1997 LS Swap, Turbo and all the goodies..

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Scottydc

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Over the weekend I got the motor cleaned up and tore down. Heads off, inspected the bottom end all looks ok nothing loose rotates fine no real cylinder wear to speak of.
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The Cylinder heads each have one bolt exhaust manifold bolt broken off in them. I was able to weld a 3/8" nut to them, soak them in wd40 and back them out.
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These heads are 862 Castings and I am on the fence on whether I want to just go ahead and use them or pickup a set of 799's that a guy here local has for sale. The 799 flow a little more, but the 862 have a little bit smaller chamber for more compression which is only 9.5:1 now, stuffing air into it with the Holset is a good equalizer... Regardless I will have to swap my springs on them, I was able to get the old springs off with a lever style compressor. There's NO WAY the new ones are going on like that these are Brian Tooley springs.
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Scottydc

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I got the lower end all cleaned up, I was told the motor is low mileage and with what very little wear it seems to have coincides with that. The oil residue all looked good so apparently someone kept it in good shape. So that is good news for me so I went ahead and installed a few parts. The LJMS stage 2 Turbo cam, ls7 lifters, Melling timing set and Melling oil pump went in and with some new gaskets and paint I buttoned it up. These LS seem like everything uses a 10mm hex and all torque down at 18ft lb lol. These engines are REALLY simple. BUT, one thing to keep in mind is that the front cover, rear cover and oil pan all have to be lined up properly before you tighten them down. They all connect together and the oil pan uses a single gasket.

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Hot Rod Red and aluminum :) The valve covers will be Red also.
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That's as far as I could go. Sat/Sun. I have to come up with a tool to compress the new valve springs, I have an idea I will try tonight. I am also waiting on the ls9 head gaskets.. The ls9 is a factory supercharged engine and uses a 7 layer gasket, this engine stock would use a 5 layer. The ls9 gasket and ARP head bolts should help it hold together better.
 

Scottydc

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I went ahead and lapped the valves while I had the heads apart. Gave everything a good cleaning and started reassembly.
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I made this caul out of a 1" brass nipple flange so that I could use my drill press to compress these stiff double coil valve springs. It worked out really well!
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Scottydc

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The head gaskets finally came in, I opened up my box of ARP head bolts and they're the wrong ones. So a tip for anyone wanting to mess with LS motors they have 2 different sets of head bolts, 03 and older uses longer bolts that are 3 different lengths, 04 up uses shorter bolts and has 2 lengths.. My engine is an 04, but for whatever reason I guess since its right on that line uses the 03 and older style head bolts.. So now I wait AGAIN for bolts lol.
 

Scottydc

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Ls ready to go, new cam lifters, oil pump, valve springs, head studs and gaskets. I will fabricate the hot side piping with the motor installed.
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Old motor and trans pulled out... I plan on selling the Marine Intake and fuel rails/ injectors if anyone is interested. I hate getting transmission fluid on concrete. I swear a pint looks like 50 gallons when it spills. I will start rebuilding the transmission with the upgraded parts next clean up the engine bay, paint it and finally install LS.
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Scottydc

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Thanks, but I don't know about hero lol... If this transmission works when I am done with it, I will have impressed myself! :)

I have read lots of mixed reviews about building a 4l60e that can handle horsepower.. Some say don't bother, others say it can be done.. I have bought what I need for a full rebuild and what I believe is all of the parts needed to eliminate many weak leaks in the trans.. Which surprisingly there are A LOT of areas that need improvement from the original design according to research. There's so much free rebuild information available for the 4l60e as opposed to a 80e I just went with it. Several YouTube videos give you full on step by step instructions. I may regret it later but I think with these upgrades and "builders tricks" it will hold up well. Several of these upgrades are 4l65/70e parts.

new thrust washers
new torrington thrust bearings (replaces the thrust washer in some places)
new bushings
Sonnax Reverse boost valve (think mine is worn causing a delay into reverse)
13-vane pump assembly with hardened vane rings
new reaction shaft with thrust washer (4l70E)
Wide rear Sun Gear bushing
Borg Warner dual cage forward and low sprags
Monster sun shell
Deluxe rebuild kit, includes all seals orings and gaskets
new molded pistons (forward, overrun, overdrive)
5 gear front & rear planetary (4l65/70e)
corvette servo
wide band
Raybestos Stage 1 red clutches (extra disks in 3-4)
New Allomatic steels
TransGo HD2 shift kit
more stuff that I cant think of.
3200 stall converter "Roadrunner" (mixed reviews on this brand, I may not use it)
 
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Scottydc

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The transmission rebuild is done! All in all it was not that difficult to do and I feel very good that all will work well. It took a little longer than I anticipated because there were a few parts that I had to order last minute. There's lots of info on the web on how to rebuild these things and hopefully I have eliminated many weak links in mine. I have a few random pics.. I do not have ANY special tools..


Disassembly, no this is not in my house, It's in a room in my shop that has AC and is also kept pretty clean.
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New parts ready to be stuffed in
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Input drum work, I do not have the proper spring compressor, but this worked out well in a pinch. Two quick grip c clamps and bolts
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Stiffer springs from transgo kit
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Input drum with 3/4 clutches, I modified the sun gears so that they hopefully oil the planetary's better.
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Scottydc

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5 gear planetary and Beast sun shell
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Input drum back in and wide band installed.
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There was A LOT more to it.... but I stayed focused on actually doing the work than taking pics.. I ordered a new deep pan which should be here this week and then the motor and trans can finally be put in. I also upgraded all of the accumulators to Sonnax pinless units. I replaced all of the bushings and bearings, rebuilt the valve body and replaced the known weak links.
 
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DirtBag

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Well done Sir! That's a lot to tackle on your own, I'm too big of a chicken...LOL
 
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