vwnut8392
Junior Member
- Joined
- Sep 15, 2023
- Posts
- 17
- Reaction score
- 17
- Location
- PA
- First Name
- Matt
- Truck Year
- 1981
- Truck Model
- C10
- Engine Size
- 6.0L LS
first off im new to the LS world but im no stranger to building franken-vehicles. im working on swapping a 6.0 LQ4 engine from a 2006 express van into my 1981 C10. its going to be backed with a 2WD colorado 5 speed transmission using the fabbot AR-5 to LS full conversion kit. Engine wise i have a texas speed BFD chop monster 6.0 cam, BTR .660 valve spring kit. This engine was stock with 317 heads. i also have a set of 706 heads from a 5.3 in the junkyard. from my reading the 706 heads will raise compression some and provide low RPM torque but lack on the top end. would the 706 heads technically conflict with the TSP cam? basically im just putting something together to cruise around town, take to shows occassionally and do big scary burnouts. i do have a notion to put a turbo on it but thats not in the budget right now. i know the 317 heads work best with a turbo so i would be saving them if i ran the 706 heads for now. for the time being i modified the stock exhaust manifolds by welding 2.5 in V-bands where the original 3 bolt flanges where. game plan was to step each bank up to 3in after the V-band, make an X pipe under the truck or get a muffler thats basically an X pipe and dump the exhaust in front of the back tires. stock manifolds look like they should flow pretty good for now plus i see the turbo guys modding them with no complaints. in the future i was looking into getting a trailblazer SS intake manifold but that involves converting to drive by wire. im wiring the truck with the engine harness from a 2000 silverado parts truck. i have reconfigured the harness to match up with a blue/green 4.3L blazer ECU since its the ECU with the larger 1MB flash, more features than the blue/red, and the 4.3 ECU has the hardware to support both drive by wire and drive by cable. i flashed the ECU with 12587603-2004-Corvette-M6 software and base reconfigured it with HPtuners to be compatible with my setup. why that software? well some kind person out there did a very good code disassembly of this firmware as im an ECU nerd and will be writing custom code into the ECU for things like launch control, hard spark cut RPM limiter, flat shift and whatever else i dream up. i will be running it with HPtuners speed density conversion too so i fit a 4.3L blazer IAT sensor in the intake manifold where the EGR solenoid was right after the throttle body.
on the rear end i have one from a 2000 silverado thats supposedly factory limited slip. would be nice to have the rear disc brakes plus upgrade the truck to 6 bolt so i can run modern wheels that are more readily available. im not sure what i should do in the front. i was staring at the 2000 silverado's front spindles and it would be nice to just use that trucks whole spindle because of how the front brakes attach. the OG spindles have the carrier built in which is no good for me as i have a rather large set of brembo 4 piston front calipers that i could fabricate a carrier for based on the 2000 silverado's front spindle since the factory carrier is removable. is it possible to retrofit the 2000 silverado front spindles to the 81 C10?
good suspension stuff isnt in the budget right now so i will probably just flip the axle in the rear and block it than figure out something to get the front end down. looking to get a 5-6 drop on it. plan is to get all QA1 stuff once funds prevail including their 4 link rear end setup.
am i on the right track here?
on the rear end i have one from a 2000 silverado thats supposedly factory limited slip. would be nice to have the rear disc brakes plus upgrade the truck to 6 bolt so i can run modern wheels that are more readily available. im not sure what i should do in the front. i was staring at the 2000 silverado's front spindles and it would be nice to just use that trucks whole spindle because of how the front brakes attach. the OG spindles have the carrier built in which is no good for me as i have a rather large set of brembo 4 piston front calipers that i could fabricate a carrier for based on the 2000 silverado's front spindle since the factory carrier is removable. is it possible to retrofit the 2000 silverado front spindles to the 81 C10?
good suspension stuff isnt in the budget right now so i will probably just flip the axle in the rear and block it than figure out something to get the front end down. looking to get a 5-6 drop on it. plan is to get all QA1 stuff once funds prevail including their 4 link rear end setup.
am i on the right track here?