LOW BUDGET V6 to V8 Silverado Conversion, Part 1 The Single Cab Short Bed is Getting FIXED!

It's been a busy few months, transitioning my focus of work, house hunting, family life, etc. But FINALLY I have time to get this truck fixed AND give you a guys and gals a more in depth explanation of exactly how to convert your V6 Silverado or Sierra to V8
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[@colin8532]

Awesome, I'm going to really enjoy this series. Nice to see a new video, I was just wondering how you were doing. Hope all is well Jason, and you and the family are enjoying the summer 😊

[@MohawkMotors]

Hey Colin! Good to hear from you brother! Life is good, family is good! Hope you're doing well also and you enjoy the videos!

[@mannyedits779]

This is my dream video! I have an 07 classic and just picked up my 5.3 out of a 06!

[@MohawkMotors]

Excellent!!! VERY compatible swap! More videos coming on the whole process!

[@JR-oz5mf]

Great info! Especially on what wire harness to go with 03-04 together 05-07 classic. I found out the hard way. Now I know how to fix my battery light on issue.

[@MohawkMotors]

Glad it helped!!

[@donnieschwartzjr9370]

Great information as usual. Glad your back. More videos please.

[@MohawkMotors]

Thank you!! Glad to be back, life should be normalizing again soon so should be able to keep uploading regularly again!

[@reymarin3865]

​@MohawkMotors Hey quick questions sorry to bother you, do i need a v8 fuse box?

[@GrandPitoVic]

Thats great brother. I am finally doing my first swap. Ls3/4L80 in a 03' Crown Vic Police Interceptor. I got the 6.2L block seriously cheap for a 6.2L. Otherwise i was going for a 6.0L. I dropped the block off last week to get honed and cam bearings and such. I started making videos for my grandsons in case they ever want to do something similar. I like watching your videos. Very informative. Thank you brother.

[@MohawkMotors]

Sounds like an awesome swap! Should be a lot of fun once you get it together!! Awesome idea video documenting for your grandson! Thanks for watching!

[@GrandPitoVic]

Thank you brother!!

[@richardcjunior]

I’m trying to convince my wife to let me do this to my 07. My son blew the engine, so I need to put another one in. Might as well put a V8. If I do it, I’m letting my other son use it since the one who blew the engine out got a new car. I love that truck. I’ve had it since 06. Wish me luck!!!

[@MohawkMotors]

Totally possible!! Honestly you can probably convert it to V8 for the same price as replacing the V6 so it only makes sense to upgrade. Good luck!!!!

[@richardcjunior]

@@MohawkMotors That’s my hope!l I am no mechanic. Do you think it’s wise to have some shop do it for me? It just won’t be possible to do it myself.

[@MohawkMotors]

It's hard to say for sure without really knowing how mechanically capable you are. I think a good starting pint to decide, is if you have the tools, you'll need a jack, some jack stands, an engine hoist of some kind, a complete set of metric sockets and wrenches. If you have all those tools and know how to use them, then you're probably capable of doing the swap yourself. If not, it may be wiser to either get some help from someone with more knowledge and experience, or have a shop do it for you.

[@michaeldyer6304]

Love your videos 👍

[@MohawkMotors]

Thank you!

[@robertsmith987]

u have lost weight looking healthy brother

[@MohawkMotors]

Thank you! I appreciate it!

[@blueman5924]

Great video ! Would love to have someone do my ‘06 Silverado. 👍So I need to wait until you do the “real” swap down the road, to see the beast conversion.😂

[@MohawkMotors]

I'm editing the rest of the series right now. It came out really nice, I'm very happy with it. This is good ground work for what I want to do over winter.

[@Jenniferboyette941]

Awesome!! Following closely. I have an 02 v6 Silverado and bought a 5.3 out of an 01 suburban 4x4 for $600 at 180,000 wanting to do this to mine eventually.

[@MohawkMotors]

Your's should be a very straighforward swap! Having the right engine and harness to put into the truck makes a huge difference, way less electrical stuff to try to figure out!

