I'll go about it the same way once tube #1 is all tacked up I weld the starter tubes to the flange. Afterwards
I will surface it aka belt sander it flat. Install the flange and start tacking the 3 tubes to the flange, then tack the tubes at the collector. All that's left is to remove the header and fab tube #2.

I do wish I had bought a double hump crossmember though.. maybe I'll just mod the one I already made.. or just leave it

[87chevy.com]

Low side a/c line assembled and needs to be crimped. The ac crimper I have doesn't have #12 reduced barrier dies so I need to get a shop to take care of that and then the a/c is done!
I reused the low side hose from the 2015, way more flexible than standard barrier hose.



Got side tracked on another idea, and looks slick!





More than likely going to paint the emblem black to match the one on the cab trim. Was looking for a smooth flat center cap for a subtle mod to accent the brake upgrade.
Clint

Tried to scrape off the orange sticker but it was a paint of some sort.. little acetone took the orange right off.. wonder if OE are the same?

[87chevy.com]

And finally...



Put about 2 miles on her.. still got a wierd tuning issue as long tem fuel trim goes to -18 ish on both banks at idle, which makes idle sometimes unhappy... but short term is within 5% when it pulls that 18% of fuel. gen5 tuning is way different than my gen3 bmw..

Besides that runs fabulously! .. definatly gonna go through tires and gonna make me buy cal tracks as it's got some nasty wheel hop as it did before and with the 6l80 only makes it more obvious sponsor?? Anyone??

No freeway till I get the alignment and hood on but the exhaust sounds so far is. The brake upgrade feels rock soild..

Clint

[87chevy.com]

Changed the exhaust already.. the dual 2.5" in single 3" out super 44 to a 3" dynomax bullet as a resonator (had anyway) over axle side dumped was a good sound but a bit too loud at wot for me. If it had cats, may be different story... had a summit racing 3" in/out 2 chamber laying around and replaced the after super 44 piping with it and money! Idle is quiet, regular driving sounds like a normal sounding flowmaster, hollow slightly deep, initial thoughts, sounds like a dragon breathing especially between shifts (trans is tuned, engine stock). Wot sounds very niice...
No drone on the freeway speeds too.. very pleased. I plan on bringing it to the shop next weekend to pull the tank for a quick mod and I'll take a few shots of the exhaust.

[87chevy.com]

Charged the a/c with 2.5lbs and I think im gonna start selling snow cones out of this thing



Pressures are inside the shop but man, couldnt get any better.

Stock l83 compressor, havnt gotten the a/c bus module squares away so it's just gonna be manually activated for the time being.

Clint

[87chevy.com]

Stock looking pedal for the L83 swap I'm working on for a customer. Not a bolt in stock swap, but no welding, just 2 adapter brackets.



And the fuel hat assembled with a 90* rollover valve

[87chevy.com]

Got all the tubes to about 3/4 tall which is the thickness of the MDF flange I'm using for mockup.

Need to make 12 more starter tubes , 4 for the other side and 8 for the other set and put an ad on Ebay. With the starter tubes should make it stand out and hopefully sell quick since it makes it easy for the fabricator. Need to recoup some costs of the header build.
Clint

[87chevy.com]

Finally getting back at it with the final install. Got the motor, trans, and oil pan assembled and installed. Removed the driveshaft yoke from the Tahoe driveshaft, lined up the wear marks.. turns out it's exactly the same length as the one that was in there, 57" xe ter to center. Just need a new u joint and done! What were the odds of that.
Picked up 2 different length belts for the front accessory drive but didn't get that far today.

Clint

[87chevy.com]

Feeling confident the a/c compressor adapter mess is sorted:



Plenty of frame rail clearance



The motor mount stand is close, but a tad bit of trimming for when the motor mounts wear/sag is needed.

Shortened the stock transmission dipstick tube. Measured the bottom of the tube to the cold mark before modding it. Made the short end a slip fit so it can beheaded or tig welded. Just need to test fit one more time before joining them together. The dipstick indicator will just get cut and welded.. similar to the ls1 dipstick.

[87chevy.com]

Small victory! Got the dang trans dipstick tube installed. Had to loosen the cab bolts which i had loose already and raised it up (for quickest and easiest way to get it installed).



Looks stock and saved from buying an aftermarket one. If it wasn't shortened, it would be about 6-7 inches longer.

Clint

[87chevy.com]

Stock fuel line segment from the high pressure fuel pump to Russell 3/8 fuel rail adapter, then to a 90 socketless was doable, but getting close to the stock brake booster. A 90* to -6 would be the ticket. I bought the socketless fittings and aeroquip hose so the 3/8 efi rail 90 adapter to braided connection would work great if I had the braided hose and fittings to begin with otherwise the flex line I would be making would be around 60 bucks.

I cut the crimp fitting off of the stock line and slid the stock hose off and installed the socketless hose on and oetiker clamped it. Installed a spare socketless 90* fitting instead of the one I planned the fuel/trans line build around, black😯. Be a good test mock up. Gonna make a pitsop at the hardware store and pick up an insulated hose clamp and fasten it to the stock bracket that was on the hardline and call that done. Since its not secured in the pic it just rests on the beauty cover.

