2004 chev truck 6.0L - good for swap?

[Cutlass3800]

Are the 2004 trucks drive by wire? If so, is that really a big deal? I was watching one of those car shows on TV and they just bought a pedal assembly to get around that "hurdle" - am I missing something? Maybe the pedal assembly costs $300?

Is there anything else about a 2004 truck engine that I should be aware of? Unusual crank length/flexplate thickness?

 

[83LSWagon]

If its the 2500 HD, you will have to run the 4L80 if I remember correctly. Also, I believe the crank is 3/4" different from the LS, not sure which way though. Dont quote me.

 

[Cutlass3800]

If its the 2500 HD, you will have to run the 4L80 if I remember correctly.

I was thinking about going with the more durable 4L80 anyway, but the transmission's gear ratio and lack of shifter options are something to consider too. There is still so much to research and price out - I'm giving the whole LSx idea a second thought.

I'm leaning towards going back to my original plan of running a 200hp Series II 3800 v6/4L60e from a Camaro as an intermediate step. I think it would be a cheaper conversion and I wouldn't be stressing any of the remaining weak links in my car. I would still be progressing down the EFI road by installing the baffled tank, sender & pump, electric fans, and EFI fuel lines. Once I got the car running and my wallet recovered, I could then either do the LSx/4L80e or hold off a bit longer and upgrade the rest of the car (brakes, rear end, radiator, suspension) before dropping in the bigger motor.

 

[blubaldmontess]

Really its not that bad a swap, I've got the 02 version, lq9 with a 4l80. If your goign to get it, you can go two ways with it. You can either get the pedal assembly with the wiring harness, if you have to buy it seperate, I've seen it going for around 80 bucks on ebay.

My thought is this though, if your going to do the swap the two most important parts and expensive are going to be getting your wiring harness done and getting a fuel ssytem installed. Soooo, with that said, you might as well go for the lsx swap and skip the v6 swap.

The trans aftermarket stuff....that one was kinda tricky. I basically took it to a friend and had a custom bracket made. I run the 4l80, and I bought a 4l60 harness...which meant buying the wiring harness peice for 150 from speartech. Get the wiring harness and computer with the engine if you can.

Do you have any specific questions? If you look back, probably about 3-4 months ago, I did a price breakdown of everything I spent. you'll waste a whole lot of money putting the v6 then the v8 in there, so just get the parts together and go v8

 

[Cutlass3800]

I have the feeling this question has probably been asked before, but I couldn't find it.

Using the transdapt motor plates & mounts plus the appropriate flexplate spacer & bolts, does anyone know if I can install an LSx using my existing stock TH350c transmission and driveshaft? That would be a cool intermediate step. Get it up a running like that and then install a 4l60e/4l80e and custom drive shaft when I save up enough $$$.

edit: I wonder how hard it would be to hook up the kick-down cable to the throttle body? :roll:

 

[blubaldmontess]

I have seen the kickdown cable done. I just can't remember who did it, but if you search the net, somebody makes the bracket for them. As for the driveshaft, I don't know if you will have to shorten it or not. My suggestion is to save the money and do it right the first time, in the end its well worth it all

 

[85MonteCoupe]

I put a 2004 6.0 with a TH350 Trans in my '85 Monte carlo. I used the transdapt 1 inch setback plates and it sets the engine right in the "stock" location where you need it so that you dont have to do anything with the crossmember or shorten your driveshaft. One note though is the passengerside valve cover and coils will likely hit the heater box once you do this. Mine did and I had to cut a hole in the box and fiberglass it in so that it wouldn't rub. Then I used a TCI LS1 to TH350/400 flexplate which comes with a crank flange to mount the torque converter to the crank. You can modify a stock flexplate by drilling it out, but I just didn't trust doing that. The TCI is pretty heavy duty.
Also, I would just skip the V6 idea and save the money and go straight into the LS swap.

Hope this helps,
Jason,

 

[Cutlass3800]

I put a 2004 6.0 with a TH350 Trans in my '85 Monte carlo.

Did you also go with the Camaro front accessories? Do you remember the part number for the TCI flexplate? I had a quick look on their site and couldn't see any that were listed for LS1 motor to TH350/400 trans.

Thanks

 

[85MonteCoupe]

Yes, I went with all new camaro front accessories. It was a little pricey but I think its cleaner looking.

The part number for the TCI flexplate is 399753.