Project Mr. Green Jeans (now 5.3 LS turbo build!)

[Dads79GMC]

You've had a busy summer Sir.....Looks Good!!

Mike

[bnoon]

Turns out now is a perfect time to pull the old 350 anyway. I drove the truck a little last weekend and the transmission started slipping REALLY bad. Babied it home and it made it, but smoke was everywhere like a mosquito fogger! After it cooled off, I can move it around the driveway under its own power, but not even enough transmission grip to spin the tires over! Talk about timing! Rebuild and upgrade of the TH400 will start soon. I'll hopefully be picking up the 5.3 this week as well if I can arrange it. The guy selling it to me has a schedule just opposite of mine it seems, so it's been tough.

[Hankster]

So happy that you're going Turbo LS.

[bnoon]

You're happy, then I'm happy. LOL! Hopefully picking up the 5.3 tonight. Cash in hand and truck and cherry picker all ready for action!

[bnoon]

5.3 made it home Monday night finally. Sitting near the corner of my garage waiting for me to finish building a friend's 383 before the 5.3 turbo mock up can begin.

[Hankster]

Sweet man! Can you share info on turbos? like size price, where your getting it? I'm wanting to turbo my 454

[tinydb84]

Originally Posted by bnoon

You're happy, then I'm happy. LOL! Hopefully picking up the 5.3 tonight. Cash in hand and truck and cherry picker all ready for action!

I love turbo builds. Can wait to see what you end up with. I am eventually going with a Chinese turbo on meth.

Originally Posted by Hankster

Sweet man! Can you share info on turbos? like size price, where your getting it? I'm wanting to turbo my 454

Turbos are kinda like cams. You want one specific for your engine and purpose. There are a lot of options in picking a turbo, I'd recommend calling the turbo manufacturer and asking what they recommend/

[bnoon]

Originally Posted by tinydb84

I love turbo builds. Can wait to see what you end up with. I am eventually going with a Chinese turbo on meth.

Yeah that's kinda where I'm at too. Chinese turbo from Ebay, cost = around $300-$550 depending on options. I won't run meth though. I'm going E85 with air/water intercooler since I already have most of those parts left over from old Mazdaspeed 3 configurations.

[Low Elco]

You might wanna get hold of this cat- Seems to know his bidness!

http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/s...d.php?t=529064

[bnoon]

Originally Posted by Low Elco

You might wanna get hold of this cat- Seems to know his bidness!

http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/s...d.php?t=529064

That build is quite high end compared to mine!!! Since I'll be using the factory ECU too (with HP Tuners 2 bar SD tune), there's really nothing to compare from that build to mine.

I may add a small cam (z06) if I can find a used one cheap, but that's about it. Everything else will pretty much be stock 5.3 except the head gaskets (LS9) and stock replacement rings (top ring gapped to .028"). I won't even replace the bearings unless they need it. If I find some nice 243 or 799 heads, those would be hard to pass up, but so far nothing close to the extent of that build.

I've got the wiring how to's from the LT1 site and saw a video posted by someone on our site here a few years ago that walks through that how to piece by piece pretty much.

[bnoon]

Got some tear down done this past weekend. Little bit of rust in two cylinders, but not bad wear at all. Should clean up with a quick hone.

[bnoon]

I got down to some business prepping everything to come out of the truck today. Fully disconnected in about 2 hours working myself, including a few breaks (watched a few TH 400 modification videos and a few Mustang videos). Needed a second set of hands, but have to wait until tomorrow to get it out of there I guess. Oh well. I will probably order the rebuild/hop up kit for the transmission tomorrow so that it's here by the weekend. Also adapters for the 5.3 (converter/flex plate/engine mounts)... Thing is... I can't decide now if I really want the 5.3. I do like nasty idles and big lumpy cams and turbos don't mix... what to do what to do...

[tinydb84]

If you have the space pull the front clip. Way easier.

You can have lope and turbo: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hGXXuq9T2TI

[bnoon]

Originally Posted by tinydb84

If you have the space pull the front clip. Way easier.

You can have lope and turbo: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hGXXuq9T2TI

Disagree about the front clip. That would take me a half an hour or so to pull and would only save me about that much time, so it's a wash and there's no reason to mess with it. Now, the two times I dinged my noggin on the corner of the hood last night... I might have agreed with you.

Also disagree about the cam. Nothing lopey about the TU2 cam that guy is running. 238/238 duration on a 112.5 center line is a great turbo cam, but lopey? No. He's got a very low idle and very short exhaust out of the turbo, yeah, and it does sound good... just not as nasty as a good thumping NA cam. Even my cam in my SBC was too small for what I REALLY like at 234/244 on a 114. That TU2 cam would do very nice with the turbo I plan on running, but this is a low buck build and at $379.99 that would make it the single most expensive part aside from the 5.3 itself.

I'm going to go through the 350 to make sure everything still checks out to see how it lived over the summer, then put it for sale here and on Craigslist. If it sells for what I have into it now, then I'll for sure go 5.3 turbo. If it doesn't sell, then I may put it back in with the new trans... stupid decisions. I hate being limited by time/money/space. I'd rather have one of each NA BBC stroker, wicked techie turbo build, and high winding SBC.

[Dads79GMC]

If you need a second set of hands let me know. I'm free most evenings and I could benefit from the knowledge. Mike

[bnoon]

Got the engine and transmission out of the truck last night. The 350 still looks great, so a quick reseal and it will be going back together. Transmission rebuild kit will be here Friday.

[bnoon]

Transmission tear down in progress.

[bnoon]

Transmission tear down in progress 2.

[bnoon]

Transmission tear down in progress 3.

[bnoon]

Transmission tear down in progress 4.

[bnoon]

More transmission. We've got the new parts, new front seal in pump, new rear seals on pump, dual C-clamps in a vice to compress the drum piston springs, and a home made lip seal tool (paper clip inserted into an 1/8" brake line and smash down with a hammer).

[bnoon]

More transmission stuff. Here we've got burned up clutches and blued steels (not good), then the completed pump and drum, all assembled into the case, drilled and tapped to block off the third feed hole (for the dual feed mod), and the valve body disassembled.

[bnoon]

More transmission stuff. Drilled and tapped the valve body piston feed hole. You still have to put the piston in there, along with the E clip, but you can delete the spring. Next is the shift valve before, then shift valve after. Along with the check ball dilled and peened into the exhaust port. Those two mods allow you to hold low gear manually to any speed. Last is the valve body separator plate. Drilled to .125" on second feed and .140" on third.

[bnoon]

Last bit of transmission. Check ball locations marked with red marker. Lifted up onto bench (thanks Deadlifts! 5 more reps!), valve body case gasket (noted by "C" stamped into it), separator plate in place and valve body gasket going in place (noted by the "VB" printed on it several times, and nearly done. Apparently B&M and Summit Racing don't think you need a filter when rebuilding a transmission. "Everything included" they said... fail. It's minor though, I'll take it.

[y5mgisi]

Good work!