Chevy s-10 v8 conversion manual

If you do not want to install a fuel-injected V8 into your non-California truck, and your state has smog laws adopted from the California BAR 90 laws Bureau of Automotive Repair, , this conversion is a good example of what needs to be done to remain "smog legal". This truck is not equipped with air conditioning, which makes the engine compartment look less cluttered than the other conversions shown.

The radiator is in the "forward" position which is explained in chapter The weight gain from this V8 conversion is about lbs: lbs on the front wheels, and 20 lbs off the rear wheels.

This is a S 2WD short-bed. This truck weighs about lbs and is very quick. Two twelve-inch electric cooling fans are mounted behind the radiator on custom brackets. The Corvette radiator is actually mounted where the air-conditioning condenser would be on an air-conditioned S Truck.

Because of the lack of air-conditioning, and the attention to detail, the engine compartment looks very sanitary. Many people think this is a factory installation. It took less than a week from the time he removed the V6 until the time he was driving it with the V8, but the owner is very talented, and very experienced with automotive work.

Also, this is a a fairly simple swap because it is a two-wheel-drive truck, and it is not air-conditioned. The engine is in the "forward" position, and the driveshaft is stock. At the time of this photograph, this truck had been driven over 60, miles.

As you can see, it's a tight fit. Due to space limitations, cooling is the biggest problem with the V8 S conversions, especially on the 4X4 models. A lot of information in the cooling system chapter came from this conversion. This conversion took two very long weeks to complete. In 4-wheel-drive high-range, it ran Without the nitrous, it runs Remember, this is a 4-wheel-drive with skid plates and heavy off-road tires.

It weighs lbs. What amazed most people is that the stock axles and transfer case handled the power without breaking. To further demonstrate how strong these parts are, we chained the truck to an immovable object otherwise known as a one-ton crew cab dualie and smoked all four tires. The tires actually dug holes in the asphalt. With the original carbureted 2. The truck now averages about 15 mpg, but it is a lot more powerful and the drivability is much better than with the original engine.

Installing 3. In case you are wondering about the custom wheels, they are off a Jaguar XJ-6 and they bolted on with no adapters, but they did require special lug nuts. At the time of this writing, the truck has over , miles, and has been driven over 60, miles with the V8.

The original rear-end required replacement at about , and the radiator has been replaced twice: once when the fan contacted the lower radiator support see page , and another time when the water pump bearing wore out and the fan contacted the radiator. And then there is the time the engine seized when the hose going to the remote oil filter failed. Be sure to use the correct hoses for the application, and check them regularly to be sure they don't get brittle!

Or use the offset oil filter adapter page , and don't worry about the hoses. Note : The engine shown in this truck is no longer available from GM. It has been replaced by a slightly more powerful engine called a ZZ4. It is no longer possible to do this exact swap because some of the parts are no longer available.

We continue to show this truck because it shows what can be accomplished while still being legal. We believe that similar performance can be achieved with smog-legal aftermarket performance parts. Today, it is possible to purchase smog legal high-performance cylinder heads, camshafts, intake manifolds.

A Truck TBI engine with the Edelbrock performance package aluminum cylinder heads, camshaft -- with matching computer chip -- and intake manifold is probably the most comparable smog-legal package.

The engine package installed in this truck is the "5. Because California smog laws allow engine swaps as long as all of the emissions controls are installed and operating, this engine package which requires the R4 transmission is also legal in — S-Trucks more information on smog laws is in chapter By the way, this is JTR's truck. It's a real truck a GMC, not a Chevy! The engine in this engine package is the ZZ3 horsepower High Output "crate" motor.

The ZZ3 has aluminum heads, aluminum intake manifold, high lift roller cam, forged steel crank, 4-bolt mains, "pink rods", and hypereutectic pistons with a compression ratio of nearly The package includes a cold air induction dual-snorkel air-cleaner from a — Camaro with the L69 engine, dual catalytic converters from a — Camaro with the TPI engine, a Holley fuel pressure regulator, specially calibrated carburetor secondary rods, and special transmission parts that increase the shift firmness and improve the durability of the R4 transmission when used with the ZZ3 engine.

