the resurection of the 78, and a couple ls engine swap questions

[40sand20s]

ive just recently acquired a 78 fleetside shortbed 2wd that im now in the process of going through piece by piece, im starting from the ground up to make it the way i want it, everything that can be new, will be

ive either got to find a cab or order floor pans and inside kick panels, and make a rear floor pan section, and then put him all back together.

but the kicker is, wait for it,


im going to be installing a 6.0 408 stroker from texas speed backed by a built 4l80e from either patc or rossler, should make roughly 650 to the tires after everything is said and done,

but i have one question to any of you all who have done a ls swap into these trucks, and that is, what accessory drive did you use? the stock truck stuff or f-body stuff?

ive only been reading up on s10 ls swaps, which anyone who has been around a s10 knows there is no space for anything, lol, but just wondering so i can start gathering up parts as i get time and money,

thanks for the information and help guys, ill try to get some pics up pretty soon and keep everyone updated, again, thanks for the help

[slammed79]

Welcome to the site from Az.
As far as replacement panels, I'd go through the owner of this site over the catalog company, better fit as I understand it.

There are a bunch of lsx swap guys on here, I'm sure they'll chime in shortly.

[40sand20s]

slammed, are you running a 5/7 drop by chance? because thats what im wanting to do with 18x7 fronts and 18x10 rears, thanks

[screamin86]

I believe the truck accesories will work just fine but in not 100% on that. Some have ran them on thrirdgen f-bodys but you have to have a cowl hood for the alt to clean so I would say that hood clearance on one of these old truck shouldn't be an issue but I'm not sure about the rest of the setup. Ill be doing the same swap hopefully within the next year or two. I'm just now finishing up the swap into my thirdgen trans am.

[roadrage41]

If you're running a car intake use car accessories. If you're running a truck intake, get rid of it and run a car intake.

[40sand20s]

Ill be running a ported fast xfi intake, so ill go find a firebird or camaro at the local boneyard. Anyone know if the ac compressor will work too? Or can i just run it on top? Thanks guys

[roadrage41]

If you're getting a shortblock, you need the water pump and fbody balancer as well, accessories should be legit. Look on the projects page for the 81 c-10 on the link in my signature.

[40sand20s]

Im getting a longblock from them. So ill still need all that good stuff. And injectors and the harness, but ill probably have kurt over at just chevy trucks or jared at current performance take care of the wiring and tuning. Just chevy trucks uses current performance anyway, so either way itll be cp wire doing my wiring setup. Ive got to figure out what injectors ill need though, but im sure when i call to order my motor theyll hook me up on some. Ive got 2 other projects going besides my 78 thats getting ls swaps as well. Theyre a 95 4 door 4wd s10 blazer and its also getting a solid axle swap as well on 35s, the other one is a 2000 2 door 2wd s10 blazer. Its gonna be my show/ competition rig. Im real big into car stereo and drag racing. Hence the blazers for the stereo. Lol. And ive also got my main dd, a 2011 chevy colorado ext cab 5.3 zq8 2wd. And im gonna start messing with it after i get everything else done. Ill put it up and drive the 78 after i get it done. Id rather have another squarebody anyway, but i just really like the newer ls motors for the simplicity of adding power and im more used to them, as im only 25. Thanks for the help guys, if you have any more info to add, please feel free to do so. Thanks

[slammed79]

I've run 5/7 drops in the past on 18's, what do you want to know?

[40sand20s]

I've run 5/7 drops in the past on 18's, what do you want to know?

I may run a 4/6 drop so i can get some meat in the rear. But im curious as to what backspacing and tire sizes to run front and rear with 18x7 fronts and 18x10 rears. Thanks man

[roadrage41]

Cool. That gives you a good idea of how it lays out, we used the kwik performance brackets on that one, use them alot actually. Kwikperf.com

[40sand20s]

Cool. That gives you a good idea of how it lays out, we used the kwik performance brackets on that one, use them alot actually. Kwikperf.com

Thanks for the link roadrage, ill make sure i do some research on them. Thanks man