1st gen 5.3 swap/restoration

[northcoastrides]

Hey thought I'd check in and update my project been gone for a week and a half so things kinda slowed down I sent my new rotisserie out for powder coat still waiting on some pieces to come back so I can get it in the air.I was going to put a T56 in it since it was a stick originally but I went with a 4L60E for $1000 from Shram Auto Parts in Mi.where I got the 5.3 for $1900 the motor has only 10 miles on it and was set up for auto,the trans has 6k on it I'm still waiting for it to come in probably first of next week there sending an electric gas pedal out of an H2 to go with the fly by wire throttle I just hope it can be adapted to my firewall, as soon as I know all the components that I will be using Current Performance will startbuilding the wire harness Jared said he has a 3-4 week backlog that should give me enough time to get the frame painted and the motor and trans dropped in ,then Ill start on the cab restoration .I just scored a set of mint 96 Vette rims and I have a lead on a 8.5 rear I have to check out, Ill be stripping the motor down this weekend to make it easier for the swap and I can clear coat the aluminum engine parts then also.I guess thats about it hopefully Ill have some more photos soon..... need..sleep....

[northcoastrides]

Well after 3 attempts I finally got my tranny the 1st one only had 20 mi on it but it had been under water for awhile probably came out of the gulf the 2nd one never got shipped ,lack of communication between the sales desk and the warehouse the 3rd is an 03 instead of an 04 and it has several k on it looks like several hundred k guess Ill go through it to be safe should have just bought one allready built. I got my rotisserie parts back from the powder coater and pulled the cab this weekend fitting the engine/trans and fabricating an exhaust system will be much easier with the cab out of the way.I'll have the frame blasted I can't get my old boss to part with the new frame he has in storage he wants to sell it in a package with the rest of the parts left over from a rallye truck he built in 94 he only used the cab and nose and still has every thing else sitting in a container.Ill keep working on him maybe for my next project ?

[T Man]

Wow, how did i miss this 2 weeks ago? Sounds like a great project. As for the vette wheels, you will need a 2" spacer in the front and a 2.25" spacer for the rear. Backspacing is a bunch different.

[j894]

Nice. I want to do something Similar, only it would be a blazer & be ls1 awd. hehe

[northcoastrides]

Yaaa how about a LS1 in an awd tubular chassis with a rear mount turbo fed up through the frame tubes,and a,and a .Dang I gotta finish this one first .Thanks T Man I wasn't sure on the spacers .The seats came today that I bought on ebay they are mint out of a 93 dime dark gray with light gray bands through the lumbar area should go perfect with the paint I thinking about.

[T Man]

Yaaa how about a LS1 in an awd tubular chassis with a rear mount turbo fed up through the frame tubes,and a,and a .Dang I gotta finish this one first .Thanks T Man I wasn't sure on the spacers .The seats came today that I bought on ebay they are mint out of a 93 dime dark gray with light gray bands through the lumbar area should go perfect with the paint I thinking about.


Stop it now...thats my idea for a twin turbo Big block s10

[northcoastrides]

Stop it now...thats my idea for a twin turbo Big block s10
A big block would be killa but I hate that yoyks!feeling when I see a corner coming

[T Man]

A big block would be killa but I hate that yoyks!feeling when I see a corner coming


Since when are there corners on a drag strip :);)

[northcoastrides]

on the way home

[T Man]

ya, but im not gonna be taking them that fast ;)


On a related note....trailers are for boats.

[northcoastrides]

I pulled the 2.8 out last weekend and stripped the front suspension off the frame.With the frame bare I can now see that the frame horns are swayed to the right I thought it might be bent cause the left 3/4 nose was aftermarket so now I'm back to plan B trying to buy the frame that my old boss has in storage if anyone needs any 94 parts he has everything except the cab and nose he wants to sell as package but I'm trying to convince him it'd be better to part out.

