Me and a friend of mine recently swapped a 6.0 truck motor in his pick up in place the 5.3. The 5.3 had developed a small ticking in the valvetrain. We think it to be a lifter. I now have motor and would like to swap it into my 89 in place of the tired 305. I also have a 350 long block for an option and it would be a cheaper route but i have a nice little 355 in my 81 monte carlo already. I likethe idea of efi and overdrive. I want this car to be fun and reliable so i think I will go with the ls based 5.3 on this on. What do you guys think?

First things first need to find what was cuasing the tickink in the 5.3. thats simple pull it apart and check everything. poor thing had 170000 on it. I know i will need the 4th gen ls1 oil pan and car intake that was inthe plans anyway. I was wondering about the cost of K members and who makes the best one for my goal. i know the cost but for me thats what i think would benefit alaround on this swap. the 4th gen accessories are a must to.

The next thing would be the trans. the car is a manual as is and would love to keep it that way. im guessing its a t5 in it already and i would like to have the t56 so what can i look forward to in getting the trans to work for this 89?

if any one can think of little things and some tips and time savers it would really help me out!!! thanks

 

Congrats on scoring the 5.3, I think you'll like it a lot. I suspect that it'll be just fine, but as long as you have it out, it wouldn't be a bad idea to get a look at the bearings & cylinder walls before you do much of anything else. I think that most of the rest of your questions are answered in the sticky at the top of the forum, so read that real well before going too far also.

Finally, regarding a K-member, from everything I've read, I wouldn't go with anything but a PA Racing unit. I called 'em up last week (checking on something else) & once you place your order it only takes 'em 3 or 4 days to make it, & they're supposed to be the most durable unit for street driving, especially if you go with the "road-race" option.

Hope this helps.

 

we are running the cro-moly spohn k-member and havn't had a problem w it. you can see our build of the 92z in the link below

 

thanks a lot guys and by the way nice ls2 swap really clean in that 92. hope that mine will turn out that good. did you use the stock control arms and springs?> what trans brace did you go with?