4.3 to 5.3 + Restoration 97 Sierra

[Craig Rainbolt]

This is my 97 Sierra with the 4.3 2WD Auto "work truck" 363,*** miles. Ultimately, my goal is restore the truck and make it near stock with a few modifications. Originally my Dads and was given to me when he bought a new truck. Drove it for a while then I was in an accident. Didn't make much money at that time to fix it, so sadly it sat for a while.

The damages..

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Had an engine strapped near the tailgate. A sudden stop caused the engine to break through the straps and almost take my head off! Busted the back window and bent the front bed panel and driver side bed side pretty good.

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Driver side of bumper bent up and inwards, blowing out the driver front tire. Had to remove bumper to get the spare tire on.

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Bent the driver side of frame a little bit. I was super worried about this til my body shop buddy said it's an easy fix.

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I loved the stripes on the truck and tried to find the same ones to put back on the truck. No luck. So I took an eraser wheel to them.

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I already knew I wanted to do the 5.3 swap so I bought a few parts. Motor mount adapters, 5.7 clam shells, 5.7 motor mounts (may change for stiffer mounts we will see), and flex plate spacer just in case.

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The same weekend my buddy fixed my frame he also replaced the rocker panels and cab corners.

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He also fixed the beaten up bed. Called up local glass company and had a new tinted window installed.

 

[Craig Rainbolt]

**Truck was put in storage for almost two years, because life sucks sometimes. Now I'm in Kansas City with a better job and I finally got my truck transported to my new house.**

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4.3 pulled and put on engine stand, %$@&%#$ it's nasty!!!

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363k miles and I'm WAS impressed to still see cross hatching in the cylinders, until I measured the cylinder bore. Tapered.

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THEN, closer look at the crank, the rear crank seal was so hard (Never replaced) it cut HUGE grooves into it. Repair sleeve on top of the machine work just to keep the 4.3?? 5.3 swap sounds like a better alternative like I originally planned.

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My buddies wife reupholstered my Harbor Freight stool for me! Love it.

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Cleaned up the firewall because it was bugging me.

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New OEM trim and badges all around the truck. I hurried up and grabbed all of them before they are discontinued. **Future reference to anyone buying OEM trim, ALL trim for the bed is for a long bed pickup. Part numbers for short bed and long bed are the same. I have a short bed so I need to cut them. Yay for me and what I pad for them. Yes, LMC makes trim FAR cheaper, but you cannot use the OEM badges on the LMC door trim.**

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New OEM wheel arch trim. Yums.

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Picked up a 5.3 with harness and PCM from a 2002 Tahoe.

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Wasted no time to get it torn apart before the night ended.

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Thanks to Brendan at LT1swap with his idea and guidance to keep the 4.3 harness and mate it with the 5.3 harness.

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5.3 harness gutted. I will wait til truck is together to route the harness and shorten/lengthen wires. I know for sure I will extend the new 5.3 fuses and relays to the storage box underneath the hood. I'm not satisfied finding a decent aftermarket waterproof fuse box, so that's where they will go.

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Taking the 5.3 heads apart to examine them closer. Everything is still in great shape.

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Heads are now nice and clean, thinking of doing a port polish while I'm waiting for the valve springs to come in.

More to come! Thanks for checking out the progress!

 

[Marcos A]

WOW!!!!! I'm in for the read!!!!

I did an LS swap in my 05 from 4.3 to 5.3 then my Trans took a Dump on me so long story short decided not to invest any more money/time in that truck and picked up a truck my buddy was selling - 90 RCSB with the 5.7 TBI motor that I am looking to do an LS Swap in it soon.

Ohhh BTW - which motor mount plates are those that you are using??

Keep us updated on your progress.

TIA

 

[mars2878]

glad you didn't get a tattoo from that 4cyl.

We all know about life getting in the way. We have 2 boys in Boy Scouts & travel out of state some times so that they can earn Merit Badges (so far the furthest is 6hrs one way for weekend trip for them) & the younger of the 2 is also in football. Plus we camp 11months out the year w/ the scouts plus our own. So I don't get a lot of time for large projects.

I'm liking the progress.
I too liked the stripes, as long as they are in good shape, otherwise if they are trashed they need to go. because @ that point they just bring the whole look down.

