After that, I need to get it to the frame shop and then back in for alignment.
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74 NovaMan's 1979 Chevy Truck - LS Swap - 5/6 Drop
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Chris - HRPT Long Haul 03, 04, 05, 13, 14, 15,16 & 18
74 Nova Project
66 Mustang GT Project
92 Camaro RS Convertible Project
79 Chevy Truck Project
1956 Cadillac Project
- Likes 2
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this is a great build thread with allot of great information on parts that work and went together smoothly. I'm personally not a big fan of super low vehicles, mostly because I've lived in the midwest my whole life and our roads are generally crap, so - lowered usually means fixing broken stuff.... ALOT. I hope you find the happy medium for this truck so it will fullfill your styling desires as well as retaining the utility of the truck. I really like the idea of air bags on the rear - that allows you to keep it lower than stock, but pump up the air and still tow safely, makes a lot of sense to me.
There's always something new to learn.
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Originally posted by milner351 View Postthis is a great build thread with allot of great information on parts that work and went together smoothly. I'm personally not a big fan of super low vehicles, mostly because I've lived in the midwest my whole life and our roads are generally crap, so - lowered usually means fixing broken stuff.... ALOT. I hope you find the happy medium for this truck so it will fullfill your styling desires as well as retaining the utility of the truck. I really like the idea of air bags on the rear - that allows you to keep it lower than stock, but pump up the air and still tow safely, makes a lot of sense to me.Doing it all wrong since 1966
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Thanks for the feedback guys. I spent some time with my project spreadsheet yesterday categorizing the different expenses and came up with some interesting results. The first stage is just general truck costs that would have been incurred if I had not LS Swapped it:
79 CHEVY TRUCK - NON LS SPECIFIC ITEMS 2,775.50 Purchase Price incl Tax Titile & License 611.85 Misc Parts, Tune up, Grille, Mirrors, Radio 208.59 Rear Bumper 105.00 Tilt Column & Seats 197.89 HVAC Rebuild 72.31 Inner Fender & bolt kit 600.38 Brakes & Front End Rebuild 641.76 Tires 811.80 Lowering spindles/springs & Flip kit 172.82 Body Mounts 168.14 Shocks front & rear 110.00 Sway bar front 1,168.87 Posi, Gears & Bearing kit 1,272.27 Dual Exhaust 750.00 Trans Rebuild 9,667.18 Truck Total Chris - HRPT Long Haul 03, 04, 05, 13, 14, 15,16 & 18
74 Nova Project
66 Mustang GT Project
92 Camaro RS Convertible Project
79 Chevy Truck Project
1956 Cadillac Project
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Here is the LS Swap breakdown:
Breakdown of the Misc $690.56:79 CHEVY TRUCK - LS SWAP ITEMS 1,050.00 Donor - 2003 Suburban (1,782.00) Parts Sales - 2003 Suburban & 79 C10 only 328.64 LS Swap Headers 490.00 Fuel System - Tank, pump, lines, filter etc 306.00 LS Motor mounts, crossmember & ECM bracket 245.00 Second LS Motor mounts & crossmember 322.25 Fans, shroud & wiring 271.70 Water pump, idler relo, hoses, belts 343.00 Junkyard 5.3 761.29 Drive Shaft 690.56 Misc LS Swap - See Separate List 3,026.44 LS Swap Total
Misc LS Swap Items 107.57 Wire for harness rework 24.31 Temp sensor 12551708, tx111 or tu280 (3 Mfgs) 13.73 pigtail - pt2139, s619 or 1p1065 28.40 Oil Pressure sensor - AC Delco19244932 7.38 Weather Pack connector 15.83 Fuse/relay box 25.00 Battery tray bracket - drivers side OE type - reuse tray 54.01 O2 Bungs and welding 89.65 Relay/fuse box, oil & temp senders, connectors 71.00 Gas Pedal 58.00 Air intake tube and elbows 93.00 Instrument Cluster 1990 52.88 Oil Pressure Sensor, Brake switch, Steam Port Fitting 25.00 Relays - Bosch - Amazon 10.85 Evap Delete - Ebay 13.95 metric adapter - Autometer 2268 690.56 Total Chris - HRPT Long Haul 03, 04, 05, 13, 14, 15,16 & 18
74 Nova Project
66 Mustang GT Project
92 Camaro RS Convertible Project
79 Chevy Truck Project
1956 Cadillac Project
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And then we get to the scary number. The 5.3 rebuild cost for the motor that is not assembled:
