It’s been a couple of weeks since we returned from our 9 week motorcycle trip visiting every state east of the Mississippi, but that’s the subject of a different blog. (www.mytb.org/rickr53)  When we left, back in May, I had found a junkyard that was exactly what I was looking for to get a complete engine/transmission dropout.  It is called All-Pro Used Auto Parts (www.allprousedautoparts.com) and is located in Auburndale, FL just outside Lakeland, about an hour away.  I found them through eBay as they had a complete dropout listed.  Most junkyards separate the engine from the transmission and sell off all the accessories, wiring and computer separately.  When I talked to All Pro, they told me that generally they do the same, but if I catch them before disassembly, they would be willing to do a complete dropout including engine, transmission, all accessories, wiring, computer, and even gas pedal as a complete package.  The one on eBay was a 2013 Chevy 5.3 with 6-speed automatic.  It was extremely low mileage at 15K miles and they wanted $3900.   In reality, these engine last well over 200K miles with no trouble, so anything less than 100K mile is considered low mileage. I had been following this engine/transmission package on their website while we were traveling, but they sold it a couple of weeks before we returned.  I called them when I returned, and they said they had a few trucks that they had not yet disassembled and that I should go there and take a look.  Not one to pass up an opportunity to wander around a junkyard, I jumped at the chance.  I met a guy named Wade there, and we headed out to look at trucks.  He had 3 trucks to look at, and if we were lucky, they would have battery power so we could look at mileage.  The first was perfect, very clean black suburban, hit in the back, and the engine was very clean.  Looked at the mileage, and it was 237K. Too much!  The second was a black Tahoe with 94K but it was hit in the front and I was concerned with engine damage.  The third was a white 2013 Tahoe, rolled over with a clean engine.   But there was no battery, so we couldn’t check the mileage.  Wade said we could look at the registration online and if it was recent, we could figure the mileage.  Sure enough, it was registered in Florida in May of this year at 91K miles.  I would have liked a little lower mileage, but it was a Florida truck and everything was pretty clean.  We agreed on the complete dropout, including core charge since I didn’t have a core, of $3160.  I think I got a great deal. Picked up the engine a few days later, and headed home to clean it up.  There wasn’t any grease or oil, but there was quite a bit of dirt and sand.  Everything looked great! The first step was to get the harness out of the way to see what I had.  I also took off the coil packs for cleaning, and the exhaust manifolds, as the truck manifolds are too wide.  I took off the EVAP system and plugged the intake.  Took off the external oil cooler fittings and lines.  All-Pro left the transmission lines intact, and cut them up near the front pulley, so I should be able to reuse them.   It doesn’t look like anything was damaged, and all the sensors and connectors look great.  Everything cleaned up well.  The block is cast iron, but the heads are aluminum and the intake is plastic.  Most everything else is aluminum, and all the aluminum parts are left unpainted, so they are silver.  The only thing that needs painting is the block, and it is black.  I decided that it would be just easier to keep the block black, and repaint it with POR15 Engine Paint.  There is not a lot of the block exposed, so I am just going to paint it with a brush.  It would be just too hard to spray paint. I had done a lot of research about wiring and computers for this engine/transmission combination, and decided that I could probably modify the harness myself to get the engine running, but the routing for the computer was all wrong.  The ECM on these trucks is located on the driver’s side inner fender, and I wanted to move it out of the way into the cab interior, under the dash.  This means opening up the harness and adding 4 feet to the main trunk.   Eventually, I came to the conclusion that it would be much easier to just buy a new harness.  There are several manufacturers of harnesses, but from what I could tell, the best choices were Speartech and PSI Conversions.  Speartech is probably a little better, but quite a bit more expensive, so ultimately, I picked PSI conversion based on cost. In addition to the wiring harness, the engine computer (ECM) and the transmission computer (TCM) need to be reprogrammed.  The ECM is easy as I just needed to disconnect it from the harness.  On the 4-speed automatic, the TCM is also external and just connected to the harness, but on the 6-speed automatic, it is inside the transmission, so the transmission oil pan and valve body must be removed to access it.  It’s not that difficult, and there are several sets of instructions on various websites explaining and showing how to do it.  Fortunately, the Speartech website warned me there was a special socket needed to remove the 6 bolts holding in the valve body size E12, it’s kind of a backwards Torx socket.   I was able to find one on eBay for $9 so I ordered it before I started. The TCM came out easily, just like in the instructions, and the Torx Socket worked perfectly.  I ordered the harness from PSI Conversions and boxed up the ECM and TCM and shipped it off the PSI Conversions for reprogramming.  Now we wait.  Hopefully the harness and reprogramming will not take too long.  While we wait, there are a few things I needed to order for the engine.  The original transmission mount is a single center bolt style, and the chassis is set up for the traditional 2-bolt style.   So I ordered a GM universal transmission mount.  I need to add provisions on the engine for an oil pressure gauge and a water temperature gauge, but I won’t know what sending units to pick until I actually choose gauges.  For oil pressure, I had to buy a block-off plate where I removed the external oil cooler lines, so I chose one with a 1/8 NPT hole in the center.  I just bought a pipe plug to block it off for now.  There is a pipe plug already in the passenger’s side head at the back that will be perfect for a water temp sensor.   I tried to get PSI Conversions to add wires for these in their harness, but they don’t really offer that kind of customization.  Their harness also does not include connections for the starter solenoid and the A/C clutch, but neither should be a problem.  I did order a starter solenoid wiring pigtail from eBay so I wouldn’t need to cut up the old harness just yet. I’m really stuck now, waiting for the TCM to come back from programming so I can button up the transmission.  I did order a new transmission filter, and the oil that came out of the transmission looked clean and red.  I took a bunch of measurements to make sure the engine would fit and it looks promising, though I may have uncovered an interference problem.  While the 4-speed automatic or a manual transmission would have fit nicely, the additional width at the back of the 6-speed automatic may hit the power brake booster on the frame mount pedal.  Even if it doesn’t hit, I may have trouble routing the driver’s side exhaust.  I may need to change over to a firewall mounted brake pedal, but I won’t know for sure until I install the engine. I also looked at exhaust manifolds and headers, and Darryl at Rockabilly recommended headers, but I think I would prefer exhaust manifolds for reliability and noise.  There are several Camaro and Corvette manifold possibilities that tuck in close to the block, but the most promising are the Hooker cast iron exhaust manifolds which seem to tuck in the closest and are also available with a ceramic coating.  I’ll probably go with the Hookers, but I will wait until after I install the engine to check for clearance for both exhaust routing and steering shaft.

The engine cleaned up well, but the Vortec intake manifold is not the prettiest to say the least.  But it is tall, and the accessory locations are narrow so it will fit better in this application.  The LS Corvette intakes are too low, and the engine seems lost down low in the truck engine compartment.  I was able to find an intake cover that I think will look good.  It is from a Chevy Trailblazer SS and is a little wider than the typical Vortec.  It covers some of the coil packs and I think I will change the plug wires to red for a little color.

The plan after installation is to plumb the exhaust, and probably even the radiator as I need to hook up the transmission lines.  I can install the PSI Conversion harness and mount the Battery to the frame.  This should let me fire up the engine and make sure it all works well before I do anything about looking for a body.  We are going on a cruise on September 15, and my goal is to ear the engine run before we go.