little bro's budget 5.3 swap
05-05-2011, 09:56 PM
#2
Re: little bro's budget 5.3 swap
jack making racecar noises
homemade harmonic balancer installation tool
we got some more work done. you can see here i have my intake/fuel rails, ect mocked up for some pictures and clearance checking
05-06-2011, 11:07 AM
#5
05-06-2011, 05:37 PM
#7
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Re: little bro's budget 5.3 swap
Since when is magnaflow budget?
good to see other guys from my generation doing it the way it should be done. 
good to see other guys from my generation doing it the way it should be done. Trending Topics
05-06-2011, 08:01 PM
#9
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Car: 89 Camaro-RS
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Re: little bro's budget 5.3 swap
Sweet build. Keep up the good job.
What oil pan are you using? I need to order 1 for swap soon.
What oil pan are you using? I need to order 1 for swap soon.
...Subscribed 
05-09-2011, 05:08 PM
#15
Re: little bro's budget 5.3 swap
we should have the whole thing together for $2k or less. we'll see if the big ticket items we bought are any good and go from there though. the transmissions is an unknown at the moment. we got it for a song. the shop i got it from said it had a shutter when it went into gear. after some discussion, we decided it was probably just a bad converter, so jack (my brother) bought a new converter from work. we'll see. my brother and i both work at a parts store where we can get a lot of stuff at cost...which helps 
spohn stands and stock fbody mounts.
spohn stands and stock fbody mounts.
05-10-2011, 02:56 PM
#16
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Re: little bro's budget 5.3 swap
That is fantastic! I was pricing things out and I figured I could do the swap for around that same price. There is plenty of time in the future to mod it and make it perfect.
05-12-2011, 11:31 AM
#17
Re: little bro's budget 5.3 swap
pulled the engine out this morning to get some more stuff done. notched the k-member for ample oil pan clearance. i was going to just grind it a bit, but decided it'd be better to notch it. tomorrow we'll be laying the wiring in the engine bay. get the fuel system stuff all done early next week and maybe fire it up soon after that 
05-13-2011, 06:57 AM
#20
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Car: 91camaro
Engine: 5.3
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Re: little bro's budget 5.3 swap
After reading about how everyone is notch the k member. Maybe i should pull mine back out to notch as well? The build looks great.
05-13-2011, 05:49 PM
#21
Re: little bro's budget 5.3 swap
got a decent amount done today. got the engine/trans reinstalled, and got the wiring harness installed. this harness was from my car when i had efi so it was pretty much already modded. i had to mod his engine bay harness, but that only took about 20 mins or so. exhaust is back on, and we put the battery in and have power in the car again for the first time in nearly 2 years. we're at a stand still till we get some more stuff for the fuel system in. not too bad for a days work though.
here's a picture of the wiring and stuff. we'll make it cleaner as we go
here's a picture of the wiring and stuff. we'll make it cleaner as we go
05-17-2011, 07:00 PM
#22
Re: little bro's budget 5.3 swap
well we got a little closer today. the wiring is mostly in and done. i just need to run a signal wire to the MIL and a brake switch for the TCC and the wiring should be done. it's a bit of a mess still, so i still gotta loom it all back up. we did determine that the fuel pump has gone bad over the last year and a half of sitting. hopefully the gas hasn't gone bad too. jack said he put sta-bil in it, we'll see, lol. we also put together a list of stuff that needs to be purchased or addressed still. it's pretty extensive unfortunately. jack has run out of funds at the moment so we're at a stopping point till he can get some money up. such is hotrodding though!
here's some pics as it takes a break till more funds hit:
the car now has no ac and the 5.3, where it used to have ac and a tpi 305...sits up real high in the front now.
here's some pics as it takes a break till more funds hit:
the car now has no ac and the 5.3, where it used to have ac and a tpi 305...sits up real high in the front now.
07-08-2011, 12:48 AM
#23
Re: little bro's budget 5.3 swap
ok, we got a little more work done over the last two days. the fuel lines are now run. the fuel pump ended up not being bad, just disconnected, lol. the CAI is loosely mounted where it will be. we got the relay block hard mounted where it will be. the transmission has been serviced, and the cooler is in. the exhaust is all back on, hopefully for the last time. tomorrow jack is supposed to pick up hoses, plugs, wires, etc. we should be ready to fire it up this weekend!
here's a couple shots from this evening:
here's a couple shots from this evening:
07-08-2011, 08:50 AM
#24
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Car: 86 Trans Am,03 Yukon,92 Z28
Engine: 5.3, 5.3, lb9
Transmission: th350,4l60e,700r4
Axle/Gears: 3.73,3.73,2.73
Re: little bro's budget 5.3 swap
Looks great! Now I need to finish my swap lol. It runs and moves itself but now in the process of putting the rest of the car back together but with me picking up this clean 92 z I've been doing more joy riding than work lol.