5.3 LS REBUILD 260.41 Cam Swap 299.47 Gaskets, Oil Pump, Timing Chain 156.86 Crank - Polish & Bearings (Crankshaft Supply ) 465.29 Rods Scat - 2-350-6125-2100 476.21 Pistons Forged .005 over 98.92 Piston rings 176.59 Head Bolts (ARP 134-3609) 126.52 Intake Valves - Summit 27.81 Cam Bearings 73.81 Knock Sensors 49.23 Knock Sensor Harness 81.53 Head Gaskets Felpro 210.99 Lifters 238.42 Rockers 664.27 Balancing, honing, cam bearing install, block prep 550.00 Heads - Machine work - and clean misc parts 3,956.32 LS Rebuild Cost on Motor Not Used Chris - HRPT Long Haul 03, 04, 05, 13, 14, 15,16 & 18
74 Nova Project
66 Mustang GT Project
92 Camaro RS Convertible Project
79 Chevy Truck Project
1956 Cadillac Project
- Likes 1
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My plan when I bought the junk yard motor was to run it for a while then swap it out for the rebuilt one at a later date - selling the JY motor to recoup some $. If I was on track with that plan the truck would have the new motor in it and the one in the truck would already be sold. As it is now, the motor in the truck seems to be running very well. It has 60lbs of oil pressure and probably enough HP & torque for what I want it to do. This has me wondering what I should do with the rebuilt mill after assembly. We've tossed around the idea of using it in the Caddy but we are not sure that is the right choice. We've got time to make that decision though as the soonest we would start blowing the Caddy apart is next year in July (after the 50's weekend). The Nova is also another option, but that runs so well and is so generally "right" I really don't want to mess with it that way.
Stopped at the frame shop yesterday and he is confident it can be fixed. Unfortunately, he is crazy busy and doesn't know when he can get to it. I am hoping for sometime before spring. My new front springs showed up a couple of days ago so that is this weekends project. Stay tuned for revised ride height pictures.
Chris - HRPT Long Haul 03, 04, 05, 13, 14, 15,16 & 18
74 Nova Project
66 Mustang GT Project
92 Camaro RS Convertible Project
79 Chevy Truck Project
1956 Cadillac Project
- Likes 1
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Originally posted by SuperBuickGuy View Postneed new project for 'unloved' motor you're welcomeChris - HRPT Long Haul 03, 04, 05, 13, 14, 15,16 & 18
74 Nova Project
66 Mustang GT Project
92 Camaro RS Convertible Project
79 Chevy Truck Project
1956 Cadillac Project
- Likes 3
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Its been 2 years since the last update. Shortly after the last update I swapped out the front springs and instantly had an uneven condition left to right by a noticeable amount. I played around with spacers and finally ended up about 1.5" up. iirc - the springs are supposed to be a matched set but I have a spacer in one side to get it level.
Chris - HRPT Long Haul 03, 04, 05, 13, 14, 15,16 & 18
74 Nova Project
66 Mustang GT Project
92 Camaro RS Convertible Project
79 Chevy Truck Project
1956 Cadillac Project
- Likes 2
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I have been unsuccessful in getting it to the frame shop and have been wondering lately if I got it aligned at all. Based on the following picture, the answer is kind of:
Chris - HRPT Long Haul 03, 04, 05, 13, 14, 15,16 & 18
74 Nova Project
66 Mustang GT Project
92 Camaro RS Convertible Project
79 Chevy Truck Project
1956 Cadillac Project
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I did this in November of 2021 after I got the front height "right". It tracks well and the tires look ok as far as wear goes. In the 2 years I've had it on the road I've logged about 6,300 miles. After we got the front end squared away we added the receiver hitch to the back and started doing truck stuff:
Chris - HRPT Long Haul 03, 04, 05, 13, 14, 15,16 & 18
74 Nova Project
66 Mustang GT Project
92 Camaro RS Convertible Project
79 Chevy Truck Project
1956 Cadillac Project
- Likes 2
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Did a bunch of miles for project Annie since then as well:
Chris - HRPT Long Haul 03, 04, 05, 13, 14, 15,16 & 18
74 Nova Project
66 Mustang GT Project
92 Camaro RS Convertible Project
79 Chevy Truck Project
1956 Cadillac Project
- Likes 2
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