Gav's 64 Build

[jgarverick]

Hey guys I scored a 5.3 for 150 bucks. I get to go pick it up on Saturday. I don't have any picks of the truck, so here's one of the Jav to hold you over til Saturday. Also have to pick up a master cylinder, proportioning valve and some calipers from a guy Saturday too. Rest of the brake stuff will be new. I guess this is gonna be the build thread now.

[joe231]

picture distraction!!!
i like you already

[Alan's Classic]

You big Tease

[TwiggyTheDrummer]

Nice score on the 5.3! And that's a tease. 4 days! You're making us wait 4 days!? That's just cruel.

BTW. Sweet Jav!

[jgarverick]

OK Guys, lots of stuff accomplished the last couple of weeks. Finally got the truck into the shop. Picked up the 5.3 (more on that later). So first of all the before pics: remember i did hit a deer

Needing replaced: Grill support (obtained), Complete Grill (obtained), Hood (still lookin), core support is bent, bumper (lined up for pickup next weekend), headlights and other misc stuff...



You can kinda see the BRAND NEW complete intake the guy gave me with the motor. Guy i bought it from was super nice, lets just hope the motor turns out to be decent.



Cheap gauges filling the holes the PO butchered into the dash (which has quite a bit of filler in it) Some people should be beaten. I don't know where the seats came from, but they're like 19-way power adjustable with lumbar and all kinds of other crap. However all this does not mean they're comfy at all. They will be replaced with a cloth covered stock bench. Like all the wires hanging out of the dash? Me too...



Is it written in stone somewhere that EVERY sbc will leak oil from day one? This thing has 10,000 miles on it and drips no oil, but man is it covered. It was a good little motor though. Pretty much everything in this picture will be gone.



So here it is in all its glory: compression test reveals bad head gasket (hopefully) on the passenger side. It has since been completely disassembled. Bores look good. All bearings, ring and gaskets will be replaced. Valve seats all look good. LOTS of varnish. Way too much gunk in the oil pan. Oil rings were all completely caked with junk. This is what you get for 150 bucks i guess... Side note: gaskets are pretty expensive for these things and i now know why: they are very well designed. This thing should seal up well. This will pretty much be a stock rebuild, might go with a 98-00 ls1 cam (cheap) i think the computer will be ok with it... we'll see



End of the first week... No real surprises. Cab mounts need replaced. Rockers are junk. Floors look good. Doors look good. Overall, cab is pretty soild. Next weekend: pickup block, heads, covers, and oil pan from machine shop. Man i wish i had a hot tank... Then on to pick up some more parts up north.



I'll get some more pics of the engine, disassembled and assembled (hopefully) next week....

[TimE]

Cool pics. You nailed that deer, huh?

About the LS1 cam...The reason the 01-02 made more power was because...*drumroll* ...GM used the 5.3 truck camshaft in it. Believe it or not, the truck cam provided more torque sooner and also a higher peak hp than the cam that was used in the LS1 from 98-00. Maybe try for an LS6 cam if you want slightly bigger. For tons of info, check out LS1tech.

Good luck!!

[protrash64]

Cool stuff!!! I checked out my buddy's 5.3....all gaskets O-ringed; sweet. Wish they did that to the old engines. Good luck on your build-up.

[jgarverick]

hmmm good info TimE.... i just figured a bit more duration would improve the midrange a bit without hurting the bottom end too much... i've heard a couple guys say that the ls1 cam knocked about 1/2 a second off their 1/4 mile times, but who really knows how accurate that is... it just might kill the bottom end and do nothing for the mid or top end... but hey, with this thing i've got bigger fish to fry than a 20 dollar used cam

[TimE]

Originally Posted by jgarverick

hmmm good info TimE.... i just figured a bit more duration would improve the midrange a bit without hurting the bottom end too much... i've heard a couple guys say that the ls1 cam knocked about 1/2 a second off their 1/4 mile times, but who really knows how accurate that is... it just might kill the bottom end and do nothing for the mid or top end... but hey, with this thing i've got bigger fish to fry than a 20 dollar used cam

I'm strictly going off of stock figures in what I stated above. If you know someone with firsthand experience on the swap, definitely go by what they tell you(if they have some good, concrete info).I just know from a stock production standpoint, that is the reason for the higher hp/tq #'s for the 01-02 model LS1.

Besides, in a truck, a cam swap would be relatively simple (mechanically anyway) versus doing it in an F-Body or 'Vette. And for $20, what have you got to lose?

[jgarverick]

i was just going by what a couple of other people have said. i think i may just leave the stock cam in it for a while to get a baseline for power, mileage, etc... i know now is the time to swap it since everythings tore apart. another thing that concerns me is the computer having a problem with the cam, especially since i hadn't planned on running a MAF sensor. o well, should be a fun truck to drive with a t10 on the back either way

[TimE]

If you're not running a MAF then are you planning on running a Speed Density setup? Without the MAF, it's gonna run like a dog(<--strictly my opinion). The 5.3 from my donor ran real rich without the MAF attached to the throttle body before I pulled the motor.

I think you will need to have the computer tuned anyway. VATS will need to be removed for sure (or is there some other way to bypass it?). I haven't gotten to that point on mine yet but I intend to use the 4l60e and a different gear ratio than what the computer was originally programmed for so I will definitely have my tuned/reprogrammed.

Just throwing this stuff out there for you to think about. I am by no means real knowledgeable on this type of swap, but I will be before it's done!

