lt1 into 1965 chevy pickup

[IronOutlaw]

Me and my dad were over at a friends house over the weekend and spotted a 65 chevy sitting in the back yard. It had a built 327 in it and has got a good trans and rear in it now. It has a pretty straight body and we looked at it for a while then left when we were done talking to his friend.

Well on the way home i was like that truck would be bad ass with my firebird motor in it just kinda kidding around, and then my dad agreed and called his friend to see if he'll sell it. Ive got a camaro now and was going to make the firebird into a racecar. The only thing cooler than a racecar to me is a racetruck.:devil:

Has anyone done a swap similar to this and how hard is the wiring to do it?

[VendettaV8]

sounds heavy....

[Fixxer99TA]

Sounds cool, you will have pleanty of space to work with I am sure :D

Like stated above though, sounds heavy.... But will no doubt still be badass!

[Tyler Wheat]

I did this swap in my 1996 Sierra that I had. It was originally a V6 truck, so that had to change. Worked my ass off when I was 16 to save up enough money to do the swap. I didn't know much about wiring then. It took me a hell of a long time (with alot of my friend's help) to get it done. It was definately the learning experience, however. That swap wasn't really something you could just go get John Doe Mechanics Shop's advice on. It was all up to us to get the thing running. Very rewarding swap, though.... Now I wish I still had that truck.

I had to notch the frame on my truck in order for the A/C compressor to clear. I doubt that it would be a problem on a 65, though. The wiring is the biggest deal, but my truck was already fuel injected and had a ton of wiring to begin with. It should be MUCH easier to do the install on something that didn't have any electronics to speak of to begin with. You'd also need the PCM tuned for the VATS system to be de-activated. If you didn't do that, there are also VATS bypass modules available. Other than that, I really can't think of a whole lot of other stuff required other than a ton of time and patience.

BTW, my 1500 ran 14s with RR's. That was the only thing I had done to the motor when I ran it. I put the headers and true duals on it later and sold it. Never did run it with the exhaust. I had the old V6 exhaust (50 series Flowmaster dual in/out all the way to the tailgate) on it when I ran it. It opened up alot with true duals and headers. I think it might have been capable of a 14.5 on a good run. It ran a 14.75 before.

[Tyler Wheat]

Sounds cool, you will have pleanty of space to work with I am sure :D

Like stated above though, sounds heavy.... But will no doubt still be badass!

That was the best thing about my truck. Plug changes and opti swaps weren't shit to do.

[IronOutlaw]

what exactly is the vats system?

I know the swap isnt gonna be extemely easy but what im thinking is since it had a 350 in it, it should just bolt right up and all i should have to worry about is the wiring.

[Chopstix]

You could always swap out the Fuel injection for a carb and reduce the pain of the wiring issue.

[OutCast]

The wiring pain can be avoided with some help from http://www.painlessperformance.com



LT-1 Wiring Harness/94-95/Extra Length

Factory style replacement harness for this popular GM EFI engine. Harness comes complete with factory connectors, terminals, color coded and plugs directly into the factory ECM. Harness is designed to mount ECM in a remote location.


http://www.painlessperformance.com/webcatalog/plarge/60505.jpg


Vats Module (LT-1)

Vehicle Anti-Theft (VATS) module designed specifically for all 1992 - 1993 Early LT1
http://www.painlessperformance.com/webcatalog/plarge/64023.jpg

[IronOutlaw]

You could always swap out the Fuel injection for a carb and reduce the pain of the wiring issue.

Thats a good idea. The only reason id want to keep the fuel injection is for the gas mileage. Everything ive owned with a carberator got under 12 miles a gallon.

[IronOutlaw]

Well ive decided to drop the project. The guy put a worn out 350 in it and went from 1000 bucks to 2000 and im not paying that much for an old truck. I guess the motor will stay in my firebird and im gonna strip it down when i get the camaro going.