buy this book, read it, read it again. then keep it near you when you are putting your engine together.

http://www.bookdepository.com/How-to...Series-Engines

spend some time on the forums reading swaps and builds. gain as much knowledge as possibly before you dive into this project. i spent 3 months reading about swaps before i even put together a budget.

put together a detailed budget on a spreadsheet. then add 15-30%, and you might be close. $12k will bring you up short, based on the desires and plans you have listed out in your previous posts. the big items are easy to forecast, its all of the little things you forget about that add up quick.

spend more time doing research, put together some base knowledge, then come back with questions. use the search button and google, they are your best friend.

 

he has a 5.3 with stock heads LS6 cam, LS1 intake complete.

 

and your getting all that for 400? is it high mileage or something? if its already put together like that and theres nothing wrong with it then why not leave it? id make sure the guy built it right to accept the lift of the cam anbd everything and that the injectors arent too much

 

Yeah, I agree with Qwktrip. I spent probably more than 100 hours doing research on this site before ever even buying my engine for my LS swap. I read practically every LS swap thread.

I don't know if I missed something on here, but have you thought about just taking that 5.3 and putting a single turbo on it and just leaving it basically stock? Maybe just put an LS6 intake on it. I'm assuming it has a truck intake on it now. Quite a few guys on here have done that and got good power. Like Tyler said, just keep in mind that it's not a SBC and you don't have to get crazy to make great power. And, you could spend the majority of your budget just on the swap if you start getting real crazy buying all kinds of stuff to go fast. These swaps are NOT cheap. There are tons of little things that you will need to buy that add up quick. Just my $0.02

 

adding off what dprest said, i scoured this just about every ls swap on this site and used lstech for months on end, if i had any question id consult those whove done the swap or are in the process. theres mounds of overlooking info and little pieces in this swap so you really have to do research research research. the swaps can be cheap dont get me wrong but if you want to just start shopping for parts then no it wont be cheap. ive been hunting parts for awhile cause im in no rush at all

 

$400 for a 5.3 long block, used LS6 cam kit and stock LS1 intake isnt a steal. He'll still have quite a bit more in it just to get it ready to drop into a 3rd gen as in the accessories, coils, pan, harness, PCM, trans, exhaust, fuel etc

 

450 RWHP my butt. You don't need anything close to that.

He'll have a mid 13 second car with that engine in a Monte. You could put a stock LS1 in your car and walk him. If you want to freaking waste him then put some good heads on that LS1 with a good camshaft. Done.

Literally, the only way you can screw this up and lose is if you make another 5.3L.

 

none taking that why I'm on here asking. I have read the Lsx swap threads ans thats why I decided to try it. there is no real time table for this to be completed something to do in my spare time. i plan on stripping out the carpet and old wiring next week and purchasing the rewire kit from www.crateenginedepot.com for $350 so I dont have to splice old and new harnesses. And a 4l60 transmission are next on my list of parts besides intake, throttle body, fuel rails and injecters and new k-member, oil pan for starters.

 

have accessories, coil, harness, starter- came with it for $400 needs a pcm trans intake fuel ect. pan too be ordered when i get paid

 

I see you placed a want ad in the classifieds for a 6.0L block.

Do the same at LS1tech.com. That is a hot bed of parts moving at 1000 times the pace as here. Also, PM a guy over there by the name of 'burgers'. He constantly finds new and used 6.0L blocks at very good prices! He can take care of machining for you and it will probably cost less than working with your local shop. It definitely will be done right, which I have no confidence your shop can accomplish. Burgers is a top notch gentleman and will take care of you if something goes wrong. He can deliver the block bare, filled with stock parts, stroker kit, with or without heads, camshaft... whatever.

 

Which accessories do you have? Truck accessories won't fit in your car and will be smack in front of where the air comes in the LS6 intake.

 

From my understanding I need to buy the camaro bracket, alt., and power sreering. And drill and thread the new braket to the heads.