[@Jenniferboyette941]

@@MohawkMotors yes 🙌 thank you for your response and that’s what I’m hoping for. Love your channel by the way. Always look forward to your new videos.

[@RicsChevys]

Great video. So I only need to find the driver side motor mount bracket for the installation? I just watched part 2 and got the answer to my question.

[@MohawkMotors]

going from v6 to v8 you'll need both motor mount brackets, but the driver side bracket is specific to 4wd or 2wd.

[@ryanwilliams8865]

410 representing!

[@MohawkMotors]

Yes!

[@CoronaBRP]

Great info man! I have a 2000 single cab and I’m trying to do the swap. Just bought the DBW harness for it and the motor came with the pedal. This should work, right?

[@MohawkMotors]

You can convert a 2000 v6 to v8 drive by wire, but it would be much less complex to just make it v8 drive by cable.

[@charliealphamike8886]

Subscribed. Been doing my research for this kind of swap on my 05 with a 4.3 to a 5.3 from an 04. I got lucky and found a decent donor truck, so i assume changing wiring harness to the v8 shouldn't be that difficult?

[@MohawkMotors]

Appreciate the sub! Yes swapping an 04 5.3 into an 05 truck will be very straightforward, especially having the whole donor truck. Hardest part will be swapping the throttle pedal mounting plates. Everything else will pretty much be remove from donor and install into your project and plug in or bolt up

[@jesus10577]

I ended up getting a complete swap 6.0 from 03 Denali Yukon. trans and engine but idk what pick up to get that it’s literally plug and play help!

[@MohawkMotors]

Most plug and play into a pickup would be an 03 or 04 1500 series pickup

[@jesseesquivel6248]

Good video bro I have a 2000 Chevy Silverado and I’m taking a 5.3 from a 2001 Chevy Silverado also taking computer and wire harness will I have to flash or tune anything please help me

[@MohawkMotors]

You'll either need to get VATS removed from the PCM, or have the VIN changed in the PCM for it to recognize the VIN of the truck transmitted by the BCM and steering column. Otherwise very straight forward plug and play swap.

[@chrio1328]

Hey I have a 2000 Silverado with a 4.3 auto, do you think getting a donor truck from 03-05 be possible with getting the pedal to be drive by wire and a flashed pcm , or would the newer style of wiring and electronics on the new motor and harness not be compatible

[@MohawkMotors]

It is possible, but you'll have some issues to figure out getting the 03 to 05 pcm to cooperate with your earlier bcm and gauge cluster. It can be done but it'll be more challenging than using a 99 to 02 donor.

[@kq2799]

10:49 Nice!

[@MohawkMotors]

Lol, can't even tell I edited it right? lol

[@kq2799]

@@MohawkMotors lol, it shows we are listening, intently. I want to pass this class!

[@user-xm8ve4gf2s]

i have a 04 1500 made in 10/04 base model with a V6 wanting to go 5.3. Does the motor have to be out of 1500 pick ups or are tahoe motor and trans work also?

[@MohawkMotors]

So your V6 is drive by cable, the easiest V8's to swap in will be an 03 or 04 from anything in the GMT800 platform, so could be a 1500 pickup, 2500 pickup, 3500 pickup, tahoe, suburban, yukon, yukon xl, or yukon denali. They all have the same basic engine and wiring system, you will need the engine, harness, pcm, tac module, throttle pedal, and it'll be nice to have the fuse panel as well.

[@kevinvaquero39]

Do you think i can put a 4.3 from a 99 pickup , to a 06? You said in the video that 4.3 in 99-06/07 (classic) that theyre all drive by cable, but im not sure if theyre are any other differences?

[@MohawkMotors]

There are probably some differences in the sensors and electronics, but the long block, everything between the cylinder heads and oil pan is the same.

[@gerardoojeda6396]

I was hard headed and I got a 2008 lh6 core bare block and heads from a dealership and I’m putting it back together with gen 3 accessories to go in a 2004 Silverado 4.3 and I don’t know what engine harness to use, I have the reluctor converter and I know I can have my pcm flashed and kept dbc. How should I go about finding the correct harness?

