Well finally after getting my 5.3 about a month and a half ago, i got this whole week off from work so I can get started on my swap. It's going to take me a while because I work saturdays now, but I'll try to document everything I can as I go. Here is what I've done so far:

305 TBI/T-5




Spohn K-member

 

Looks like it should be pretty nice! Part of me kinda wishes that I could've gone with a tubular K-member...

 

Thanks buddy! Yeah suprisingly, the spohn k-member went in like butter without any problems. My main concern now is, I put the 5.3 in the other day and the front end of the car sits WAY too high. But I also dont have a transmission, front engine accessories, etc. in the car yet so, I think that's why it still sits pretty high. And I just put a set of brand new Eibach sportlines in (BTW I am using the stock control arms and I didnt have to use a spring compressor to put these springs in suprisingly) and I have'nt given them much time to settle. I am also using the thin rubber isolators that came on top of the front springs, idk if anyone else has this setup but I might try pulling those out to see if there's any difference in height. I will post pics of the 5.3 in the car soon.

 

Looks great! You will be surprised by the 5.3L power, and their easy on fuel to boot

 

Ok guys finally got some pictures of the 5.3 in my car now.






As you can see, there is a block of wood holding the driver's side of the block in place. I am waiting for GMPartsdirect.com to ship my order, I ordered my other engine mount and I ordered a bunch of other stuff like intake bolts, plug wires, water pump gaskets, etc.

 

Even with the Eibachs I'd expect it to end up as high as before, the weight you're saving with aluminum block and heads where you had iron, the tubular K, and the plastic intake where you had aluminum. Be sure to relocate the battery to the rear of the car!

 

Man, the more I see of the painted intakes, the more I like 'em! Just not sure what color would work with my car & not look garish...

 

lol I love the look of painted LS series intakes, mine had ugly markings on the top because it was pulled from a car in the junkyard and I could'nt wash them off. I went onto ls1tech.com and found a write-up someone did, it actually helped out alot! and it was pretty easy.

 

Ok finally got my parts in last night from GMPartsdirect.com, I gonna try to put them in Monday since i'm off. I have a question to ask though, can I use the starter from the 5.3 motor? or do I have to use the F-body starter since i'm running the T-56?

Thanks in advance, Dan

 

You bet. I used the 5.3L starter on my 5.3L, my LS1 and my 6.0

Lookin good! Only a year ago i was in the same spot as you, with the same displacement!

 

Thanks alot for the help guys, I do however have a few more questions. Are you guys using the 4th gen power brake booster hose? If so, where in the hell do I get a hold of one of these!?!?!?! I have looked everywhere! also below is a diagram of the LS1 intake. Obviously the brake booster goes to number 2, but what goes to the number 1? I do have two vacuum lines coming from the inside of the car, I'm guessing these are for HVAC? If so, is that where these go?

Thanks, Dan

 

I used my thirdgen booster hose/valve.

For the nipples, big one is for power brakes, small one is for your HVAC Controls

 

Thanks shel, Guys just a quick update, I got a box of parts from gmpartsdirect.com last week. Its just little stuff but i'll post the part numbers and the descriptions of the items I got. Just to let you guys know, If you want to buy new ls1 clamshell motor mounts buy them through gmpartsdirect.com. They were only $50 each while all the other companies are selling them for $80 each. Also my wiring harness should be in sometime this week, and maybe Friday I'll be able to get all my front engine accessories.

22179268 LS1 clamshell motor mount
12495519 Z06 Spark plug wires (these do not fit our 5.3's so I had to sell them)
10275815 LS1 PCM bracket
12551581 LS1 dipstick
12551577 LS1 Dipstick tube
11588456 (2) 5.3 Starter bolts
12552344 LS1 intake manifold bolts
11516327 Bolt for mounting dipstick tube to head (actually comes with 10)
12557840 Harmonic balancer
12610311 LS1 water pump gaskets
12559505 LS1 oil fill tube
12558346 LS1 EGR block off plug

 

here's the accessory drive kit I am going to buy from gmpartsdirect.com, they say it's a cts-v kit but it looks very similar to the LS1 camaro kit. Hopefully it will work and i'm not pissing in the wind on this one.

