S10 V8 Engine Swap, Part 1,2

From the crew at It’s no secret that the ChevyIn order to achieve our desired fuel economy
S-10 is one of the most popular minis in our scene towe’ve chosen a modest 5.7L crate engine from
cut up and lay flat on the ground. For many of usthe Stylin’ Trucks Web site, but we’re going
it’s also the daily driver that gets us from Pointto mate it with some goodies like electronic fuel
A to Point B, unfortunately it came from the factoryinjection and an overdrive transmission. These
with a puny little four-cylinder or an equallycomponents will combine to increase the overall fuel
unimpressive six-cylinder engine that tends to have aeconomy.
hard time getting out of its own way.The GM crate engine (P/N 10067353) features a
While a V-8 swap isn’t entirely rare in thefour-bolt main and two-piece rear main seal. A
second generation S-10s, it’s never been easiermodest 8.5:1 compression and mild cam net
to accomplish thanks to Stylin’ Trucks and theirapproximately 260 HP from this GM block. We’ll
new line of GM crate motors as well as transmissionsbe mating it to a Street Fighter 700R4 transmission
and accessories. Their one-stop shopping experiencefrom TCI, which provides the convenience of an
removes the hassles of hunting down parts byoverdrive automatic transmission for our highway
placing everything within a few clicks on yourrunner.
computer.Topping off our block is the Thruster electronic fuel
Some may take the “bigger is better”injection system from Accel. This system is designed
approach when doing a motor swap in their truck,to work with a wide variety of engines that range
but with today’s gas prices at an all time highfrom mild to wild and includes a fuel injection system
that may not be the most economical strategy.and wide band O2 sensors as well as all of the
Stylin’ Trucks carries up to the 383-strokernecessary wiring harnesses. The Accel EFI is laptop
motors if that’s your poison, but they also carryprogrammable and promises unmatched drivability for
several more fuel-efficient GM crate motors.our S-10 project.
The project that we’ve selected for a motorWithin the next few issues we will document the
swap is our ’97 S-10. Our approach to thisstep-by-step process of removing the puny
won’t be huge horsepower and quarter-milefour-cylinder that is currently inhabiting our engine bay
times though, for this project we’re going toand replacing it with the 5.7L GM performance crate
shoot for fuel economy and freeway cruising. This is,engine. For now we’ll leave you with a preview
after all, a California cruiser that will see plenty ofof the parts we will use in the upcoming V-8 engine
SoCal highways over the next few years.swap.