[87chevy.com]

Finally making time to tinker around. Decided to change the tensioner placement. It seemed like it applies tension to the belt, but I think it was at the edge of the belt and it was acting more like an idle pulley vs a tensioner. Basically, i could pull the tensioner with the ratchet attached and max it out (pulling the belt tigher without too much effort) and if that happened under high rev, quick rev, i think it would be belt slip and or belt damage .. maybe. Scooted it over which now it's actually applying the tension to the belt. Needed to add an idle pulley to clear the tensioner placement. Pesto, completly satisfied with the accessory drive.



Belt tension is between minimum and normal belt length marks with a new belt so after a few miles it may stretch a tad and be even closer to the normal mark (middle mark)



Next rockauto order, I'll try a 82mm idle pulley by the power steering pump If it doesn't get closer to the middle mark.
Clint

[87chevy.com]

Went backwards to go fowards... modifying the modified harness. Looks waaaay better with the harness ran out the back of the engine. Making a new coil,map,ect,oil psi, and dod oil control harness. Got all the terminals so no splicing here



Will be an upgrade from the current harness mod I do

[87chevy.com]

I am searching for an upper radiator hose solution. There's not too many square bodies with a l83 swap, but an ls2/3 swap / waterpump could the equivalent answer. If anyone has any recommendations post up.

The lower hose is no surprise, ls1 5.3 truck hose, trimmed of course.
Thanks,
Clint

[87chevy.com]

Seen somwthing ubwant expecting to find.. a problem with the compressor and it's comnector locations. Specifically the solenoid valve on the bottom. With the engine moved as far back as I could get it, I found out that the solenoid connector is about 1/4 ish inch from the motor mount adapter plate. Maybe I could have installed the connector on the compressor and then installed it to the engine but would have been way too close if it even fitted altogether.

Solution make it fit. Lol

Remove the soloind, plug the solenoid bore and grind the compressor housing so the solenoid could be rotated.



Used one of the end cut carbide burr bits and make short of the modification

No before and after pictures but the red lines is what was removed from the other side so the solenoid could be rotated



Clint

[87chevy.com]

Satisfied with the upper radiator hose choice. Coukdnt find a one liece solution. This one required 2 different hoses with the single adapter. If the adapter was maybe 2 inches longer the stock Fbody hose would work without a 2nd hose.





Still need to sort out the e-fans.. among other things.. also got the ac lines braze together. Pleased with the outcome. Both ends will get 90 degree fittings and it will match / run along side the heater core lines.
Clint

[87chevy.com]

Hadn't made much progress, the fuel pressure regulator housing I bought didn't fit the regulators I had - so it got sent off to the machine shop, been there for a week or 2. Got the temporary fuel pump setup ready. I say temporary since the pump data sheet says it can draw a few more amps than the connector can support... so I will measure it once it's up and running. I have a backup plan just incase.





Made a fuel pump mount to hold the pump on the 5/16 tube, used the flex intank hose just to be e85 safe. If I wasn't going to run e85, stock setup would work. Couldn't find a single e85 submersible rated hose though.

3/8 feed, 3/8 return and 5/16 transfer from the other tank.
Clint

[chris1htx]

Originally Posted by 87chevy.com

Satisfied with the upper radiator hose choice. Coukdnt find a one liece solution. This one required 2 different hoses with the single adapter. If the adapter was maybe 2 inches longer the stock Fbody hose would work without a 2nd hose.





Still need to sort out the e-fans.. among other things.. also got the ac lines braze together. Pleased with the outcome. Both ends will get 90 degree fittings and it will match / run along side the heater core lines.
Clint

What radiator did you go with?

[87chevy.com]

Stock square body 454 radiator

[Hart_Rod]

Originally Posted by 87chevy.com

Satisfied with the upper radiator hose choice. Coukdnt find a one liece solution. This one required 2 different hoses with the single adapter. If the adapter was maybe 2 inches longer the stock Fbody hose would work without a 2nd hose.





Still need to sort out the e-fans.. among other things.. also got the ac lines braze together. Pleased with the outcome. Both ends will get 90 degree fittings and it will match / run along side the heater core lines.
Clint

Clint I used a Dayco E72377 for the upper hose. It's pretty long, so maybe it would work for you.

Rob

[frige]

I am following this thread with interest as I am putting this same engine into a 88 single cab swb. I have had the engine and truck for a while but was waiting till the parts were available.

[frige]

I picked up the dirty dingo kit as I am not as talented as you are Clint. LOL

[87chevy.com]

Love it when a part just pops out of the computer screen. Ok, it didnt just pop out, it was a another part I would want to get made but didn't expect to ever get our of the computer $. Big thanks to the machinist!! Parts are perfect!



Two of a kind lol. If there's any interest could offer them up, but for now, only one. Uses p-6 fitttings and proper terminals for the current , Delphi metri-pack 280 / 150 terminals. That was the whole point behind this part, so there's no oversized wire on an undersized terminal to create a situation.. it's gonna be a daily driver and don't want any nonsense problems, only traction problems











Was going to use the modified stock we sender and try the racetronix style setup but wound up not trying it. Have a few of the bulkhead and connectors if anyone wants to give it a try. Original bulkhead wouldn't work for the l83 swap since the pump needs 2 wires, and the sender needs 2 separate ones.



Slowly getting there.. Not really motivated lately. Think it's slowly coming back
Clint