[@MohawkMotors]

So you have a 58x LH6 with gen 3 accessories on it that you want to put in a 2004 silverado. If you use an 03 to 07 classic intake manifold and throttle body, you can use an 04 or 05 engine harness with your 58x to 24x adapter and it will be pretty plug and play, you'll just need to install the drive by wire throttle pedal and tac module and use an 03 to 05 pcm.

[@hollowpoint357sw4]

Dude loyal subscriber. You need to change your logo, you can bearly see it. The one with you holding the two pistons would help your channel tremendously. Just sayin ❤

[@MohawkMotors]

Thank you for the Tip! Want to make sure I'm inderstanding, you think it would be better for my channel if I went back to the image with the two piston image?

[@itzmundo9979]

Hey bud so I got a v6 07 classic but my TB is Drive by cable would I have to change out the pedal even if I got one with a DBC TB on the new v8?

[@MohawkMotors]

You can use a drive by cable V8 in your 07 classic, BUT you would need to find a PCM from an 03 to 06 van so it would be able to operate the drive by cable engine, and also communicate with the other modules in the truck. In 2003 GM went to a single wire communication system between the pcm, bcm, abs, etc modules, the 2002 and earlier pcms are not capable of that communication system. In 2003 all the pickup trucks and suv's with V8 engines also went to drive by wire throttle bodies. The vans however continued to use drive by cable throttle bodies until 2006, so the 2003 to 2006 van pcm's are capable of single wire communication system AND drive by cable operation.

[@Cesar-wr5nx]

I bought a wrecked tahoe 4x4 is the harness and ecu the same as the 2wd? Because my truck is 2wd

[@MohawkMotors]

Pretty much. The 4x4 engine bay harness will have a couple connectors that your 2wd truck doesn't (front differential connector is the main one) but the rest will be the same.

[@CassieRoss-b5d]

Can you put v8 engine from 2006 chevy Silverado into a 2008 chevy sliverado that had a v6 engine

[@MohawkMotors]

You can but you will need a lot of electronic adapters and custom programming. I recommend finding a donor truck that is the same body style as your 2008.

[@1971macbuilders]

Fantastic. I’m definitely gonna use all this info.

[@MohawkMotors]

Fantastic!

[@johnserianni]

Hey brother, how much difference is the swap on a 08 and newer silverado?

[@MohawkMotors]

As far as bolting it into the truck, not much different. Electronically it's a bit more complex, more modules in the 08 and newer trucks that talk to each other and all need to get along.

[@choice5641]

is the battery module only going to make the battery light come on or does it actually affect the battery or charging system in some way? my 2006 has the module and was just wondering is that the only issue since i have an 2004 engine and harness but it doesnt have the ground module on it.

[@MohawkMotors]

It will turn on the battery light and set some error codes in the PCM, but the alternator will still charge without it.

[@choice5641]

@@MohawkMotors thanks for the info, these videos are definitely helping me with my swap!

[@choice5641]

Would you happen to have a harness from a truck with the ground module? I'd pay for it and the shipping, I can't seem to locate one here or most people don't know what I'm looking for.

[@juanmata6432]

I have a 2006 v6 with manual trans , would it be the same like a automatic , just wondering if it would bolt it up direct to the manual trans .

[@MohawkMotors]

Yes, you'll need to get the correct flywheel and clutch but the bellhousing bolt pattern will bolt right up and the engine spacing will match up.

[@juanmata6432]

@@MohawkMotors one more question , I would like to run a throttle body with wire , what year engine should I get to hook up to the 06 , and what exactly would I need for It to work.

[@aruixa2602]

Okay so I have a 2002 4.3 5 speed Silverado and I was able to get an lq4 from a 2002 Escalade with the wiring harness and ecu. How would I be able to wire that up. If you have any idea thank you.

[@MohawkMotors]

You've got basically 2 options. First option, if you can get the tach module and throttle pedal from the escalade as well, you just swap all the escalade parts into your truck, connect fuel, power, cooling, etc, and de-activate VATS in the escalade PCM. Second option, get an intake manifold, harness, and pcm from a 2002 pickup that came with a 6.0 in it, put them on your 6.0, and then put it in your truck and retain the drive by cable throttle. Woudl also require removing VATS from the PCM.

