The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area The HiPo Shop 5.7 LSl in panel truck

Today I looked at a 98 LS1 in a wrecked TransAm.
The engine comes with 4L60E trans with all necessary
electronics for swap. Up in Canada here the dealer
wants $4500. for the lot. Was thinking I should get
fuel tank, exhaust etc. too!
Would appreciate any tips on how complicated it would
be to install for a layperson? Would this put the panel
at another level from older small block installs.
Cheers

What will you put all this in?

53ChevPanelhalfton

Not sure exactly where you are in Canada, but you should check out the wrecking yards in the US if you are close to the border. Have found most parts - both new & used about 40 % cheaper, plus now the C$ is 10 % above the US$. I've had no hassles at the border - just make sure you declare everything properly. There is no duty on most auto parts.

I've done a FI conversion to a non-FI older truck. I think FI does put the truck in a unique category. For starters, you will probably need to address:
1. Brake light switch to cut out trans lock up
2. Relay to act in ignition on postion for computer and to run fuel pump.
3. Some sort of transition sensors for oil pressure and water temp. reading, since these are electronic and run off computer sensors(or just add new gauges to the truck)
4. Probably use the original fuel line for the FI return line and then you need to add a new feed fuel line.
5. Bigger radiator, probably with electric fan run off computer sensor on engine.
6. Trans has an electronic speed sensor to the speedo- need something to mechanically run your speedo, or get a new electronic speedo.
7. Accelerator linkage to transition from mechanical steel lever and rod linkage to mechanical cable linkage.
8. A place to put the ECM - and will the original harness be long enough ?
9. Assuming the original exhaust manifolds won't fit, Headers which won't interfere with knock sensor and which will have a bung for the o2 sensor.
10. Generator to alternator rewire
11. Custom exhaust pipes
12. Air filter, if original won't fit.

Thanks TimK
I will ask the vendor all those points.
He did tell me today a little more, that I could have everything
off the car to make mine run. Six month warranty. Not sure if
I could have it running in that time period.
Cheers

One point I did not emphasize enough. Don't think that you are just going to plop a nice little chome filter on the end of that tpi. Most tpi units now require a MAF sensor, which is built into the air cleaner piping in some cases. If your engine is not equipped with an intergral MAF sensor, you have to use the original part of the filter and improvise the rest.

There is another way to use an LS series engine in our trucks:

Edelbrock and GM performance BOTH make kits and aprts to allow running an LS series engine with a carburetor and conventional Performer or Victor Jr intake. This approach retains the indiviudal coil packs and camshaft and crankshaft sensors, and adds an MSD-sourced ingition kit that incldues a blackbox (red, actually) and wiring connectors, that fires the plugs.

The whole setup can be made to look somewhat retro, and seems to cost between $800 and $1300 depending on choices made.

This is apaprently EASY compared to trying to reproduce all the external wiring and sensors needed to support the fule injection.

The resutling engine makes identical or better oeak power than the injected version, but I'm sure the fuel mileage will be inferior to fuel injection.

Jim G

After doing a few transplants, the hardest thing now is convincing the wife that we need to spend $2500 on a take-out motor/trans/etc/.

Tim has hit the highlights.

MWG - $4500 should be a really really low mileage unit with wiring harness intact and cooling system / A/C system and exhaust. I did a quick search on Fleabay and found a few for under $3k US. Local yards are somewhat comparable.

I never thought about the speedometer hook up. is there another overdrive trans that will bolt up that uses a cable?