Bojangles

Alright fellas, first off ive got a 1987 Single cab Toyota pickup, no engine, transmission is still in, I plan on taking that out depending on whether or not i decide to do this 5.3 swap.
I also have a 2000 Single cab Chevrolet z71 with the 5.3 327 motor transmission and transfer case...
Im taking it out because of the fact that both rear end and front end gears are torn apart in the Z. "It was obviously a mud truck when i bought it for 800 dollars"
The motor does not have more than 10,000 miles on it, and transmission 27,000 miles on it, so i figured the motor itself was worth 800.
Im planning on taking this motor, transmission, and transfer case out and putting it in my 87 yota.



Although i have searched quite a bit, ive failed to find someone who has done this and lived to talk about it, and maybe im just looking in the wrong places...
But if im correct this is going to be really hard...
Now with everything that ive told you, how hard do you really think it will be to get this engine in there and make it run?
Im not worried about motor mounts and all of that good stuff, i can weld new ones on...
But someone give me a rundown on your experience and what you think this is going to A. cost me B. am i going to be working on this for the next 3 years? C. Will i have to switch to a straight axle and leaf springs instead of the independent suspension ive got right now? or should i just leave the independent suspension in there?
Its my first truck, and i happened to find it at the scrap yard a year after i sold it, i would hate to let this truck go to waste.
SO...with all of that being said.....
Who know's what???

85gijunk4x4

if youre good at fabricateing it should go in good, youre gonna hafta do alot of cutting and welding supports on and such. my next concern is electrical, none ofthe harnesses are gonna match up or anything. if you dont really care and its only gonna be a mud truck thats fine, but for a dd, its gonna be hard to get all your gauges working, and dash lights and such. you shouldnt have to worry about your tranny or transfer case lining up, because if it doesnt, its easy enough to adjust.

oh...and you might have to ditch ifs for a sfa, to get more room in your engine bay

Bojangles

Yeah this is going to mostly be a mud truck, but im going to probably end up driving occasionally to show it off.
But as far as how hard this is going to be...Any ideas?

MaK92-4RnR

Relatively simple. theres people that swap in the 350s all the time...

google NWOR, I believe they make aftermarket headers, motor mounts, and kits to complete chevy/ford swaps.

Bojangles

Yeah, ive seen them all over then internet, but when you go big, you have big problems, so im trying to figure out if i try and do this...Is it gonna be worth all of the time, money, and effort, or should i just put new gears in the Z and play with it?....Decisions decisions...

MaK92-4RnR

The "problems" you are refering to. Are they about the Toyota drivetrain? our drivetrain is pretty strong, in comparisons. It might not be able to handle you WOT all the time, but if you're just put putting around town? no biggie. If you're gonna turn your truck into a mud bogger anyway, you might as well put some full width's on it. then you wont have an issue.

Bojangles

No not really talking about all of that, im not worried about that one bit, If anything i will mostly keep it out of 4wd and i might put 5.29 gearing in it.
But im just trying to figure out how hard it will be to make all of this fit. And where im going to put the radiator if it doesn't fit...All of that good stuff.
I think it would be awesome to do, and im very mechanically inclined...But ive never EVER done anything like this.

Dento77

iTrader: (4)

i'd part out the Z71 and build a carbed 350 vortec with a TH350/NP205 instead if you are set on a chevy v8. depending on what transfer is in the Z it could be a wiring nightmare to get everything working right. then you need to upgrade the fuel system as well. should get the pcm tuned as well...
http://www.lt1swap.com/2000harness.htm
i used these guys to put a LT1 in a gm pickup last winter. a LSx harness is a ton easier to work with but still going to be a HUGE challenge to get everything working like it should.

Bojangles

Ya know...Im starting to think it might be easier to set my toyota body on the Z71 frame and MAKE it fit haha

Primetime91

As far as I know, the LSx based Chevy motors (Including the 5.3) are slightly wider than a traditional small block chevy. You're gonna have a tricky time fitting the exhaust in there I think

xxxtreme22r

if it's a mud truck you can always go through the hood with the headers.

Primetime91

Heh, true that.

To the O.P., what is your motivation really for considering the 5.3?

I'm gonna assume that a tight budget doesn't fit into this.

If you're simply after a decent amount of power, personally I'd look toward other swaps that are more popular already (I.E., well documented so you know what you're getting into)

If you're doing it for the amazing potential the LS motors have to offer, then why just a 5.3? That block can be safely bored out to a 5.7 346ci (and larger), just the same as the LS1 (And use stock LS1 pistons to boot, on a budget)

With a good tune, a cam and headers only 5.7 can easily make 400 horsepower without losing streetability... Try that with a 3.0 The wiring harnesses are not too difficult to convert to a stand-alone system, believe it or not.

But if those numbers are way higher than you need, personally I think you'd be farther ahead by looking at a different swap. Just my 2 cents

Bojangles

You make a really good point,
The only reason i was considering this swap was because i already have the motor, transmission and transfercase ready to put in it.
And its not a swap that most people end up doing, So it would be unique.

This is going to be a mud truck, so i might just run the exhaust out of the hood,
(I always did want stacks in the ole yota)

75k5toy

I'm doing my swap very simple/unexpensive. 350/350/205, first you need to make room for them, I have a 1 1/4" B/J spacers, 1" front differential drop, 3" body lift. I had to give the firewall some punches here and there, but all those are on, I used some old downey engine mounts, and on the cross member I cut the sides of the chevy, and sitted on top of the toyota. the radiator is from a 7? 1 ton. dodge truck, 26w x 24tall will need to cut a piece off the pass/s body mount. have enough room to use a straigh fan (no clutch) my JBA headers fit ok had to work the drop pipes around the torsion bars. still have lots of work to do. you need to take your time on this project, it's not easy, but it's fun. good luck.