CURRENT 6.0/4l80E swap parts = $$$$
- Thread starter FastCraig
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Spent about 3 hours cleaning parts and the block yesterday. Might get my heads back tomorrow. My harness is just about finished. Got some big dollar items to get soon. Hooker Holley swap kit, torque converter and flex plate, Lingenfelter conversion box, wideband 02 kit, trans cables and lines. I was going to get a 92mm TB and ACDelco 40# injectors for my truck intake at about $350 to $400. I am now leaning towards the FITECH 750 HP LS3 intake 70074. It is a 102mm TB, rails, 55# injectors and hardware. I know I will be losing bottom end but this was never going to be a race car anyway. I should be making a little more HP than I originally thought (between 425 & 450) at about 475. Anyway, not using the 6l80 that was in my donor truck took me down a different path than I had laid out. Instead of basically dropping in a working, functioning engine /trans I'm ending up with a mix of Gen III and IV parts. While different than my original plan this combo should be very strong and reliable. I'm not using DBW or VVT or cruise control. I am very excited at the prospect of driving this already great car with the new engine and OD trans. I am not as far along as I want to be but have been fortunate to not run into ANY major issues. I already bought a s**tload of parts and have a lot left to go. I anticipate pulling the SBC/TH350 in about 2 weeks! Funny, I get my renewal notice for my Silverado Saturday. Won't be renewing that and dropping insurance on it in the morning. Only thing that could happen to it now is lightening strike or a tree fall on it. What suggestions for gauges? Was thinking of the Intellitronix. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B075FY778C/?tag=gbody-20
Bought the Lingenfelter conversion box. Bought the AEM Electronics wideband A/F UEGO gauge kit from Summit Racing.
As long as you get a needle bearing kit with the outside C clips that retain the inside there will be no issues with loosing needles and trashing engine. But the bronze bushing ones are nice also
I spoke to the speed shop and told him that I had heard some people had problems with needle bearings. He asked me which ones I wanted to use and I told him whichever type he is most comfortable with. He doubled down on the BTR trunnions although either type would work well for my engine. He has a great reputation and has done work for a lot of people I know.
Something I found out about the aluminum LS heads. A common problem is cracks between the valves, on the heads. Mine have 2 on one side and 1 on the other. When I was showed the cracks (with my old man eyes) I couldn't see one of the 3 initially. Repairing the very minor cracks was discussed and I chose to not do it. A large % of heads the machine shop works on has these cracks and very few opt to repair them. Personally I don't like the idea of knowing there is a problem, ignoring it, reinstalling the heads and hoping they don't fail in the future. But, people with much more HP than I have, using power adders, put them back on and run them with no problems. This short video is not of my heads but illustrates the problem.
Heads with the casting number 706 (03ish to 06ish 4.8/5.3 truck engines) were semi prone to cracking. The rest of them don't have enough of an issue to cause people to bother with even looking at them close enough to see cracks. My heads are 862 casting. Widely considered the turd of the LS world. I ruthlessly brutalize them. Reuse head gaskets, TTY head bolts, hose them off with brake parts cleaner, etc. Slap them on and put the screws to 'em again. If they aren't making the oil into a milkshake then there's no problem.
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Ha!!! I have 862's on my 5.3....the only things the machine shop did to them was check the deck for flatness and milled a c*nt hair off and install the BTR .660 springs. I plan on punishing them as much as possible, especially once boosted.
I have a set of 862s as backup if my 823s dont work well boosted. The 862/706 head is the highest power making stock head for Gen 3 6.0s. Dont let the smaller intake fool you.
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