i’ve got at 2006 denali with a 5.3 that has a blown trans and i thought about swapping it in my ta, i’ve done a little research and i know i need an intake, oil pan, exhaust manifold/headers, motor mounts, and everything to adapt it to my 700r4 but i was looking at the alternator today and i know it won’t fit under the hood so what would i need. do they make conversion brackets or would i have to make my own?, i’d like to do this swap on a budget i just turned 18 so money’s kinda tight but i want to do it right. i’m not doing any power mods i’d like to get the thing in and running good before any of that. i don’t know what intake, exhaust manifolds, and oil pan to use and not break the bank either. any advice would be appreciated.

 

Take some time and read as much as possible, specifically in the LSX swap sub forum on this site. Read the stickies at the top of the page and start reviewing others builds. You will start to see what works and what doesn't work. Your questions are all answered in detail over there.

 

What Shifty Said.
Matt Walter has a setup to get the bare minimum of what you need to put a 5.3 in your T/A, but even past that is a decent amount of work to get the car on the road.
I'd recommend saving up a few grand before you try tackling this project.

 

One more click and you would have made it to the LS/LT swap subforum

 

Meh, let the mods do the clicking...

 

For my 5.3 swap a small case 5.3 alternator cleared my stock formula hood. I now run a small case powermaster 160 amp alternator and it clears on the stock truck accessory bracket bc I’m running a single turbo. I am however running solid SBC engine mounts on LS adapter plates so no sure if the motor sits lower than a rubber or poly mount.

 

Ive never seen a "budget LS swap" in something it did not come in. My uncle offered me a free low mile 5.3 and after doing the $ figuring I stayed with a gen1 sbc swap in my car . Later on I do want to build an S10 with a 5.3 and ive began gathering a few pieces for that years ahead of that project Lol.

 

This is not a project to take on if you don't have a bankroll at hand. This is especially true if your engine-swapping experience, facilities, and tools are limited. From the pic you've posted of your car, I'm assuming it's in good, drivable condition; if so, enjoy it as it is while you start saving your $$$.


I was in your shoes at one time (a long time ago), and my intention is not to discourage you from getting into this hobby; I'm just trying to make you aware of the reality of how expensive working on old cars can be.

GL.

 

Can confirm on the "budget" BS. You will end up with much, much more money into this swap than you think, not to mention your time and work spent on swapping, and it just being a PITA because swaps never work out just right. Power per dollar, stay with old school. LS is cool, but expensive. BTW stock LS truck accessories clear the stock hood.

 

Idk what bankroll or fund is available for this. But you can have the motor drop in with $35 mount adapters and a $10 converter pilot adapter. Reuse all the stock truck accessories and the PS pump will even worth with the stock 3rd gen lines. You won't be able to run AC in the stock truck location but other than that it drops in after elongating the converter bolt holes on the LS flexplate. Once you have it in you really just need to wire it up which is the most expensive part. For $1k you could swap a fitech or Term X and have it running and most of the stock gauges can work with a few adapter fittings. A stock EFI can also be used with a mail order tune with some harness work for not that much but your still a few hundred invested. Budget $100 or so for some relays and wire or to hook up fan control from the LS EFI and that will cover some other costs of little things. Headers can be cheap (ebay) and fab some cheap connections to the stock style exhaust. Reuse the 3rd gen Cooling, trans, converter, driveshaft and everything else. You can easily do this swap for about $1500 depending on the cost of the motor and EFI and if you do a cam or not.

FWIW I did a LS swap into a running 383 C3 corvette.
$250 5.3 99-02 with accessories/intake and injectors
$200 summit Stage 1 high lift cam
$80-120 LS6 or PAC1218/howard springs
$35 motor mount adapters
$8 ebay converter pilot adapter
$99 ebay knockoff Fbody oil pan
$50 for pickup and pan gasket
(factory ECU would have cost me $20 for relay block parts) bc I have HP tuners already and $50 credits to unlock and tune factory PCM).
$100-150 ebay headers (if you have headers you can cut the SBC and massage the pipes to fit a LS with a LS header flange)
$100 miscellaneous wiring
$20-25 fuel rail fittings to factory truck intake FPR
$30 for hose and fittings to hook to factory fuel lines in engine bay
Total < 2k and money can be saved if you have wire, relays, left over hose and fittings and don't do a cam.

Term X is $900 if you use a laptop and $1k if you want a handheld. Fitech is $800-900. Both make it stupid easy to run a LS and allow full control over tuning.

Stock 5.3 will make 350hp ish with stock cam with a tune and free flowing exhaust/intake. A stage 1 cam will push you to about 400hp all while knocking down 20+mpg depending on gearing and converter. I average about 20mpg with a turbo 5.3 with a 2004r, locked converter and 3.55 rear gears on the highway at 2000-2300rpms at 80mph. But that same motor makes 700hp at 15psi when I give it more gas and has been doing it for 5 years on 93 pump and that one has a custom 218/228 cam.

Just food for thought.