looking pretty solid so far man!

Now make it faster lol. Efan, intake, gut the manifold, ported throttle body, full tune, etc.

 

Now what.....around the beginning of feurary i spent several weeks gathering information on an LS swap I started down the road towards a modern day hot rod. Second week of April the pieces started to come together. I decided on doing engine trans and rear differential all at once just to make sure when.I was finally on the road I was solid and reliable. With the help of www.car_parts.com I found all I was looking for. After several hours looking and comparing I ordered (from a neighbouring province)a 2011 vvt 6.0 L94 out of a Suburban and what was suppose to be a 4L80e trans from a Sierra 2500....enter 04coly08 (jamie). Jamie helped me with my harness and computer reprogramming, he has been great to deal with, his harness is amazing and super easy to use, and it turns out he's only a couple hours from my house.
It wasn't all smooth sailing....the trans as identified by Jamie turned out to be a 6l80e so I sent that one back and the replacement trans out of a 2003 savanna van came a little more worn and torn. The engine showed up but instead of being complete.ended up being intake to pan with no accessories. It took several phone calls and trips to the local auto recyclers to find all I needed (collecting nuts and bolts became a running joke with the recycler). At this same time I found at 1999 Isuzu rodeo rear diff with trac-loc and 4.10:1 gears. After a few hours of clean up and disassembly it was off to be na?rowed 1 1/2" each side. Well! It turns out that the way the rear housing and axlea were manufuactured a reliable narrowing wasn't going to happen. So I located a 2003 ford 8.8 explorer diff with 3.73:1 limited slip and discs.....now what.

 

Tuned In!

 

Nice! Looking forward to seeing this progress

 

Now what.... with the rear end I didn't want to break the bank the first time around so I have a local chassis performance shop drill the rotors and drill and weld the axles to accept the canton 6 bolt pattern. Also being budget conscious I found a donor electric fan as well as 2009 canyon 5.3 exhaust manifolds. Before bolting the engine and transmission together I decided email decent convertor was needed. I have a local shop built me a 9 inch convertor with about a 1500 rpm stall speed, and needed the matching flex plate. In talking with Jamie I decided to have him provide me all electronic requirements for the swap. Which essentially made this plug and play with all but one connector needing some soldering. The old 140k 3.7 5cyclinder was run up and had a compression test(all cylinders are between 195 and 205). The truck was driven and parked one last time. Let the fun begin.

 

New used 2011 6.0 motor from a suburban. 4l80e from a 2003 savanna van.
Old motor and compression test.
If anyone is interested I have all the drive train for sale. As well as the 1999 rodeo rear differential.

 

The fun....all the way along I was continually making lists of "to do's"
I had the transmission and rear end checked over and repaired by a local shop.
Lets begin...I dropped all the fluids and unbolted, unclipped everything. I could have done a better job organizing the nuts and bolts but in the end it was just a large bin full of items they may or may not get reused.
With the help of a chunk of chain, pallet forks and a 160 series bobcat skids there the motor and transmission were removed. Lol.
I had ordered weeks earlier the CP wire engine mounts, they were bolted up (Never did figure out how to install one of the forth bolts.) New used engine and trans were installed with the same pallet forks and Bob cat. With the engine now tucked down in place I found a happy medium as far as forward and backwards engine placement in the engine bay. Fitting up the stock radiator and my cut and modified Kia Sorento e- fan, the final resting place was determined. My truck now had a new heart!

 

The shot of the front end also shows that I added an additional trans cooler as well as a power steering cooler. Bending up and sourcing hoses turned out to be one of the more frustrating parts of the swap. I used as much metal tubing as I could with compression fittings and short sections of high pressure rubber hose where needed.

