Lucy gets a modern powerplant

[RustyBucket]

It'll be interesting to see how your 5.3 does on fuel mileage with no O.D. What rear gear ratio is your truck? I have an '02 GMC 6.0 and when I tow I don't use overdrive .... the mileage is UGLY. I know the 6.0 is thirstier than the 5.3 and the '02 truck is heavy. I like the LS motors but wonder if the better economy isn't due a lot to computer engine management and overdrive. I have a mild 454/TKO500 combination in my Blazer. It'll give a little better than 15mpg at a steady 75mph... OR ... you can blast it around in the lower gears and get 7 or 8, but it's a lot more fun.
Please keep posting on your project, enjoying your progress.

[LooseyLucy71]

Originally Posted by RustyBucket

It'll be interesting to see how your 5.3 does on fuel mileage with no O.D. What rear gear ratio is your truck? I have an '02 GMC 6.0 and when I tow I don't use overdrive .... the mileage is UGLY. I know the 6.0 is thirstier than the 5.3 and the '02 truck is heavy. I like the LS motors but wonder if the better economy isn't due a lot to computer engine management and overdrive. I have a mild 454/TKO500 combination in my Blazer. It'll give a little better than 15mpg at a steady 75mph... OR ... you can blast it around in the lower gears and get 7 or 8, but it's a lot more fun.
Please keep posting on your project, enjoying your progress.

I have 3.08s out back. As I probably mentioned earlier the next big step after swapping the 5.3 in is to change the TH400 out for an NV4500. When I installed the posi I put the 3.08s in to give me around 2,000 RPM with the NV4500 at 75, which is about where my 04 with the 4L60 will run down the highway in OD. I'll definitely be tracking mileage both ripping around town and cruising the highway. Definitely looking forward to getting her running soon!

[LooseyLucy71]

I've been picking away at little stuff recently. Got the plates that hold the ignition coils cleaned and painted and installed a new serpentine belt tensioner. Nothing terribly exciting, but it's progress! Today's battle was with removing the original throttle cable. Anybody care to enlighten me on the trick to getting it to come out of the firewall? That would be awesome!

[Boog]

You go inside and squeeze the cable housing with a pair of pliers and push it through the firewall. It has two ears that click open once the housing is pushed into place.

[toolboxchev]

Originally Posted by joecaruso

Nice to see another board member is also into wooden boats. Here is pick of my boat behind my truck. The boat is a 13 foot runabout complete with a "vintage" 40 horse Johnson. The boat took just under 2 years to complete.

Ah ha! A tool box truck. Love the paint scheme! NICE!

[LooseyLucy71]

Originally Posted by Boog

You go inside and squeeze the cable housing with a pair of pliers and push it through the firewall. It has two ears that click open once the housing is pushed into place.

Thanks Boog! It was much easier to see and to remove once i smartened up and removed the gas pedal.

[Boog]

You are welcome.

[LooseyLucy71]

Good progress on Lucy this week! I got the radiator support, inner fenders, inside of outer fenders, and battery tray prepped and painted. I also cut and reworked the battery tray to go on the driver's side as lsnova71 did with his ls builds. My tray was shot, so I replaced it with a piece of 1/8" plate and welded it all back together. I also hung the radiator support, inner, and outer fenders. It's certainly nice to see it coming back together. On the interior, I replaced the fuel tank and filler neck grommet (grommet from classic heartbeat) and also installed sound deadening under the seat and on the back of the cab wall. I plan to do the floor pans and up the firewall as well, but there's some surface rust I'd like to address when the weather is warmer. For now, the carpet is back in. I'm leaving the seat and tracks out until the wiring is done to give myself a little extra room under the dash. It was quite the circus to get everything painted with it being 35 degrees out. I had the truck outside and plastic laid out outside. Had the heater going in the garage and the door opener in my pocket so I could have each piece and the paint preheated and only outside to spray. It worked out pretty well, I just had to open the door to vent off the VOCs a few times while everything dried. I wouldn't recommend it as a great practice, but for January in NH, it got the job done.