 

If you don't want air conditioning then you can get Camaro or Corvette. Water pump is unique to each, and not same as truck. Extra hole for 6.0L goes in the block to mount the alternator bracket, not the heads. Don't screw it up, you only have one chance. Use a centering punch and a rent a drill with a magnetic base so you can drill a perfectly straight hole. The alternator bracket bolt is very long and being off on the hole a little bit can be a problem. Use a high quality bottoming tap so you don't risk breaking the tap off in the hole. Spend money on that tap. McMaster-Carr sells good stuff.

Camaro accessories are entirely out of production and popular. That makes them stupid expensive and nearly always used. Corvette are better deal and you can buy new parts if you want. Problem is the Corvette water pump is stupid expensive.

I've not looked into this, but I think Kwik Performance sells a bracket kit that will allow you to relocate the truck alternator and power steering to fit in popular muscle cars. Don't know if it works in a 3rd gen F body. Just an option to consider.

 

thanks I'll keep that in mine so much to read on this swap and alot to digest. but I couldn't pass on the motor. but a 6.0 or 6.2 will be on my other engine stand by march!

 

You're welcome. I knew you would come around to the 6.0L. It is a bad boy engine. That combo I wrote up in post #22 can put a car in the 10's with the right setup.

 

I've decided to junk the 5.3 and beef up the 350 that was in it. And save up for a LS3 crate for Christmas lol

 

I read some of this, and I get the post is over ten yrs old, but the fact some where saying you can’t make a 427 out of a Gen lV 5.3 block doesn’t make any sense ,and just cause a machine shop said they would sleeve a 5.3 block for 200 bucks not including the cost of the sleeves didn’t mean it wasn’t being done correctly,heck they could do it for free plus parts and it wouldn’t mean it wasn’t done incorrectly especially if the trade has been done, i sed to trade with machine shops all the time...a lot of bad advise was given here, at least on a lot of the posts I read, doesn’t mean all of them, but stroking a iron 5.3 to a 427 is a lot better advise that starting with a ls2/ls3 if your looking to save money while building a strong short block,heck you can build up to a 454 if you wanted to instead of buying a lsx454, it has it draw backs ,but it’s still cheaper and very strong, anyway like I said I know it’s old, but it just didn’t seem to make any sense..wonder what he ended up building.

 

It's always funny to read what you said a long time ago. We're all smarter these days. Heck, even you figured out how to post for the first time. That's why you let 10-year-old threads just sit in the grave.

 

Yeah maybe but sometimes a old thread is taken to heart by a kid or for that matter anyone who’s a shade tree and maybe they just bought a 3rd gen ,which I wish I had mine back being it was bought new ,and ran 12 flat full interior plus stereo stuffed everywhere,which back in 89 for a 86z28 to run that fast on the street caught a lot of ppl off guard & that was with junk 80’s technology home built 383 and a old crappy Paxton with the 3 tiny belts first gen standalone aftermarket fuel management lol…it only had 38k miles in 2006 when I sold it ..would be worth a heck of a lot more today crazy $ I’ve had about 10 IROCS ,as they were dirt cheap ,spend 250 for the old Earl Scheib’s or Maaco paint 350 add stickers and I flipped them, if I’d only knew that even they would be worth a ton with 100k miles & new paint well at least I kept a few on the road for awhile longer ..

 

i just wanna know who is doing 8 sleeves for $250. lol

 

I doubt anyone was or is since it was ten yrs ago, but if you read ,it was as a trade ,the guy was doing some work on his car at his shop in trade for doing the sleeves, plus 250 and the cost of the sleeves, so whatever the machine shop normally charges was the same it was paid partially and barter/ie TRADE the balance.
which I’ve done many times over the 30 plus yrs I wrenched with the machine shop who did all our engine work..
when you’ve got skilled labor and a place to do it at there’s always someone willing to barter for something you also want or need

 

I used to charge $200 (2-Hours) to cut out the 8 Original Sleeves, LOL!