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Anybody done 6.0 to 465/205?

thatK30guy

thatK30guy

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Looking at a cherry '80 SWB K10 and would like to install a 6.0 later just to get better mileage and power with the truck. Truck is in good enough shape and condition that it could become a keeper so I'd like to get better everything with the newer motor.

What's your experience and pros & cons using these motors with the old stuff like 465's, etc.?
 
I feel like this is one of those "can it be done, should it be done" things.

LS power is great, it's modern and dependable, has great drive-ability. If you're going to go through the trouble of doing the swap and actually plan to use/drive the truck regularly...I'd upgrade to a modern gearbox too. Either Nv3500 or Nv4500. One could argue that the 4500 isn't any better than a 465, but having driven both, I'll take the 4500 any day.

These trucks will only get so good of mileage, it takes a certain amount of power to push them through the air regardless of what is powering it. The LS will help with the mileage, why cripple that with a transmission designed in 1968?

Cost wise, I feel an LS swap can be done for $1500-$2000 easily. Yes it could be done cheaper, but then you are cutting corners somewhere. More realistically, being $2500+ into it is more common. At that point, whats the added cost of finding the better trans? An extra 1k at worst? Do it once and be done with it.


My '70 Jimmy was originally a 465/D20 truck. My plan is/was for an SBC with Nv3500/208. I'd much rather drive the newer trans with the old motor vs newer motor with old trans.
 
toomany said:
I feel like this is one of those "can it be done, should it be done" things.

LS power is great, it's modern and dependable, has great drive-ability. If you're going to go through the trouble of doing the swap and actually plan to use/drive the truck regularly...I'd upgrade to a modern gearbox too. Either Nv3500 or Nv4500. One could argue that the 4500 isn't any better than a 465, but having driven both, I'll take the 4500 any day.

These trucks will only get so good of mileage, it takes a certain amount of power to push them through the air regardless of what is powering it. The LS will help with the mileage, why cripple that with a transmission designed in 1968?

Cost wise, I feel an LS swap can be done for $1500-$2000 easily. Yes it could be done cheaper, but then you are cutting corners somewhere. More realistically, being $2500+ into it is more common. At that point, whats the added cost of finding the better trans? An extra 1k at worst? Do it once and be done with it.


My '70 Jimmy was originally a 465/D20 truck. My plan is/was for an SBC with Nv3500/208. I'd much rather drive the newer trans with the old motor vs newer motor with old trans.
Click to expand...
Yeap, you can get good mpgs with a small block w/overdrive. If it's healthy (not meaning high hp) but proper compression, rings/Valves, etc. If you had a good engine I would swap the trans and put EFI on it and see where your at.
Maybe a cam swap if you want to bump the power. I think you could 4500 swap and EFI a quality EFI (not FItech) for $2500...

Hell, Capt Ron was damn near giving away 4500s a few days ago....
 
Pretty sure I copied this from @TreeFarm
I'm going to be swapping a 5.3 soon

spent a ton of time researching how to mate the SM465 to the 5.3L. This is to document how I did it in case someone wants to copy me. I hope it works
Parts used

The flywheel is a BRUTE POWER/PERFECTION CLUTCH 502776
Clutch is a Luk 04-064
ARP 134-2201 flywheel bolts
ARP 330-2802 pressure plate bolts
ARP 134-0901 bellhousing bolts
GM 12557583 pilot bearing

The Flywheel is for a 2006 6.0 truck with a manual. The crank stick out changed in the 2000 for 5.3/6.0s and this is the correct for the short later style This flywheel will require you to remove the dowel pins for alignment the pressure plate. The bolt holes line up with our pressure plates but the alignment pins do not.

Clutch is for my K25. The bolt holes line up to the flywheel but you need to drill out 3 of the 6 holes to fit the metric bolts. I used a 12/32 bit. In my opinion it is important to use a 12" clutch. you will see in the pictures below that the flywheel has a large center cutout. this causes about 1/2" of the ID of the clutch to have no surface contact. you need to make up for that with OD. Also you could purchase a conversion flywheel from AA or Novak that solves this issue, but its 4 times the cost of a parts house flywheel.

The pilot bearing is and oem LS7 or ls2 part I dont remember. This is the only oem that fits in the outer portion of the crank and not deeper inside. This is important because the 465 input is not long enough to reach the inside. In fact its barely long enough to reach the shallow spot.

ARP bolts are self explanatory. I used Threadlocker Blue 242 on all the bolts as OEM calls for. On the flywheel this not only keeps the bolts from backing out but seals the threads as the crank holes are open to oil on the inside. ARP wanted the use of their lube under the heads so I did that.

Pressure plate got tightened to 600 in-lbs

flywheel bolts gm wanted 3 steps to 75 Ft-lbs, ARP wanted 85 ft-lbs. I did 180, 444, 900, 1020 in-lbs
 
what @bmxbryant9 posted is from my build thread with a 5.3L, there are pictures of everything in the thread. Everything worked great. The clutch adjustment with my mechanical linkage took some work. I think using a long throwout bearing instead of the short that comes with the kit may have solved the adjustment issues. I never pulled the trans to measure or try the different bearing. It worked fine with the short bearing once I got it adjusted and my foot got used to it.