[@aruixa2602]

Can I use the Escalade fuel lines on the Silverado?

[@JohnnyHolland-uc2th]

Will the engine harness off of a 2006 6.0 work with a 2002 motor as long as i get the computer with the 06 harness ?

[@MohawkMotors]

no. In 2002 most of the V8 engines were drive by cable, some of the high end 2002 vehicles had an early design drive by wire system. 2006 was a later design drive by wire system, it won't have the Throttle position or idle air control motor connectors for a drive by cable system, the 2006 pcm also does not have the drivers for the idle air control motor. Even the 2002 drive by wire system uses completely different connectors and driver from the 2006 system also.

[@JohnnyHolland-uc2th]

Do you know what i would have to do to make the 2002 6.0 motor work in my 2006 truck that was a 4.3 since i already have the motor

[@MohawkMotors]

You'll need a harness from a 2002 drive by cable motor, and a pcm from an 03 to 06 van that came with a V8

[@randybearden5495]

What length drive shaft do I need to

[@MohawkMotors]

I don't know the exact length, you'll have to measure

[@chrislee5634]

I have a 07 4.3 classic if I have a 01-02 5.3 with the harness and computer . Im a in for a wiring battle?

[@MohawkMotors]

If you try to keep the engine drive by wire, you'll need to figure some things out. The drive by cable truck engines (99 to 02) use a different harness and computer communication system than the 03 to 07 classic trucks and suv's. You could make the drive by cable engine work if you got a computer from an 06 or 07 drive by cable van. You could use the van harness but you would need to lengthen/shorten a bunch of wires since the van harnesses are routed differently and pcm's mounted in a different location than the trucks. Least expensive and least headache way to use the engine you have, would be to get an intake manifold, harness, pcm, and throttle from an 06 or 07 classic pickup, convert your engine to drive by wire, and then it'll be pretty much plug and play. There's lots of other ways you can do it also, but one big problem you'll have is the 99 to 02 pcm is incompatible with the 03 to 07 classic bcm, and communication system, you'd have a ton of electronic issues to try to solve.

[@chrislee5634]

@@MohawkMotors would a Holley terminator, illuminate a lot of my electrical troubles and also I don’t have HP tuner to turn off the security stuff after the swap

[@MohawkMotors]

Holley terminator is a very simple system, it depends on your plans for the truck though. Holley is not integrated into the vehicle electronics, it's a standalone system, so you would need to use the holley dash for all your critical data (or could integrate into stock dash but that's a whole other can of worms).

[@edchamberlain8073]

👍

[@MohawkMotors]

Thanks!

[@erikvillegas1171]

Would it be a simple install to run an 05-07 engine with throttle pedal to work on an 03 ?

[@MohawkMotors]

Not as simple as installing on 03 to early 05 engine. 06 and 07 classic there are several electronic differences including the DBW throttle pedal, alternator, GBCM and a few other small ones.

[@erikvillegas1171]

But having all the parts out of an 05-07 inclding dbw throttle pedal and whire harness and engine harness computer and everything will plug in into the 03 truck ?

[@MohawkMotors]

No, 06 and 07 trucks are slightly different, an 03 to 05 truck will have the correct harness, dbw throttle, engine harness, and computer OS to work with your 03 truck.

[@Rada_831]

I did this to my 01 Silverado and I’m using the same 4.3 transmission but flywheel doesn’t line up to torque :( …. Any advice?

[@MohawkMotors]

Which flywheel are you using? The V6 flywheel wont bolt to the v8 engine. If you have the v8 flywheel and it was bolted to a 4l60e before, it should line up with the 4l60 in your truck

[@Rada_831]

@@MohawkMotors no I’m using the 5.3 flywheel the torque converter doesn’t line up

[@Rada_831]

Do I need the 5.3 stock converter for the 4l60e?

