just another Chevy ... the s10 DD

[Teddyzee]

However, after watching the hassles they had putting an LS motor in an S-10 blazer on Hot rod TV I'd really reconsider the why do it.... 350s almost drop into your pickup

I believe most of those issues were due to it being a 4x4.

Should be a fun little truck, no matter what you throw in it.

[SuperBuickGuy]

4 wheel drives are actually easier because you have more room between the floorboard and the frame. Also, the cross member doesn't exist on the 4x4 - the differential acts in the same capacity, and it's a bit lower than the 2wd cross member (and in that swap an inch is a mile).

ya know, all this v-8 s-10 talk is really making think about doing another one... though the one in my mind is a 4dr awd boxy style blazer... swap in a front diff from a full-size truck, 9" rear and go terrorize the subarus and imprezas.... something with a turbo... To be continued....

[milner351]

See how it drives with the rebuilt trans - go from there.

KISS -if you've already got most of the 350 parts - wouldn't you be ahead of the game getting a set of "good" AL SBC heads for the 4 bolt you already have?

[Beagle]

It would make more sense, but like Autohack said, an inch is a mile in an s10.. the 4.3 is already tight, the 350 with a/c and PS is a squeeze. BFH and sawzall, pusher electric fans and pray they work well enough in the always over 100* dog days of summer here. I think we have at least two months of right at or above 100*.

The biggest bitch kitty from what I can see is the EFI that I have to keep. Stoopid emissions.

I looked at the truck yesterday and can't see the upper bellhousing-block bolts. I read that the GM manual suggests lifting the f*ing body off the frame to do a trans R&R. WHAT?!

I'll be yanking the engine / trans out the front before I do that. Looks like less work... and I want to see the 302 / T5 in that hole anyway. This truck has spent a little time next to the water in Bayview (gulf of mexico, house is waterfront, EVERYTHING rusts) so I might as well take the time to brush off surface rust and paint whatever needs attention. My dad spends about 2 weeks out of the month down there... I tend to forget about the rust because I think of him as living in Dallas. It's not bad, just needs some loving before it gets bad.

[SuperBuickGuy]

ah padawan, you miss the bestest part about doing a swap 4.3 to 5.7. It's plug and play - really, buy a TBI chev motor and it all plugs in, swap the computer and you're back on the road.
As for cooling.... it's not a problem, and you don't even have to do what was done on one of my v8 S-10s - windshield oiler (aka louvers)

[BOOOGHAR]

you know there are ways of getting inspection stickers for your truck in texas without dealing with all the political bs drama, trust me i know this LOL

[Beagle]

you know there are ways of getting inspection stickers for your truck in texas without dealing with all the political bs drama, trust me i know this LOL

I have a sticker for a Fiat that runs just like a Pinto - not sure what you mean? I worked with an inspector once that failed a car because it's brakes were so bad it ran into his toolbox. It came back in 20 minutes later (pushed it in) with a 50 on the steering. Sumbich passed, can you believe it?

It'll pass. I just discovered you can flash a v6 computer to run the v8, and it needs a few wires moved around to get the injectors firing order right and a couple extra for the two additional injectors. Far out.

[SuperBuickGuy]

just as easy to swap the computer - no swapping wires, no drama at all - use the 4.3 wiring harness.... I suppose now's the time to mention that the last s-10 v8 swap I did, I had a plug and play motor for smog out of a 93 chev truck; and the "other" motor for the other 729 days.

[Beagle]

SBG, thank you for the input. I don't want to sound like I'm being petulant, I appreciate the feedback. Although I would never admit to any "other" engines, it'd be 364 here. We're annualy anal. We smog, we put the county it was inspected in on the sticker, and if it doesn't match the county it is registered in, they give you grief. Worse? I want a Ford engine in it and I want it to look so factory that the oil change guy doesn't even blink. There are a couple of hangups with doing that. Knock sensor, crank trigger wheel, and cam locator sensor are currently topping the list. An LS1 (geniii) has these internal, the Ford's are external.

I spent way too much time yesterday trying to figure out if HPTuners or any of the other editors out there could handle a Ford crank wheel and cam position sensor, whether the s10 tailshaft on an s10 with VSS would work and where to find one, low impedance, high impedance injector foo, seeing what the MAF was good for on the 4.3 before saturation, hacking LS TB onto Ford manifold or just hope that 0-5 means 0-5 in all languages.. my head hurts. Some days, it just isn't worth the effort to chew through the restraints.

It was kind of an excercise in futility but it was scalding outside and I've run into other issues with putting an A/C in the garage... like something fried my circuit and there's no way in hell I'm going up in that attic until October. I don't question what electricians charge down here. The cable guys are getting screeewwwwwwed.

I'm leaning towards an HPTuners suite at this point, there are several things I want to turn off in diagnostic test, function, and error reporting. I feel like I'm being sucked into the car computer junk the same way I did PC's 25 years ago. It's hard to remember "This will do everything I need" when everything you get exposed to is "this weeks junk is blazingly amazing"

The short list of why I'm even worried about the computer would be:

A/C
Cruise Control
Gauges
ABS (my 88 s10 stopped like poo, this one stops good.)

At one point yesterday I was ready to piggyback an A9L to run the engine... or carb it. I have to say, the carb is looking way sexy at this point. Way easy, but where's the fun in easy. I'll spend about 20 more hours doing dumbass research because it's more fun. I've been rummaging around in the garage looking for water pumps, brackets, and timing cover from the Explorer engine I bought for a truck - I think this will fit easier than a 350 and may not need radiator relocation or electric fans.

I did find out yesterday that the core support will come out with not too much effort, that should make everything a lot easier. The suck part is having to learn about every Chevy change since the LT1 and getting sensor ability information... There's more information and changes out there than I had guessed.

I'm still bench building at this point, but I would like a small block that doesn't require me to hack the a/c box, beat the firewall with a hammer, or run the steering shaft through the headers. What has enlightened me the most - holy crap, the ubiquitous everything fits everything else Chevy engine is *history*. There are lots of interesting ways to build an LS... just getting all the right parts to put it together is a freaking nightmare. Long live Michelle Motors. Yikes.

[Beagle]

ECM is supposed to service Vortec 4.3,5.7,7.4... just needs a flash. 16250279

I should just be able to match the firing order to the ford (er, make the same as LS1) on injectors and plug wires, or maybe the tune can handle it. Found a good page for GM sensor information:

http://lt1swap.com/programming.htm and parent