Hey guys, I'm wondering, what did it cost you, I'm not talking about the motor, I'm talking about the little things, the accessory drives, radiator, fuel pump, motor mounts, engine bay mods, which headers or manifolds, etc...

The 283 in my Chevelle is sagging, I want to swap in a 4.8 which look to be going for dirt cheap. The plan would be for the GMPP Carb Intake and the front Distro mount, or a Edelbrock RPM and the MSD unit. No really outrageous engine mods, this car is a daily driver. (But I know how to ride the bus to work when it doesn't run. lol) Haven't decided on a trans.

Thanks, Jim.

I looked into this also as the truck engines are dirt cheap and have good horsepower. That being said I decided to stick with an LT1 I picked up for $300. I just did an LS1 swap on a 55 Chevy for a friend and it was expensive. A lot of the things needed apply to a Chevelle as well. FI tank is about $300 to $1200 for an intank setup. The oil pan is about $250 whether it's a new one or modifying the old one. Brackets run anywhere from $200 for a basic one that relocates the AC to about $1500+ for a billet setup. Then there is the wiring harness and reprogramming. That ran another $300 just for the reprogram. The MSD box for the carb intake is about $300 if you go that route. If you plan on using a 4 speed, the flywheel is $400 from McLeod. It's a special flywheel that is made for older trannies. And the list goes on. So that being said, I can redo the original harness myself for the LT1 and I have the software to reprogram the computer. No special flywheels needed and if I notch the frame crossmember I can use the original AC compressor and brackets. So for me it makes more sense to stick with the LT1. Your mileage may vary but that is my scenario. Hopefully in the future prices will drop or newer cheaper solutions will come out cause I would still like to add a 5.3 to the Chevelle but I'll have to wait for now.

i think you might wanna do more homework on your swap prices, you can use the camaro oil pan if you chosse right mount or fab your own up like some guys have choosen to.you can find a complete motor with brackets already if you search (i found my ls1 with cam,heads - stage 2,ported throttle body with all the brackets and wiring plus comptuer for 2k.a/c can be done differently some notch frame,someput it up top some use mounts etc to make it work. ls1 4l60 cost me only $350 used was built but some things needed beefed up so i spent antoher $200 for sunshell etc and a friend that builds trannys built it for me for free ( we use to work together at gm). i can go on and on so can alot of guys here on lsx swaps. i think it is more about how much time you want to spend and the max end result.please use search and type lsx or ls1 there are multi guys here doing them and also on ls1tech.com

Brandon

It really isn't that expensive if you are going carb. You will have to have headers, engine mount plates to match the headers, an electric fuel pump, an intake, carb, I would recomend the msd 6010 ignition box to save money over the front mount distributor, an oil pan and an adapter for your torque converter. You could probably swap in a carbed 4.8 for close to $2500 counting the cost of the engine.

You can spend as much as you want or you can spend less really the thing that makes the biggest difference is how much of the work you are willing to do yourself (ie make your own mounts etc.) I would think for a 4.8 on a tight budget $2500-$3000 is doable then a little more for the 5.3 and LS1 and alot more for an LS2 and newer. Although most of the involved costs are about the same no matter what engine you use its just a higher initial cost. There are people that will reprogram the computer for $50 so going fuel injected isn't really that expensive and to me it makes the swap much more worthwhile (although the advantages are numerous). The only other difference would be a fuel pump setup( I have less than $250 in mine) and wiring which isn't as awful as it seems at first. Even carb'd its still a cool engine though.

Hey thanks for the info guys. :hurray:

The 4.8 thing is just a little personality quirk with me, I like the 283 I've got, one might even consider the 4.8 it's descendant.