Yessir

Flexplate and a starter, then Ill be in business

I love how compact this thing is. Can barely see the harness



Im going to try and mod the MAC headers to fit. Otherwise Ill use manifolds

5.3/4l60E into my 92 firebird LO3/4L60

Wonder if I can get it installed and running in less than a day?

 

That probably depends on how much "pre-installation" work you do...

I'll tell you what though - if you accomplished that, it'd probably set a TGO LS* swap record!

 

my guess is 23.9 hours!

Good luck, keep us posted!

 

If you can do it in a day, I know who im going to ask for help when I do mine

 

It'll be going in from the bottom with the front suspension and everything attached. My friends garage has a lift and a concrete floor

The biggest hang-up I can foresee is running the exhaust without killing my ground clearance

 

Concrete floors! moving up in the world!

Good luck!

 

Make this bad boy scream.

 

lol i'm going to try and beat that this weekend. we'll see what happens

 

Man that harness DOES look clean, but I kind of expected that from you

 

Done yet??!!??
HAHA
Sounds like you're having fun

 

Ive pulled more engines laying on the dirt than I want to remember. He offered so I jumped on it. Now it makes me hate changing the oil on anything but a lift

Thanks, you just dont want to know how many times Ive stripped and rebuilt that harness because something didnt appeal to me. The only difference from this one and any other harness Ive done, is the relays are moved behind the fender. Im also relocating the headlight door module behind the fender, but its part of the light harness

 

That is one clean job Pocket. I'm straining to see the loom in that pic.

oh, and do I see a non-AC airbox in the backgroud? lucky....

 

It is, its a POS that needs alot of metal work before I install it

 

I just picked one of those up from another member here, it just arrived yesterday and I'm gonna put it on tomorrow. I was thinking about doing something but was going to run it by you first and get your opinion. Since you know my harness is set up for a/c but I am not doing it right now, I was thinking about buying a few wire connectors and snipping the a/c wires and installing connections on them so I can remove a lot of the currently unecessary wiring until I need it later, what would you think of that, too much extra work?

 

Those 5.3's run like a scalded dog. My father-in-law has one in his 2007 Silverado. It weighs over 5 thousand pounds and when you stomp the gas itll bury the speedo needle with authority. I considered swapping in one of these but I dont really want to change the entire car to do it. I think they are a shade over 300 HP stock arent they? I have seen some people saying that a 5.3 wouldnt be a good swap and to just go with an LS1, but lets face it the 5.3 is ALMOST an LS1 anyway. How much of a PITA do you think this swap would be?

 

Is that the truck oil pan on there?

 

I'd LOVE to find an aluminum 5.3 that I could afford - I'd slap that sucker into my wife's '92 RS!

The biggest differences between a 5.3 & an LS1 are all related to what they were installed in - the LS1 was installed in the F-bodies, so the swaps are a bit easier/cheaper (not counting the initial purchase price). With the 5.3s, you have to swap the oil pan, front accessory drive, & intake manifold to make it work in a thirdgen, so that eats up a good bit of the lower initial purchase price.

But like I said above, I sure wouldn't think twice about swapping one of 'em into one of our cars...

Pocket - aren't you done yet??!??

 

Feel free to snip out whatever you dont use. Just wrap the bare ends in electrical tape before you hide them back in the loom. Aside from the AC stuff, you should have ANY unused connectors

280hp. I bought it because it was $200, vs $1200-$2000 FOR A LS1

Yes, brand new Fbody pan is sitting about 5 feet from it

Wish mine was alum, it would make more people believe its a LS1 instead of a truck motor

The only thing usable is the long block. Everything else must be Fbody, CTS-v or GTO LS1. From a cost standpoint, this thing is pretty close to a cheap LS1 pullout. If I had it to do over again, Id likely pony up the $1200-$1500 for a complete pullout

No Im not done yet, I just placed the order for the starter, flexplate and reservoir. Next on the list is a box of mandrel bends and a few cases of beer

 

well for $200 you didnt go wrong! I would be thinking the same thing.

