Hello from Central Florida

[Dougalicious]

Hey guys, name's Doug, been reading around a lot planning to do a swap on my daily over summer break.

I drive a 97 C1500 RCSB with a 4.3 and a 5 speed manual, emphasis on the man (hate autos), with 125k on the clock. Drivetrain is great, but it's too damn slow for how poor the mileage is. My mom's 2006 CCSB with a 5.3 gets similar mileage, and must weigh 1000 pounds more than me, so I should be able to do just as good and still enjoy the benefits of a V8.

I'm looking at swapping in a 5.3 (or 6.0 if I found an amazing deal), and keeping the transmission until I can afford to a T56, and possibly turbo at some point in the future also.

I guess since this is a newbie thread I might be safe asking some dumb questions. Hopefully...

1. I've never done anything like this before. I mean ever. The most I've ever done on the truck was throw on some headers. Is there anything I should read outside of build threads to get started?

2. I've looked around for this one but really haven't had a whole lot of luck - what parts will be required to bolt up my NV3500 to the 5.3?

3. I haven't purchased anything yet, but what is missing from my parts list?
- DBC LM7
- V8 motor mounts
- Aftermarket fuel pump (I think I read Walbro 255lph somewhere)
- Fuel filter
- Fuel lines
- Wiring harness for engine
- PCM for engine (some threads seem to keep the old one, some seem to do away with it, what's the difference?)
- Tune
- Schoenfeld LTs if it doesn't push me over-budget.

4. For anyone who's done the swap, how long did yours take? And could it be done in a week (or better yet a weekend)?

Sorry for all the questions, I just want to make sure I'm not getting in over my head, ending up with a shell of a truck that can't move under it's own power.

[567234ta]

Hey guys, name's Doug, been reading around a lot planning to do a swap on my daily over summer break.

I drive a 97 C1500 RCSB with a 4.3 and a 5 speed manual, emphasis on the man (hate autos), with 125k on the clock. Drivetrain is great, but it's too damn slow for how poor the mileage is. My mom's 2006 CCSB with a 5.3 gets similar mileage, and must weigh 1000 pounds more than me, so I should be able to do just as good and still enjoy the benefits of a V8.

I'm looking at swapping in a 5.3 (or 6.0 if I found an amazing deal), and keeping the transmission until I can afford to a T56, and possibly turbo at some point in the future also.


I guess since this is a newbie thread I might be safe asking some dumb questions. Hopefully...

1. I've never done anything like this before. I mean ever. The most I've ever done on the truck was throw on some headers. Is there anything I should read outside of build threads to get started?

2. I've looked around for this one but really haven't had a whole lot of luck - what parts will be required to bolt up my NV3500 to the 5.3?

3. I haven't purchased anything yet, but what is missing from my parts list?
- DBC LM7
- V8 motor mounts
- Aftermarket fuel pump (I think I read Walbro 255lph somewhere)
- Fuel filter
- Fuel lines
- Wiring harness for engine
- PCM for engine (some threads seem to keep the old one, some seem to do away with it, what's the difference?)
- Tune
- Schoenfeld LTs if it doesn't push me over-budget.

4. For anyone who's done the swap, how long did yours take? And could it be done in a week (or better yet a weekend)?

Sorry for all the questions, I just want to make sure I'm not getting in over my head, ending up with a shell of a truck that can't move under it's own power.

welcome Doug, ive got a 96 with a 6.0 and a 4l80e, love it.

1. there are a lot of sticky threads that should help you in the technical sections.

2. i know other guys have done it so other then a shaft or moving a crossmember at the worst it should be fine. i would say get a t-56 while you got the motor out though, the nv3500 is pretty weak from what ive heard. (never owned one though)

3. bandaids, beer and a t-56

4. 3 years lol

welcome to the forum, there are guys here who will chime in im sure, they know way more then i do, i might be able to help you if you more if you needed to know something about SEO or computers.

[Dougalicious]

3 years? Ouch haha.Well I can't let mine take that long as it is my daily driver. And believe me a T56 would make me have to change my pants, it's just a bit too far outside of the budget at the moment. The nv3500 should hold up fine for a while - it was behind the Joe Gibbs truck which put out 400 horsepower or something like that.

[jetmech]

Welcome to the site. After taking a quick glance at your parts list, you should be OK with what you have annotated. You should be safe doing a swap within a weekend with the proper tools and people to help. As far as the future turbo goes, if you plan to go forced induction at all you need to make necessary mods while doing your swap to support the turbo. The emphasis is on the fuel system. YES, use a Walbro 255 fuel pump (works great) and bigger injectors (60#ers for foced induction 5.3L). You can use a boost-ready fuel system with a N/A engine, and all you would have to do is tune it down while you're N/A. That way, all you have to do when the turbo goes on is tune it.

[Dougalicious]

So apparently the minimum search length for this site is 4 letters, which is giving me a bit of an issue when searching for "DBC to DBW"

I don't particularly want to go DBW, but I've got a lead on an engine out of an 04, and I'm really starting to get antsy. What is required to convert from DBC to DBW? Or, if it's easier, convert the engine from DBW back to DBC? I really hate asking this as I'm sure it's been covered, but search has failed me. I've found bits and pieces mentioning a pedal and something about a TAC module? But nothing about the exact needs.

[truckinL33]

The pedal is completely different. The PCM might be different, I'm not sure. The DBW relies on the throttle to be open for idleing purposes, where DBC has an IAC valve. I'm sure this is read completely different by your PCM. That's gonna be a very long weekend swapping everything over, and making it drivable for monday. Finally, welcome aboard! Someone not from Texas, that's amazing!

[RedHeartbeat]

the dbw and dbc engines are both the same, just have to swap intakes and throttle bodies and its back to dbc. I'm assuming you have an engine with dbc already. Strip the dbw harness off the new engine and use your dbc harness and all will transfer without issue. If you don't, post up in the wanted section here and on PT.net, there are tons of guys sitting on harnesses and intakes from swaps they'd love to get rid of. NelsonPerformance can build you a custom harness for your conversion plus pre-program you a tune and supply you with a PCM for your ride. The dbw intake will work for dbc if you add the cable bracket and mounting nuts to the empty void in the intake,