91 Montero Ls v8 Swap

I just stumbled upon this thread because the engine in my '89 LWB finally crapped out after 330k miles. LS is my dream swap, but I live in the city and I don't think I can street park a donor car. Trying to think of ways to copy your project. Cheers!
 
philycheasesteak said:
I just stumbled upon this thread because the engine in my '89 LWB finally crapped out after 330k miles. LS is my dream swap, but I live in the city and I don't think I can street park a donor car. Trying to think of ways to copy your project. Cheers!
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It took me a weekend to get everything I needed from the suburban. That being said I had a garage to work out of. You could title and insure it for a few weeks lol
 
I've got a first gen Montero project that I'll be starting once summer starts and it would be awesome if i could get some advice for it. My buddies and I are planning on LS swapping it but this will be my first engine swap. I am familiar with engines in general and have some basic welding knowledge. Other than that I'm pretty much new to it. If any of you have advice for the LS engine selection, which trans to get or anything of the sorts that would be awesome! I'll be doing a lot of research for it but there's little things like those aftermarket starter bolts that I would have never known. Thank you in advance!
 
JAXTER said:
I've got a first gen Montero project that I'll be starting once summer starts and it would be awesome if i could get some advice for it. My buddies and I are planning on LS swapping it but this will be my first engine swap. I am familiar with engines in general and have some basic welding knowledge. Other than that I'm pretty much new to it. If any of you have advice for the LS engine selection, which trans to get or anything of the sorts that would be awesome! I'll be doing a lot of research for it but there's little things like those aftermarket starter bolts that I would have never known. Thank you in advance!
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Honestly it depends on budget, what your goals are, ability, etc...

For my goals I went with a Drive By Cable setup and a 2001 suburban. It was a 1500 so the trans was a 4l60e. My original plan was to use an nv3500 5spd with a manual Tcase. I will be going to that after I get everything driving how I like.

I can't stress enough that the Body lift made everything easier. Just having room to work and mount everything was well worth the investment.

Engine management, if I could do it over I would go with the holley Sniper system.
 
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Urban gorilla said:
Honestly it depends on budget, what your goals are, ability, etc...

For my goals I went with a Drive By Cable setup and a 2001 suburban. It was a 1500 so the trans was a 4l60e. My original plan was to use an nv3500 5spd with a manual Tcase. I will be going to that after I get everything driving how I like.

I can't stress enough that the Body lift made everything easier. Just having room to work and mount everything was well worth the investment.

Engine management, if I could do it over I would go with the holley Sniper system.
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My budget isn't massive but I don't like to skimp and buy cheap products that are going to screw me over in the long run. Is it better to buy a whole car or should I pull a engine from a junkyard?

I definitely want to keep the Monty a manual but after doing some research, chances are I'll keep it as an auto as you did until I like how it drives. Is the stock Montero Tcase able to bolt up to the 4L60 with an adapter or am I going to be looking at buying a Tcase as well?

I will 100% be doing a body lift as I want to offroad this truck and stick 33s or 35s under it. As well as a suspension lift but I haven't found a kit that I like yet. How tall of a body lift did you go for? I've seen 1in, 2in and 3in lifts.

I'm still in the process of choosing what engine management system I want to use but I'll definitely take a look at Holley's sniper system. I've heard plenty of great things about Holley.

Thanks!
 
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JAXTER said:
My budget isn't massive but I don't like to skimp and buy cheap products that are going to screw me over in the long run. Is it better to buy a whole car or should I pull a engine from a junkyard?

I definitely want to keep the Monty a manual but after doing some research, chances are I'll keep it as an auto as you did until I like how it drives. Is the stock Montero Tcase able to bolt up to the 4L60 with an adapter or am I going to be looking at buying a Tcase as well?

I will 100% be doing a body lift as I want to offroad this truck and stick 33s or 35s under it. As well as a suspension lift but I haven't found a kit that I like yet. How tall of a body lift did you go for? I've seen 1in, 2in and 3in lifts.

I'm still in the process of choosing what engine management system I want to use but I'll definitely take a look at Holley's sniper system. I've heard plenty of great things about Holley.

Thanks!
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I have a 3inch body lift, I ran a torsion lift as well for 35s. I'm going solid axle now but it served me well for a while.

Not sure about the Tcase but I don't see why it wouldn't work with an adapter. Probably cheaper to just buy a transfer case.

It's always nice to have a donor car if you have the space for it. That is what I did. Then I scrapped it and made almost all my money back lol
 
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Urban gorilla said:
I have a 3inch body lift, I ran a torsion lift as well for 35s. I'm going solid axle now but it served me well for a while.

Not sure about the Tcase but I don't see why it wouldn't work with an adapter. Probably cheaper to just buy a transfer case.

It's always nice to have a donor car if you have the space for it. That is what I did. Then I scrapped it and made almost all my money back lol
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I'll go for a 3in body lift and I think I found a pretty good kit for suspension lift with all the accessories like the torsion bars as well.

I'll have to do more research on the Tcase.

And I have the space for a donor car, I'll be working out of my dad's shop. Once I'm back home from college I'll start searching the junkyards and FB marketplace for a donor.

One more thing for now, did you run the long tube c-10 ls swap headers or just the regular ones? I found a set of longtubes from Speed Engineering for a good price.

Thank you for your time! I'm super excited to get this project started.
 
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JAXTER said:
I'll go for a 3in body lift and I think I found a pretty good kit for suspension lift with all the accessories like the torsion bars as well.

I'll have to do more research on the Tcase.

And I have the space for a donor car, I'll be working out of my dad's shop. Once I'm back home from college I'll start searching the junkyards and FB marketplace for a donor.

One more thing for now, did you run the long tube c-10 ls swap headers or just the regular ones? I found a set of longtubes from Speed Engineering for a good price.

Thank you for your time! I'm super excited to get this project started.
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I ran regular length, it looks like long tube would fit tho.
 
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I haven't logged onto OB for years but this thread brought me back :grin:

Just purchased a gen 1 and am thinking about motor options down the road. Since the last post was from Jan 2024, did you ever finish it up, @Urban gorilla ?
 
Davidoff said:
I haven't logged onto OB for years but this thread brought me back :grin:

Just purchased a gen 1 and am thinking about motor options down the road. Since the last post was from Jan 2024, did you ever finish it up, @Urban gorilla ?
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Just about there, need to finish driver side exhaust. Then just gonna button little stuff up as I'm driving it. Decided to buy a house in March like an idiot so haven't had a second to work on it.
 
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Davidoff said:
@Urban gorilla love to hear its still going and congrats on the house! Would love to see a walk around on your project. Your profile pic is a nice tease lol
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ah dang, I thought the bump meant some new progress lol...

Anyhow, if you want some Gen1 stuff, my thread in this section has a bunch of my projects (though it's a V6, so not doing an engine swap at this time).
 
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I'd be interested in knowing what the overall length difference was for the drivetrain. I've got a swb just begging for a 5.3. I noticed you said the body lift helped. Do you think it was necessary for engine/trans fitment? Any specs on the radiator you could share?

Preliminary plan is 5.3/4l65e/Novak to np242j selec trac case. I like full time for Michigan stuff.

Thanks for any advice you can give. Awesome build.
 
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