 

Swapped the truck pulley for the Fbody piece. What a bear
FYI, use the 3 jaw pulley, a 2 jaw will work but you will run out of swear words before it comes off *experience*. The crank bolt is torqued to 240lb/ft. This means its on there TIGHT. After nearly tipping the stand over, I used a combo of cherry picker, stand and jack handle to get it off. Unfortunately by the time the bolt ran out of threads for the puller to push against, the pulley was still firmly attached. I ended up using a combination of large washers to protect the crank snout as i pulled the last 1/4". Equally un-fun was getting the Fbody balancer started as it began interference before the old bolt's threads engaged. A large block of wood and a few whacks of a hammer started it enough

Pulled the truck pan and installed the Fbody stuff. All looked clean except for the bottom side of the windage tray and it looked like I drug it up out of a swamp . I ogled the cyl walls from beneath and surprisingly they had an almost new looking crosshatch on them still. I was happy. Oil was clean, no sludge (except the windage tray) no shavings, cam looked good, nothing bad that I saw

My PS pump never came with a reservoir so I had to figure out how to get it on without removing it from the bracket. FYI, the pulley must come off and the pump body removed from the bracket. The retainer clips slide on from the rear and the bracket is blocking the install path. The reinstall of the pulley was a bit nerve racking as it began popping loudly. I was sure I was ripping the center collar out of it, but it went on fine and spins freely. Another tid-bit, the advance auto pulley remover tool works great, but the install tool is a huge pile of crap. Whoever spec'd it out was retarded, its main bolt is only grade 5

Flexplate wasnt too hard to swap. I found out the flexplate and flywheel bolts are the same size, so thats $12 I didnt need to spend afterall. Scotching the flex/flywheel with a screwdriver works great for getting the bolts on/off, but isnt so nice on the screwdriver

The engine and swap parts are moved to the shop and my exhaust kit is ordered. This is exciting

Im debating to go ahead and build a double hump crossmember or use the pretty UMI piece Ive already got. Guess Ill see how ground clearance is on the day of the swap

Still looking for a new K-member though

 

Sounds like you're making some good progress! And I'm sure that the tips you've given will help a number of people...

 

Moving right along! I cannot lie, my swap will be WAY easier than most when i do it since no AC, regular flat adapter plates, manual steering, custom fabbed alternator mount and idler pulley, manual trans and i already have a spohn trans cross member.

 

I considered building my own accessory mounts until I saw how cheap the Fbody stuff was and I didnt have to worry about belt alignment, part interchange, alt output vs engine consumption etc

Drag car with everything already custom? Hell yes. Street car with reliability in mind? OEM stuff for me. No AC here either

 

Think I'm taking the middle road between you two.

I went with the FBody accessories, no A/C. got a new kit for $250 from LS1tech. which means I've got a full set of truck stuff (the 5.3's in the drive way after a loooong day of running around to grab it) if anyone wants em

also went with the plate mounts after getting a good deal from the classifieds here. I know A/C has issues with these, but its a moot point

 

Well, mine is not drag pure, it is street, night and weekend and tune it at the track for fun, but i am trying to go the cheapest route, re use the stock alternator, and thats it for accessories besides the water pump.

 

I'd assume the cheap front drive accessory kits you are talking about are just deals you happen across on the classified sections here or on ls1tech? I really haven't seen a source that's cheap all the time so that's why I ask.

 

yeah, i just kept watching ls1tech's classified ads. waited for the right timing and grabbed as soon at i saw them. now just need the other hard to come by cheap item: fbody oil pan setup

 

Pocket, what do you use for wire loom? Not really a fan of the stock-style stuff, and I really like the look of TechFlex, but not sure it'll handle the underhood temps or chemicals.

 

If its rated for underhood, youll have no issues with it

99% of my loom is salvaged from harnesses I reworked or disassembled for connectors. Ive got 4 giant trash bags full of it

 

Well,
It cannot be swapped in one single day by yourself

Few tips:
Get a lift, life is so much easier

If you flat out cannot get the tank to drop, you can remove the sender with the tank kind of hanging. I think my filler neck was bent because this is the first tank that flat out refused to come out

The stock fuel level sender is a single wire unit with a tiny tab soldered to the wire. This breaks at nothing and is much too small and too close to gas for a fresh solder repair. The only solution is a replacement

Remember to disconnect the heater core before dropping the engine. The lines may appear weak, but they will destroy a good core in no time

MAC headers arent possible to install in a 3rd gen without completely rebuilding them

Braided lines suck, namely the fittings

The 700R4 dipstick fits the 4L60E trans just fine, a conduit clamp is needed to hold it down since the old tab isnt close to bolting anywhere

It takes a LONG time to degrease a whole engine bay

Wiring snags on everything. You will swear. Alot

Rent a pickle fork unless you plan on dropping the steering box with the K-member



Ill finish up tomorrow and make a new thread with more pics

 

thats alot of lessons in one days work lol

looks good Pocket, cant wait to see the final product. And yeah, tell me about degreasing the whole bay, it took me forever to be happy with the grime in there.

also, youre scaring me with fuel tank horror stories right before i try to drop mine

 

aww man, I want a lift. or a garage. I'm stuck with having to work in good weather (its new england and cold right now) in the driveway.