 

A new heart....in the last pics it's hardly noticeable but Jamie's modified harness is all but installed. During the install of the motor I had to trim the CP mounts as most people have too, also I elected to reused the stock 4l60e dips tick tube (bent and shortened) and factory trans mount and cross member. For the cross member I found center, drilled over sized holes in the frame for thru bolting. I took the frame bolts and with a sized piece of metal spacing them apart I welded them together so I could install the two nuts and welded metal into each frame rail and not have to worry about holding the nut while tightening.....worked pretty slick. Being that my truck had been lowered 2-3" front and rear I was concerned about the oil pan, I received a slightly lower profile pan and assembly from CP wire. Turns out it was only about 3/4" shallower than the factory truck pan. Not what I was hoping for exactly but I couldn't find anyone that had a better option without going full custom. I also used the Colorado upper and lower rad hoses. The heater hoses were just bulk hose from the local parts store.
After several hours of cutting, drilling, soldering, and reconnecting wires, filling all necessary fluids the truck was ready to start....04coly08 supplied ,e a harness that was clearly labelled and as easy as 1 2 3 to install. If you can solder...you can install his harness, not to mention he is a wealth of information.
With the harness and tuned computers Jamie provides the initial start up information, while going through that strategy up procedure......my truck started!

 

You'll notice the speedo is running. I had the input and output wires on backwards as the new style connector was slightly different but easily modified when compared to the transmission sending units. I also had several notifications on the cluster but those went away as soon as the truck.was.able to move under its own power. With the truck starting and idling on command I ordered some 2010 5.3 Dynamax exhaust from the cat backs that i knew was going to need work. After start up I set out to get the AC up and running as well as get the 2003 ford ezplorer 8.8 rear differential installed.

 

Darn it my father finger just deleted my post...have to write it all again. The start up video didn't load. Ithe showed the issue with the speedo as well as check engine light from O2 sensors not being connected as well as notifications about the traction and abs function. The notification went away as soon as the truck moved under its own power. The others I'm still working on, but they are my fault. The speedo is running because the new style connector and plugs are interchangeable and I had them reversed.
On to the AC....I pulled from the junk yard several hoses and tubes to better fit the truck and adapt the Sierra compressor to the canyon evaporator, condenser and, dryer. I had Roger of Roger's mobile AC repairs look after creating my hoses, purge the system and get cold air into the cab. The AC is working great. One thing I did was pick up a 2009 high side aluminum tube that runs from the accumulator to the cab, this new style goes around in front and across the radio support verses up across the firewall. With the AC functioning I started on the 2003 ford Explorer rear different install....

 

New tube and hoses. System being purged and charged. The one picture shows the connector /adapter that had to be removed to allow the input and output sensors to be swapped.

 

Damn, one of the fastest swaps I've seen done on here.

 

The swap is almost complete. I m now telling my tale. So many swap stories never get finished or take longer than some would like, so I thought to tell my story near the end rather than as I go along.

 

I can tell you from my experience on swaps is this; the timeline for completion is a direct result of planning.

I spent 5 month'ish planning, reading and buying parts. I started my 5 speed swap on 11 November and was done 28 November. I only worked on it a few hours each day when I had time.

Either, I can appreciate what you did and how you went about it.:bestest:

 

So what's your total timeframe so far?

 

I would have to look back and see. Bought the truck in janurary. Did the drop and rims and tires. Then decided to swap started ordering parts in the beginning of April. I got the truck back on the road last Sunday. Just working bugs out now. But it starts, drives and burns rubber. Hahah

 

Just curious, why couldn't the Isuzu rear be narrowed? I had planned on using one for my current Luv project, but now you have me concerned.

Awesome build by the way!

 

The shop I worked with contacted every axle supplier they deal with. The problem was that the Isuzu axles have a groove cut into them that holds a large c clip to retain a machined shim. The axles can't have this groove cut into them without concern of cutting thru the hardening of the axles. No one was interested in resplining for the same reason. The differential housing was also an issue due to the fact that the caliper mounts are part of the housing and not bolted on like the Ford or Chevy diffs. The 2003 rear end I ended up using in the end was an inch and a 1/2 narrower than my z85 rear different. I added 1/4" shims on either side, the extreme rims with 235 rubber and it all looks factory.

