The Black Pearls LM7 5.3 LS SWAP!

SO I guess the time has came early for my 5.3L LS swap on The Black Pearl!!

LET THE HATE BEGIN!!!

I have a buddy that is a drag-racer but started working for a ****ty speed shop in the area and now he is burnt out from engines and all that; He is getting into guns and i have built a few ARs. We did some talking the other weekend and we figured that one of my ARs is worth about the same as his 400-450 horse Gen3 LM7 (706 heads, Gen4 internals. Titanium valve springs, retainers and guides)

Currently the piston rings are gaped and it has a cam setup for spray but he just hadn't gotten around to get nitro setup in the car yet. This is in a late 80s Monte Carlo BTW.

This are some pictures i loaded on my SAS build thread so i will post them up here to keep it all in one place.

This is just a general picture i found on google but thats pretty much the setup i am getting.

I have some 2010 Camaro exhaust manifolds that will be used (IF they fit!) that he threw in as well.

I went to the wrecking yard last weekend and picked up a 2000 tahoe fuseblock, harness, MAF and PCM for $40.65 out the door.

Started pulling it apart and removing ALL un-needed circuits, Factory fuse block, A/C, EVAP, Trans and a few other circuits.

i also added a few circuits such as a secondary ground circuit for the Taurus 2-speed fan i have installed. The fans are controlled by the PCM, the PCM sends ground to the fan relays to turn them on/off at set temps (that will be programmed into the PCM when it gets tuned).

This is what we have left:

To clean things up in the engine bay i am going to use a Corvette style fuel system. There is no fuel pressure regulator on the fuel rail, it in in-line on the frame rail. It also uses a return-less system incorporated into the fuel filter, with the regulator.

450 is overkill but this pump is a direct for to the explorer in-tank fuel pump according to Walbro.

This fuel filter will replace the factory Explorer fuel filter. It is a Corvette fuel filter with a built in fuel pressure regulator. With a return line back to the tank for unused fuel.

These engines require 60PSI fuel pressure and the 1gen explorers are only pushing around 30-40 PSI.

 

[KurtECV]

Something i found today that i am excited about!

A york OBA compressor mount for the LS!!

AT $150 bucks and it comes with the tensioner you cant pass that up

 

[gmanpaint]

Ah, I misunderstood where the pump was mounted. Wasn't making sense to me.

 

[KurtECV]

Yup the 450lph pump will be in the tank, and the C5 (vette) fuel filter/regulator will be replacing the factory explorer fuel filter.

 

[BKennedy]

Something i found today that i am excited about!

A york OBA compressor mount for the LS!!View attachment 166152
AT $150 bucks and it comes with the tensioner you cant pass that up

Are you going to drill a hole in the hood for it to clear, or is that just the picture angle?

I love my 700R4 transmission. It has a lower first gear and OD, with no PCM necessary, and there are a bunch of transfer case adaptor options. LS, 700R4, 3.8 Atlas II...……...ohhh yeah!!

 

[KurtECV]

Are you going to drill a hole in the hood for it to clear, or is that just the picture angle?

I love my 700R4 transmission. It has a lower first gear and OD, with no PCM necessary, and there are a bunch of transfer case adaptor options. LS, 700R4, 3.8 Atlas II...……...ohhh yeah!!

I think it's the picture. I noticed that myself but compared it to the top of the intake

 

[410Fortune]

"Does anyone had a link to a how to on pushing the radiator into the core support on the 1gens?"

I have put/mounted the radiator inside the core support on a few Gen I's now without hacking it all up
You have to remove the bottom of the core support between the two body mount pucks.
Stick your radiator in there where you want it and build a new bottom support
I use a 20# cap on the radiator itself and a in line filler in the upper hose at the highest point using a stock 16# cap
In theory the lower cap should never open, but just in case it does I used a "t" on the overflow hose so they both lead to the overflow tank
Another good option is to get a radiator with no cap or weld your current rad shut.
I can get some pics.......

 

[410Fortune]

Not the best pics but you get the idea, build a new crossbar that dips down low enough to pick up the bottom of the radiator, bolts to the existing core support. We also added dimple dyes to let some air flow and add strength
You could weld it in but we chose to bolt just in case we need to remove it or repair.

This setup uses a all aluminum tig welded 4.0L dual core with auto radiator from Ebay made for a gen I explorer. In this 1984 Ranger it cools a 370HP (crank) GT40 302 with 4r70w and NP205

 

[KurtECV]

That's ****in awesome

 

[KurtECV]

Only took us an hour to pull the engine and trans separately.

