1997 LS Swap, Turbo and all the goodies..

[Scottydc]

So this is a continuation from my Turbo V6 thread... I took my 4.3 V6 and made all the mods to make
into a little screamer.. Somewhat successfully..

You must be registered for see images attach

Problems arose.. The truck RUNS awesome, it's tuned well, pulls hard and I am happy with the mods I did. The happy stops there..

When I purchased the truck the guy really sold me on it, mostly because of the "new" engine, he provided a build sheet from a local machine shop that showed it had been rebuilt and was new.. Well as things have proven it may have been rebuilt but not very well and things seem sketchy at best I got the truck it ran fine, lacked power, had what seemed like great oil pressure, so I thought I had a solid platform.. nope..

The first oil change I did on the "fresh" engine was with Royal Purple 5w30 I changed the oil all seemed well and I took if for a spin, truck runs like a scalded dog, as the engine heated up to normal temp the oil pressure lowered.. to the point that it has ZERO at idle. I could hear a slight rattle in the lower end but with these engines balance shafts which are known to make a noise I was hoping that was what I was hearing..

I changed the sending unit.. no luck..still low I looked at the new oil it was fine.. Luckily I kept the old oil for recycle, so I looked at it and it was very thick in comparison even after it had been ran in. In a last ditch effort, I went and bought 5 quarts of 20w50 Valvoline, changed it, pressure came up I was relieved, then I drove it and once again at idle 0 and the noise came back.. I don't know what kind of oil they had in it but this "fresh" build has way too much crank clearance and needs pulled out and corrected. Shady at best. The truck was never ran lean and no more than 8lbs of boost... I started with a turd with a build sheet..

So I start searching for rebuild solutions and quickly came up with the fact that for a mild rebuild with good cam, valve springs I would have a hefty price tag. I cant justify a new build and keeping it a v6. So although the V6 was fun, and runs AWESOME the idea is now officially scrapped.. (for this this truck)

 

[dave_erald]

Well that's a sorta ****** deal. So its probably hard to justify doing anything but a LS swap at this point. Found a truck 5.3 motor already or got something specific in mind?

 

[Scottydc]

So I found a good motor from a VERY reliable source. 5.3 Vortec with 82,000 miles complete with harness and pcm. I have already done the 0411 swap on my truck so this will be an easy swap for me (thanks Jeff for the wiring info)

You must be registered for see images attach

So ONCE again, I am accumulating parts. When I turbo'd the 4.3 I always planned on doing this swap later.. So I did my best to purchase stuff that could be utilized for both. Luckily a lot of stuff I can use from the 4.3 such as the 60lb Fuel Injectors (i got them in set of 8) The Hx55 turbo, inter cooler, most the piping, 50mm waste-gate, 50mm pop off, 3" down pipe, gauges, HP Tuners... ect it wont be wasted.

Parts I have and some coming to me:
LS swap 88-98 truck adapters and mounts
Lextech alternator/AC compressor relocation kit
Lil John Motor Solutions Stage II Camshaft: 0.605/0.598-inch lift split, a 226/231-degree duration split, and a 113-degree LSA
Install kit for cam, valve springs, retainers, lifters, hardened push rods
Melling Timing chain set
Melling oil pump
ls9 Head Gaskets
full engine gasket set
ARP head bolts
ARP cam bolts
4l60e performance rebuild kit (supposed to support 650hp we shall see)
LS to 97 flywheel/adapter
3200 Rpm torque converter

Most of this stuff came in this week.. This weekend I will tear the engine down and checking clearances and the internals.. If all looks well the new cam, head gaskets/bolts, lifters ect will be installed.

These combo of parts have been WELL known to make some really nice numbers for HP and Torque. I'm not going to shoot VERY high just yet. mid to high 500s

I'll post some more pics of the tear down and installs later. Thanks for looking!

 

[Scottydc]

Well that's a sorta ****** deal. So its probably hard to justify doing anything but a LS swap at this point. Found a truck 5.3 motor already or got something specific in mind?

Yes, a bad deal indeed. The 5.3's are so common I went with one of them.

 

[Scottydc]

This is the cam I chose. (not my truck in video) It's a custom grind from LJMS that is produced by Comp Cams.. Super Chevy did an article about it also.

xc_hide_links_from_guests_guests_error_hide_media

http://www.superchevy.com/how-to/en...r-cam-selection-for-a-turbocharged-ls-engine/

 

[dave_erald]

Look up sloppy mechanics on Youtube. He's got a ton of videos of turbocharging GM 5.3's. And most of them with little to no budget. You'll get a sense of what will and wont work at the least

 

[Scottydc]

Look up sloppy mechanics on Youtube. He's got a ton of videos of turbocharging GM 5.3's. And most of them with little to no budget. You'll get a sense of what will and wont work at the least

Yes sir, I have been following his page. The Colorado is cool, the Old Fairmont is killer!

 

[dave_erald]

I watched one of his q&a videos they are doing and something stuck with me, mostly cause it's hilarious

"...stop going to machine shops, they are generally a waste of money and usually make things worse, you don't need to open these engines up (talking about GM LS motors), just stop f***ing with **** and put a turbo on it..."

Wiser words were never spoken

 

[df2x4]

Sloppy Mechanics is a thing of beauty. This is probably one of my favorite of their recorded antics, I knew a guy who had one of the Bonneville SSEi models that came with that supercharged 3800.

xc_hide_links_from_guests_guests_error_hide_media

 

[Scottydc]

If you watch the guy work, how he keeps his tools and shop, he's very well organized... Kinda ironic.