[northcoastrides]

where have I been ? well ran low on funds so the project slowed down but just tapped my credit card so i'm back up and running.Here's an update:the frame is done and painted w/por15.The 8.5 rear is in with comp. engineering slide a links, My new Detroit Tru Trac came today,all the brake parts have been powder coated and waiting on Moser axles and a 1350 yoke. Had the oil pan cut down and heliarced by Marc Rowe installed ARP rod bolts while the pan was off .I ran a new brake line to passenger side front and from the firewall back and reconditioned the others.So the motor is painted and in and I'm in the process of rebuilding my 4L60E,I've got a 3 1/2" drop trans crossmember coming from Summit it should work well .I'm thinking about going with Spohn lower control arms up front with G body uppers with my dropped springs and stock spindles.Hoping to have a rolling chassis by new years, just in time for company bonus and tax return. :jump2refe here's a couple pics couldn't down load anymore

[Hammer Head]

I hope to see more of this. I'm in the process of grabbin up all my parts so I can take about a week to do the final conversion. Awesome project.

[northcoastrides]

Hey glad to see someone interested I'll post updates as it progresses.I just got the rest of my rearend parts,as soon as my new dial indicator comes in next week I'll finish the rear and take some more pics.I tore down the 4L60E last week everything is mint inside so I'll just reassemble it after the case is blasted and painted to match the bellhousing,the one upgrade I am doing is a beast sun shell,I hear it's the weak link so why not while I'm in there.I just bought a custom built radiator from superior it's an all alluminium two row made to fit inside the support to clear the truck accesories I paid $310+shiping on ebay that should be here next week also

[Hammer Head]

I've seen those radiators on ebay & was going to get one.. but I think I can get about the same effect, for half the price, by mounting the 84-89 vette radiator in that very same location. I milled up custom mounts from billet aluminum before work let me go. It's not exactly a bolt in like yours, so I'll need to cut out for the filler.. that's one thing I liked very much about the Superior radiator filler.

[northcoastrides]

I allmost went with the Vette radiator but I'm going for as clean a look as possible so I'm willing to spend the extra coin to get an engine compartment with as few signs of cutting as possible.It was a tough decision I like the oem look of the vette rad.over the bright alluminium aftermarket one's but I couldn't go for that big notch cut out of the support for access to the rad cap,I spose I could've made a cover for it oh well ..

[Hammer Head]

Heh.. yeah. I'm not too big on cuttin it either, but to save a little casheesh I'm sure I can figure something out. I'd like it to look as close to OEM as possible. Maybe some vacuum tubing slit down the middle & used as an edge guard or maybe make a trap door for it to totally hide it out of view until it's needed to be accessed.. i dunno.

[northcoastrides]

Well I gotta learn to listen to my gut instinct shoulda got the vette rad I'm not overly impressed with the quality on the allumimium rad but I can work with it.I got into the 4L60E and found some over heat issues with a SOME parts so now I'm into the trans for way too much $ ,it'd be nice if the bone yard would cut me a rebate...YA RIGHT

[Hammer Head]

That blows. For over $300 you'd think it'd be high quality stuff, right? I'm thinkin I won't even get the vette radiator. I've been lookin at it & if I cut & weld the radiator support I can fit the 4.3 radiator in there. It's the same height as the vette's, it's just an inch wider than the support.

[northcoastrides]

hell ya that should work.Are you running AC? I called superior and asked why they didn't make it one inch wider so a flexlite 210 would fit without cutting the shroud,there is enough room in the support,he gave me a story about it would make the unit $70 more because of the cost of new jigs and all.I'm thinking they didn't put enough time into r&d before they made a production run. He did tell me one thing though ,he said not to make the shroud to air tight it needs to be able to flow enough static flow at cruising speed to cool the engine,good to know...

[Hammer Head]

Yeah, he's right about the shoud. I think so too about the R&D cause if I'm not mistaken he's runnin those radiators the same width as an '84-'89 vette & there's prenty of extra room. Between the support is something like 31"-31.25". That's just rediculous he wants $70 on top of a 300-some dollar radiator. Nope took my A/C out & did a swap w/ the heater box (firewall side). You can see more of that here.. http://www.s10planet.com/forum/showthread.php?t=6179. So next step is to pull the condensor whenever I move the radiator forward.

[Hammer Head]

Pulled the condensor.. picked up a spare radiator support, now I'm looking for a '96-up radiator to see if I can in fact make it fit in the support. But, ... Where are you at on this??