Part Number 19155066



The system includes:
12578548 Bracket-Air Conditioning
89023451 Compressor-Air Conditioning
12595289 Tensioner-Air Conditioning Belt
12578549 Belt-Air Conditioning Compressor
12578551 Bracket-Power Steering Pump
21997867 Pump-Power Steering
12578552 Pulley-Power Steering Pump
21997866 Reservoir-Power Steering Pump
21997868 Hose_Power Steering Fluid Reservoir With Clamps
12578550 Bracket-Generator
25766345 Generator
12568996 Pulley-Belt Idler
12569301 Tensioner-Drive Idler
12578553 Belt-Water Pump/Generator/Power Steering

 

I am pretty sure Spohn sells the LS1 clamshells for $80 a pair.

 

On the bottom of their page it says they are sold individually for $83.50 and when you add 2 to the cart, the total comes to $163.

http://www.spohn.net/shop/1998-2002-...Clamshell.html

 

Man, this is looking awesome!

Keep up the good work, and PLEASE keep us posted.

By the way, would you mind sharing your running total so far?

 

Thanks man no problem, for the stuff I got from gmpartsdirect.com listed above I paid $236

LS1 oil pan, windage tray, oil pickup tube $ 270
5.3 with 50,000 miles $ 900
Spohn k-member $ 550
Eibach sportlines $ 200
Used intake manifold (LS1tech.com) $ 50
Used fuel rail (ebay) $ 50
LS1 wiring harness (ls1wiringharness.com) $ 500

TOTAL so far = $2,756

Stuff I still need to buy:
T-56 approx. $1500
headers $800
front engine accessories $750
fuel psi regulator, fuel lines, fittings $300
clutch $400
LS1 clutch hydraulics $150
water pump $200
starter $200
throttle body (used) maybe $100
fuel injectors (used) maybe $100
LS1 computer (already tuned) $130

Total = $4,630!!!

BTW If anybody wants to know, I bought my oil pan, windage tray, and pick-up tube on gmpartsdirect.com. The oil pan comes with the oil pan gasket, it is riveted to the oil pan. Also these newer pans use an AcDelco PF48, I thought it would use a 46 like the truck oil pan did but it does not.

Stay tuned, I will take more pictures and keep updating!

Thanks, Dan

 

that is correct on the oil filter. Why GM had to change it, i have no idea.

 

Well guys I went ahead and ordered the accessory drive kit through paceperformance.com. I'm kinda nervous because I haven't found anybody else who has bought this kit for the third gen camaro, the company's return policy says that I can return it within 15 days so it's not all that nerve-racking. This kit was $785 shipped to my door, I really hope this kit works. My biggest concern is that the steering arm will hit the alternator, Although this kit looks almost identical to the f-body accessory drive setup I am just not 100% sure. There are pics below of the f-body setup and the kit that I bought (supposedly 2006 CTS-V setup.)


The F-body LS1 setup



The CTS-V setup that I bought

 

you should be able to use the ctsv set up as long as you have the right alternator. tensioner etc.

 

I sure hope so, I think on paceperformance.com it says the kit utilizes the 1997-2004 Corvette components so I hope it works. I guess I'll be the guinea pig for this kit and I'll definately post pics if it works.

 

wow, looks good man. Did you decide to not use the tubular a-arms?

 

Well I kinda just wanted to do the minimum for right now so I can run this thing for a little bit, but I am definately going to get the spohn a-arms in the future.

 

yeah, I hear ya.. save some of your money for that tranny haha. I picked up a 30,000 mile t-56 from a guy on ls1tech for $1500 shipped and you can find'em on there for that price or cheaper all the time. Car looks good, keep the progress pics comin!

 

Well guys, bad news on the accessory drive kit. It's on it's way back to pace performance, I was kinda frustrated with it and didn't take pictures but the alternator was a little bit bigger than I thought so it was hittng the pittman arm, and the a/c bracket would not go in either as it was hitting the steering components as well. Now back to square one with the accessories, I am gathering up an f-body accessories list and in the mean-time I recieved my wiring harness from ls1wiringharness.com. Also I should have a computer coming in here pretty soon, I really have'nt got a whole lot done to the car as my mom kicked my car out of the car lol. I'm doing my car at my parent's house because I live in an apartment and I can't work on it there. Should have some more updates and pictures coming soon.

 

If you still have the truck accessories goto kwikperf.com they have brackets to adapt the truck accessories to work, if you run the a.c. it will cost about 500 if you dont only 300.

