5.3 LM7 going in my 87

[JoeR Jr]

I was able to get my truck professionally tuned yesterday. The tune came out great!! I couldn't be happier. I've been out driving around all morning with no issues.

I hate to contradict a fellow member here, but I think Fried Daddy meant to say he had his truck unprofessionally tuned! Professional technician? Sure. Professional tuner? ....more like a youtube tuner!
Either way, the fuel trims came out great, and the PE tuning happened without any hassle. MAF scaled easily.
The Speedo matched the GPS exactly, but only because Fried Daddy understands multiplication tables....and apparently I don't. My first adjustment was in the wrong direction to correct the VSS error, and Fried Daddy got it on the first try, down to the decimal place. I don't know how he did it, but he was sure about it when he gave me the adjustment factor.

On a side note, the urethane bushings he has on the control arms are great. The truck really handles nicely. It convinced me to do mine sooner rather than later. Mine is a real handful at high speed. His just drives normally.

On a second side note, Fried Daddy, you need to put some 3.73 gears in that thing. It will turn iit into a whole new truck. You can barely use OD with 2.73 gears in it. You can wait on the Posi, I think. I'd do gears next.

Lastly, if any of you ever get to hang out with Fried Daddy, do so. He's a solid dude.

Joe

 

[fried_daddy]

I hate to contradict a fellow member here, but I think Fried Daddy meant to say he had his truck unprofessionally tuned! Professional technician? Sure. Professional tuner? ....more like a youtube tuner!
Either way, the fuel trims came out great, and the PE tuning happened without any hassle. MAF scaled easily.
The Speedo matched the GPS exactly, but only because Fried Daddy understands multiplication tables....and apparently I don't. My first adjustment was in the wrong direction to correct the VSS error, and Fried Daddy got it on the first try, down to the decimal place. I don't know how he did it, but he was sure about it when he gave me the adjustment factor.

On a side note, the urethane bushings he has on the control arms are great. The truck really handles nicely. It convinced me to do mine sooner rather than later. Mine is a real handful at high speed. His just drives normally.

On a second side note, Fried Daddy, you need to put some 3.73 gears in that thing. It will turn iit into a whole new truck. You can barely use OD with 2.73 gears in it. You can wait on the Posi, I think. I'd do gears next.

Lastly, if any of you ever get to hang out with Fried Daddy, do so. He's a solid dude.

Joe

Youtube tuner for the win! For the VSS, we just used the tire size to get the number.

I'm glad I re-did the front suspension while I had that smaller 4.3L engine in. To anyone that is planning on LS swapping their truck, if you have the time and resources, make sure all the important functional parts are in working order before the LS goes in. Once that engine is in, all you are going to want to do is drive. Another thing that I discovered on the truck by getting it running with the old 4.3L engine was that the brakes went out on me due to a bad metal line. Would have been a disaster at LS speeds.

I don't think the steering and suspension that was on the truck before would have been able to stand up to the wide open throttle runs and highway driving that we did. We went at speeds that that truck has dreamed of going since its date of manufacture in 1986.

I do have gears on the upgrade list for the truck once this move is done. The truck was safely transported to from Carolina to Alabama. 20 hours of driving time later, I'm back here in NC.

 

[hip2bsquare]

nice write up. I have been following along but I seemed to have missed it, I was wondering what you have done related to the transmission install/connections? what linkage and other connections you might have done? I am currently installing a 2013 4.8/4L60E into my 1986 SWB. it included all the uncut wiring and TCM and ECM. I am not sure what/how to connect to the truck. any insight you might be willing to share would be greatly appreciated.

thank you,
Hip2bsquare

 

[fried_daddy]

nice write up. I have been following along but I seemed to have missed it, I was wondering what you have done related to the transmission install/connections? what linkage and other connections you might have done? I am currently installing a 2013 4.8/4L60E into my 1986 SWB. it included all the uncut wiring and TCM and ECM. I am not sure what/how to connect to the truck. any insight you might be willing to share would be greatly appreciated.

thank you,
Hip2bsquare

Thanks. For the transmission, i'm using the factory linkage. I originally had a Lokar but with it, the gear shifter was moving at full throttle due to engine torque. I think that was happening because the lokar is a solid rod. The factory linkage has more pivot points. To hook the factory linkage up, all you have to do is take the bracket off the end of your old transmission selector shaft and bolt it to the 4L60 shaft.

For the cooler lines, I ordered factory lines from rockauto just to get the radiator end and transmission ends. I used as much of the factory hard line as I could before I ran into anything. Once it hit, I cut it and used rubber line. I also have an external cooler installed downstream of the radiator cooler. According to my tuner, my trans temps were super low which is great.

My factory driveshaft was too short by about 2 or 3 inches. I think a couple posts back I put up details on the longer yoke I ordered to fix that. If you don't want to do a longer yoke, you can have a driveshaft shop make a longer one for you.

I'm using the dirty dingo adjustable trans crossmember with their slider engibe mounts. I was able to position it to where I cound just fit my finger between the dipstick and the firewall.