The parts list and instructions is too long to put in this manual and is available from GM as part The information on the transmission modifications is very important because it makes the package work so well with proper shift points and firmness. The "smog equipment" is not totally responsible for reducing the horsepower rating from the ZZ3's original down to 37 horsepower. According to GM engineers, the Camaro's low hood line requires a short air cleaner which is responsible for about 8 horsepower.

The Camaro's H. The dual catalytic converters reduce output less than 10 horsepower, and the smog pump consumes less than 1 horsepower. This required reshaping the transmission tunnel with a hammer, and it required massaging the firewall for the automatic transmission shifter on the steering column.

Additionally, we installed a set of headers for evaluation purposes We prefer the cast-iron exhaust manifolds which are now on the truck! This conversion took a very long time to complete. Making it look easy, was hard. With previous bad experiences caused by "over-enthusiastic" drivers damaging engines, we didn't want to risk hurting the H.

It's amazing to us how some people, after driving our vehicles, would comment on the "high speed misfire. Dual catalytic converters were a part of the 5. Camaro Conversion package, and were legal in this application The headpipes and converters from the Camaro package will not fit the S-Truck V8 conversion. This truck has custom made headpipes, and universal replacement high-flow catalytic converters.

Flowmaster two-chamber mufflers are used, and an exhaust crossover pipe behind the catalytic converters smooths the sound out the tailpipes. Originally it was decided to keep the truck as light as possible for best performance. The truck had few options, and the aluminum heads and intake manifold used on the ZZ3 engine saved about 60 lbs compared to a "normal" V8 engine. An Edelbrock long-style aluminum water pump the only long-style auminum water pump on the market that will work with the stock Camaro accessories dropped 6 lbs off the front end, a Camaro LT1 gear reduction starter saved another 9 lbs.

To improve weight distribution, the battery was relocated behind the right rear wheel. Without power steering and power brakes, the truck weighed less than lbs with the 20 gallon tank full of fuel, so with over horsepower, it should have been a fun and wildly fast truck.

The power overwhelmed the stock 4-cylinder shocks, front springs, and lack of anti-sway bars. The manual steering was too heavy and too slow. The non-power assist brakes took too much effort. And perhaps most frustrating of all was that without a limited-slip differential, it would spin the right rear tire all too easily, severely limiting acceleration.

The ZQ8 parts list includes stiffer shocks, 1. The parts are listed in the Chevrolet Performance Parts Catalog, which is available from your Chevrolet dealer. Bell Tech Drop spindles and lowering blocks also help lower the truck.

Power-steering and power-brakes were added, along with the rear-wheel anti-lock brake system from a S-Truck. The power steering and power brakes made the truck easier to drive, and the suspension parts made the truck handle better, but the ZQ8 parts made the ride stiffer. Some people like the stiffer ride, some people don't. If you want sway bars that are stiffer than the ZQ8 parts, Hotchkis Performance makes front and rear sway bars that are similar to the ZQ8 parts, but thicker and stiffer.

To improve drivetrain strength and traction, a 4. The limited-slip differential dramatically improved the truck's ability to accelerate out of corners without spinning the inside rear tire. With street tires, the Auburn limited-slip differential dropped the mph time to 5. Even though the above suspension and brake modifications added weight, the truck became fun! It corners, it accelerates, and it stops with the best of them. At a steady 65 mph, the lightweight truck gets 22 mpg with its 3.

But because of the happy feet we get driving it, the fuel consumption has been averaging about 14 mpg. With slicks, the limited-slip differential and cooler weather but with the cast-iron exhaust manifolds, power-steering, power brakes, and swaybar a lb magazine editor ran a Four years later, with a quieter more restrictive exhaust, an engine-driven fan, and more weight heavier tires and wheels, hard tonneau cover, body mods, sound-deadening, rear bumper, etc , the truck only ran 98 mph in the quarter mile.

