Just for reference, how many miles were on the LY6 you bought off Car-Part? Did it come with the EMC, harness, etc?

What do you consider low ball offers, can you be a little more specific on what you got, miles, rough price range(if you don't mind), etc.

Most of the finds so far do not come with any of the wiring for the lights. how did you deal with this. are you lights still wired in as per factory?

The harness, in terms of needing to be modified, why can't it be plugged into the ECM(after it's been tuned for a different intake, etc) and standalone. What else does a factory 2500 harness tie into that has to be capped, or sectioned off? I'm guessing the fuel injection harness can be un routed from the main harness going into the firewall. What prevents those from being used as it, as standalone pieces. Then I could put different senders into the block for new gauges.

 

Mine came with 58,000 miles or 61,000 miles.....I forget.

The $1850 was just the motor.
The extra $300 was for the E38 ECM, the harness, the alternator, water pump, power steering bracket & pump, exhaust, etc.

 

My 05 5.3 L59, under 50K miles was $800 + shipping for complete takeout, acessories, harness, ecu, pedal, TAC, MAF, sensors, even fuel pump. Dont recall the asking price. Looks like "buy it now" price on low milage 5.3 takeouts is $1200-1500 on ebay now.
Get EVERYTHING you can with the motor. Extras will cost A LOT if bought seperately.

02 6.0 LQ9, under 50K miles was $1600 + shipping for a complete takeout (although that was about 7 years ago). I remember the buy it now was $2400. I really wanted the high compression LQ9 for the 68 corvette, so paid a bit extra vs the LQ4. Besides, the LQ9s were mostly in Escalades, no one ever pulled a horse trailer or plowed snow with an Escalade.

Used to be they couldn't give away the LY6s due to VVT and programming. But now that people have figure how to remove or keep and reprogram, they're really at a premium.

And everything you need to know about harness mods and making your standalone.
http://www.lt1swap.com/

 

My LY6 was shipped to my door for $2130. It had 63k miles on it and included pretty much everything-harness, ECM, starter, MAF, all belt driven accessories, gas pedal (and plug), Fuel module, battery cables and the large junction box with the fuse.

As far as the lights for your car, it's probably best to do some reading on what is required to rewire one of these LS motors for stand alone operation. The best way to explain it is that it is a marriage of the motor's electrical system and your car's electrical system. Most of your car's electrical will stay as it is, with the exception of the coil, charging, starter and gauges/dummy lights. The new engine harness will need a fuse/relay box added under the hood to supply the system with power. You will end up with a "stand alone" system that only requires about 4 wires to run it (+12V constant, +12V switched, ground, and a starter wire).

Tom

 

That's worth a repeat.

LS swaps can bring nickel and dime to a whole new level. Yards vary in their definition of "cutout" - mine thought no accessory bolts, no engine cover, and cut O2's were part of the package.