and i'd like some info on what parts i need to hook this up to the 700r4 that's in the car and what oem front accessory setup works the best and is easiest to find. it's going to have a quadrajet carb and the MSD ignition box, and i've already got an F body oil pan and exhaust manifolds and the capability to drill the 4 holes in a piece of plate aluminum to make motor mount adapters..

for those that don't know: the L33 is the aluminum version of the 5.3 that was installed in trucks and Suburbans and what not that has the good LS6 heads, 9.9:1 compression ratio, and 310hp.. i got it for the $100 core charge from the shop that took it out of a Suburban for a bad "lifter tick" that went away once the engine warmed up.. the tick was likely just a bad lifter on one of the cylinders with the cylinder deactivation, but i'll know for sure once i inspect it. looking to upgrade to an LS6 cam while i'm in there, so i should have less than $1k into a 400+ HP beast that idles smoother and gets better gas mileage than the gutless 305 that's in the car now..

 

Just a heads up, I don't think L33's had cylinder deactivation. They were Gen3 motors. I don't believe GM used that till Gen4. I could be wrong tho. You're going to dig into the motor anyway so I'm sure you'll find the problem. Good luck on your swap, sorry I couldn't answer any of your real questions.

 

I have an L33 in my truck and done a little research on them. I may be mistaken, but I'm pretty sure they already have the LS6 cam in them along w the LS6 heads and flat top pistons. The difference in the heads is they don't have the sodium filled valves that the true LS6 has. My truck has a tick all the time and from what I've read everybody says its piston slap or skirt slap. I reckon its reall common in those for some reason.

 

it has all the cylinder deactivation stuff in it- and it's all getting taken out and replaced with regular lifters..

it already has the LS6 cam in it? this is the first that i've heard of that.. that makes things much easier and cheaper. the friend that found me the engine knows all about the piston slap issue, and he said this wasn't that.. said it sounded just like an old small block with a loose rocker arm. i've seen a few references around teh internets to the internals of the special lifters that are used for the cylinder deactivation getting sloppy over time and not properly functioning, which leads to a tick that requires lifter replacement.

any leads on which accessory setups work the best? from what i can tell, people are pretty proud of their used F body and Corvette accessory drive setups and the readily available and cheap truck setups are too tall.. i'd like to stick with an oem factory engineered setup because they are just flat out better than aftermarket stuff and easier to find replacement parts for..

 

My L33 does not have any kind of cylinder deactivation, so if yours does it may actually have a different cam. I have dug around the net and they give the specs on a L33, engine code B to have LS6 cam and heads w/o sodium filled valves. I can't help you on your accessory problem though, everybody I read about just uses the factory car accessories.

 

I realize f-body accessories can be difficult to find and afford. But, you can work around it. The replacement market will handle the damper, water pump, PS pump, and alternator. The brackets are what are getting to be hard to find. The aftermarket can fill in, particularly Kwik Performance with their brackets. Yes, still not "cheap", but they are high quality.

 

i have the F body water pump and damper.. just need everything else..
i'm not a fan of the aftermarket stuff- not only is it not built to the same durability standards as the oem stuff, but i like being able to easily find replacement parts if something breaks 100 miles away from home on a sunday afternoon.

 

I found my F body accessories by putting a want ad at LS1tech.com. Somebody came and found me instead of the other way around. I was always too late finding the ones that were priced right because it sold in hours. I ended up buying all brand new parts that somebody had lying around for years.

 

+1 on the piston slap. My Trans Am did it and i hated it. It was embarrassing. Car sounded like a POS for 5 min.

 

has its own fan base....

http://pistonslap.com/

 

LMAO! "Like a knock" LOL LOL LOL

 

Corvette accs are 3/4" closer to the block than the F car ones. Means one or the other, not mix and match. Also vette A/C compressor hard to fit. I did it but still have not hooked up... will be very happy to have it work, some tight fits on hoses I have to make.

 

i know you can't mix and match the drives- i was saying that people think that their Corvette accessory drive setups and Camaro accessory drive setups are worth a lot of money..

AC isn't an issue- it's a factory non AC V6 car that i put a 305 in last spring.. and even if it was an AC car, it would be taken out because, dammit, a Camaro is a race car and i did just fine with the car in 110 degree temps down in Austin, TX last summer..

 

also, how's the hood clearance with the Edelbrock Performer RPM carb intake? i'd prefer to keep the stock flat hood to keep it looking as much like a hoopty as possible, but i guess a cheesy scoop of some kind wouldn't be too much of a sacrifice to make...