Side project for the Father-in-law. 1984 Elco with 41K original miles on it. Has a 305 and th250C trans in it. He wanted to do a swap on the "tired" 305 (made 155 hp from the factory) so asked if I would be willing to do a swap. Grabbed a 243K 99' 4.8 up for $200 loaded into the truck. I have torn apart several JY LS motors and this is by far the cleanest one I have ever seen. I pulled the valve covers off and said NOPE. Toss them back on. Had new plugs, wires, oil was new, it was crazy. Slapped a china fbody oil pan with china pickup and dipstick tube/stick and cut the stock truck tray to fit. Menard oil on sale is the juice that went in. SBC/LS mount adapters and 1/8" plates I welded bolts to so the engine sat where the Fbody oil pan would not hit crossmember but still allow the stock driveshaft to be used and keep the transmission in about the stock spot.
I said we could do it for $800. We are $1300 in and it's practically done. I have stuff to sell off the old car so we can still make the $1K swap a thing. I had a later 5.3 cam laying around so that was swapped in too and we are using a P59 and DBW setup. Injectors I pulled out of the yard and are flex injectors that are 33lb at 50psi. So 35lbs at 4 bar setup. I cut a stock silverado pedal down and welded the elco pedal on and it looks and feels like stock. Car fires right up and we are ready to rip. We replaced the stock leaking radiator with an ebay all aluminum 3 row unit and Chrysler Sebring fans (I use them on S10 radiators too) and the system has been bled and working great. Connected the stock truck PS pump to the rack and it also is working as should (time and heat will tell if it lasts lol). Last thing to do make some mid pipes to vband to the LS3 manifold that Reaper sent me with o2 bungs and then this thing is ready to rip 1 tire fires for days.
I pulled the tank out and removed the entire sending unit. Did not want to spend $400 on a baffled tank and $350 on an EFI assembly so got a Holley Hydramat and the tried and proven Japan Kemos 340 pump. I connected it to the supply line inside and cut a hole in the tank for the return. 6an to 3/8" bulkhead barb fitting and the return line going intank to the passenger rear corner. This is only the beginning. The plan is to eventually do all new gauges, built 4l80e by me to handle 600 hp and maybe we can do boost down the road or a nice dry shot along with decap 100# injectors. Again, car has 41K original mile. He does plan to paint the car, but honestly I would leave it and add an 8.8 in the back on 285's and make it a nice street/strip car. More to come!
I said we could do it for $800. We are $1300 in and it's practically done. I have stuff to sell off the old car so we can still make the $1K swap a thing. I had a later 5.3 cam laying around so that was swapped in too and we are using a P59 and DBW setup. Injectors I pulled out of the yard and are flex injectors that are 33lb at 50psi. So 35lbs at 4 bar setup. I cut a stock silverado pedal down and welded the elco pedal on and it looks and feels like stock. Car fires right up and we are ready to rip. We replaced the stock leaking radiator with an ebay all aluminum 3 row unit and Chrysler Sebring fans (I use them on S10 radiators too) and the system has been bled and working great. Connected the stock truck PS pump to the rack and it also is working as should (time and heat will tell if it lasts lol). Last thing to do make some mid pipes to vband to the LS3 manifold that Reaper sent me with o2 bungs and then this thing is ready to rip 1 tire fires for days.
I pulled the tank out and removed the entire sending unit. Did not want to spend $400 on a baffled tank and $350 on an EFI assembly so got a Holley Hydramat and the tried and proven Japan Kemos 340 pump. I connected it to the supply line inside and cut a hole in the tank for the return. 6an to 3/8" bulkhead barb fitting and the return line going intank to the passenger rear corner. This is only the beginning. The plan is to eventually do all new gauges, built 4l80e by me to handle 600 hp and maybe we can do boost down the road or a nice dry shot along with decap 100# injectors. Again, car has 41K original mile. He does plan to paint the car, but honestly I would leave it and add an 8.8 in the back on 285's and make it a nice street/strip car. More to come!