 

pm sent regarding the harness

 

I will have some pics going up tonight to update everyone with the stuff i've been doing. I do have 1 small problem, On the C100 diagram I have there are two wires that say "Fuel Control" which one do I use? I have a feeling it's supposed to be the red becuse I have it hooked to the tan/wht right now and th relay clicks but no fuel pump.

Thanks in avance, Dan

 

Nevermind I finally got fuel to come out, I had to prime it about 10 tmes with the key.

 

Looking forward to seeing the finished product

 

Thanks for the encouraging words heres an update with pics of what i've been doing.

 

New F-body water pump from autozone


Ordered F-body front engine accessories from Gmpartsdirect.com


Here is a pic with the accessory brackets, tensioners, pulleys, and bolts. Still need to get the small alternator bracket and another long bolt for the alternator

 

New 411 computer tuned for a 5.3 engine with camaro injectors

 

The A/C relay I had to add because the harness I got didn't have the A/C circuit


Here's a simplified diagram of the wires I ran for all the a/c stuff

 

The front end still sits kinda high, maybe when I get this thing done i'll call eibach and see if they can make a set of custom springs for the front. I've got polished Hawks LSX swap headers coming soon, and I should be able to buy the T-56 next month since I get 3 paychecks! Woot! I also have to get a 255 LPH in-tank fuel pump, fuel psi regulator, fuel lines, radiator, radiator hoses, fans, power steering pump, and some sensors here and there.

 

the front should settle in after driving it. mine looked like that as well . plus you have no hood.

great updates though

 

any updates?

 

Sorry guys, this time of the year is pretty hectic on the wallet with christmas coming up. I just bought an MN12 6-speed form a 2006 GTO a few weeks ago, I am about 75% done. I can start the car up right now but it runs rough because I don't have a MAF sensor on it yet. I'll post some pics of what I've been doing this weekend.

 

Quick question, does anyone know what this hole is for on the passenger side of the block? I believe it has to do with the coolant but i'm not quite sure. Thanks in advance

 

ganna be keeping an eye on this thread. im planing for the same build here very very soon.. also where did u get your ecm that was pre-tuned and what injectors did u use?? part numbers? my motors ganna be out of a 2000 silverado. and i wanna get all or atleast 75 percent of the parts needed before i even think about opening my toolbox because i want it to be a 3 step process.. pull, clean, install... so any info will be helpfull. thanks in advance

 

Are you using the Fbody oil pan?

 

Yes, along with the oil pick-up, windage tray, and dipstick

 

Sorry guys I have'nt updated in forever so i have quite a few things to go over. Below is the MN12 transmission I bought from a member over on LS1tech, It came from a 2006 GTO with 10,000 miles. The guy I bought the transmission from changed the cup out so I could mount an F-body shifter, The shifter BTW is a Hurst shifter.

 

Here Is the clutch kit I bought from autozone, I'm going with mostly stock stuff right now and plan to upgrade later on down the road.



Here is the slave cylinder hose I bought on LS1tech


Perfomed the ''Drill Mod" with an 1/8th inch drill bit

 

I plan on using 4th gen brake and clutch pedal setup with my swap, so here is the pedal assembly I bought on Ebay for $50 shipped



I also went ahead and bought the tubular front A-arms from spohn


I also bought an adjustable panhard bar from spohn since I put sportlines on the car and I need to center my rear. Also bought rear LCA relocation brackets, I will get some pics soon.

 

Here I went with a Turn One INC. aluminum power steering pump pulley, The power steering pump itself was bought at Autozone.



Here is the radiator I bought, Its a 93-97 LT1 camaro radiator. I also bought the LS1 dual cooling fans off ebay for around $100


And finally, here is what the engine looks like now. Still have to fix a few little things here and there, I am also in the process of trying to remove the 5.3 crank pulley. I have a brand new F-body crank pulley to put on, then I can throw the belt on, fill with coolant, re-check some things here and there, then I might be able to take this thing out for a drive.

 

Here's my remaining parts list of stuff to buy, I am getting sooooo close to getting this car done.

LT1 upper radiator support
Shocks/Struts
S&W Subframe connectors with torque arm mount and torque arm
Magnaflow Exhaust
Cable X speedometer convertor box


Planning on getting the transmission in on Monday since my Dad and I are both off.

 

O also I found out what the hole in the side of the block was for, A threaded M16x1.5x14 plug goes there and it is for coolant. It's #146 On the diagram

Part #11588949




Here is a VERY good website for finding exploded diagrams like these and part numbers:

www.compnine.com

 

some good progress on here!