I like that. You have me thinking. I have an air raid intake from the GMC 1500 I got my engine from. I might be able to make that work in that location. Thanks!

My engine is about ready to go in after I remove the accessories and attach the chains.

 

How many of you guys are rebuilding your LS before swapping it in? I'm vaguely considering doing mine this winter. I've rebuilt Mazda rotary engines, but I've never messed with an LS. Given the amount of work that goes into the swap and all of the tutorials on youtube I think rebuilding the LS prior to install is pretty cheap insurance but wanted to get the opinion of those who've done this already.

 

I rebuilt mine. I didn't plan on it but I got a decent deal on the Chevy truck and I was committed before I knew it needed the rebuild from sitting so long.

With that said... I'd avoid it because it probably won't be cheaper than buying an engine with a warranty in good shape. Mine does have a bigger cam and flat top pistons for higher compression so that is something that's easy if you are already rebuilding. A cam swap is pretty easy in a good used engine though. Videos are everywhere on building these engines so it's nice if you get lost on something. How to rebuild GM LS series engines is a good book if you just want more information too.

 

I'm having a tough time finding an intact aluminum 5.3 (or 5.7 for that matter). So I'll likely end up buying the alu short block, and junk yard donor motor for heads, rotating assy, ECU etc., and then rebuild it. Working on trucks and motos is how I relax after work, so I don't consider the time spent rebuilding "lost". Also, I live at high-ish altitude so I'd like to do some upgrades to make a bit more torque to try and recover some of what I'm losing to the thin air.

I've already read the "How to rebuild LS series engines" once, and I'll be sure to go over it again once I have a block (or two) in the garage.

 

Sounds like you are a bit like me then. I enjoy the tinkering and trying to make things better. I too wanted to get some extra torque over the stock engine. I figured some extra low to mid range grunt and compression might even gain me some fuel efficiency. Even if it does require require premium over mid grade. We shall see. Smiles per gallon should increase anyway. Nothing like not downshifting to make a hill or something like that.

 

I went with an intake setup from southwest performance mainly bc I hate how the truck intake looks but it also because it included fuel rails with an fittings. Using an adapter to connect to the stock fuel line setup is super easy. Running the vacuum booster hose to it was easy as well. Obviously at the $499 shipped price point its made in china but the build quality is surprisingly good. No fitment issues.

To kickoff the new intake routing path to the passenger side i went with a front outlet water pump from holley 22-101. That clears a lot of space to run the intake piping towards the passenger side.

For the battery tray I went with this one from . I used threaded standoffs that I cut down to fit the slope of the wheel well on the drivers side. I ended up cutting off the mounting provision for the hood close switch/sensor to place the battery there.

I incorporated both GM and LR mafs using silicone reducers from intakehoses.com. I'm not sure how well the GM sensor will read that close to the intake filter but i saw a few aftermarket setups running it directly connected to the filter like I'm running. Below are the following part numbers. Ill report any issues once I get it tuned.

R90B-400-425SR
R40B-325-400
​​​​R40B-325-350

I bought 0 gauge wire to run from the battery to the driver side a Its overkill, I would go with 2 gauge wire. I got a crimper and cut off a lot of the stock ends on the wires to combine everything at the distribution block (under the intake filter). The grounds I ran to stock locations or off the alternator bracket.

For the fan setup I used Spal 30102049 16" Curved Blade Performance Fan. The GM PCM will send a ground signal to it and turn it on and off.

 

I got mine from a junkyard with 90k miles with a startup video. I ended up taking it apart to address all the maintenance items. Oil pump, timing chain, front and rear oil seals. It snowballed and I put in a BTR truck norris cam, beehive springs, valve seals, ls7 lifters, and pushrods. Also did the head gaskets. So much for not blowing a budget lol.

 

A few more updates... I taught myself years ago how to weld but had no plans on doing the exhaust. Was going to go the easy route and have someone make it for me but after reading some reviews on the HF Vulcan tig machine I decided to buy it to do this project and have it for any future needs. It works well for $850 after memorial day 35% off!

I also chopped the rear muffler off and sliced all the stock bolt flanges off that were rusted to hell and replaced with 2.5" v-band clamps. I'm still using that stock center section for now. The side exit will hopefully fix my problem of getting the rear muffler hung up on rock obstacles. It should also give the engine a nice sound being that it's cammed.

 

Here she is. First start up. Untuned on a stock file.

Let me know if the links don't work.

https://photos.app.goo.gl/n3noq4wECA5mXDf2A
https://photos.app.goo.gl/ayvJqTQ5LA8KpAS67

 

Have always loved those method wheels. Especially that color on the white disco. The welds and the placement of exhaust is awesome