As for the driveablity with the 465. I had zero issues as long as I drove it like it was made to be driven. It didn't like to shift gears at 6K RPM but what do you expect, there is 100lbs of rotating metal in there. Daily driving, the trans operated no different than it did with the SBC. Not having overdrive sucks! The number one reason why I took that truck apart was the SM465. I needed overdrive for how I drove it. A NV4500 from the start probably would have kept me in that build.

One thing of note, The LS has one less bolt hole for the bell housing. If i recall its the one to the right of 12 o clock. Do not drill this hole out as it goes into a water jacket. just leave it empty, plenty strong without it. Its also worth noting, the LS platform does not have the 2" shelf between the heads and bell housing surface. The back of the engine is flat. This makes it a bit harder to get to those bolts from the top but also it puts the passenger cylinder head about 1/4" from the firewall if you leave the engine in the factory location like I did. I never had it contact, but I also had poly body and motor mounts. If this concerns you, simply fold down the pinch weld on the firewall to get some more space.
 
TreeFarm said:
what @bmxbryant9 posted is from my build thread with a 5.3L, there are pictures of everything in the thread. Everything worked great. The clutch adjustment with my mechanical linkage took some work. I think using a long throwout bearing instead of the short that comes with the kit may have solved the adjustment issues. I never pulled the trans to measure or try the different bearing. It worked fine with the short bearing once I got it adjusted and my foot got used to it.

As for the driveablity with the 465. I had zero issues as long as I drove it like it was made to be driven. It didn't like to shift gears at 6K RPM but what do you expect, there is 100lbs of rotating metal in there. Daily driving, the trans operated no different than it did with the SBC. Not having overdrive sucks! The number one reason why I took that truck apart was the SM465. I needed overdrive for how I drove it. A NV4500 from the start probably would have kept me in that build.

One thing of note, The LS has one less bolt hole for the bell housing. If i recall its the one to the right of 12 o clock. Do not drill this hole out as it goes into a water jacket. just leave it empty, plenty strong without it. Its also worth noting, the LS platform does not have the 2" shelf between the heads and bell housing surface. The back of the engine is flat. This makes it a bit harder to get to those bolts from the top but also it puts the passenger cylinder head about 1/4" from the firewall if you leave the engine in the factory location like I did. I never had it contact, but I also had poly body and motor mounts. If this concerns you, simply fold down the pinch weld on the firewall to get some more space.
Click to expand...

So going forth. My sm465 needs a rebuild and my friends are trying to convince me to swap to an auto. I sold the nv4500 I had
 
bmxbryant9 said:
So going forth. My sm465 needs a rebuild and my friends are trying to convince me to swap to an auto. I sold the nv4500 I had
Click to expand...

Autos are lame. Luckily 465s are super easy to rebuild. Just don't be like me and put 1st gear on backwards. Makes it really hard to get the top cover back off. Talking with the guys at Novak, I guess its easy to crack the main shaft journal bushings putting them back on.
 
There supposedly is a 10 spline clutch with the correct bolt holes for the flywheel you listed. I’ve read that the mating surfaces don’t quite align unless you have the correct clutch.

I do not have a part number but will be doing a similar experiment soon.
 
Richcz28 said:
There supposedly is a 10 spline clutch with the correct bolt holes for the flywheel you listed. I’ve read that the mating surfaces don’t quite align unless you have the correct clutch.

I do not have a part number but will be doing a similar experiment soon.
Click to expand...

Bolt holes line up, alignment dowels do not. Which is why I made sure to drill out the bolt holes tight on the metric bolts. I put over 30K miles on that clutch setup before I sold it. The guy who bought it is still driving it just fine. The potential run-out without the dowels is nothing I would be worried about.
 
thatK30guy said:
Looking at a cherry '80 SWB K10 and would like to install a 6.0 later just to get better mileage and power with the truck. Truck is in good enough shape and condition that it could become a keeper so I'd like to get better everything with the newer motor.

What's your experience and pros & cons using these motors with the old stuff like 465's, etc.?
Click to expand...

What gears does the truck have, and where would you be tire wise? I DD a 5.3/4l60e/3.42's/265s truck, and I dont feel the OD is really needed until north of 55 mph. Granted the 6.0 would have a noticeable power advantage over the 5.3.
 
79rustyk10 said:
What gears does the truck have, and where would you be tire wise? I DD a 5.3/4l60e/3.42's/265s truck, and I dont feel the OD is really needed until north of 55 mph. Granted the 6.0 would have a noticeable power advantage over the 5.3.
Click to expand...
Even though it's an '80 it has swapped in D44 and 12 bolt with 4.56 gears. I would like to swap those out for a 10 and 14FF. Tire size would like to stay around 33" to 35".
 
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