LS3 swap question

[corkatoa]

Just starting my first ls swap. have a complete running 2002 suburban as donor going into 87 regal with a built 2004r. My question is this: what all should I remove from suburban? Nobody ever seems to have a whole vehicle to strip on the forums. The wiring/computer is my main concern. I have engine out and harness is next, but do I need the wires to transmission? And is there any way to not have to use the O2 sensors(computer re-flash)? And relax on legalities, I am in Canada. We don't have emission rules where I live. Seems to be an awful lot of wires and fuse boxes. I don't see any of these fuse boxes under anyone's hood. Only have a few more days (week tops) to pull parts before vehicle gets crushed. Everyones 2 cents welcome.
Oh ya, anyone need any 02 suburban parts? Front clip and tailgate gone. The rest will be in a cube soon so going cheap.

 

[Clutch_Grabwell]

I've got a question for you: How do you plan on connecting the TV cable on your 200-4R to the LS3? If the LS3 is DBW this would appear to be a problem. Even if not it won't be easy.
As much as I like the 200-4R, using the transmission that came with the motor would prevent a lot of headaches.

 

[Kansas Bu Wagon]

I'd like to know why there's an ls3 in an 02 suburban. Lol

 

[dogsht]

The LS to goody swap is well not a direct drop in swap. cheap & easy it ain't but it can certainly be worth it. There have been some good swap threads on here with lots of insight. You will want to be well informed with sufficient disposable income before you take this on.

Kansas, is that like everybody who has an old sbc for sale says it came out of a vette no matter what the numbers say. Lol

 

[seawolf18]

If it came out of a surberban its probably a 5.3 or a 6.0. To use an old school transmission you will need a spacer on the flywheel and new longer fly wheel bolts. You can get them from your local GM dealer. You will have to swap the frame pads to chevy SBC ones. Just get ones for a monte carlo with a 305. They are cheap at your local parts store. You will then need 1" setback adapter plates that bolt to the engine($40.00 off ebay). You then can bolt gen 1 SBC clam shell mounts to the plates. If you have a/c, the box will interfere with the rear coil pack on the passenger side, so you will need to modify the box for it to fit. truck accessories will clear a g-body hood, but you may need a smaller pulley for the power steering pump, as it might not clear the steering box. IF you want a/c, the compressor will also not clear unless you notch the frame. You will also need to swap the throttle body to a cable one. One of a LS1 camaro\firebird will work, and are easy to find.

The oil pan will also have to be swapped as it hangs way low, and every little piece of road debris would be bouncing off of it. The Caddy CTSV pan is a direct fit and has the best clearance for a g-body, next would probably be the muscle car swap pan kit, also available at your local chevy dealer. A f-body pan will also work with cross-member mods. You will have to get the computer reprogrammed, and modify the engine wire harness. Stock truck manifolds don't fit either. You will need camaro\firebird\vette ones, or use headers. Pacesetter 98-02 f-body headers will work and can be had around $200-$250 range, but may need slight mods to fit the g-body properly. G-body swap headers are really expensive. $800.00 range, and only one company makes them.

There is a lot of good swap info and pics on the ls1tech g-body swap thread(has around 1000 replies in it) http://ls1tech.com/forums/conversions-h ... hread.html

 

[corkatoa]

thanks for the info. sorry about my confusion, I realize it is not a 6.0l, just not familiar with the designation of these engines. thanks to those who pointed out my ignorance. I have now rectified my lack of knowledge. And as for the cost for this swap, to put it plainly, it will be the cheapest thing I have done with this car. Already spent close to 10k on engine in the car. Not to mention the moser diff, and the $3500 on the transmission and countless bottles of nos. I own an impound lot and the suburban was not just free, but I actually got some money from insurance company as well for storage and then they didnt want it.

Thanks Seawolf18 for the pertinent info. There is so much info on this subject it is hard to sort through. But thanks for paring it down to the basics. I have already obtained the flywheel kit for this swap from Summit. I had read a few posts that say the stock pan fits, but I had my doubts based on visual inspection. I will get a cts pan, but the stock pan is so nice it is a shame not to be able to use it. As for mounting, the car has a sbc383 in it now so I would just need the set-back plates? No a/c on this car, or heat for that matter. I just hang my head out of window on hot days.

I am thinking I will carb this engine after reading a tech article in car craft. Will be a little quicker to get on the road and then I wont have to worry about the harness. Mostly just looking forward to opening engine to inspect.

Have begun pouring over the info at LS1tech. Thanks again Seawolf18. Will post pics and writeup when done.

 

[seawolf18]

Your very much welcome. If you already have a sbc in the car, then all you will need is the setback plates, and use the clam shell mounts off your old engine. I used these plates off ebay. (just enter item number in search 250498171600). Carb is the way I went. Don't get the edelbrock kit, its not a good deal at all. Get the msd 6010 or 6012 control box, depending on what reluctor wheel your motor has. Then just buy the manifold you need for your application. The 6010/6012 box is computer programmable where as the one in the edelbrock kit is not. I would also swap in a carb friendly cam in it as well. The fuel injection cam has a wide lsa 115-116, not really carb friendly. You want a cam in the 110 lsa range. You can usually find a good used one in the for sale section of ls1tech. Edelbrock also has a line of carb friendly line of cams. With the edelbrock cams, you can use a set of ls6 springs and your stock pushrods. Comp uses some pretty aggressive ramp rates on their cams, so hardened push rods and springs like comps 918 springs are required.

 

[corkatoa]

ordered victor jr intake, msd6010, and edelbrock 2215 cam today. have in hand tomorrow. less than a $1000 with intake gaskets.
As for oil pan, I have access to a master welder(brother). Will cost me nothing. Can't find a thread on mods to stock pan. There seems to be a lot of conflicting info on this, with a lot of crossmember modifying going on anyways. Is it a frame or ground clearance issue? Car is stock height more or less and we have no speed bumps in BC. If the cts-v pan fits for sure, then I will get pics and go by eye. Worst case, I will buy another pan if I ruin the stock pan.

This swap is happening a lot faster than I anticipate, probably done in next few weeks. At this rate, I may have to find a couple more projects to do this summer.

 

[seawolf18]

Its a ground clearance issue with the use of the stock pan. Guys chop a couple of inches out of the rear sump for more ground clearance. The pickup would also have to be modified to match the modified pan. The crossmember needs to be modified for the f-body pan to work. The ctsv pan fits with no crossmember mods, and has the best ground clearance. Make sure you get a set of ls6 springs for your eddie cam, gm part 12499224. ZONES89RS on the ls1tech carb section has been using the 2215 cam with pretty good success.