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where to buy a GEN iii/iv engine?

ashman

ashman

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I've been following the threads of all the other guys putting in these engines and its getting me excited to go for it myself. problem is, I'm not sure where or what to buy. at some point I've just got to pull the trigger on something and start down the road of making it work, but I'd like to get as much info ahead of time as I can.

I've checked the local junk yards, and so far, they want way too much for basically a long block. obviously I'm going to need everything and then some, so that isn't going to work for me (going into a 1st gen blazer). best Idea I've come up with so far is paying someone to rearend the hell out of my buddies '08 tahoe. :whistle:

I did find this on ebay:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/6-0-LITER-V...Parts_Accessories&vxp=mtr&hash=item2318f4a73d

looks good, comes with everything (including the gas pedal), and the price seems decent :dunno: .
the seller has a bunch of engines:
http://stores.ebay.com/bowautoparts...4&_sticky=1&_trksid=p4634.c0.m14&_sop=2&_sc=1

since the seller is in NH I'm guessing shipping would kill the deal, but I'm trying to nail down how to pick a good engine and what a decent price looks like. the one I linked above was the lowest mileage lq4 they have listed (104k).

anything else I should be watching out for? this one is out of a Denali, but they have another listed for $300 more out of a Silverado with higher miles. why?

I'm still hoping to find someone closer, but getting a feel for what you guys think will hopefully give me some insight into how to find the right engine at the right price.

oh, one last thing. I've been mostly looking at 6.0 engines, but the 5.3 engines are a lot easier to find, and several hundred cheaper usually. any thoughts on whether the 6.0 is worth the extra cost or not?
 
The 5.3 runs good and gets decent milage but the 6.0 is much better.

I would be talking with Pacific Fabrication. Kevin has been doing LSX swaps into the early trucks for a long time now and has this down. He has his own new harness not a cut up factory harness, his own tunes that are dyno proven and a good looking wife.
 
thanks for the links guys, that really helps. that turnkey place has some awesome stuff, but I'm hoping to go a bit cheaper than that if I do a bit more of the work myself (yet to be decided of course).

IGOR said:
Call this guy. I got my 8.1 from him delivered to Portland for $900
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$900 for the engine, including delivery? wow!

that boise guy seems to be just what I'm looking for. I'll have to contact him for sure.
 
Call a salvage yard nearby. I can get a pull out 6.0 with harness and computer for $1300-1500 here
 
Friend of mine bought a 25 foot travel trailer on E-Bay in Connecticut and he lives in Fl.!!

We left on Tuesday afternoon, and got back with it on Friday night. So shipping can be overcome.
 
miniwally said:
I would be talking with Pacific Fabrication. Kevin has been doing LSX swaps into the early trucks for a long time now and has this down. He has his own new harness not a cut up factory harness, his own tunes that are dyno proven and a good looking wife.
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People seem to be happy with Pacific Fab, but they are EXPENSIVE.
 
big pappa b said:
Call a salvage yard nearby. I can get a pull out 6.0 with harness and computer for $1300-1500 here
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I know around here they don't like to sell like that. They would rather piece it out or charge stupid prices for it and then your completely on your own once its out the door. Most places aren't set up for motor swaps.
 
nsxxtreme said:
I know around here they don't like to sell like that. They would rather piece it out or charge stupid prices for it and then your completely on your own once its out the door. Most places aren't set up for motor swaps.
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that's what I'm running into. I need to try a few more places still, but so far they either don't keep new stuff like that around anyway (sell it to distributors I assume), or they pull the engines, remove all the extra stuff, and want a mint for the pieces.
 
dhcomp said:
People seem to be happy with Pacific Fab, but they are EXPENSIVE.
Click to expand...

They may be but Honestly quality cost money. They have these things down, their harness is great and the tune is on. All of that took time to develop.

Ask any of the others mentioned if they have run their tunes on a dyno. Pac fab has.

I went down this road a few years ago and I gave my money to Pac fab. They have supported us the whole time racing and know their stuff.
 
miniwally said:
They may be but Honestly quality cost money. They have these things down, their harness is great and the tune is on. All of that took time to develop.

Ask any of the others mentioned if they have run their tunes on a dyno. Pac fab has.

I went down this road a few years ago and I gave my money to Pac fab. They have supported us the whole time racing and know their stuff.
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That seems to be the consensus. Not sure what their turn-key packages cost, i just couldn't' justify the cost to have them do the swap.
 
I'm sure those guys do great work, and make the swap easier, but I am on a budget. there is a local shop here that does these swaps, and the work I saw was beautiful. unfortunately, he quoted me close to $20k to get it all done right. I'm not putting that kind of money into my "toy" (at least without spreading it out over several years :doah: )
 
ashman said:
I'm sure those guys do great work, and make the swap easier, but I am on a budget. there is a local shop here that does these swaps, and the work I saw was beautiful. unfortunately, he quoted me close to $20k to get it all done right. I'm not putting that kind of money into my "toy" (at least without spreading it out over several years :doah: )
Click to expand...


Holy crap. Pacific fab was looking at the 7-8k range, Out the door, if i remember correctly.
 
dhcomp said:
Holy crap. Pacific fab was looking at the 7-8k range, Out the door, if i remember correctly.
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yeah, it was way over the top expensive, but I will say, the work they do is fantastic. they had a '71 blazer in there when I was at the shop and it looked like it rolled out of the factory last week with all of the new stuff in it.

they also build truggies, drag cars and other custom stuff. they had a monte carlo there with a v-8 and twin turbos all stuffed under the hood. I think he said it was putting out 800hp+ (trying to remember off the top of my head). it was a real sleeper too, you'd never know just by looking at it rolling down the road.

anyway, the point is, I think it was one of those super shops for guys with too much money, which doesn't describe me. :pimp:
 
So what are you guys searching for on Craigslist? You can't really search 6.0L, or 6.0, and they are rarely listed as LQ4, LQ9, etc.
 
There's a guy here in Billings who's selling a 2000-ish pick up that was rolled with a 5.3 in it for $800 on Craigslist. That's for the entire truck as is, not just the motor. He needs to sell it so he can sell his house since it's in the backyard.

$800 for a 5.3 with the harness and all of the extra's you need is a killer deal IMHO.
 
Bought one this way as well. Pretty nice to have everything you need in one place.
 
I've found a guy locally here in SLC that will sell me everything I need for a 6.0 swap for $700, but he's having trouble finding one atm. he can do the same thing with a 5.3 for $500, so I'm kinda considering it.

the thing is, I really want a 6.0 and would hate to do everything twice. since the block sizes are the same, I'm assuming everything would bolt in the same, but what about the electronics? are all the electrical connections the same? would a 5.3 computer run a 6.0 engine? assuming of course I had it reprogrammed.

basically, the question is, could I yank out my 5.3 and slap in a 6.0 without having to change anything else other than reprogramming the computer?
 
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