Motor Swap Help!
December 27th, 2010, 8:26 PM
#21
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well i mean 150k isnt bad at all, my 97 just rolled over 240,000 miles on what i believe to be the original engine, and i did an oil change today (really shouldnt have waited 10,000 miles) and put some sea foam through the vacuum lines and in the gas and man it runs like brand new, so im defidently not affraid of 150,000 miles but i mean that doesnt mean you cant do a cheap rebuild, like cam/crank shaft bearing and piston rings, and youll have an engine that will run for a good long time, so id defidently jump on that and then rebuild the tranny yourself, you can practically have a brand new truck for pretty cheap
December 27th, 2010, 8:31 PM
#22
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and the thing about trannys is, once they start going out, they dont get better, only worse, so the fact that youve had a problem with it means that sooner or later it will go bad, its like a ticking time bomb, so you mine as well do both together
December 27th, 2010, 8:35 PM
#23
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i also have a ninety seven k1500. i have done a full motor swap from a long block( heads down) and a new tranny and a new rearend. plus exhaust and sound and tires. dont sell your truck if you are putting money in. i got twelve deep in my truck and i can only sell it four twenty six. you will never get what you put into it. throw in a vortec three fifty and since you already got everything out throw on some pacesettter shorty headers. also just a suggestion throw in a multiport injector system instead of stock direct port. you will have urself a beaslty truck for under fifteen hundred if you look hard enough for a motor. mine was a reman with brand new everything. paid elven hundred and got a four hundred dollar core return. spent the time and do it yourself. not hard at all
December 27th, 2010, 9:28 PM
#24
Before thinking about that 350 swap You need to look at whats involved. It is alot more work than a simple 4.3 Engine Swap. I just did this swap and it is still being finished up Mind you I had an entire parts truck I got everything from. You will Need a Full Vortec 350 with ALL sensors, Wiring Harness, Computer, And Engine mounts as the 4.3 Mounts are different. If your short on time and funds or will sell the truck in the near Future stay with the 4.3
December 28th, 2010, 9:45 PM
#26
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not really just time, trials, and errors, but well worth it in the end, if I had known then(when I started my TPI 327 conversion) what I know now, it would have been an LS series swap instead. just my 2 nickles worth
December 29th, 2010, 8:50 AM
#27
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Im not planning on keeping my truck much more then a year if I can sell it by then. But yea after hearing all the input on the tranny and it being a ticking time bomb it doesnt look good. The funds are low and time keeps passing with no vehicle. I called another garage and yet again no motor. He actually said $800 for a motor with 150k seems really high. By the time everythings done I'll be around $7000 deep with the truck being a year and a half old.
Like I said im also looking for a cheap beater to get me through the winter. It's whatever comes first. The good thing about the beater is that I'll have much more time to find a decent and better motor and possibly parts for the tranny. The bad thing is that the beater will cost money and it will more then likely need repairs as well.
My parents blazer has the 4.3L also and my mom claimed the other day its running bad, ticking, and wrapping (she doesnt know a ton about vehicles). So now we might be down two motors from Chevys! );
Like I said im also looking for a cheap beater to get me through the winter. It's whatever comes first. The good thing about the beater is that I'll have much more time to find a decent and better motor and possibly parts for the tranny. The bad thing is that the beater will cost money and it will more then likely need repairs as well.
My parents blazer has the 4.3L also and my mom claimed the other day its running bad, ticking, and wrapping (she doesnt know a ton about vehicles). So now we might be down two motors from Chevys! );
December 29th, 2010, 11:11 AM
#28
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yeah thats proably th best thing right now, i mean my truck has been owned by me for almost 2 years and ive replaced the tranny 4 times, power steering pump twice, alternator.....blah blah blah, the list goes on and on, but my point is ive always had more then one vehicle as back up, as much as i hate to admit it i also have a dodge neon beater, my sister owned it before me and beat the hell out of it and it looks terrible, but shes been a good back up vehicle and has been driven for 6 months at a time so i had the time to fix my truck and still have a vehicle to go to work and stuff, so id defidently suggest finding a beater for the time being(only thing is i recently blew the tranny in the neonator so i have been rebuilding that transmission lately too)
December 29th, 2010, 7:16 PM
#29
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If I may put my philosophy in at this point, I just turned 51 this month, and I am past the Bling stage of my life. My plan is get a nice looking older truck with a blown motor (accomplished, traded a 2wd daily driver, +$400 my way) rebuild everything under the hood (done $2000 invested) if trans goes out ($300 for rebuild kit, work to be done by me ) the Idea is to not go into debt any more than necessary
December 30th, 2010, 2:48 AM
#30
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If I may put my philosophy in at this point, I just turned 51 this month, and I am past the Bling stage of my life. My plan is get a nice looking older truck with a blown motor (accomplished, traded a 2wd daily driver, +$400 my way) rebuild everything under the hood (done $2000 invested) if trans goes out ($300 for rebuild kit, work to be done by me ) the Idea is to not go into debt any more than necessary