My 1990 Chevy K1500

[vargsmetal]

Fans look like they were made for that rad.

I can't take credit for finding them. I found out about using the Ford fan assembly on the LS Swapped OBS Facebook page. I'm using APDI P/N 6018152 and they go for around $100 on Rockauto. I got new connector pigtails for it off Ebay, or rockauto has them for around $20 each. Best option would be to find the fan and harness in a truck at a junkyard. I believe anything 2010 and up with a 4.6 or 5.4 could have them.

The radiator is the Spectra CU624 also from Rockauto.

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[vargsmetal]

I haven't posted much on this because I've still been messing with the fuel system and theres not much there to photograph. The new tank, filler neck and hoses are in. I just need to make the hoses down to the hardlines.

I took a break from that and started installing the trans cooler. It's a Trucool 40k, P/N 47391. I welded (poorly) the brackets to the core support for a somewhat cleaner install. Maybe it was just an excuse to break out the welder.

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[vargsmetal]

The welds got better as I went and played with machine settings. I took the cooler back off and hit the core support with some paint to delay the rust. Plumbing followed and when the rest of my AN 6 adapters show up the transmission cooler lines and fuel lines will be all hooked up.

I didnt get any pics of it but I started working on the engine wiring harness again. I had to replace the connector for the cam sensor because it was chewed up, and I re-routed some ground wires and the crank sensor wiring. The battery cable, starter solenoid wire, and the crank sensor wiring normally wrap around the engine to get to the starter area. It's a common failure point for the small wires to get brittle and break with the heat. I'm running the crank sensor wires on top of the engine with everything else and it will drop down the back of the cylinder head. The starter and solenoid wires will route along the core support and the frame and come in from the side.

I also worked on cleaning up the old 4wd wiring harness. Theres switched power for the front axle actuator and switch, along with the VSS and transfer case switch. My old NP241 doesnt have the 4low switch position so I will have to have a switch on the dash to tell the PCM I'm in 4 low so it can change the shift points. I'll also wire in a tow/haul switch.

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[vargsmetal]

Tons of stuff has happened since the last update. There was tons of wiring, lots of head scratching, welding, cutting, etc... I'm pushing hard to get the truck ready for Northeast Adventure Company's Cruise to the Clouds trip in NH starting June 7th. I feel like I need some tense music playing and Jack Bauer yelling at me "we're running out of time!" like an episode of 24. I'm going to split up what's happened over the next few posts. Sorry if some of the pictures seem out of order. There was a ton of things happening all at once to get this project moving along.

I made all the battery cables. Alternator and some of the grounds are 6AWG welding cable, the starter and main engine/frame grounds are 2AWG welding cable. The Bussman RTMR fuse/relay boxes are fed by Littlefuse MIDI fuse blocks. I don't like fusible links, so I'm using MIDI fuses for the factory power wiring to keep everything in the dash powered up and power windows, etc... The alternator is also fused by one of them separately so there will be less noise on the main buss. One of the RTMRs is just for the engine, trans, and cooling fans. The other is for the headlights and any other accessories I add in. I rewired the headlights into the RTMR because stock all the headlight power goes through the switch on the dash. The switches don't last very long before you start getting intermittent connections. One fuse and two relays for low/high beam is all it took, leaving me tons room in the RTMR for add-ons.

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[vargsmetal]

This old timer came to hang out in the garage for awhile. He liked my work. My dog wasnt super happy about the intrusion though.

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[vargsmetal]

To get motivated I worked towards firing the engine up as soon as possible. I knew it wouldn't be drivable but I just wanted to hear it. I didnt have the y pipe in so no O2 sensors, my intake is still in the mail so no MAF/IAT sensor. But that didnt matter. I primed the fuel system multiple times, checking for leaks. All looked good so I hit the key and it fired right up. Open exhaust manifolds and all at 11pm. This was huge for me. First time re-working an engine harness to make it standalone, first time installing an engine not original to a vehicle, first time doing an extensive re-wire of a vehicle, and it all went perfectly.

After that victory is back to figuring out all the little details that go into making a vehicle move. I went to rockauto, autozone, and advance auto and all of thier databases agreed that I needed a Moog 290 u joint for the rear driveshaft. Wrong. Because my truck has the semi float 9.5in 14 bolt instead of the 8.5 10 bolt it uses standard Spicer 1350 joints on both ends of the driveshaft. That crossed to a Moog 232 that was in stock locally so I bought one to get me going again. I'll order some solid u joints later.