07-10-2011, 10:25 PM
#26
Re: little bro's budget 5.3 swap
well it DOES fire up! we got it to start on some starting fluid, and it's got good oil pressure, and is not making any strange noises. however, it does have a fueling problem. looks like maybe the pump is starting to take a crap, because the highest i could get the fuel pressure was about 38lbs. this motor needs 50 minimum to pop the valves open in the injectors. we'll see what we find in the tank when we drop it this week. just wanted to give an update though!
07-12-2011, 09:30 AM
#29
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Car: 1991 camaro RS
Engine: currently swapping 5.3
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Re: little bro's budget 5.3 swap
sweet swap man, i cant wait to get my 5.3 t56 in.. im so tired of my lo3 with 256,000 miles lol
07-25-2011, 08:15 AM
#30
Re: little bro's budget 5.3 swap
UPDATE! the vortec pump was purchased and installed yesterday! it works amazingly! i had the regulator really cranked up trying to get the pressure usable with the tpi pump. as soon as we had power, it pegged the gauge. pulled the pressure back down to 60psi and we were ready to go. hit the ignition and it fired right up. now to send the pcm back to the tuner i used with the 6.0 in my car to have them put MY vin number back in the pcm (why they changed it, i'll never know). once we get that, i'll load a stock 5.3 tune and see how well it runs. the 6.0 tune that i had for my car barely runs this little 5.3. (something about a tune for 40# injectors with 11.5:1 compression, and a 232/240 cam trying to run this stock 5.3 with 26# injectors just not jiving too much, lol)
thanks jon for the suggestion!
thanks jon for the suggestion!
07-26-2011, 01:42 AM
#32
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Car: 1991 Camaro RS
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Re: little bro's budget 5.3 swap
lsx swap is coming along nicely, i kicked off my swap saturday, landed a 4.8 for trade on my 305 and a 350 i had lying around... looking forward to the updates
02-23-2012, 09:47 PM
#35
Re: little bro's budget 5.3 swap
update. the car has been running and driving now for about two months or so. Jack has put probably close to 1500 miles on the swap. he's driving it everywhere! so far, everything is working great. he even managed to get over 25mpg on his first trip on the highway. this week, i've been working hard to get some stuff done on the car for his birthday. i built a set of SFC's, lowered the car, and had a buddy fix the front bumper cover. here's some pics from the progress.
02-24-2012, 09:36 AM
#37
Re: little bro's budget 5.3 swap
thanks man! sometimes i forget i can weld that pretty. i wish i could make my overhead welding look that pretty. building stuff on the bench is easy, but i always end up with crappy looking welds when i'm putting them on the car. it's probably a mix of laying on my back, under where i'm welding so i am getting splashed with hot slag, not to mention even if i prep the surface i'm welding it to, it seems like i can't get it quite clean enough so it ends up getting semi-contaminated. don't get me wrong, i've never had a failure, but i hate looking at crappy looking welds, lol!
pic from this morning all back together. i drove it pretty hard this morning making sure nothing was going to fail that we messed with. so far so good. we talked about getting new tires for the front and getting the rocker/bumper emblems when Jack gets his tax return. i think it's going to be a very nice finished product considering how much we have in this car. i don't know why the bumper looks so much different in color compared to the rest of the car in this pic, it's much closer to a match in person. the top coat (right before clear) was from the same batch of paint that the car was originally painted from, but it didn't quite match. oh well, there are much worse looking match jobs running around town, lol!
pic from this morning all back together. i drove it pretty hard this morning making sure nothing was going to fail that we messed with. so far so good. we talked about getting new tires for the front and getting the rocker/bumper emblems when Jack gets his tax return. i think it's going to be a very nice finished product considering how much we have in this car. i don't know why the bumper looks so much different in color compared to the rest of the car in this pic, it's much closer to a match in person. the top coat (right before clear) was from the same batch of paint that the car was originally painted from, but it didn't quite match. oh well, there are much worse looking match jobs running around town, lol!