[northcoastrides]

I,m still working on the trans,it's been a do it yourself education.Every step has had some problem or other mostly wrong parts,gets damn frustrating when you get one section straightened out and move on to the next only to find more wrong parts or there's an upgrade to replace the week OEM parts that you have been supplied.I'm waiting to order a reprogram kit (just found out I need)till I get my credit on the three clutch packs I returned,now I have to go back into the input clutch cause there are more upgrades in the reprogram kit to be installed.So while I'm waiting on that I start installing my new Detroit TrueTrac,right,they sent the wrong carrier bearings,I get the correct brngs at the local parts store,I should of known wrong brngs wrong shims !! shiped the brngs and shims back to Summit and waiting for the correct shims...Hell I can do some painting I got my front suspension and core support back from the blaster,what can go wrong there? The game doesn't start till 6:30 so if nothing goes wrong I should get a couple coats on....This is pretty much how it has gone from the start and get this my horoscope says it is not going to get any better...f--kit can't turn back now I just have to prepair for a long road,at this rate probably be another year before it's running

[northcoastrides]

OH and next week I'm going to go back to the motor and frame cause I'm hoping to get a custom oil pan built by moroso and made available to anyone doing the LSX/S10 swap.Preliminary plans are for a steel pan with remote filter, pickup included for about $325...No nothching of the crossmember will make this swap much easier and more appealing .even though I have notched my frame and modded my pan I kept the piece I cut out and can weld it back in,I would feel better knowing my frame isn't weakened by the removal of such a huge portion in a crucial area..will keep you posted...

[Hammer Head]

It's a bummer to hear of all the problems... but you're still making progress. Just think about when it'll be all finished.. it'll be cherry, man.

[northcoastrides]

Yaa that's what keeps me going,that mental picture that's begining to materalize in my garage

[Hammer Head]

Any new pictures of the progress? I'd love to see 'em if you've got some.

[Hammer Head]

I wanna see this! C'mon just a few pix.. haha

[northcoastrides]

Sorry no new progress to report been to damn cold out in the garage .I just got home from house sitting for a week down in Massachusetts while my freinds vacationed in Cancun, so I did get out there for awhile today ,till the race started, just long enough to pull the input drum back out of the 60E and find two pieces of metal lodged in the bearing that supports the drum,could be why I couldn't get any endplay on the input shaft.The outer race of the bearing has two indents to hold the inner race and roller bearing inplace it seems that one of the indent tabs broke off How I'm not sure. Just one more little setback but better to find it now and not out on the road....so here are a couple pics of where I'm at like I said not much to report but once I get the trans in,it will start to come together although probably won't be done this year so I went and ordered a new bike last week..gotta have something to ride this summer

[Hammer Head]

I think it looks great so far & I like the progress thus far. I know projects have a lot of snags to overcome & you're right it is way better to find the stuff out now then on the road. I also see that you're running some slide a link traction bars. Did those bolt right up or were they a universal kit?

[northcoastrides]

They are a direct bolton and a little pricey but worth the piece of mind knowing I won't have any wheel hop. the only thing I did different was use poly bushings instead of the alluminium ones supplied with the kit

[northcoastrides]

I took the afternoon off and drove the 45 min over to TANSTAR to get a #68 selective washer for the input hub and now I have the correct endplay on the input shaft :bouncy_12 just have to finish the valve body and new servo and it'll be done FINALLY I can move on

[Hammer Head]

Sweet. I'd like to see some pix of the engine in the chassis. Mainly the clearances between the engine (w/out manifolds) & trans to the frame rails for reference so I can see how much room I have to run the exhaust. I picked up some long tube headers for a silverado application & as of right now I think they may fit. Possibly something you may want to consider if you haven't already picked out a set. I can't guarantee they'll fit though. I question if they'll hit the back lower control mount. The steering shaft might be alright, too. If not I'm sure some creative steering u-joint placement would be in order.

