LS swap advice!

[MikieT]

I'm new to the site and need some advice on a Ls swap, I found a 4.8 ls engine with 228k $650 with harness and ecm its in the truck now and will run the engine before its removed. Is it worth it with the miles and what is the life of these engines.

My wife's mother left a here the truck when she passed, its a 86 model 2wd swb with 120k. The truck has a 305 in it and I have spent money on it since the day she got it. I had to put a distributor in it and when i removed the dist. the shaft was covered in sludge. The lifters are making a lot of racket.

She wants me to make this my daily driver but I'm not to sure of that at this point. The truck is in really good shape, no rust, dents ect. I want a modern engine with EFI, and with time i could fix all the small problems with the truck.

Thanks for your help!!

 

[Old Painless]

I'd keep looking for something a little newer. I've seen plenty of ls engines with that many miles and only needed water pumps replaced, but unless you know the driver and history I'd be cautious with 200k +.

As a daily, a 4.8 won't be a bad engine, but if you're going through all that work you can probably find something wirh more punch close to the same price. Keep a look out for an lm7 or an LQ4/LQ9 engine as they are usually plentiful.

Having that said, a 1200 hp 4.8 has happened before...

https://www.google.com/amp/www.hotrod.com/articles/hrdp-1109-stock-gm-ls-engine-big-bang-theory/amp/

I understand location can be prohibitive, so if that's the best in the location then you might not have any other option.

Be prepared for a decent amount of work and give http://www.lt1swap.com a visit for just about everything you need aside from mounting the thing.

I did mine at a ridiculously casual pace in about a month, most of which is tying up loose ends and reworking that damned harness which is pretty much just for looks anyways..

Aside from the engine and trans, expect to pay 500-1000$ in other stuff like fuel delivery, driveshaft, hardware yadda yadda.

 

[Camar068]

See post below. Tons of information, well worth the read. I agree with Painless. With that many miles and it being a 4.8, I would have expected it to be $400. You can get a 5.3 with 180k for that price. Bump it up to $1,000 and you should be able to get one with ~100k miles on it and that would be a 2006'ish and under motor. If it's drive by wire, make sure you get the gas pedal, harness, and controller.

http://www.gmsquarebody.com/forum/showthread.php?t=14428

 

[74propu]

I gave $600 for my 5.3 and 4l60 trans with harness ecm . I drove the truck then pulled every thing out on xmas eve if you don't mind road trips you can find some good deals on wrecked trucks/vans . I just in the last week turned down a 3500 van hit in the side with a 5.3 4l80e with 120000 on the clock could have got it for $ 800 had to take it all . So look around in other states for deals .

 

[MikieT]

I gave $600 for my 5.3 and 4l60 trans with harness ecm . I drove the truck then pulled every thing out on xmas eve if you don't mind road trips you can find some good deals on wrecked trucks/vans . I just in the last week turned down a 3500 van hit in the side with a 5.3 4l80e with 120000 on the clock could have got it for $ 800 had to take it all . So look around in other states for deals .

Your right I need to keep looking, I'm just a little worried about buying a salvage engine from people I don't know. This is all new to me.