Re: My swap. 5.3 into a 1990 3/4 ton 4x4 Suburban.
 

That takes alot of patience.
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Re: My swap. 5.3 into a 1990 3/4 ton 4x4 Suburban.
 

Actually, believe it or not, what i did only took about an hour. Not bad considering this is all first time stuff for me!

Re: My swap. 5.3 into a 1990 3/4 ton 4x4 Suburban.
 

I might be wrong here but I didn't think of the old fuel lines would work because of the pressure? And as for headers in the future? If so any ideas
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Re: My swap. 5.3 into a 1990 3/4 ton 4x4 Suburban.
 

I dont think i will ever go with headers on this truck. Its more of a stock style build. The old fuel lines are good to go pressure wise. They used the same(style)lines on higher pressure trucks. Just anywhere where there is rubber needs replaced with the high pressure fuel injection hose. I'll post pics and what i did for fuel lines when i get to that point here in a week or two.

Re: My swap. 5.3 into a 1990 3/4 ton 4x4 Suburban.
 

The 87-91 Suburban TBI fuel lines work great, Ive been running a 90 model TBI tank & hoses coming off the tank on my 5.3L 85 Suburban for 7 years, no problems.

Re: My swap. 5.3 into a 1990 3/4 ton 4x4 Suburban.
 

Speaking of headers...will the shorty block huggers fit the tbi engine? Or would the long tube headers work best?
A Lil off subject.
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Re: My swap. 5.3 into a 1990 3/4 ton 4x4 Suburban.
 

Ok I got all the wiring all figured out now and just need to finish it all.

Re: My swap. 5.3 into a 1990 3/4 ton 4x4 Suburban.
 

I missed if you said it already, what transmission are you going with? Do you think it's easier to adapt the transmission to the engine or the transmission to the transfer case / drive line. Is it easier to swap just the engine or to swap in the 4L60E/4L80E that is designed for the engine in along with the engine? I'm following your swap closely. Great job.

Re: My swap. 5.3 into a 1990 3/4 ton 4x4 Suburban.
 

Also, I was reading another ls swap into a 4x4 sub of our same generation (by 85burb... I think) and he had a lot of trouble getting the headers to fit. If you go with the stock exhaust manifolds, is it a lot easier, do they fit without notching the frame?

Edit: I saw that your stock exhaust manifolds fit, did you end up trimming the driver's side at all?

Re: My swap. 5.3 into a 1990 3/4 ton 4x4 Suburban.
 

I'm running a th400 trans. In my case it is way more easy to keep the existing trans and bold the new motor up to it. If you had a 700r4 it would be whatever way you wanted to go with it. New motor would bolt right to the old trans or tys new trans would bolt right to the old t case. As far as headers, there Is a thread on here about what hits and what fits. My stock 5.3 manifolds fit fine but it looks like 6.0 manifolds are different and will hit. Only thing I have to do on mine is modify the down pipe off the manifold to clear the bottom of the frame.

Got the new harness a little but installed last night!

http://i597.photobucket.com/albums/t...i/IMAG0482.jpg
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Re: My swap. 5.3 into a 1990 3/4 ton 4x4 Suburban.
 

I don't think anybody has a good solution for ls 4wd swap headers i think my4by2 had some lucky with i think... trailblazer headers with slight fitment issues he's went through a few headers trying to get the right ones not 100% what though

And its probably easiest to use the tranny that goes with the motor as far as wiring goes but thats my opinion ill be using a 1991 4l80e and swapping out the plug from a new 4l80e so the wiring is the same and my 6.0 is on the way so im watching this thread since its a near mirror image of my build =-p

Re: My swap. 5.3 into a 1990 3/4 ton 4x4 Suburban.
 

Not a whole lot of excitiment as work has slowed significantly sense i had to go back to work... But the other day i did get the starter installed and ran the battery cables. Now i just gotta swap out the fuel pump, adapt the exhaust, and get o2 sensors and i should be at least ready for a test fire.

Re: My swap. 5.3 into a 1990 3/4 ton 4x4 Suburban.
 

Little bit of progress. Cut the fuel pump access panel so i never have to worry about dropping the tank again! And so i could change out the fuel pump to the high pressure unit.

http://i597.photobucket.com/albums/t...i/IMAG0503.jpg

Re: My swap. 5.3 into a 1990 3/4 ton 4x4 Suburban.
 

shon has a thread on ls swap area called gauging intersest that he says dougs now makes headers for us.

Re: My swap. 5.3 into a 1990 3/4 ton 4x4 Suburban.
 

Going to go check that out right now.

Re: My swap. 5.3 into a 1990 3/4 ton 4x4 Suburban.
 

You can make Mac Mid Length for a fbody work, that is what I have on my K5. Also a set of Sanderson S10 LS/swap headers fit great as well. I have a set of Mac's I need to get rid of for $200 shipped if someone needs them.

Re: My swap. 5.3 into a 1990 3/4 ton 4x4 Suburban.
 

ITS ALIVE!!!

Im the one filming in both videos. Only about 8" of exhaust past the manifolds so its loud.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fxr9Y...layer_embedded

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gEEzA...layer_embedded

Re: My swap. 5.3 into a 1990 3/4 ton 4x4 Suburban.
 

Nice :metal:
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Re: My swap. 5.3 into a 1990 3/4 ton 4x4 Suburban.
 

X2
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Re: My swap. 5.3 into a 1990 3/4 ton 4x4 Suburban.
 

That looks like some good work. About how many hours do you have into it so far?

Re: My swap. 5.3 into a 1990 3/4 ton 4x4 Suburban.
 