[jgarverick]

ya my computer is definately going to have to be tuned. i've been contemplating using an MAF for modifications in the future, supposedly it allows the computer to adapt better. so far i need the entire trans programming removed, the vats, rear O2 sensors. i think i might use a megasquirt later on after i build one for my javelin, but i really don't think it will be necessary. o and don't think your alone in this stuff, this is my first build with an lsx motor too. i did learn that supposedly the best way to clean the heads is to just mill 1/1000th of the face... i was also planning to just use the bare block, heads and exhaust manifolds to mock up for the transmission crossmember, but with the supposed sensitivity of the aluminum to scratches i think i'm just gonna have to do it with the engine complete.

[TimE]

The Megasquirt really sounds like the best way to go but I don't know if I have the patience to figure it all out.

I thought about buying HPTuners and getting the license for my '03 swap setup and my '01 Z28. That way I can use one to tune/learn to tune and drive the other. Eventually, I would like to cam my Z so I think it wouldn't be a bad investment. Local dyno tunes are $300, iirc, and parking lot tunes are $150. Wouldn't take many changes to pay for the HPTuner program. Sorry for the ramble...

Keep us posted on your progress and good luck!!

[MacAttack]

Hope you replaced that lady's fence post.

[jgarverick]

the really sad part is that i didn't hit that deer. my buddie was driving the truck for a couple of days while we had his torn apart so every bit of damage done was none of my fault. he felt really bad about it. guess who gets to do all the sanding?

[matchstick]

Originally Posted by TimE

Cool pics. You nailed that deer, huh?

About the LS1 cam...The reason the 01-02 made more power was because...*drumroll* ...GM used the 5.3 truck camshaft in it. Believe it or not, the truck cam provided more torque sooner and also a higher peak hp than the cam that was used in the LS1 from 98-00. Maybe try for an LS6 cam if you want slightly bigger. For tons of info, check out LS1tech.

Good luck!!

The 01-02's made more power because of the LS6 intake. They also made a little more torque with the smaller cam from the truck but the gains were from the intake. The 97-00 cam is the best choice between the two. Then comes the LS6 on up.
Good luck with your project. I'm about to put a LS based engine in a 71. if there's any questions you have just ask.

[TimE]

Any updates?

[jgarverick]

man i wish. just been too busy with other stuff lately. i have a pile of parts sitting around just waiting for attention. i do have all of next week off though so i'm hoping to get alot accomplished then. i'll should have the motor assembled, painted and be ready to mock up for the transmission crossmember. will definitely post some more pics soon.

[jgarverick]

Its been a while guys and i've been kinda sick so i took some pics today. alot has happened since the last post. engine is rebuilt with new bearings, gaskets, rings and such. heads cleaned up, valves lapped, new valve seals. took forever to clean the pistons up. front crossmember removed. crossmember, arms, spindles and front frame section sandblasted and painted. plates to adapt stock sbc engine mounts to 5.3 block made. cab removed from frame and put on a cart i made out of 4 pieces of angle iron, some 2x6's and the casters off an old furniture moving cart. seats removed and sold. gas tank is out, still debating on whether to use it or not. cleaned up a botched repair where the PO power steering conversion cracked the frame, idiot. tomorrow the front end will come back together with the new dropped spindles. i'll snap a couple pics of the motor tomorrow.

pics:

pretty easy to move around, quit with the d/a after i bought the sandblaster


i love the sandblaster, wish i had a before pic of this as it was TOTAL garbage


picked these up to eliminate the egr junk on the passenger side. off a 2008 trailblazer ss. fit perfectly. i cut off all the bosses for the heat shields and cleaned up the casting flash, then forgot and left them outside.


more PO hackery, should be an easy fix though.


the passenger side has me worried alot more but overall not too bad


wonder whats underneath the paint and filler???




chassis black can make nearly anything look good


more prepwork

ok so how about some things i've learned thus far:
wear a respirator, while painting AND sandblasting.
gaskets for an ls1 are expensive
bolts for an ls1 are expensive
my dad is awesome for letting me do all this in his shop
my mom is awesome for feeding me all day while i'm playing
saving up for a year to be able to do this was so worth it
i can't paint very well and hvlp's are awesome compared to the old guns
this is going to take MUCH longer than i had previously thought.
the truck will definitely be flat, probably black.
wheels will be gloss black with chrome caps and lugs

let me know what you guys think, i love hearing peoples suggestions

[Strodder]

Nice job. Your off to a good start. Slow down though. Your making all of us look bad.

[Captainfab]

You're making some nice progress.....keep it up.

Originally Posted by jgarverick

ok so how about some things i've learned thus far:
wear a respirator, while painting AND sandblasting.

YES most definitely! some paints (more so the catylists) can literly kill you as can silica sand dust. I haven't used silica sand for many years partially due to the health hazard.

[jgarverick]

ya i just bought some non silica based media and that stuff is so much better. less dust makes it easier to see the piece. less hazardous too. and it seems to cut better also, i've turned the regulator down to about 60 lbs with no loss of cutting power. still waiting for the arms and such to dry. hopefully i'll get a pic of the motor today

[jgarverick]

got some more work done the last couple of days

front suspension assembled with new drop spindles, bushings, 6 lug disks, etc



oh and heres the pics of the longblock painted up




cut the spotwelds and removed the tank brackets from the back of the cab.



started work on the cab, filled most of the holes in the firewall



got to work on the big hole in the floor.

[Strodder]

Nice job

[tommys66]

I thought of removing the fuel tank mounts from the cab also, but I was worried they provided needed support for the back of the cab. Does it seem solid without them?