5.7 Hemi into an old Suburban.

-
valiantwagon

valiantwagon

Well-Known Member
Joined
Sep 5, 2010
Messages
81
Reaction score
1
Location
Boise Idaho
I have just started a 5.7 hemi swap into a '68 2wd Suburban (partially for the power, partially to piss off the Chevy guys). I have a complete 2005 half ton Dodge pickup donor. I plan to use the complete motor/trans (auto), along with the stock gauges from the Dodge.
I know there are a lot of threads regarding this type of swap, my main concern is the wiring. Many say to run an aftermarket harness, does anyone know if the aftermarket harnesses are compatible with the stock Dodge gauges? Would it be easier/cheaper to use the stock harness in this situation? Any help is greatly appreciated!
 
Gotta admire the guy that takes the opportunity to build a sbc for 1/5 the cost of any mopar engine, and then picks one of the more complicated swaps of the mopar world. Lol

If you have a complete pcm and harness, there is no reason to look elsewhere beyond that. Plenty of companies that adjust the factory pcm to work for swaps. Plus you can use the oem cluster. Also cheaper than after market.

We use the holley swap ecm and harness, with aftermarket gauges on ours...but we start with new long blocks, and there isnt a point to us buying oem harness/pcm, just to get gouged on price, then send it back out to be modified. Hence the use of the holley. But again we dont do any used ones...so thats a different animal.
 
Why not keep it in the family and put it in a old Dodge Suburban? They did use the name first after all. GM has to pay Chrysler royalties for the name to this day.
 

Attachments

  • SUBURBAN.jpg
    24 KB · Views: 581
Would it be easier just to put the suburban body on the pickup frame??
 
Thought about that, would need to stretch the frame (the donor is a short box single cab), plus the chassis and suspension have seen better days.
 
Hotwire auto I believe does all that stuff... Factory ecu and harness for sure with factory gauges. You will need the gas pedal, and any wiring/boxes between the pedal and ecu.

Awesome plan BTW.

Joe
 
The Hemi fits in that frame really nice. I've been doing my swap into a '71 C10 chassis (same in the front as your 'burban) with a Cherokee body on it. I can give you some pictures and part numbers if you want them. I used the Speedway modern Hemi engine mounts welded to the chassis.
 
If you have the complete donor truck my suggestion would be to use as much of the wiring, harnesses, and modules as you can. You do not need to flash the PCM unless your donor truck has security and you are removing that module. One issue with getting the gauges to work could be vehicle speed signal. This is output from the ABS module which needs inputs from the wheel speed sensors. If the track width from the ram and suburban are close I would also the axle to a provide the speed signal. Good luck!
 
IMO, a hybrid would be the easiest. Using a stripped down 05 PCM to control the basic engine function and transmission. You would still need the VSS input for the trans. And the PCM would still regulate the alternator. The APPS would still be needed along with all the factory engine sensors. But sensors like engine temp can run off of a second sensor. Tach can run off of a spark plug. And you can see I'm in favor of analog gauges to eliminate any emission requirements. Now if you went with a A518 trans and run it as stand alone it really simplifies the PCM wiring. Anyway my two cents. Good luck..
 
I'm thinking of using the steering column from the donor so I have cruise control etc. I think this would also tie in the gear selector to the display.
Any thoughts?
 
Here's the motor mounts that I used. http://www.speedwaymotors.com/57-New-Style-Hemi-Weld-In-Motor-Mounts,7634.html

Little bit of cutting and hammer work, here they are mounted. I also added another piece that drops down to the crossmember and gets them really sturdy. You can see what I did for a trans crossmember as well. My positioning has the motor set back significantly over the stock chevy motor, yours will probably be further forward. The stock steering will work, you don't need the rack and pinion like I did.
DSC_01962_zpsbf95e530.jpg



The other issue you're going to have is exhaust. I couldn't find anything off the shelf that would fit and had to build my own headers.
DSC_02691_zpsyzfnfpof.jpg
 
ghinmi said:
Here's the motor mounts that I used. http://www.speedwaymotors.com/57-New-Style-Hemi-Weld-In-Motor-Mounts,7634.html

Little bit of cutting and hammer work, here they are mounted. I also added another piece that drops down to the crossmember and gets them really sturdy. You can see what I did for a trans crossmember as well. My positioning has the motor set back significantly over the stock chevy motor, yours will probably be further forward. The stock steering will work, you don't need the rack and pinion like I did.
DSC_01962_zpsbf95e530-1.jpg



The other issue you're going to have is exhaust. I couldn't find anything off the shelf that would fit and had to build my own headers.
DSC_02691_zpsyzfnfpof-1.jpg
Click to expand...

I'd really like to see these motor mounts installed, but your pics aren't working.
 
That's strange. They were working for me until I went to reply, then they disappeared. I re-did them, let me know if they work now.
 
ghinmi said:
That's strange. They were working for me until I went to reply, then they disappeared. I re-did them, let me know if they work now.
Click to expand...

Please start a thread... or at least link us to more pics of that build... I must see more.

Joe
 
yup those worked!! thanks!

wonder if you could use them in a unibody mopar? would you weld them to the K frame?
 
joeboy said:
Please start a thread... or at least link us to more pics of that build... I must see more.

Joe
Click to expand...
Thanks for the interest! It's not an a-body so I won't start a thread here but here's where I've been posting on lateral-g. http://www.lateral-g.net/forums/showthread.php4?t=48322


johnnymac2k6 said:
yup those worked!! thanks!

wonder if you could use them in a unibody mopar? would you weld them to the K frame?
Click to expand...
No idea to be honest, I don't even know what the structure looks like in a Mopar. I mostly lurk here because you guys post a ton of good info and cool stuff. :)
 
Ordered a set of the Speedway motor mounts, price was reasonable ($98 for the pair). Should make things a lot easier.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
-

Back
Top