I'll be waiting for more updates

 

[Craig Rainbolt]

@Marcos A Thanks for the love I really appreciate it. I am putting a lot of heart and pride into this build. I feel your pain on the trans problem, I'm worried about the 4L60 from the V6 to hold up to the 5.3, so I plan on sending it to Monster in Florida for a rebuild and update. I would rather do it myself but materials/tools needed vs Monster rebuild is damn close. Hope your new planned project goes smooth my friend. I purchased the motor mount adapters from Street & Performance Inc. located in Mena, Arkansas. but that was almost three years ago. Mark, the gentleman and madman brain behind it all passed away a couple years ago and the business just crumbled. Eventually shutting down. I only wish I bought more parts at the time before they shut doors...

@mars2878 Oh that wreck blew my lid, so upsetting to be forced to let the truck rest for a while. Sounds like you have a busy life indeed my friend. But a hobby/project is exactly that. You're a good Dad being there for your kids. I will miss the stripes on the truck for sure. Yes, they were definitely worn out and ugly. Speaking of camping...every year when I was a kid we would camp in Siloam Springs State Park in Illinois every year for maybe 15 years. My dad ALWAYS had the same camping spot every year. Many pictures of course, family fun time yay. But what I really want to do when the truck is done is to go back to THAT EXACT SPOT again...inviting everyone out for camping once again. Take pictures and print them side by side, second generation Siloam campers. Weird haha but would be cool.

 

[Craig Rainbolt]

Waiting on parts to arrive for the 5.3. After careful consideration and research ordered a few parts for the 5.3. Ordered COMP Cams camshaft (Summit Part# CCA-54-600-11), COMP Cams Valve Springs (Summit Part# CCA-26918-16) and LS7 Lifters w/guides (Summit Part# SUM-HTLSKIT)...Haven't decided yet on Rockers or new Pushrods. Late in the week to get them soon, so I decided to touch up the heads a wee bit. I went to Harbor Freight to purchase a bench grinder and found a whole different level of "what the F*** now???" in Wifes eyes hahaha! Purchased an aluminum polishing kit, some hand held air grinders, spiral and drum sandpaper kit....I'll tell ye what, polishing is very rewarding if you can muscle the prep work (Sanding with multiple grits). This is my first time polishing anything, and it may seem ridiculous but you MUST keep in mind the outcome/shine SHOWS how much you care. You will see scratches where you didn't give 110% attention to. But what separates a DIY from a PRO, they will go back to square one and do it repeatably until its perfect compared to a DIY and let things fly. So, since I'm not a Professional at polishing this is what I've achieved on my LM7 heads as a FNG Polisher.

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Before I started polishing anything, I went over every gasket surface with a white (120 grit) Roloc Bristle Disc on the aluminum heads with light hand pressure. Used same technique 100's of times on Toyota's with no issue, don't expect an issue here. Sure, this picture only shows the side of a cylinder head that has no importance but wait...moving on...

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Tested out the polishing kit from Harbor Freight (Part# 98707). BUT, before that is prep!! Sandpaper hands on leveling in stages with 60, 80, 120, 220, 320, 400. Then finally wet sanding with 600 and 800 (I don't claim to be an expert, I may be doing it wrong...but correct me if this process is messed up). This took about one hour because a flat surface is always easy. **KEEP IN MIND, this is just like polishing paint on a vehicle. If you spend too much time polishing in one area you will burn it. Keep a steady hand an move swiftly. I messed up in a few spots (Beer) but you'll never see the mistakes haha** The Harbor Freight kit comes with Brown, Gray and White polishing rouges. This awesome chart found on Google below shows what else you can polish with Aluminum HB kit and what proper stages! And just like sand paper you want to follow the "color" rouge grits for polishing finishes.

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FANCY!! I ordered a Blue rouge from Amazon for $6.99 that will be the extra mirror finish but it hasn't been delivered yet But this picture was done with the HB Kit. CLICK HERE FOR BLUE ROUGE ON AMAZON

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Not bad for a newbie! This took me about three hours for one combustion chamber. Being SUPER careful not to scuff the valve seats. I used a combination of sandpaper cones from Harbor Freight Part# 62394 which is 1/4" shank and a wireless drill for throttle control plus a Dremel with drum style sandpaper with a 1/8" shank. After the power tools I followed by hand sanding with 60, 80, 120, 220, 320, 400, then wet sanding with 600 and 800. By this time it's stupid smooth and ready for polish if you want it. I wanted it. Why not?

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What's in the cabinet? Ohh....some goodies not ready for the truck just yet. POR-15 for the frame, every light assembly for the front end. All wiring on the bottom of the cabinet ready for the engine swap. LED's for every bulb in the truck....list goes on. Just don't EVER ask my wife what's next. Please.