Green95Hoe
Rollin in tha big hoe
Intake Manifold:
Since my engine was missing parts, I had to look into what I needed for the intake. I didn’t have the plastic cover or the brackets. I saw one on a 5.3 in the salvage yard so I grabbed the cover and the little mount plate that bolts onto the intake. This should do for now until I decide whether I want the Vortec Max 3 piece covers or not. Note: the 3 piece ones need the mounting studs on the valve covers) My engine had a drive by wire throttle body. I chose to avoid this route as mounting the pedal is a pain and you have to alter the bend of the pedal to fit in the OBS. Drive by wire makes me nervous too. I like my foot physically connected to my intake. The salvage yard had a 5.3 with the cable throttle body. I grabbed that and the little bracket that goes on top of the intake to connect the cable. Cant forget that. I also learned that I needed a 96-99 style throttle cable. Grabbed one at the yard as well. My intake had a plug in the back where a brake booster would connect. The donor truck must have had hydroboost assist brakes. Since my truck needed a connection to the brake booster, I had to get the adapter. This was one of those items that I bought online before realizing they were so plentiful at the bone yard. No big deal, I only paid 5 bucks for the nipple. Before I forget, there was another difference between the DBC and DBW throttle bodies. The DBW unit on my LQ4 had a vacuum line coming off the top of the throttle body that went to the valve cover. Apparently the early throttle bodies had this line right on the throttle body. Later models they moved the line right onto the intake manifold and deleted it completely from the throttle body. Since I was swapping old onto new, I capped off the nipple coming off the throttle body. I also bent it down and out of the way. I should also note that there is a small hose nipple on top of the LSX intake. It comes from the factory with a break off tab in place so if you want to use the nipple, you will have to break off the tab. This can be a vacuum source for things like the AC diverter valve dashpot, carbon canister, evap component, or in my case, a mechanical vacuum gauge. I did some research on the steam lines. It seems that a line must come off the radiator (not the overflow line) and tie into the steam lines. The valve cover plumbing must be used, but the connection to the throttle body is not required. Well to me anyway. It is supposed to help with throttle bodies freezing in the winter. I chose to plug off both ports under the throttle body for now. If I have throttle issues later. It will take a mere minute to re-route the lines through the throttle body. I connected my plumbing directly to the extra port on the radiator. To make the change in hose size, I went to Home Depot and bought some brass fittings. A hose barb on each end for the proper hose size and a Coupler in the middle.
Since my engine was missing parts, I had to look into what I needed for the intake. I didn’t have the plastic cover or the brackets. I saw one on a 5.3 in the salvage yard so I grabbed the cover and the little mount plate that bolts onto the intake. This should do for now until I decide whether I want the Vortec Max 3 piece covers or not. Note: the 3 piece ones need the mounting studs on the valve covers) My engine had a drive by wire throttle body. I chose to avoid this route as mounting the pedal is a pain and you have to alter the bend of the pedal to fit in the OBS. Drive by wire makes me nervous too. I like my foot physically connected to my intake. The salvage yard had a 5.3 with the cable throttle body. I grabbed that and the little bracket that goes on top of the intake to connect the cable. Cant forget that. I also learned that I needed a 96-99 style throttle cable. Grabbed one at the yard as well. My intake had a plug in the back where a brake booster would connect. The donor truck must have had hydroboost assist brakes. Since my truck needed a connection to the brake booster, I had to get the adapter. This was one of those items that I bought online before realizing they were so plentiful at the bone yard. No big deal, I only paid 5 bucks for the nipple. Before I forget, there was another difference between the DBC and DBW throttle bodies. The DBW unit on my LQ4 had a vacuum line coming off the top of the throttle body that went to the valve cover. Apparently the early throttle bodies had this line right on the throttle body. Later models they moved the line right onto the intake manifold and deleted it completely from the throttle body. Since I was swapping old onto new, I capped off the nipple coming off the throttle body. I also bent it down and out of the way. I should also note that there is a small hose nipple on top of the LSX intake. It comes from the factory with a break off tab in place so if you want to use the nipple, you will have to break off the tab. This can be a vacuum source for things like the AC diverter valve dashpot, carbon canister, evap component, or in my case, a mechanical vacuum gauge. I did some research on the steam lines. It seems that a line must come off the radiator (not the overflow line) and tie into the steam lines. The valve cover plumbing must be used, but the connection to the throttle body is not required. Well to me anyway. It is supposed to help with throttle bodies freezing in the winter. I chose to plug off both ports under the throttle body for now. If I have throttle issues later. It will take a mere minute to re-route the lines through the throttle body. I connected my plumbing directly to the extra port on the radiator. To make the change in hose size, I went to Home Depot and bought some brass fittings. A hose barb on each end for the proper hose size and a Coupler in the middle.
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