 

After ditching the Isuzu rear end game plan I quickly found a 2003 Ford Explorer rear diff from a 5.0ltr model
The 8.8 came with 3.73:1 gears limited slip posi and disc brakes.
Seeing as I had lowered the truck a couple months prior the old rear end was quick to get out. Disconnect ebrake cables and hydraulic hose. I ended up dropping the rear shackles on the leaf springs which made removal and install of the new rear diff a breeze. I had already cut off all the factory brackets, and plan on reusing the leaf springs perches. I was concerned about centering the pinion when in fact an offset pinion makes it less likely to have a vibration. Bolting the rear end up and in place it all just fell back together including adding a Bell Tech rear sway bar(tabs tacked in place). I had to cut off the chevy brake line fitting and install a ford thread and flare the chevy stock tubing. I had the rear end bearings seals and clutch gone over by a local shop before assembly.
With the rear end in place I had to assemble brakes and bleed lines.
Coming up with e brake cables was a little trickier. After much searching and asking around I decided to create my own by blending the chevy cables to the ford ends and backing plate connectors. A bunch of measuring, cutting, welding, soldering and luck....the cables were complete and installed. They work great and I use them as often as I can wanting to push them to make sure they are strong and safe. Now all that's needed is.....

 

Rear differential out....ford differential installed. Ended up having the chassis shop, position the rear end, set pinion angle, weld my tubes and sway bar tabs, and shorten my driveshafts. They had originally modified my axles and rotors to fit the 6 bolt Chevy wheel pattern. With that all done I added 1/4" shims to each wms. Adding the Colorado rims and the rear end fits perfect.

 

The home stretch before I can drive. I took the advice of a member(Gpennell)on here that had already swapped an LS into a crewcab and I ordered up the (mostly ) 3" Dynomax stainless steel cat back exhaust for the 2009 Colorado. The kit came cat back with fully welded muffler all clamps and an option turn down dump or 4 inch bolt on ss tip. I looked at trying to do the installation myself but given the lack of a decent welder and limited availability of ss pipe and bend I went to Island muffler and had them build me the connector pipes from the cast manifold's to the Dynomax system and a rear portion so that the ss tip exited nearly behind the rear wheel. I forgot to get them to include the bungs for the upstream O2 sensors so I went back today and had that done. Not know what the next step for my truck will be I had them use aluminized. 2 3/4" and 3 " pipe to make all additional pieces, not stainless. If I end up putting headers(or!!) on it those connector sections need.to be reworked again.

 

Trailoring home with some finished exhaust.

 

The mostly finished product! Scanned and cleared o2 sensor codes. Drove around most of the day and no check engine light.
Need to get a tune to set shift points, idle and acceleration(when heavy footed).
As notes in the pics I added a Volant cold air intake. Not cheap but cheaper than GM. The Volant fit really nice, looks clean, I may black out the chrome cover to get a more stock.look. I also added a Sierra "Vortec" engine cover. Things I still need to do aside from a good tune.....engine bay and interior detailing, cut wax the exterior, recheck all nuts and bolts, change fluids, stereo upgrade, tint Windows, headlight upgrade, and a turbo!
Thanks for checking out my swap. All in all it was pretty easy but then I didn't do much of it myself, it was my swap but felt more like a rebuild than a complex swap. Gotta say having someone like 04coly08 in my corner was a huge asset. He is a massive wealth of information and knowledge.
Thanks.
Ryy

 

LS X badges. Not sure if they are gonna work with my truck. They could stand to be about 3/4" taller and an 1"plus longer. I think my truck has too much red for these to look good anywhere.

 

Like the lsx!! Install them yet? Glad to have helped with your project!

 

The LSX badges look a little small. Not sure what or where I'm going to use them.
You were a huge help on my project. You made the swap super straight forward. I very much appreciate your patients, advice and input. Truck is so fun to drive. Everything functions inside the truck and under the hood as if factory. Thank you again.