1969w3155

Here's something for breakfast, Aceshigh!

supertrucker1978

Well, I'm new here and saw this thread and thought "Sweet, Im not the only one interested in LS swaps" I know there are many purists when it comes to cars that aren't Chevys. But I am planning on doing a LS swap into my '53 and hope I don't get frowned upon for doing this.

Lady72nRob71

That needs to be in my fridge for sure! Wonder where you get it?

If you keep your build in this non-olds section, you'll be fine. There are quite a few who are experimenting with newer non-Olds engine options.
Personally I like to see how they are done. It clearly shows who has the most patience!
The biggest negative i see is the amount of work to do such a swap. The electronics is even another pita...

Aceshigh

Ewww....lookie there, another lurker coming out of the woodwork making his LS aspirations known.
More power to ya , and post up your work, there are like minded enthusiasts who would enjoy seeing it in THIS section.

Venture outside of here, and you have the purist's that will not show much love for ito unfortunately.
When you do the entire swap yourself, it's easier then a BBO install.....guaranteed.
Want to know the hardest part of the engine ?? The mounts......and that's really not that difficult.

You have to figure each person's knowledge of starting from square 1 with any engine swap.
Assuming a person wanted to do a BBO or LS with zero knowledge to start, it's not very different.

The key to success is research and knowledge of what works, and what doesn't.
5+ years ago an LS swap was 100x more challenging because swaps were still in the infancy stages

with little knowledge being shared from the guys who could figure it out on their own.
Trust me, I was doing one and had to pay for most of it to get done.

There's a wealth of information these days of what does/doesn't work out there being shared.
So this saves people ALOT of headaches trying to get things to fit. Thank GOD for forums right ??

Luckily for Oldsmobile enthusiasts, the A-body has the Chevelle guys who have done 1000's of these.
BTW the computer flashing and harness mods can be done for $400 these days by reputable places.

Where else can you get 400-500hp (SAE/Net hp, NOT pre-1972 Gross hp!!)
Then you also get fuel injection, VVT, with daily driver functionality and 15/25mpg out of a 442.
Plus, these engines have been shown to respond VERY WELL to boost, and 1000hp on stock internals is feasible.

Mine will be seeing a turbo or two in it's near future.......

nonhog

Hey! I want one. Local Beer? never seen that one.
I wont frown. Welcome!

Carbed LS ? Are you refering to the 53 or your type of car?
Seems far fetched. Not trying to be combative I just don't understand.

J-(Chicago)

Now THAT is cool!!

Aceshigh

Carbed or Fuel Injected makes no difference in difficulty really.....that's just personal choice.
Either way you need a computer to run it.

I'm talking about my car which is very commonly sought after and in higher demand,
so logic prevails to reveal more people are doing it with these cars.

Follow ?? So with the more common vehicles comes the aftermarket support.
Why?? Because a 1968-1972 A-body Olds 442, Chevelle, Buick GS, GTO are
the pinnacle of the muscle car era to most enthusiasts. 64-67's also have a following doing it.

When I say "Aftermarket support" the biggest thing is headers. Necessary?? Not really.
The rest is nothing but mounts, and once you figure the mounts and headers,
the rest is just putting the engine into the engine bay and wiring it up.

If a 1953's engine bay is big enough to fit a SBO, then it can most certainly fit an LS
without much complication. After all, the hardest part is putting the engine on the mounts
and clearing the accessory drives.

As for a 1953's transmission choice, I can't answer if that stock one would bolt up to the LS or not.
However, I'd wonder why anyone would update their engine and not their transmission personally.

Lady72nRob71

Yes, it would be a real bear for me to figure out, but true - I bet there is a procedure that would guide one through it. All about what you know or where to ask. I am just not that experienced in big swaps like that. In fact no experience. I have one writeup here about what it takes to shoehorn a 460 into a Pinto. God; I will take the LS swap any day over that!
When I get a bigger place later on with a shop, i might finally have a chance at doing an engine swap!

supertrucker1978

I'm no lurker!!! I just joined Ive helped on a couple ls swaps in S-10's and considered doing one in my 95 C1500 daily. But now that I have this project and the daily is still running strong so why tear it apart. Ive always been a fan of the pro-touring look and I really think that my '53 is going to lean that way since every aspect of the car needs updating. I plan to drive the wheels off this thing. The mounts arent really an issue for me because the front end will be fabbed up with a mustang II crossmember and as for the wiring there are outfits that will build a stand alone harness for a few hundred bucks. Im thinking of doing a DBW (drive by wire) which will make any throttle pedal/linkage issues non existent. Im really looking forward to this project. The transmission will probably be a 4l60 even though a T56 would be sweet .....Just have to start saving my pennies

Aceshigh

Rob , I'm not the Lord of engine swaps.....
Last season I wasn't sure how to pull an Olds engine by myself. LOL

This is my second, but technically my first since I'm doin 100% of this.
I was so apprehensive about what wires went where, what I had to pull....etc.

Now after yanking the old and putting in the new, I can't believe how simple it was.

nonhog

So Aces I am hearing what your saying as its not a difficult job due to the
support in the LS world of swaps.
I'm knee deep in a 5.0 Ford EFI swap in a Volvo and mating the Volvo harness to the Explorer harness is not rocket science but makes the swap much much harder than a carb'd swap. Will make a nice driver for the Mrs. when done.
Don't worry Olds lovers I'm not posting a build here.
However I am seriously considering either a Quad 4, Aurora or an old school 215 swap in another Volvo (also the Mrs.) a 66 Amazon wagon. I thought about an LS swap but I just think pulling into a BOP race with a Volvo would be fun. For me anyway!

garys 68

5 years ago LS adapter mounts were $100, now they're $40. ECU programming was $300, now it's $75. Harness wiring was black magic, now you can do it yourself in a day by following links like this:
http://www.lt1swap.com/wiringharness.htm
DBW used to be scary, nevermind it's probably on your daily driver, now it's an easy way to get cruise control with about 4 extra wires.
I cant even start to tell you how easy my second swap, the 442, was compared to the first. Mostly because of parts and info availability.
btw anyone see a trend here?
supertrucker, any help meeded, let us know. And post your build thread with lots of pics.

1969w3155

http://www.foundersbrewing.com/ There ya go. Grandville Michigan. about 40minutes from me.

Lady72nRob71

Lucky you - right down the road!
They do not distribute to TX...

Aceshigh

Non-hog , "difficult" is up to how willing the would be engine swapper is willing to sit and read and learn.
It's not a cake walk, it requires people to read alot and ask questions and learn.

But yeah, I'm a Telecom/Network engineer......not a mechanic.

Well in that case, welcome to the LS madness.

See Gary did alot of research and even helped me find some cheaper things to make my life easier.
I was intimately familiar with the Conversion section on LS1tech but he had cliff notes.
In fact, he's what inspired me to jump into doing my 2nd swap solo on my own since he did it so well.

I still wasn't brave enough to tackle the ECM rewire though even with the above link.
I outsourced that for the $400, because I didn't want to pay for the software to do it myself and learn it.

But no joke, he found the adaptor plates for $30 off a guy on Ebay and guys were selling these things for $100 a pop before.
Here's the $30 plates.