I had forgot that he ported and polished the 706 heads.

Also forgot that he was running the Monte with manual steering and cut the bracket in half to clear his steering box. Might look into if/how I can take advantage of that while still running power steering

 

[KurtECV]

He also let me borrow his G-Body headman headers to see if they fit (we are both doubtful) with the possibility of buying them for $100. Not pretty and rust scalled. But hey if they work or at least get me close I can massage them to work lmao

 

[KurtECV]

For further reference, the engine has the following (this will be updated as needed) :

Titanium springs that are good for .650 lift.
36# EV-1 injectors
Monte Carlo LS SWAP motor mount plates.
Comp Cams Rocker Trunnion Upgrade

 

[josh40601]

sub'd so I can steal ideas in the future.

 

[KurtECV]

Thats what its here for lmao. @josh40601 I am going to copy and paste your reply from the SAS build thread to here so it can be kept for referance.

 

[KurtECV]

Still will do the swap when the 5L dies, but my truck is far from a stock engine bay. The ranger and explorer engine bay is pretty much the same in every model. The only difference is location of fuse box, coolant tank, charcoal canister, and air intake.

A lot of things you'll have to do Kurt, the factory A/C and heater box will not fit. There is no way around it. If you want to retain heat and air, you'll need to convert it to an aftermarket under the dash setup or cut the factory up. The whole area that comes off the firewall wants to live exactly where the passenger side valve cover lives. You'll need to swap to a Toyota style power steering box because the factory ford box will want to reside where the power steering pump goes. The other option is to go with a street rod front serpentine setup where it esentially moves everything to the top. The truck water pump will work, but you will need an aftermarket radiator with e-fans. I believe the Corvetter W/P has a weird inlet. The F body water pump will work too, but you still need the E-fans. You will need to plumb in a cylinder head vent into the radiator or water pump (lots of write ups on this). you will have to trim the inside of the radiator support to make the 90* elbow for the air intake. The truck intake I believe will hit the lip where the hood closes, so you can either hack all that out and sheet metal a new one in, or swap to an LS1/LS6 intake. Those fit just fine in the firewall indention. S10 Swap headers will fit with some massaging on the passenger frame rail. The driveshaft location for the front diff is weird. This is why most of the prerunner guys with LS's are 2wd. I think that is all I can remember. Whalstrom1, I dunno if he is on here or not, stuffed a 6L into his 94ish ranger. It too is very customized, and I can't remember if he swapped the intake but i think he did.

All of the stuff above is just what I have gathered in my research. Is it all a fact? doubt it. Can it be done without doing all that stuff? probably. I'll be following your build to see how it goes for sure. When I perform my swap, I'm cutting the whole front of the frame off and building it to fit the engine and transmission. I say "I" and by what I mean by that is "I will be paying a shop with WAYYY more skill than I have"

 

[KurtECV]

@josh40601 Also i am sure it has not been mentioned much (if at all) i do have a 3 inch body lift on my rig installed from the previous owner, that has always been in the back of my mind while doing this swap.

Hopefully that will help with clearance on things

 

[410Fortune]

3" body lift gives you massive amounts of room!!
As much as I hate body lifts I do love the amount of space you get for a drivetrain to fit
My BII has a slight body DROP and I still stuffed it all in there

 

[KurtECV]

3" body lift gives you massive amounts of room!!
As much as I hate body lifts I do love the amount of space you get for a drivetrain to fit
My BII has a slight body DROP and I still stuffed it all in there

I am the same way. I hate body lifts but @gmanpaint has been telling me to remove the BL because my rig sits so high with the SAS but i told him my plans for the LS a few months ago and that it would be better to keep it.

 

[KurtECV]

The plan for the NP435 is to install a Gear Banger shifter from Wild Horses 4x4 to clean things up in the cab.

4.0l to Np435 conversion

Pretty good pictures of where the shifter comes out pretty much under the dash... The early bronco guys have been doing NP435s for years and they really like the gear-banger

 

[410Fortune]

sheesh you could push your 4.0 ohv/302 back about 8-10" into the firewall with that short new process in there, holy bent shifter batman!
Whats wrong with the M5OD-R2? LMFAO

 

[KurtECV]

The Ford np435 is 6.67:1 first gear. The lowest of all stock manual trans.

There are a few explorers I know of that are running them. With that gear banger kit you litterally cut the shifter off and leave it under the dash.