As for parts, I've ordered a 3.5 turn steering box from redhead, -6 AN fitting tools from summit, and a fuel pressure regulator and fuel pickup sock both from Amazon. All should be arriving early next week. My plan is to tackle steering and fuel first, then move onto wiring.

I'll also be fabricating brackets to mount the factory airbox from a Silverado on the passenger side. I'm aiming to use the existing mount holes on the radiator support and inner fender that the battery tray mounted to.

Also interesting to note, I measured my fender to ground distance before disassembly. As it sits now (no radiator, bumper, hood, cowl, and other little stuff) we are riding 2" higher in the front than with the 454 in there. With me sitting on the radiator support (175lb ish), it goes down 1/2". Might need to change the rear springs as I really like a little rake and really dislike negative rake.

[MrMeseeks]

Im lovin the flat black in the engine bay. really going to look good with the ext color.
Also what is your wheel and tire size? they fit that truck very well.

[ironroad9c1]

Might want to put some dynomat on that tank ...keep the sloshing Quiet.

[LooseyLucy71]

Originally Posted by MrMeseeks

Im lovin the flat black in the engine bay. really going to look good with the ext color.
Also what is your wheel and tire size? they fit that truck very well.

Yeah I'm really pleased with how it's looking so far. It's making all that prep work worth it! Wheels are 17x8's and tires are 235 55 R17.

Originally Posted by ironroad9c1

Might want to put some dynomat on that tank ...keep the sloshing Quiet.

I was thinking of doing that. I'll probably leave that for the summer when I do the rest of the floor. I'm trying not to get distracted with too many side projects, but it made sense to get the dynamat in behind the tank while I had the seat out and was changing the tank. This summer I'll probably get back in there.

[LooseyLucy71]

Steady progress in the last few weeks. I received all the parts I had on order on my last update and began installing. I got my new 3.5 turn steering box from redhead and got it bolted up to the frame. I then started looking at how I wanted to configure the lines and pump. As I'm sure most of you know, the LSx uses metric O-ring fittings and the truck side uses inverted flare. I decided I wanted to run the stock lines, and just change out the HP side fitting to the one off my old pump from the big block. Since the LSx pump mount os much lower, there's very little room for the line to go anywhere. I decided to swap the LSx pump's casing out for the original. This worked fine, and I was even able to press the pulley back on once I found the threads on the inside of the shaft. They were quite rusty and had to be run with a tap. I then got a new stock HP line for piece of mind and discovered it doesn't really want to go to the HP outlet of the pump without inducing a lot of twist, since the pump is about a foot lower than stock. So I guess I'm left with 2 options: 1. get a 90 degree fitting for the HP outlet of the pump and see if that will work, or 2. Swap the pump casings again, buy adapters for the pump side, and try to use the lines that would go with the LS trucks. I'd like to keep the 71 BB housing and remote reservoir if possible, but I'd also like to get on to the next thing. Feel free to send your advice / opinions my way.

I also go going on installing my fuel system. It was my first time making AN fittings, but with the vise jaws, AN wrench, and Koul Tool I bought, it was a breeze and went together pretty quickly. I started at the sender, and decided I want to keep the original hard line from the sender to the underside of the cab. From there I go to AN line, pump, filter, then up to the fuel rail. the return line runs parallel to the supply and will go through a 90 degree bulkhead fitting up through the cab floor up to a weld on AN fitting to be welded to the sender once I drill out the boss. I'm planning to run the stock vent line as it was in decent shape and use the stock charcoal canister. I have all the AN lines underneath done and mounted, so I need to connect those up to the tank and do the wiring for the fuel pump. I have some pictures below. Does anybody know what the mount I ran over with the fuel lines is for?

I pulled the LSx harness out of the box again and went through and labeled what every connector was. This should make it easier to install. It also helps having one installed in the driveway to see the intended routing of everything!