[@MohawkMotors]

If you're using the stock flexplate from the 5.3 and the 5.3 originally had a 4l60e behind it, it should bolt right up to the stock torque converter in the 2001 silverado.

[@travisayer2732]

Were are you from?? Can't I just get you to help me swap my 05 single cab v6 to a 5.3 I would be lost off the start .I'm one these guys that suck when it comes to mechanical stuff 😢

[@MohawkMotors]

I'm in maryland, if you can get the truck to me you can absolutely pay me to do the conversion.

[@jaimeayala6659]

I Have a 2004 Chevy Silverado v6 I bought a 4.8 Ls out of a 2002 gmc Dbc … I need it to be drive by wire since the harness arnt the same , can I just put on a dbc throttle without a new manifold ? And buy the dbw pedal , tac , and get a 03+ harness ? I would like to get the pedal , tac , and harness off a 2003+ tahoe with a 5.3

[@MohawkMotors]

Yes, the drive by wire throttle body will bolt in place of the drive by cable throttle body. Get the pedal assembly, harness, pcm, and tac module from the 03 to 05 tahoe like you said and you should be good to go.

[@jaimeayala6659]

@@MohawkMotors the automatic pcm ? even if the v6 one I have is a blue /green harness plug ?

[@MohawkMotors]

Yes, the drive by cable pcm doesn't have the drivers in it to run the dbw throttle body and tac module. The transmission it originally had doesn't matter, whoever tunes the truck to remove VATS can also change the transmission in the pcm (manual, electronic automatic, non electronic automatic, etc.)

[@jaimeayala6659]

Dude you are a genius ! I bought everything with the ecu , this is a big help ! 🫡 thank you

[@MohawkMotors]

Glad to help!

[@sergioramos1917]

How much do you charge for a engine swap like this?

[@MohawkMotors]

Depends on the truck I'm doing it to. I charge by the hour, the easier it is to get the truck apart and work on it, the faster it goes, and the less it costs.

[@scrapinmaster3634]

so i wanna swap a 5.3 into my 6.0 truck both are 2005's and i have the complete truck the 5.3 is in is it a plug and play and what fly wheel should i use

[@MohawkMotors]

If they are both 05's, and the 5.3 you have is an LM7 or an L33 it's a plug and play swap (except tuning, the 5.3 will be rich running on the 6.0 tune). If the 5.3 you have is an L59 you'll need to swap the injectors from the 6.0 onto your 5.3.

[@scrapinmaster3634]

And flex plates are the same if not which one should I use?! Thanks for the help

[@MohawkMotors]

@@scrapinmaster3634 Which transmission does the truck have? The flex plate need to match the transmission. If you're not sure which transmission the truck has, use the flex plate original to the truck.

[@scrapinmaster3634]

@@MohawkMotors 4l80 in truck 5.3 has a 4l60

[@MohawkMotors]

Use the truck flexplate, 4l60 flexplate is different and won't work

[@marcialvega5488]

Could I do this if I had a donor from a 2000 and I have a 99 ?4.3 to 5.3

[@MohawkMotors]

yes, 99 and 2000 are basically the exact same truck

[@marcialvega5488]

@@MohawkMotors somehow the transmission cross member of my truck is thinner and others are much thicker is there a reason for this? What would I have to im this case

[@MohawkMotors]

If I remember correctly the early 99 trucks used a thinner crossmember, then near the end of 99/early 2000 they went to the thicker crossmember. Just use the crossmember that fits your truck.

[@Mikey5.3.]

Couldn’t you just swap a intake manifold that has the electronic throttle body control onto a motor with the drive by cable

[@Mikey5.3.]

If you were to swap a drive by cable one into a newer model

[@MohawkMotors]

Yes, you can absolutely convert a drive by cable engine to drive by wire, or drive by wire to drive by cable, the snag is in the computer and wiring. To get an oem drive by cable computer to work with the later oem truck it takes some electronic finagling and a lot of figuring out. It can be done, but its way less expensive and time consuming to just get compatible components from the start.

[@jaimeayala6659]

Would you be able to get a 03+ harness to plug and play on the fuse box , and use the 03+ computer and then get it flashed ?