Allenfab’s 2008 5-lug SAS and LS swap

I think they require special shipping, but are pretty expensive just looking online. Might be a market for folks that buy wrecked ones, who knows

 

Airbags and charged seat belts or buckles are hazmat. Requires shipping that would make it way too much for other than a local sale. Our delivery drivers are supposed to carry documentation just to deliver them to a local wholesale customer.

 

Figured there would be some red tape. So you’re saying it’s best to just blow them up in the yard, right?

 

Not gonna say no.

 

Current spending spree has ended. Going to work on some other things for the next bit until extra money comes back around, but I bought a ton of stuff to get the motor closer to being done. New 145 amp alternator, steering pump and pulley, salvage yard fuel rail and injectors, and salvage yard Vortec engine cover (my favorite piece cause I am a weirdo), and AC Delco belt all installed over the last couple of weeks. All sensors have been GM genuine or AC Delco to keep everyone happy.

Got the core support TIG'd back in so I can start to figure out radiator stuff. Threw the a/c condenser back in to get an idea of what I had to work with and it looks like I am limited to about a 32"x 16"-18" radiator. Summit has one that I think will work. I also think that I will have to run dual fans instead of one big ass electric one like I had hoped. The tit that hangs off the front of the water pump for the stock fan sticks out further than I want it to so it makes the fan situation happen. Gotta get a radiator sooner than later....

 

Todd,
Now I’m the first to omit I’m a stupid old man who knows nothing but this is the radiator I’m using. It’s an OEM fitment / drop in. It’s right at the same core size as the Silverado radiator. But with your fabrication skills you can run just about anything…

https://www.mishimoto.com/aluminum-radiator-toyota-tacoma-2005-2015.html

I then purchased two 12” SPAL fans that are supposed to pull 4000 cfm. Actually to be 100% honest I purchased this below from Amazon I found one that was a scratch & dent for less than $250. I pulled the fans & parts then took the radiator, the shroud and a fan to a local fab shop and they are making a shroud to fit the radiator. I purchased the Derale setup because it was cheaper than just buying two fans. One fan will come on at a set temp and the other will be set to come on at a temp about 10 or so degrees above the first.

$453 Derale Performance 16927 Gray/Black High Output Dual Radiator Fan

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B004XONYDE?ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_product_details

 

My biggest issue is that the steering box is in the way so I can’t run a close-to-factory sized radiator, it has to be much shorter. Plus, I need both the inlet and outlets on the passenger side…..

the summit radiator I am looking at is 3 core, so I’m pretty confident that it will cool just fine, just the thickness of it plus fans is concerning. I need to start looking at the depths of various 11” fans to see who has the most shallow. I’ll just make my own shroud once all that is figured out.

 

I'll admit I haven't been keeping up with the build lately, so sorry if I'm rehashing some stuff.

I'm curious, I'm assuming you're going with electric fans from the last few posts, but I'm wondering if you're going with an electric water pump as well. If it was me, I definitely would because I like the idea of being able to shut the engine down if it gets overly hot, but still being able to pump water through it cooled by the radiator fans. It's been my experience that V8s with electric fans will tend to run hot very quickly if they aren't getting highway speed airflow through the radiator. Engine driven fans, not so much, but in fairness this was back in the day when electric fan setups didn't have shroud options unless you made them yourself.

What are you doing Saturday, Todd. PM me, please. Need to get off my backside and get that muzzle brake pinned.

 

This is neat

 

Just now seeing this, sorry bout that

Running the factory water pump. These things are tried and true, so I didn't want to reinvent the wheel. As long as I continue to keep my shit out of the mud, the radiator should stay clean and not get hot lol.

 

Sa'right, lol. How about next weekend?

You would think that, yeah? But I had a T-bird with a four row radiator and two 16" electric fans that was fine as long as it was moving, but if I got caught in a traffic jamb (this was in ATL, so it happened) it would overheat rapidly. Never could figure out why other than that fans weren't moving enough air through the radiator. You'll probably be fine though. I just always thought it would be a nice option to have to be able to circulate coolant through the system without the engine running.

 

Yeah,
We (my father) had a 429 big block Ford he tried to put electric fans on and it did the same.
Hopefully the electric fans have improved!
This is why I’m having a custom shroud made to cover every inch of the radiator and two 12” fans that are supposed to pull 4000 cfm between the two. God they pull enough amps so they better pull enough air. Out of all the things I’m worried about this is the that worries me the most and we are in convection oven AZ too…
I leave for TX this coming Friday to drop the truck off for the 5.3 LS swap.
And this is why I ponied up for the Corvette accessories because they give you an extra 1.5” in front of the block…

 

I've read that more rows isn't always better because of drag and resistance that is created from the air just trying to move through and cool too much surface area (radiator/fan tech is much more involved than I was anticipating). Check the link below on a great thread to get lost in if you have an hour or three

I'll be out of town all this weekend, and have the other two Saturdays booked for April, but could swing something on one of those Sundays maybe? Something we will have to play by ear really. My schedule is pretty erratic now

Here is a thread I have been reading about cooling tech https://irate4x4.com/threads/cooling-fan-tech.24669/

The guy gets into the mathematics and all that stuff, and talks about the new(er) brushless SPAL fans. They also get into potential turbulence issues when having fans overlap the coolant tanks on the radiator and how the shape of the shroud and how far the fans sit off the radiator affects cooling and airflow. Really interesting stuff..

Glad to see you found someone to do the swap! As I was doing mine, I thought to myself that there was plenty of room for the truck accessories, but then the accessories went on and the room quickly went away. But like I had mentioned, the added steering box on mine took up a surprising amount of radiator real-estate. It will be manageable though.

 

In fairness, I did start with the factory radiator and went up to a 4 row in a effort to eliminate the problem. I imagine that if there were shrouded fans like they have these days, it wouldn't have been a problem. Had I not insisted on using a late model serpentine belt set up and thus being unable to use the engine driven fan, I probably wouldn't have had an issue.

 

So I finally convinced myself that I didn't like my transmission crossmember and that I needed to build a better one. That started with me cutting out the old one and bending up a tube and doing some plate work for the mount... absolutely hated it ...



So I cut that one out, along with the factory frame mounts. They just stuck out too much inward to the center of the truck and they were a tad too far forward...



The abandoned versions.... (salvaging some of the t-case skid off the first version)



So I came up with this version. 2x2 3/16" tube again, but with my own mounts and everything else pretty much. Plated the frame with some 3/16" and used 6 - 3/8" bolts. This version allows front driveshaft clearance without any notching, and keeps any notching from being needed. Like said above, the old skid I made will be cut off and rewelded to the new member, and this time the transmission pan skid plate will be removable separately. Having to drop the entire crossmember just to pull the trans pan if ever needed is a dumb idea, so had to make that change...

 

God I wish I had just half of your skills! Your welding is amazing!!

 

Had a pleasant day in the garage today. I ended up buying back the 14" 5125's off my old truck from Tim so I was finally able to get the shock towers welded on.




Got started on the front bumper. These are the bare bones of it as I am not sure if I am going to build it more as a tube bumper or a hybrid bumper. I am kinda just winging it on this one.

 

Booo!! Go no bumper lol.

I still need to do chevy 63s still.

 

I am not @xweslingx