I have a 97 1500, how hard would it be to swap out the 318 for a 360? I'm worried about the wire harness, more than anything. Also anyone have a clue how much it would cost to have new bearings put in my 5.2? thanks Matt

 

360 is a direct bolt in. Everything will swap right in. Use the sensor and such off of the 318, and get a new tune for the larger engine, and you will be right down the road.

If your 318 needs new bearings, it probably needs a lot of other things as well.... not an inexpensive proposition.

 

Actually you can leave the sensors alone. What you need, is a PCM for a 360 that has close to the same options as your truck or install everything and get the truck to the dealer and they can flash it for a 360. Or get a good tuner as HeyYou has suggested.

 

I like the tuner idea better, as you have fewer issues with annoying some of the other systems that the PCM talks to as well. On some, having a different VIN in the PCM will turn on the abs lite, and such. Cost is pretty relative here... if you can find a JY unit, its cheaper, but, you have the possibility of the aforementioned issues. The tuner kills several birds with one stone, as it were.

 

am in the very beginning stages of doing just this 318-360 swap. in my vetures of research I discovered the SCT tuner will do what we need for our pcm. the rest Im told is plug and play. cept mine is a 5 spd manual and donor is auto so am going to scrounge up a fly wheel.
got the tuner Fri and am playing with it on my 318 while i build the 360 the tuners are on sale this month and hemifever's service is second to none.
Doug

 

hemifever has the best deal for a canned tune sct tuner... and customer service is top notch