I got a spectre intake from autozone so I could atleast drive the truck for now. The Hummer H2 intake I have on order should fit nicer into the space on top of the wheel well leaving room for a second battery later.

I had problems with the power steering not working at all. Turned out to be the oring on the return line in the gearbox was cut so the pump was just sucking air I'm guessing. Once I figured that out I was able to bleed it just turning the wheel back and forth. I ordered the adapter kit for my hand vacuum pump so I can bleed it more thoroughly. I put the y pipe on so I could install the up stream O2 sensors and go for a drive. It was stupid loud obviously but everything was working well.

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[vargsmetal]

The main resource I used for implementing the Bussman RTMRs is http://www.bodenzord.com/archives/473

The boxes, fuse block, heatshrink, etc is pretty much all from Waytek or Delcity. The welding cable is from Amazon. There is a ton of copper claded aluminum wire on Amazon so be sure to find pure copper stuff. All the crimps for the 6AWG and 2AWG were done with a hammer crimper. Hex style hydraulic crimper would be nicer but the hammer style works. All the connections were covered with adhesive lined heatshrink, and bundled/protected with Tesa tape.

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[vargsmetal]

I drove the truck up to my fiances father's shop to do a bunch of fabrication work. We built the RTT rack, started the rear bumper that will have a tire swing out, and got the exhaust on. The rack is all 2x2 1/8 wall and stupid heavy, fully welded. The bumper is 3x4 1/4 wall with 3/4 thick brackets bolted to the frame with six 1/2 grade 8 bolts. The brackets extend through the bumper tube creating ideal recovery points. I had a local steel supply house laser cut the brackets for me to my CAD drawing. Fitting the brackets required torching out the spare tire crossmember, but any rigidity lost was replaced with the bumper.

Later on I will put a reciever in with triangulation for any towing I want to do with this truck. While only a 1500 I put the light duty 2500 4+1 spring packs on, so the extra weight is not a major issue. These are the correct spring packs for the 14 bolt the truck came with.

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[chilliwak]

Looking good Mr Varg. That truck is going to be nice when you are done. Thanks for posting up with pics. Keep up the good work. Cheers, Chilli..?

 

[vargsmetal]

Looking good Mr Varg. That truck is going to be nice when you are done. Thanks for posting up with pics. Keep up the good work. Cheers, Chilli..

I don't think this truck will ever be done. I already catch myself thinking about the next stage of upgrades. But for now, it drives awesome. I love the power of the 5.3. I do miss the shorter first gear of the 700R4 but it still takes off hard. Exhaust is loud around town but settles into a nice burble on the highway with no drone.

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[vargsmetal]

Side note in case anybody is wondering, I don't miss the 350 at all. The 5.3 is awesome.

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[Buddha.]

Side note in case anybody is wondering, I don't miss the 350 at all. The 5.3 is awesome.

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I was wondering how they’d compare power/mpg.

 

[vargsmetal]

Power is no contest. The 5.3 wins. I haven't fully loaded the truck down yet, but it moves out much quicker than it used to even with the taller first gear of the 4L80e. Highway cruising it doesn't have to downshift to pass or go up hills.

Jury is still out on mileage. I should have a good average in the next few weeks.

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[chilliwak]

I was running a tired old 350 in my truck forever. I bought a built 327 with 11 to 1 compresion ratio and a lumpy cam. Probably got another 50 to 100 hp out of it. I love the 327 or 5.3. Cheers, Chilli... ?

 

[vargsmetal]

I was running a tired old 350 in my truck forever. I bought a built 327 with 11 to 1 compresion ratio and a lumpy cam. Probably got another 50 to 100 hp out of it. I love the 327 or 5.3. Cheers, Chilli...

They're different beasts of course. Nothing wrong with the gen 1 small block; comparing my 170k 30 yr old TBI 350 to any gen 3 engine is not fair. If I had a newer, healthy vortec 5.7L truck I probably would not have bothered with the swap. The 5.3L is nicer to work on for me and easily has 80hp on my old 350. Torque is roughly the same, and I imagine fuel consumption will be similar.

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