[northcoastrides]

I bought the sanderson shorty's they fit good a little tight but any header is going to be tight ,the fullsize won't fit without alot of cutting and welding cause of the difference in frame dimensions some guys are using the f body stock manifolds and welding extensions on them to dump out below the motor with good results I like the way the sandersons look with the ceramic coat I just wish they were long tube to make the collector easier to get at....these are the only shots I could find of the motor in frame

[Hammer Head]

Yea, I like the Sandersons, too. I ordered a set before I ordered the long tubes from hooker. Only thing I don't like is they're only a 2.5" collector on the sandersons. I need a 3" to work w/ my exhaust that was bent up for me. I've got another set of headers here for the SBC S10 conversion.. same diameter tubing & all three sets are ceramic coated. Maybe if need be I'll cut & weld the SBC's w/ the long tubes.. but I do see differances in frames. I'd just still like to see for myself since I've already got them here for whenever the time comes.

[Hammer Head]

Haven't seen an update in a while. Still numerous problems?

[northcoastrides]

no problems as of late but then I havent worked on it much since I got sucked into working back on the Bush East team I used to crew with...I did manage to get the tranny mounted last week,I had to modify the crossmember from Summit the drop was too much so I cut it down and it worked out fine. I should have a roller soon just have to bolt up the frontend parts and finish setting up the TrueTrac and I can set it on all fours....damn I need tires ,they won't be cheap for the C6 rims I've got

[Hammer Head]

No, they're not cheap at all. Hope to see some more pix.

[northcoastrides]

Once I have a rolling chassis I'll get some good pics it should look pretty sweet

[Hammer Head]

Sounds good.

[northcoastrides]

Well I bought a new bike last spring and that ate up my funds for the S10 and kept me preocupied but I'm back and it's tax time so I'll have some cash to spend. I had to go back into the trans recently it seems when I installed the tranny the tourque converter popped out and miss alligned with the pump. I realised this 6 months later when I tried to bolt up the converter and the motor would barely turn over, it put enough pressure on the oil pump to distort the rotor a couple thousanths,no biggy just one of those dumbass things that happen!..The tranny is back in, so is the driveshaft after being shortened 3". Front suspension is in, Rearend is done I'll have pix of that this weekend. I just picked up a Vette filter now I have to make fuel lines..I brought the cab in out of the weather so I can start on that soon

[northcoastrides]

I had to cut the right motor mount 3/4" to allow the motor to set all the way back the mount hit the back of the AC bracket. Now with the motor set all the way back the AC pulley has enough clearence from the Idler Arm

[bespurcell]

Wow. That is going to be nice when it's done.

[northcoastrides]

Thanks bespurcell. I can't wait to see it through it has been two years to get to this point,money and time are hard to come by, I am hoping to have it running late spring

[87wildside]

I can't wait to see it through it has been two years to get to this point,money and time are hard to come byI know how you feel. You have aa awesome project BTW.

[northcoastrides]

Thanks 87wildside I really appreciate the compliments...A couple pix or the rear, everyone that has seen it in person has liked the little touch of purple, if I used too much I think it would look gay but I wanted something to break up all the black

[Hammer Head]

I can't wait, as I'm sure you are too, to see this done. Looks great

[S10V]

i hate it when trucks get trailered to and from the strip or the show... what the h**l did you build it for??? drive it like you stole it!

[87wildside]

Where do you see a trailer?

[firefighter]

Thanks 87wildside I really appreciate the compliments...A couple pix or the rear, everyone that has seen it in person has liked the little touch of purple, if I used too much I think it would look gay but I wanted something to break up all the black

Looks great but there is NO SUCH THING AS TOO MUCH BLACK. :D

[northcoastrides]

i hate it when trucks get trailered to and from the strip or the show... what the h**l did you build it for??? drive it like you stole it!
:ok****tard: what the h#*l are you talking about! I don't own a trailer! and if I did My S10 will pull it since it will be my DD...I built it to last!...I hate...when someone goes and puts a bunch of custom work and parts into a truck but does nothing to preserve it, so a few years down the road it can be found sitting out back in the weeds rusting away & worthless giving custom S10's, V8 S10's and S10's in general a bad Rap because so many trucks have been hacked together just so they could drive it like they STOLE IT :flame:

[87wildside]

Just say "**** off asshole!"

Your truck is badass and an inspiration...to hell with the assholes!

[dt4ts3]

That thing will wake you up in the morning! Cool truck!