I'm looking to get the fuel and power steering systems wrapped up, then move on to reinstalling the engine bay wiring harness after I fix some questionable wiring by the previous owner (wire nuts, really?)....

[Boog]

That bracket looks like the oe exhaust hanger.

[Grumpy old man]

^x2

[67 chevelle]

Wow you are getting close , take a video when you fire it up , nice job

[LooseyLucy71]

Thanks guys! I probably should have asked earlier about the bracket. I may delete it and run those lines flush.
I think I can see the light at the end of the tunnel. Still lots to do but it seems to be coming together!

[LooseyLucy71]

I've been back at it recently, starting with a little fabrication work to add tabs to the 5.3 airbox mounting plate and to make a mount for the PCM. They both came out pretty well. The PCM was certainly more challenging. It's a busy corner with the PCM, fuse box, power steering res, washer fluid res, horns and horn relay and battery all tucked in there but I should be able to make it work. I was happy to be able to mount it with no additional holes, tucking it behind the radiator support to outer fender brace. I also took advantage of the nice weather and painted the radiator, radiator brackets, PS res, PCM mount, and airbox plate. It seems like every time I go to reinstall something it needs to be degreased, cleaned, prepped and painted, but it'll be worth it in the end.

I also found the fitting I needed for the HP PS line. Since the LS pump location is much lower and the motor mounts are right there, I needed a 3/8 female to 3/8 male 90 degree SAE tubing fitting which I found at a local hydraulics shop. I got it all installed and tightened up my pitman arm nut and rag joint bolts. Steering feels tight! Can't wait to try out the new box from Redhead.

I installed the factory engine bay harness after some repairs and started on the LS harness, I have it laid out in the right spot, but I'm trying not to finalize it until I fire it for the first time to make sure everything is working properly. This morning's wiring adventure was to flag the individual injector wires and the coil wires. I used my cheap-o meter, but hey, it works!

So I'll be plugging along. I have a friend coming down who is working on his second LS install (fully custom tube chassis buggy on 43's) next saturday so hopefully I can get enough done that we can at least turn it over and make sure the motor and harness are good. I'm definitely seeing the light at the end of the tunnel here and looking forward to turning the key!

[67 chevelle]

lookin good

[kehstr]

cool ideas!!

[LooseyLucy71]

Hey Guys! Still chugging along! I spent a while on the wiring and am just about finished with it. I had hard time with it as it was my first time wiring a harness, but on the downhill side, it's all fairly simple. I definitely added to the challenge stuffing the PCM, fuse block, and relays all in the front corner. It was worth it, but certainly added to the challenge. My buddy came down and we set an initial tune and got it fired up! Here's the youtube video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DLk2...m-upload_owner

It was awesome to have it start right up! Sine then I've been addressing a few minor fuel leaks, reinstalling the dash, making fan mounts, and buttoning up loose ends. I hung the exhaust and hope to get it over to the exhaust shop in the next few days to get new downpipes with bungs for the O2 sensors. Then I can move it under its own power and finish up the last of the wiring (O2's, fans, tape and loom). I'm definitely looking forward to getting her back on the road!

[flashed]

Looks clean.

[LooseyLucy71]

Originally Posted by flashed

Looks clean.

Thanks flashed! She's coming along! Off to the exhaust shop tomorrow!

[LooseyLucy71]

Hey guys, I was wondering if anybody could fill me in on what the fused wire on the terminal block mounted to the inside of the outer fender goes to. Is it the 12v outlet? Thanks in advance!

[BugzC10]

That's where the fusable-link goes from or to the battery. On mine The one with the fuse attaches to a yellow wire...not sure where it goes until I look at a schematic. The one with the plus sign should be the fuseable link that attached to the battery. I checked my schematic and it looks like that line with the fuse goes to a junction. The wires from the junction go to the alternator and voltage regulator and to the firewall plug.

[zteca]

I really dig your ECM bracket, any other pictures showing how you mount it or where it mounts to?
Keep up the good work