Because the truck does not have a tach, all runs were done with the shifter in drive, shifting at about rpm. The GM engineer who developed the ZZ3 package says it would run faster if shifted at rpm. The owner of this truck told us that he would do the swap in about a week. Even though this person is a factory trained technician for a Chevrolet dealership, we had our doubts. He wanted to do too many things that would take time. The truck was originally a stickshift, and he had to convert it over to an automatic.

He wanted to run electric cooling fans and air conditioning. He wanted to run dual exhaust. He wanted the engine compartment to look nearly stock. And he wanted a nearly naked lady to pose with the truck. He did all of the above, but it took much longer than a week. We can't show you the nearly naked woman. The engine and transmission for this project actually came about from watching the television show, America's Most Wanted. While watching America's Most Wanted, the technician recognized the owner of the Camaro, who was wanted for suspicion of murder.

To make a long story short, America's Most Wanted got their man, and the owner of the above truck got his engine and transmission. As the owner put it, "I got a killer deal. The engine is almost completely as it comes out of the Camaro, except for the exhaust manifolds, the routing of the wiring harness, the Corvette valve covers, and the routing of the A. The air conditioner accumulator is from a 4. This cooling system works o. We prefer an engine-driven fan for this swap.

It was the details that took so much time to complete this swap. It took hours to make nice looking brackets to mount the radiator, cooling fan, and air cleaner ducting.

This V8 swap looks so stock that it is very hard for the average person to understand the many details that required skill, money and time.

The detail and workmanship on this conversion are first rate and nearly all of the conversion was done with GM parts. The elbow from the throttle-body to the air-cleaner is custom made, and it is a work of art. It is actually made from a few accumulators for the air-conditioner. Even when using an LT1 engine, this swap is similar to what we recommend. However, the Corvette LT1 engine accessories air conditioning, power-steering pump, alternator and brackets must be used for this swap.

The accessories used on the Camaro LT1 will not fit the S-Truck 4X4 chassis, but they will fit a 2wd chassis see chapter 7. This engine swap is slightly different than what we recommend in that the transmission and transfer case remain in their stock location. The driveshafts remain stock and the evaporator cover remains stock. No modifications were required on the firewall or transmisson tunnel.

For cooling, two watt 12 amps GM fans were mounted in front of the radiator and the grille was modified for fan clearance. S10 V8 Conversion Manual formats. June 23, by I have a S four wheel drive blazer and i want to place a 06 5. Chevy s10 engine swap to v8? Chevy s10 swap to v8? More questions. Skip to content Australia guidelines Step-by-step Guide.

Chevy s10 v8 swap manual. Chevrolet captiva workshop manual pdf. Chicago manual style bibliography generator. Search Search. Recent Posts Craftsman ltx owners manual Craftsman lawn mower manual Cpr call blocker v manual Cox lawn boss Insert a bolt into the motor mounts and tighten with the socket wrench.

Connect the transmission to the engine by tightening all of the bolts. Remove the two bolts that are securing the rag joint using a standard wrench and a socket wrench. Find the slider for the steering column and loosen with the socket wrench. Pull up on the rag joint to position it near the firewall. Slide the driver's side header onto steering column and rag joint.

Place a header gasket on the head and secure with the header bolts. Re-attach the rag joint by tightening the nuts onto the bolts along with the slider joint. Set the passenger side header in place and tighten with the header bolts. Mount the flexible transmission dipstick by first inserting it into the transmission. You will then need to use a self-tapping screw to attach it to the firewall, with the attached clamp.

Secure self-tapping screws with the power drill. Position the distributor from the conversion kit into the intake manifold. Make sure you have the rotor facing the correct direction.