 

[Madhorn]

Great build

 

[fried_daddy]

Great build

Thanks!!

 

[hip2bsquare]

F daddy,
thanks for the response & answers. I am attempting to use the stock linkage (TH350) too, it appears that I just need a solid bracket (about 2" long w/ 2 holes) to go from the 4L60 shift arm to the solid rod that clips to the steering shaft. i need the factory clips(4L60) as those were not provided when I received the engine & trans package. i am going to look at the trans. lines this week to see what i need to do to get them to fit the summit LS radi. that I purchased. Connections appear to be in the right location, just not sure of the threading.....

thanks again!!!

 

[Hugeroost]

I think fried daddy is the man, that is a helluva lotta stuff to go through, I never realized it was that bigga deal till I saw this. Daddy do you have any final numbers, if not whadaya guess. I have a 79 lwb I am gonna do somethung with, 305 w ac ps pb, now I know I cant do an ls. I have an old 454 w 100k on it, I think I can go 60 over and put a decent cam a really good set of heads, aluminum intake and Holley 750, already have a set of long tubes, so true duals w flowmasters. I think I should be at 500hp easily, and its plug and play. I could not even begin to do what dad did here, I dont have the knowledge. Imagine if you had to pay somebody to do that, geeeez. I would love to know what you spent on this build dad, and thats w you doin all the work. I have 4 ls's on the road right now I know how good they are, thats a ton of work to go through for sure. I really dig a BB Chevy though. O hey dad, in that first vid you sound just like Randy Moss man, i've hung w him a couple times, cool dude, y'all sound like brothers....Roost

 

[fried_daddy]

F daddy,
thanks for the response & answers. I am attempting to use the stock linkage (TH350) too, it appears that I just need a solid bracket (about 2" long w/ 2 holes) to go from the 4L60 shift arm to the solid rod that clips to the steering shaft. i need the factory clips(4L60) as those were not provided when I received the engine & trans package. i am going to look at the trans. lines this week to see what i need to do to get them to fit the summit LS radi. that I purchased. Connections appear to be in the right location, just not sure of the threading.....

thanks again!!!

No problem. Good luck with everything!

I think fried daddy is the man, that is a helluva lotta stuff to go through, I never realized it was that bigga deal till I saw this. Daddy do you have any final numbers, if not whadaya guess. I have a 79 lwb I am gonna do somethung with, 305 w ac ps pb, now I know I cant do an ls. I have an old 454 w 100k on it, I think I can go 60 over and put a decent cam a really good set of heads, aluminum intake and Holley 750, already have a set of long tubes, so true duals w flowmasters. I think I should be at 500hp easily, and its plug and play. I could not even begin to do what dad did here, I dont have the knowledge. Imagine if you had to pay somebody to do that, geeeez. I would love to know what you spent on this build dad, and thats w you doin all the work. I have 4 ls's on the road right now I know how good they are, thats a ton of work to go through for sure. I really dig a BB Chevy though. O hey dad, in that first vid you sound just like Randy Moss man, i've hung w him a couple times, cool dude, y'all sound like brothers....Roost

I do have final numbers!!! I am around $5,500 with me doing all the labor. That is not including any of the special tools I had to purchase. See if you can open this spreadsheet online with the engine/trans/fuel parts.
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet...mXEPtDl6amn7eX1Exc0__j5bEVQ/edit?usp=drivesdk

 

[RoryH19]

It's definitely not cheap, even with doing all the work.
I'm at least as much if not more for my k5 build but I'm replacing almost everything.
Plus I have another axle and a transfer case.
The power is great, it's reliable and I would do it again.

 

[fried_daddy]

It's definitely not cheap, even with doing all the work.
I'm at least as much if not more for my k5 build but I'm replacing almost everything.
Plus I have another axle and a transfer case.
The power is great, it's reliable and I would do it again.

I second that motion!! Would I do another LS build/swap. Definitely yes.

I took a chance on the transmission and installed it without rebuilding but it looked clean when I dropped the pan and it worked out fine. So that could have been an additional cost in addition to what I already spent to buy rebuild parts for it.

 

[RoryH19]

I second that motion!! Would I do another LS build/swap. Definitely yes.

I took a chance on the transmission and installed it without rebuilding but it looked clean when I dropped the pan and it worked out fine. So that could have been an additional cost in addition to what I already spent to buy rebuild parts for it.

I was able to drive the donor for a while so I knew the engine and trans were good. I just replaced all the seals, spark plugs, gaskets and other maintenance items.

 

[fried_daddy]

I was able to drive the donor for a while so I knew the engine and trans were good. I just replaced all the seals, spark plugs, gaskets and other maintenance items.

I didn't have space for a donor vehicle at the time but that is definitely recommended! My cost could have been alot lower to get up and going with a working donor.

 

[RoryH19]

I didn't have space for a donor vehicle at the time but that is definitely recommended! My cost could have been alot lower to get up and going with a working donor.

Yep, it definitely helps with all the little things which add up quickly.

 

[hip2bsquare]

Yep, it definitely helps with all the little things which add up quickly.

yes they do!... in parts as well as in items to do!!