LS3 swap thread

[Old Painless]

That's awesome. That's the fun of all this is making it our own.

And to be honest, it feels like I'm just starting the hard part now. Wiring and all the sensors and odds and ends. But it's coming. I work two weeks on, two weeks off. Between life getting in the way and parts orders etc, it's taking longer than I expected! But it's been a blast so far.

All in good time man! Let me know if you need any help with the wiring fiasco; pcm work too if you decide to do that yourself.

 

[347strokin]

A few pics of the interior. One is from when I first got it home. The other pic is from the other day. I took out the dash pad to find room to mount some electrical. I had a PSI Conversions wiring harness built for the LS3/4L80E combo. The TCU, ECU, fuse box and OBD 2 port are all mounted in the interior. I managed to hide everything securely out of sight.

 

[347strokin]

All in good time man! Let me know if you need any help with the wiring fiasco; pcm work too if you decide to do that yourself.

I really appreciate that. I do have a harness made but I still have some really basic questions. I'll bug you when I make it home again!

Jon

 

[347strokin]

I'm using some dual fans off of a Lincoln Continental. At least that's what I was told they were from. I made some top mounts for them, then used 4 trans cooler cable ties to hold it in place. Seems sturdy and hopefully won't stress the rad cores over time. I also hope this provides enough cooling in the heat of the summer without an enclosed shroud.

I also drilled and tapped the steam lines from the heads back into the water pump.

And the Hooker Blackheart long tubes waiting to be mounted.

 

[347strokin]

I also removed the dual saddle tanks from Old Brown. I didn't like the way they looked and I wanted a bit more weight over the rear end with a rear mount tank.

So off went the box. All I did to mount the tank was move the spare tire crossmember back (The top of the front of the new tank sits below this now). I also used a section of angle iron on the front of the tank to hold it in place and give myself somewhere to run the saddle straps to. Sorry I don't have more pics here. They are currently on my old phone and I'm out of town working. I'll try to update this thread when I'm home.

I used the Blazer 25 gallon tank. Fits great!

Then I cut a hole and mounted my new in tank fuel pump kit from PSI Conversions. It has a built in sump/reservoir which is handy. I also installed a new sending unit.

I used all new rubber 250psi fuel line back to front. I know a lot of guys say to use steel braided or metal lines but this is what came with the kit and if PSI stands by it, I'm good with that. I used a ton of frame clamps and reinforced possible "rub" areas with another reinforced hose wrapped around the fuel hose.

 

[347strokin]

All in good time man! Let me know if you need any help with the wiring fiasco; pcm work too if you decide to do that yourself.

Forgot to mention I have a friend with a dyno that does tuning. So that is out of my hands!

 

[Old Painless]

Forgot to mention I have a friend with a dyno that does tuning. So that is out of my hands!

You dog!! Well that takes care of that haha

 

[347strokin]

You dog!! Well that takes care of that haha

Haha, he's the bugger that talked me into this damn swap. It all started out as just a mild 400hp small block build on my original motor. This escalated quickly. And it's getting harder and harder to hide the swap cost from the wife.

 

[347strokin]

I used Dirty Dingo motor mounts for this swap. The factory LS3 Camaro oil pan does actually fit and allow me to bolt up the motor mounts but it rubs the crossmember. So I did some research and measurements and ordered up the GM Musclecar Oil Pan kit 19212593. This includes the pan, pick up tube, dipstick, gasket, windage tray and hardware.

As I'm sure most here know, it's actually the same pan GM used on their 5.3 Hummer H3's. But this pan is very well priced compared to any other GM pan that will fit. (F body or CTS V etc)

In this pic, you can see the pan touching the crossmember. It just has such a big rear sump on it.

So...once I get home again, the game plan is to swap oil pans, mount headers, run the engine wire harness, wire the fan and fuel pump fuses and relays. Then I still need to wire up the power, cranking power, brake switch etc ect.

Then I need to measure up for the air intake and rad hoses. I'll probably end up using Spectre for the intake system.

 

[347strokin]

That's all for this week!

 

[Mr.Rogers]

I'm using some dual fans off of a Lincoln Continental. At least that's what I was told they were from. I made some top mounts for them, then used 4 trans cooler cable ties to hold it in place. Seems sturdy and hopefully won't stress the rad cores over time. I also hope this provides enough cooling in the heat of the summer without an enclosed shroud.

I also drilled and tapped the steam lines from the heads back into the water pump.

And the Hooker Blackheart long tubes waiting to be mounted.

You should check out Tejas Steel Works. They make an aluminum fan shroud that bolts to the existing radiator support for the stock heavy duty radiator and the shroud accommodates two electric fans from a 93 to 97 Camaro. Those fans will keep that bad boy cool with no problem.

 

[Mr.Rogers]

Reading this gives me all the good feels. I am literally doing an almost identical swap as you. I'm gathering the last few parts needed right now before I start tearing into mine. It's my daily driver so I am trying to keep my down time to a minimum. I have a 2wd LWB 1978 GMC C15 that I am swapping a GM crate LS3 and 4l80e into. Mine happens to be brown as well. I will start a build thread soon on mine and will do my best to keep it up to date.

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[84c10Tony]

In my dreams! but 5.3 swap and req., all else stays, mine was brown, needed a bit of hood and top protection, got carried away with the rattle can 18 years ago lol.
Heck, I would like just a CA legal sb to putt around right now. The smog rules here let you do an E rod swap, not much else.

 

[Nasty-LSX]

looks like fun. I should be doing this soon!!

 

[347strokin]

You should check out Tejas Steel Works. They make an aluminum fan shroud that bolts to the existing radiator support for the stock heavy duty radiator and the shroud accommodates two electric fans from a 93 to 97 Camaro. Those fans will keep that bad boy cool with no problem.

I saw that! I was originally going to use their engine mounts but went with Dirty Dingo because I got a few other parts from them as well. Nice products though.