I think realistically, its about 30-40hrs on the actual swap itself. Thats not including any prep work like getting and cleaning the motor and all that junk. Latest pics,

http://i597.photobucket.com/albums/t...i/IMAG0540.jpg

http://i597.photobucket.com/albums/t...IMAG0543-1.jpg

http://i597.photobucket.com/albums/t...i/IMAG0542.jpg

Should be on the road next week.

Re: My swap. 5.3 into a 1990 3/4 ton 4x4 Suburban.
 

Looking VERY nice :cool:

With the 1" setback adapter plates, did the trans bolt right up, or did it need to move?

Re: My swap. 5.3 into a 1990 3/4 ton 4x4 Suburban.
 

What did you do to get the stock truck manifolds to fit? (sorry if you already described this) Mine just weren't gonna work, so i opted for the 2010 F-body manifolds that fit like the old 350 manifolds.

Re: My swap. 5.3 into a 1990 3/4 ton 4x4 Suburban.
 

The setback mounts put the motor mount exactly in the stock position. I used the truck manifolds. The passenger side fit no problem. The driver side took some cutting and welding on the down pipe to get it to work. FYI Trailblazer SS manifolds seem to fit really well.

Re: My swap. 5.3 into a 1990 3/4 ton 4x4 Suburban.
 

One more question for ya. What did you do for the "in gear" wire to tell you pcm to idle down when you put it in gear. I know on the newer trucks the safety switch and "in gear" switch are the same switch. But on my '85, all i can find is the reverse light switch at the bottom of my column. I know i have a safety switch cause i could never start it in any other gear when i had the 350 in it, but i can't find it.

Re: My swap. 5.3 into a 1990 3/4 ton 4x4 Suburban.
 

I didnt. Im going to see how it goes but lots of folks including a friend of mine dont have it hooked up and it behaves just fine. If i start to not like it i will figure out something to do with it.

Re: My swap. 5.3 into a 1990 3/4 ton 4x4 Suburban.
 

i ended up using the edelbrock shorty headers that came on my 6.0 and they fit perfect on driver side but passenger need minimal amounts of hammer work and then fit im not worried about a small dent because notching my frame is out of question i didnt feel like spending extra money on manifolds because i need to get it done soon

Re: My swap. 5.3 into a 1990 3/4 ton 4x4 Suburban.
 

Cool! Yea if you can make the headers work you might as well use them! I got lucky yesterday and found out that a buddy of mine who recently put a 6.0 in a jeep still had his mechanical fan that i needed and gave it to me for free! So thats pretty awesome.

http://i597.photobucket.com/albums/t...i/IMAG0557.jpg


Also got a bunch of other little stuff done today. Just a couple little things to button up and then i still need to get a throttle cable and i will be good to go!

Re: My swap. 5.3 into a 1990 3/4 ton 4x4 Suburban.
 

Recent pic. Just need an intake tube setup and I'll be ready to hit the road!

http://i597.photobucket.com/albums/t...i/IMAG0579.jpg
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Re: My swap. 5.3 into a 1990 3/4 ton 4x4 Suburban.
 

I found this site to be helpfull for the CAI parts.

http://intakehoses.com/?gclid=CPzyyd...FWdjTAodz2KU0w

Re: My swap. 5.3 into a 1990 3/4 ton 4x4 Suburban.
 

Thanks for that link! After i had my basket full of everything i needed(the "cobra head pieces are especially awesome!) i decided to check one more time on ebay for a factory one. Found one for $25 shipped! So, i ordered it up and hopefully it will work cause otherwise, my basket at intakehoses.com was about $100! Not to mention that i really want the look of the factory one anyway so i really hope this one works out! Here is the one i got,

http://www.ebay.com/itm/290670350586...84.m1439.l2649

Re: My swap. 5.3 into a 1990 3/4 ton 4x4 Suburban.
 

Drove it for the first time tonight!

Re: My swap. 5.3 into a 1990 3/4 ton 4x4 Suburban.
 

Well....how did it go...

Re: My swap. 5.3 into a 1990 3/4 ton 4x4 Suburban.
 

Went excellent! All i did was drive it up and down my dead end street twice. I got two really bad videos of it just for the file. Here they are.

Re: My swap. 5.3 into a 1990 3/4 ton 4x4 Suburban.
 

Well i can say that its pretty much done! Few minor issues to wrap up but its pretty well ready to hit the highway! As usual, here is some videos!

Re: My swap. 5.3 into a 1990 3/4 ton 4x4 Suburban.
 

Congratulations on a well planned engine swap!

Re: My swap. 5.3 into a 1990 3/4 ton 4x4 Suburban.
 

Thanks for this thread. You have made it a little less intimidating than what I originally had in my head. Your thread has me looking at local scrap yards.
Thanks for sharing.

Re: My swap. 5.3 into a 1990 3/4 ton 4x4 Suburban.
 

No problem! My ck5.com thread is way more in depth and complete. So check it out too. Btw, Im into the swap about $1750. But when you take into account that i sold my tbi chip tuning stuff for $100 and my old motor for $250 I'm actually only $1400... Pretty cheap upgrade all things considered. Not to mention it will save me money in the long run at the gas pump too!
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Re: My swap. 5.3 into a 1990 3/4 ton 4x4 Suburban.
 

Very good details in here....congrats on the swap!!

How did you manage the A-C hook ups (wiring) if you had time to do it yet?

Re: My swap. 5.3 into a 1990 3/4 ton 4x4 Suburban.
 

I havent messed with the AC just yet. All i can tell you is i think i can wire it all using the trucks "existing"wiring. Hooking it all up like the way it came off and not running it through the computer like the new style uses.