I remember dropping a tank out of a 3rd gen (and not looking forward to it again); take the day off from work and be prepared to swear.

 

LOL nothing beer can't fix

 

Good to see you progressing. I am waiting on some gaskets now to bolt up the heads and see what size pushrods i need, then when they arrive, i get to see what the PTV clearance looks like...

 

The tank is generally a non-issue. I seriously think mine is bent because they can be revmoed with the rear end inplace, but at full droop. I swung mine down so the DS was nearly 45* and it still wouldnt come out. I was hitting the trunk pan in the rear and the back seat area in the front

And pay attention to the rubber ring that seals the sending unit. It likes to fall into the tank where your arm cannot reach

 

Man I think I lucked out in a huge way, the president of our St Louis area fbody club changed out my fuel pump as a wedding gift when the old pump died (removed the rear end and the whole shabang lol)!

 

If it was easy everyone would do it. Dont complain about one day... my first swap took TWO YEARS

But I did a ton of other non swap related stuff that ate up soooooo much of my time and I only worked on it here and there when I had time.

Moral of my post is; Dont worry your well on your way to LSx power happy happy joy joy

 

Engine is in, forgot my camera, not a whole lot since most of the day was wasted

What a haul

 

I can't wait to hear this beast running

 

Me too

Scheduled a road tune with my tuner for next sunday. I think I can build the exhaust within one week

I wish I could have gotten a pic of the small fab I did to make the 3rd gen torque arm mount work on the newer 4L60E since mine didnt come with the matching mount. Pretty ingenious if i say so myself

I also cut the manifold flanges using masking tape and a torch. I havent looked at a torch in over 5 years. It was a learning experience all over again

With the non-AC box and Fbody manifolds, the plug change took a whole 10 minutes instead of the major undertaking with my old 305. I was impressed

The fuel system was pretty simple to run along the stock routing once those damned fittings were installed. Word to the wise, use new fittings. They may be reusable, but that doesnt make them easy to reuse. Ive got about a mile of this hose left now. Good stuff for the racecar

The motor mounts werent as bad to install as most threads I see about them complain. Most people describe using a box end wrench to hold the nut inside the K-member. I used a socket on a universal joint with a long extension to shoot the bolt out the opposite way. A lock washer under the nuts on top and its a done deal. The driver side uses 3 of the 4 bolt holes while the pass side lines up with 3 but only two are accessible. The 3rd can be reached if the A-arm is removed but i wasnt going that far. The mount had a 4th hole that went to nothing up top. I drilled it out and had perfect access from beneath like the others. 3 per side and I called it done

Aligning the engine mounts to the bolts was simple too. The engine was held by the cherry picker and I manhandled the K-member until the through bolt lined up

The K-member was actually super easy to align and bolt in. I got the engine semi close under the chassis and took the long bolts and finger started them in the rear two K-member. To move the K-member around with the drivetrain on it I grabbed the tire and rolled it forward and back. Took me 30 mins

I installed the quick ratio steering box from the GTA too. I really didnt care about the ratio, I just want to get rid of the on-center slop of my old box. Its got nearly 300k on it so i guess its ok to be worn out. Darn cooler line was a bear to get threaded back in. For future reference, the Fbody PS high pressure line, and the 3rd gen return side fits great. The high side will need a slight bend to get it off the pulley edge though. Nothing serious

I should fire it tomorrow. Famous last words...

 

Great man! Congrats, cant wait to see the thing scream.

 

Well i picked up a LS1 for 350$ four days ago. I need to replace internals but i was goin to anyways i plan on smoking some stangs, they are ugly, when there ahead, when there behind they dont look to bad lol. well, I have never seen our car, is that a hunter green formula? Seems as though you got this thing covered, hey that thread you made on the ls1 harness build? That was like a kids story man so EASY to understand well majority some i still have questions but man good stuff. Any updates? car running? get some more pics!!!! well hope all is going well man and ill be watchin this.

 

Ill make a new thread once the pics get done uploading. Glad the wiring threads helped you