After months of debating whether to rebuild the old tpi, or to get my dream motor (any ls motor but the LS9 would be badass). I figured well ill be a wicked 383TPI and have tons of toqure, but with the greatly popurlar ls swap (and growing) i figured nows the time to do it and stop talking about it. ive been wanting this motor, just kept talking myself outta it because of the about of money required to do it.

 

As you see in my sig i have quite a bit into this motor, many just bolt ons(which now are for sell, if u guys are interested(headers are already gone). With this being my first swap, i wasnt really for sure what i was getting my self into. talking out the old tpi was not all that bad..

 

The motor is the Corvette LS3 rated, which i also got and extra set of exhaust manifold(corvette center dumps came orignally intalled) and harness but the main thing i got with my ls3 that alan and timmy boy did not get wah the cats to make it smog legal since im in california

 

-ac delete pulley.....................................$20
-airfoil..........................................$20
-89 350/5.7 jet performance chip......$50
-msd 6al box, msd coil, harness, 8.5 wires...$200(will to sell seperate, but with the package deal willing to work with buyer)
-brand new tpis manifold and runner never installed come with gaskets and install hardware sat in box ever since i recieved it..$700obo

im willing too work with the buyer...the more u buy the more ill work with you ... less than 500miles on everthing ..tpis parts brand new..if you live in cali i try to save u shipping and meet u half way (if cheaper than shipping)
pic coming soon..you pay shipping may work a deal on this.

 

More pic and progress coming soon waiting on parts...for now off to work ..

 

Good luck man. Toying with the same ideas minus the smog bullshit.

Dane

 

Looks like you've got yourself a good start and you'll love the LS power, are you going T-56?

 

i wish i could go with the t-56 maybe later.. this setup is killing the bank so as for now the 700r4 will have to do(i know it wont hold up) but money the issue right now...will keep u guys posted when i do the 6-speed swap..as for the previous post iwish i didnt have to have the smog stuff but im in cali so need to have it...maybe later i will take it off and then put it on for smog ..(when i get some lt headers from hawks or spohn)..

as for the lastest ...the cars is going in to be painted (the engine bay)..

 

what do u guys reccommend for a cold air intake set up. dont want to use the old tpi air box (too restritive).

 

I got a GTO K&N kit (I have an LS2) and then modified it to fit down behind the driver side headlights. A more cost effective and perhaps even less restrictive solution would be to make your own, and a lot of guys have done that, using PVC pipe and some couplers I think. This company has individual parts that you could use to piece together your own: http://www.siliconeintakes.com/ I got my extra couplers from them.

 

I would have bought and built a 6.0L and bought a T56 too instead of buying an $8200 motor and using the stock auto trans. But to each his own

 

Doesnt make any sense to drop $8000 on and engine then reuse a $200 trans

 

i need to have it emissions legal for califorinia and this package takecare of all the headache..plus its more powerful than the ls1 which i believe is rated between 305-350depending on the year...and ls6 are at 400(gmpp website) just a lil over the t-56 will come maybe a month later so no biggy there.

 

had to have the harness so there some money also

 

I am sure you could use the extra $6000 to get another 130 hp out of it somehow lol.

 

new part and stuff....

 

and more...

 

fresh new paint....

 

you may want to get the prothane motor mount insert... it is much better than the stock rubber and is easy to install in the stock clam shell

it is a lot tougher to do after the fact

 

whats the benefits beside being polyurathane..where'd u get em

 

That's your biggest benefit. When doing this swap, you should try and do as much as you can "the right way" the first time. Going back and repeating stretches out your swap and can potentially take alot of the enjoyment out of it.

Ask me, I know. (700r4 -> 4L60e, stock kmember -> tubular, stock mounts -> poly, etc.). If you're cutting corners in the name of cost cutting that will continue to nag you, just put the project down for a few months and build up more funds.

 

take a look here

http://www.summitracing.com/parts/PTP-7-1908/

 

will a 98-02 camaro t-56 work with the ls3 and will it work with my starter(its a summit racing 820320)

 

Fbody T56 will work fine. Be sure the clutch is stout enough to handle it

Match the starter to the bellhousing. The only non interchangable ones Ive seen are GTO T56 vs everything else

 

just came in!!

 

wish i had the funds to just order a gm crate engine DAMN but good luck man! looks good keep us posted very very sweet looking build!!!!

 

Yeah, I felt the same way at first, but now that I've had to shell out the cash for the used motor, the machine work, the rotating assembly, the heads, intake, etc... I'm quickly realizing that a crate motor really isn't always a bad investment... especially considering that it's getting close to a year since I bought my motor, and I don't even have it assembled yet.

 

just came in the Accessory Drive w/o ac. bought it from pace performance. need to get some pics for u guys hows its coming along..

 

what r the steam tubes and do u have to use the radiator plastic tank resivor ..do the ls motors even use them tanks

 

You should only have one steam tube connecting the fronts of teh cyl heads under the TB. The back of the heads should have a blockoff plate. (I assume the LS3 is the same setup...) Asfor teh cooling. I'm using my astock tank and rad. Running the steam tube vent to the opening right above the transmission cooling line on the rad. Other then that everything else is the same.

 

i no what ya mean,............

 

the corvette center dumps that were origanally installed on the ls3 were not used due to fittment issues. i kinda figure they wouldnt but was hoping for it.

 

1. the orignal witing harnnes was removed
2. the ls3 was pulled back out for clearance issus with the vette oil pan the cross member will be notch to make room. side shot of ls3 with camaro manifolds installed(orignally the ls3 was build with the center dumps installed but the package i ordered came with the camaro exhaust manifolds just in case the vette center dumps wouldnt work).

 

Early Christmas!! Make sure you bring it down for LA Invasion!!!!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CG7cwuwpAAI

 

no shorty headers?

 

the later fbody manifolds are shown to flow almost just as well as shorty headers. not much of a point in spending the money on shorty headers then. wait and save for longtubes

 

thats correct no point just wait for lt headers

 

for the the fuel rail i believe its a 3/8 push on style (ls1 are a little smaller ?)

 

just the engine alone is not 8000 it has the harness ecu and other stuff included in the package.

 

my camera doesnt want upload photos on here so i figure something out,
so all my photos are poor quality now ..but im working on it

 

17% drivetrain loss says it should be around 367hp, sooo like a bolt on ls1? I realize its cool to have an ls3, but i dont see it being worth all that extra money.

 

the main thing was it smog legal -too each its own i guess

 

consider the fbody oil pan since i dont have the funds for a new k-member and i want to do the coil over conversion too.

 

well gm said the f-body oil pan will void my warranty so maybe notch the engine cross member? keep u guys posted

 

well notching the cross member is most likely going tobe done, cant wait till i have the money for a new tubular k-member.

 

Yup. This is an option id like to work with in the future.. bigger displacement is better . When I did the ls swap years back I wish I could've done a ls2 swap. Now id like to go with a ls3.. I wanna go heads n cam on my build but ill rather wait

 

How much more man? Looking forward to seeing it... and maybe lining up?

 

idk yet hopefully soon im working on a t-56

 

how she sits at the moment

 

looks pretty damn good !