02-24-2012, 10:27 PM
#39
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Car: 92 firebird
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Re: little bro's budget 5.3 swap
did you stay within the budget of 2k? also you have numbers on hp and trq? i didn't see any cams or anything?? correct me if im wrong let me know im doing the same swap soon.
by the way awesome build good job!
by the way awesome build good job!
02-24-2012, 10:48 PM
#40
Re: little bro's budget 5.3 swap
lets look at it really quick, as i haven't totally ran a total:
5.3 long block (it's stock, hp numbers will be stockish) $250
fbody oil pan setup $175
fbody accessories $150
ls1 intake $free
fbody exhaust manifolds $free
magnaflow catback $100
other exhaust pieces i needed $100
4l60e $100
new converter $100
motor mounts (stands and engine side) $200
harness, pcm, and lots of misc nuts/bolts etc $550
torque arm mount $30
fuel pump $80
fuel pressure reg and fuel system stuff, $200
and i'll throw an extra $200 in for misc BS that i can't or won't list, lol!
that comes to $2235, and i think that's a good guestimate of what we spent. ls1 tech is your friend, lol!
5.3 long block (it's stock, hp numbers will be stockish) $250
fbody oil pan setup $175
fbody accessories $150
ls1 intake $free
fbody exhaust manifolds $free
magnaflow catback $100
other exhaust pieces i needed $100
4l60e $100
new converter $100
motor mounts (stands and engine side) $200
harness, pcm, and lots of misc nuts/bolts etc $550
torque arm mount $30
fuel pump $80
fuel pressure reg and fuel system stuff, $200
and i'll throw an extra $200 in for misc BS that i can't or won't list, lol!
that comes to $2235, and i think that's a good guestimate of what we spent. ls1 tech is your friend, lol!
02-24-2012, 11:23 PM
#41
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Car: 88 Iroc Z, 00 SS
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Re: little bro's budget 5.3 swap
damn, this makes me want to get my 5.3 swap into the 78 started, now all I gotta do is sell my Trans Am....
02-25-2012, 12:24 AM
#42
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Re: little bro's budget 5.3 swap
Is it just me, or does your camera have strange optics?
02-25-2012, 01:41 AM
#43
Re: little bro's budget 5.3 swap
i'm sure it's just the "auto" settings, don't feel bad I can take pics with my older nikon 4MP camera that would make new cadillacs look light grey on the bumpers and dark grey on the body. It's crazy how the camera picks up things that our brains don't. Or it will turn a red car orange, then from another angle the car is red again 
02-25-2012, 02:22 AM
#44
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Car: 86 Trans Am,03 Yukon,92 Z28
Engine: 5.3, 5.3, lb9
Transmission: th350,4l60e,700r4
Axle/Gears: 3.73,3.73,2.73
Re: little bro's budget 5.3 swap
looks good now ya need to come build me some sfc's lol hows the car sound? we need videos!
02-25-2012, 02:36 AM
#45
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Car: 92 firebird
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Re: little bro's budget 5.3 swap
i agree i have found a local yard that will sell me a 5.3 and tranyy for under a grand includes ecm and harness
and i cant wait to get it ! but im researching and buying a lil bit of parts for now
sent you a pm
and i cant wait to get it ! but im researching and buying a lil bit of parts for now
sent you a pm
02-25-2012, 02:46 AM
#46
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Re: little bro's budget 5.3 swap
are those exhaust tips 3" ? car looks great awsum budget build . now all you need is a budget turbo an you'll have a beast .lol
01-08-2013, 08:35 PM
#50
Re: little bro's budget 5.3 swap
so apparently facebook is not the place to host pics!
here's one from this past summer at the racetrack with my dad's car
and a couple from earlier in the thread, just rehosted on photobucket
couple exhaust pics
jack is going back into the car as he's had a battery drain issue from the first day. we thought it was the engine bay harness that we put it, but it doesn't seem to be. his dash is broken, so he's going to pull it in favor of a new one and while it's out, he's going to trace down the wiring issue.
here's one from this past summer at the racetrack with my dad's car
and a couple from earlier in the thread, just rehosted on photobucket
couple exhaust pics
jack is going back into the car as he's had a battery drain issue from the first day. we thought it was the engine bay harness that we put it, but it doesn't seem to be. his dash is broken, so he's going to pull it in favor of a new one and while it's out, he's going to trace down the wiring issue.