1981 C10 Stepside, Blueberry 5.3

[tvallaro]

Hey guys, my name is Tim and I wanted to share my experiences with the first and only truck I have ever owned.  It is a 1981 C10 Stepside and I purchased it in December, 2013.  I have done a bunch of work to it since then, but am just now joining the 73-87chevytrucks community this month.  I lurked around this forum for the past few months to help me with my 5.3 Vortec swap and I figured it was time to share my experience and progress.  Hopefully I can help anyone out with similar plans for their truck. 

As far as how I am going to post, it’ll be more like a story rather than a progress update (at least until I get to where I am at now with the truck).  I’ll try to go in chronological order of how my truck has progressed, but feel free to jump ahead and ask me any questions relating to the 5.3 swap. 

My truck is a base model (custom deluxe) that had a very tired 305 backed by a TH350 with 2.73 12 bolt rear end.  Below are pictures of the truck now (black bumper and wheels) vs. when I bought it (chrome wheels, white bumper, white top, and a phantom billet grill).  Replacing the grill with a stock grill as well as painting the top and bumpers were the first changes I made to the truck.


Now (as of 11/24/2016):



Then:



My little helper, posing for the camera

[nucknoel89]

Nice! I have an 81 stepside I did the swap on as well. The specs were almost exactly the same as yours except that my trim level was one above.

[tvallaro]

nucknoel89, I was pretty surprised when I learned that the name "Custom Deluxe" was the base model.  From what I have gathered, the notable items on this trim package are no tilt wheel, headliner, or carpet.  When I bought the truck, I had originally assumed that the previous owner removed the carpet. 

On a side note, the truck was decently taken care of (or was a southern truck) and has no real rust of note.  Floor pans were solid with the factory blue paint showing and the frame still has black paint covering most of it.  The only "major" rust I had was the battery tray and inner fender below.  I replaced the battery tray and "fixed" the inner fender with some sheet metal and self-drilling screws.

[tvallaro]

Weather stripping, wheels, tires, and side pipes.

All I did to the truck between 2014 and October 2015 was replaced all of the door and window weather stripping.  It was all dry rotted, cracked, and/or missing. Interestingly enough, I had both a 1980 vent window and a 1981 vent window on my truck.  I had no clue they were different until about the 3rd set of vent window weather stripping I ordered.  Initially I could not figure out why the various suppliers were sending me “defective” parts.  Turns out the top of the vent window changed from pointed to rounded (or vise versa) and I had one of each.

October of 2015 included a change to the wheels and tires as well as a change to the side pipe exhaust.  As soon as I got the truck in 2013 I was unsure if I liked the chrome wheels and chrome side pipes.  I finally pulled the trigger and bought wheels and tires.  Personally I think the stock tire size on these trucks is too small; The wheel wells are gigantic so I figured I might as well fill the space.  I ended up purchasing American Racing AR767 wheels and a set of General Grabber tires.  265/75R15.
Pictures below are before and after shots of the wheels and tires:




Next, I painted the side pipe heat shields black.  I was much happier with the look of the truck, but still debated if the side pipes should be removed.   For the time being they stayed.  Pics below:

[tvallaro]

5.3 LM7

The initial plan for the truck was to drop in a Goodwrench 350 crate engine.  While watching episode 37 of Motor Trend’s Hot Rod Garage, Low-Buck Speed Project! LS Swapped 1979 Camaro! #Bonemaro, I decided that I also wanted a 5.3 LS motor in my project.  I paused the episode half way through and jumped on craigslist. 

$800 later I had a 5.3 LM7 motor out of a 2000 Tahoe with harness and computer.  The motor had 196k miles on it (which would eventually come to haunt me) and I was excited to get my engine swap going.   I am not a mechanic, but I was determined to get this done.  Prior to this endeavor, the largest project I ever did myself on an engine was spark plugs and wires.



First thing I did was degrease the motor and formulated a list of parts to replace with the goal of not touching the heads or crank.  My brother and a friend of mine are both Chevrolet mechanics and they recommended a ton of parts to replace based on experience and mileage of the motor.   

Here is a list of what I replaced/ bought:

• Timing chain set
  Rear main seal (plate and gasket)
  Valley pan gasket
  Fuel pressure regulator
  Knock sensors, harness, and gaskets
  Intake manifold gaskets
  Oil pump
  EGR block off plate for intake
  Oil pressure sensor
  Timing cover/gasket
  Water pump gasket
  Valve cover gaskets
  Starter (did not come with motor)
  Alternator (did not come with motor)
  Mass air flow sensor (did not come with motor)
  Belt
  Oil pan gasket
  Coolant bypass seals
  Thermostat
  Oil cooler gasket

With the help of my brother, the motor went back together and I painted the iron block black. In between all of this happening I spent hours upon hours on the internet researching the swap.

[Captkaos]

Did you read my LS swap thread.  I detailed A LOT of stuff in it...
http://forum.73-87chevytrucks.com/smforum/index.php/topic,12120.0.html

[Irish_Alley]

subscribed. my buddy offered me a 5.3 and im thinking about putting it either in one of my squares with a manual trans or my 94 that has a 4l60e in it already. dont want to start a new thread but what do you think would be easiest? the 94 has 4.3 in it now so i was planning on putting the tbi i pulled out of my 91 in it or the 350 tbi i have sitting in a 95 c1500

[nucknoel89]

subscribed. my buddy offered me a 5.3 and im thinking about putting it either in one of my squares with a manual trans or my 94 that has a 4l60e in it already. dont want to start a new thread but what do you think would be easiest? the 94 has 4.3 in it now so i was planning on putting the tbi i pulled out of my 91 in it or the 350 tbi i have sitting in a 95 c1500

Square!

[tvallaro]

I am not too familiar with 90's Chevy trucks (only really know about my 81).  I would say put the 5.3 in the square.  The swap was easy.  I am not a mechanic and was able to get it done.  Honestly the internet and forums made it possible for me.   Somebody has done it before and can help with whatever issue you may encounter.

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