Lugnutz..... it can totally be done in a weekend if you have everything in order. Depending on what you use/have. I can take a complete pull out 4.8/5.3/6.0 engine from a local yard and probably have it running on the ground in about 15min work with some fuel pressure from a random pump laying in a gas can and a few wire nuts and jumpers lol. They are pretty simple to set up. Thats with the stock engine harness never needing to be unplugged. The only one thing you would need is for someone to flash the ecu to turn off the anti theft stuff (VATS). I have my own software so its not a issue for me but there are also places on ebay, cragslist, local wire specialties shops that offer the service for around $150. I used one off ebay for my first swap i did. Worked like a charm.
There is also A LOT of new products out for SUPER EASY LS swaps now. Some people dont want to kno anything about modifying a stock harness (what i always do) so some buy a $500-700 aftermarket harness that’s identical to the stock one but with a few relays, fuses, and labeled terminations that they plug into power, ground, and thats it..... but you will still need to deal with the stock ecu (which is basically a emissions computer). The stock ecu is fully capable and can be dumbed down to do only the bare necessities and be a great setup but you will still need a laptop and tuning software if you ever wish to change anything at all. The newest most affordable system on the market is by HOLLEY. Its called terminatorX, So you carb guys should be right at home with its name hahahahaha. Its like $999 and it comes complete with a wiring harness, small handheld tuner (like a small iphone size) that even has all gauges displayed. You literally plug it all in, power it up, awnser a few questions on the screen like engine size, injector size, sensor types, and it creates a base map to run the engine. You literally turn the key and it runs. It even has its own dedicated O2 sensor and it actually does “self tune” off of that sensor. Basically its so easy a caveman can do it.
Last edited by Barnfind49; 01/27/2020 11:59 AM.
