V8 Swap in 00 Xtreme

[SSXtreme]

First off I just wanna say that I am new here, and that I am posting without reading through all the threads.



Now, what I wanna know about is V8 swaps. I\'ve been thinking about this for awhile now, and want to make my truck awesome by dropping in the V8. I\'ve talked to my dads friends that build hotrods, and they have a Vortec V8 from a newer fullsize truck, and an LT1 that they\'d be willing to sell to me, and do all the work for me once they have time.



I\'m guessing I\'ll have to get some new suspension (possibly custom?) to handle the extra weight and keep my front end off the ground. But what I need to know is this. What kind of things are my dads friends going to have to look out for when doing the swap, and what all do they need part wise. I have read about getting the wiring harness and all that from the original car the engine comes from, but I still want to hear it from someone that knows what they\'re talking about. What transmission I need to look for (I read somewhere a corvette trans,) any special transfer case, anything you can think of, I\'d like to know.



Another thing I want to know, but this doesnt really matter, would a 5 speed auto tranny be fine (i\'m sure they make em, i dont really like my 4 speed auto) or would it be possible (with work) to put in a 6 speed manual, and what would be need for it all. Thanks in advance to any replies.

[ZZ4Blazer]

Kinda seems like a waste to me to ripe out almost a new motor. Second, both of those motors are a good choice. Depending on what accesories you use, you will have to do some frame mods with the LT1. If you choose to use the 6 speed, then I\'d run the LT1. It be much easier. The only 5 speed Gm auto is the Allison. I don\'t think this is a very performance oriented tranny. But, again, i know very little bout this. Gear Venders sells this thing called a gear splitter. It attaches to your tailshaft, kinda like a transfer case. Its supposed to add a gear inbetween each of the gears. Therefor, if your running a 3 speed auto, its now 6. 4 speed, its now an 8 speed auto. They\'re supposed to be rated to like 1500 hp too. SportTruck used one with their Torque Flight 3 speed tranny when they build their Hemi Dakota. They said it would chirp them in all 6 gears. Bad thing is, they\'re FROM $2100. Plus installation.



My truck didn\'t drop any when I installed my V8. But, I have aluminum heads, intake, etc. So that drops 50+ lbs off the motor. The weight really isnt\' that big a difference in my opinion, unless you\'ve got the 2.2 in there.

[mommasboy]

Dont be afraid to ask anything you wanna know in here. For tranny questions i would listen to ZZ4 and take what he tells you as if it were coming from a manual....LOL. Just look around in here and you\'ll see everything you\'ll probably need to know, and if you dont just start a topic and you will find out.



Oh and i dont know what your knowlage of cars is but if i had it to do all over again i would\'nt take it to anyone to have the swap done, it is alot easier than you think. It costed me $1,500 to have the swap, including exhaust and what not, and after i saw what had to be done i found out that i could have done it myself in about a month instead of 3 like it took them.

[bohn333]

I got a buddy of mine with a new xtreme and he put a vortex supercharger on it, trust me it will run with new ram air camaros and trans ams. But with the cost of a blower and the cost of a V8 swap, i\'d buy the blower, if you ever waste your motor under warranty, take the blower off and take it to the dealer for repair. When the warranty is up then do the V8 swap. Your choice either way but that truck is pretty fun with a supercharged 4.3!!!

[SSXtreme]

Well the reason why I want to go with just doing the swap is because it\'ll cost just as much as the Supercharger kit from Mach V Performance, and have just as much horsepower stock. My dads friends build-up classic cars, so they know damn well what they\'re doing, and are willing to put the time into my truck without costing too much.



The main reason I want to do this, as you mostlikely figured out is to make my truck really quick, but I also plan on making it into a show truck. If I do the swap, the same guys are going to repaint it the same silver as my dads Chevelle, and I\'m going to put on a Camaro SS style hood, roll pan with the dual exhaust coming out of it, as well as some nice 17s or 18s.



The one thing I\'m wondering right now is this: If I stick to the automatic transmission, would it be too hard to put in a different center console, and switch from a column shifter to a floor shifter? I was thinking about this with some friends of mine, and we all thought the whole idea I have for my truck is pretty sweet.

[Mike]

It sounds like a cool idea, and if your dad is behind you on it , thats a plus. Good luck and hope to see pics of the progress.

[SSXtreme]

Yea, my dad is kinda behind me with it because he knows I want to do something. It was either this, or get a 85-92 Camaro and build it up, but I\'d rather do something more unique ya know? When this actually gets done I\'ll try to remember to take some pics and post em up. Heh... maybe I\'ll get my LT1 for a christmas gift? http://www.s10v8.com/images/smilies/icon_biggrin.gif I don\'t want anyone to look at me like a punkass snotty spoiled little kid, but I am about to turn 17, but my dad knows that I take care of my truck, and will do so even more if we do all this work.

[ZZ4Blazer]

If you wanna use a floor shifter, be it with an automatic or manual tranny, just find a steering column from a truck with a 5 speed. Swap them out. My truck was factory with a 5 speed. When I originally did my swap, I used an automtic tranny, and a ratchet shifter on the floor.

[mommasboy]

Or leave the collum in there and just take it apart and remove the shifter handle. With the console, i think i would just try to mod it to fit a ratchet shifter. The more customizing you do to stuff in there the more original it looks. Hate to say it but if you lined up most all of the guys trucks in here they would all mostly look the same in alot of ways. For one reason, there is some stuff that has to be done a certain way, and another is that people usually just do stuff the easiest way possible. So be original and do stuff the way you want it. http://www.s10v8.com/images/smilies/icon_wink.gif

[bohn333]

Ok now, about the question on a floor shifter. I remember acouple years ago, i went to a GM dealer to check out some new S10\'s and i looked a new extended cab and i swear to god that it had a factory floor shifter in it. This was in my days of drinking quite abit...lol, so if i\'m wrong please tell me, but i really think i saw a factory floor shifter in a new extended cad 2wheel drive. If anybody has seen this then please tell me that i\'m not going nuts. And yes it was an automatic, maybe 2000 or 2001.

[4more]

they do put floor shifters for autos in many\"some\" s10s and blazers the newer ones i work at a gm dealer and see a decent amount they acually are a cool shifter\"looking\" a ratchet type would be better for racing so you don\'t over shift (not that i\'ve ever done that)but the stock floor shifter does look prety cool