Builds Shipwreck (5 Viewers)

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Flipper1938 said:
Wheres the craigslist 5.3 option?
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lol, let's calculate that as well
- 5.3 CL engine (there is one with 180k for $1,000 on there today)
- installation kit $1500 (stuff I can't make, oil pan, accessory drive)
- computer, and programming $650
- New flywheel, $200
- New bellhousing - to be honest, I'm not sure that anyone makes a bellhousing for this bastard transmission to a LS motor - but let's just limit it to $2000 for a change to a 4L60e

so for merely $5,000(ish), I can have a worn-out 327 (325 actually) with 280 hp from the factory and an anemic 300 lb torque. When I say I suffer the 5.3 in my H3, I mean it.... someday I'll fix its issues with a LS3 replacement then use the 5.3 with a turbo or two in something light enough to cause severe injury, death and constipation.

If I were to go the LS route, I'd buy a 400 hp LS3 with stand-alone harness. Then I'd be in it about $7500 with accessories plus a transmission (as this 5 speed would go poof at 400 hp).... but why?

The LS is an amazing platform for cars, race cars, or pretty much anything you need to go fast. The 350 chevy continues to be a staple - and I've yet to find a good enough reason to spend more money to make the same hp... at least with my Buick build (which is way over budget, over time) no one is going to come out with a new, Buick widget to make the old Buick widget obsolete. Not true when you're playing the LS (now LT) game.... again, this is a 4x4 that isn't meant to impress the country-club set, so that boring-old gen 1 sbc is perfect for it. Best of all, should I get my dream and go to Bolivia with it, should it break I can get parts there or in the outback of australia for it... while the LS is far better now then it was in parts availability - it's already obsolete and without 60 years of continuous production to create a depth of parts that the SBC can claim....

don't fall for hype. It's not worth the cash.
 
Just to play devils advocate and also a proponent of MS..... you could get a P&P for a GM setup.... almost all MS out of the box (or built from the kit) expect GM sensors.... so if you already have a GM setup, you can literally plug and play & tune an MS with TBI these days... then throw the stock ecu in the "uh oh" pile if things go sideways. (I've only had problems with MS1 V2.2 boards and Fets going out.... all of the MS's I ran after that had no runability problems).

However - for the same reason you don't want to go with something like that and keep your GM system, it's the same reason you should just keep on keepin' on with a 350.... ease, parts, availability....
 
so I'm having a motor built locally from someone that I found on craigslist, but actually turns out I know him (which alleviates the whole craigslist thing).... I pick it up next week - which gives me time to pull this motor out, strip it and have all those great parts in a pile for the "core" fee.... lol, I did tell him there were issues with the parts - but he seems fine with that. He gets the block that's in the '40, and the rotating assembly from the Vortec motor I bought Sunday....
 
toyotaspeed90 said:
Just to play devils advocate and also a proponent of MS..... you could get a P&P for a GM setup.... almost all MS out of the box (or built from the kit) expect GM sensors.... so if you already have a GM setup, you can literally plug and play & tune an MS with TBI these days... then throw the stock ecu in the "uh oh" pile if things go sideways. (I've only had problems with MS1 V2.2 boards and Fets going out.... all of the MS's I ran after that had no runability problems).

However - for the same reason you don't want to go with something like that and keep your GM system, it's the same reason you should just keep on keepin' on with a 350.... ease, parts, availability....
Click to expand...

it's hard to get more reliable then GM power.

as I said, I have a MS3x, but it's for the Buick motor - which is a project worthy of the top shelf stuff. It's funny how one project influences another. this build expanded far beyond my original thought (which is fine), but with the Buick I'm going to take the lesson learned and dispense with the notion of cost-savings. It is true that I've already built the frame/suspension, but Art Morrison builds a frame/suspension for this car that makes it look a whole lot better.... so I'm going to rob the parts off the Buick to build the pickup and save my pennies for a true, custom frame for the Buick (which probably makes absolutely no sense to the 4x4 community, but my it's my car so it doesn't have to make sense to anyone else)....
 
I don't know about the cam part of your equation unless it were roller. I have read that tolerances in the lifter bores is enough different between engines to kill a flat tappet cam in a swap. Swap the cam but use new lifters is what I read.


SuperBuickGuy said:
I may buy the motor today, so this could be a retrospective discussion on choices. So here we go: what to choose?

1) buy a 350 crank kit and put it in one of my blocks
- cost goes like this:
Machine work: $500 if I have to bore it (which, presume I do)
Heads, clean up $200
- crank kit $450
gaskets, oil pump $100
total $1200
2) buy a short block
- pretty simple, prices range from $900 delivered on up
- head work $200
- gaskets, pump $100
total $1200
3) do a stroker
- machine work $500 (crack check, bore, clean, cam bearing install)
- heads $200
- gaskets, oil pump $120
- crank kit $600
- bearings, etc $200
- new flywheel $200 (don't know, not having luck finding a one-piece, external balance flywheel)
- stupid stuff like oil pan $200
total $2000
4) buy a GM crate motor (350)
- $1500-$2000

in all the above, I'll re-use my cam and lifters.... thoughts?
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srgould41 said:
I don't know about the cam part of your equation unless it were roller. I have read that tolerances in the lifter bores is enough different between engines to kill a flat tappet cam in a swap. Swap the cam but use new lifters is what I read.
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it's a roller cam - meaning roller lifters. The issue with flat-tappet cams is the lifter wears its own path in each lobe - so if you swap lifters, it'll eat the lobe and the lifter in short order. There isn't such a wear issue with roller cams and most people reuse the lifters even when they change to a more aggressive (or less aggressive) cam.
 
Ls hooks up to the same bell housing as a sbc. Flywheel is $90 from autozone. Same pressure plate and clutch as sbc. Gm computer can be modded for stand alone for $75 if you send it to the lt1swap.com guy. If you can fab, frame mounts to accept the gm mounts are easy. You should have enough lift not to have to swap out the truck oil pan.
 
Maybe it's me, pulling the motor from a 40 seems to be pretty darn simple/straight forward.... lots of room to work, not a whole lot of fussing to get it out once unbolted. Nothing like the first time dropping a motor from a first gen MR2 to the ground then wonder "how do I get the car up and over that engine now".... Like any engine pull/R&R/swap, once you figure it out, it gets a whole lot easier the 2nd time. And 3rd, 4th (and so on)...
 
It's more work pulling all the stuff around the motor than the motor itself.

toyotaspeed90 said:
Maybe it's me, pulling the motor from a 40 seems to be pretty darn simple/straight forward.... lots of room to work, not a whole lot of fussing to get it out once unbolted. Nothing like the first time dropping a motor from a first gen MR2 to the ground then wonder "how do I get the car up and over that engine now".... Like any engine pull/R&R/swap, once you figure it out, it gets a whole lot easier the 2nd time. And 3rd, 4th (and so on)...
Click to expand...
 
It's much easier to work on an engine on the ground or a stand than in the bay, even a huge engine bay. Only remove what's needed to clear or attaches to something (like hoses), just leave all the rest and pull it all.

I mention the MR2 because it's a small 1.6l 4cyl transverse in the middle of the car. People will spend days pulling things like manifolds and the trans to pull the motor out the top. In actality, if you're fast, 90 minutes of removing certain items, jack the car high enough and the entire thing drops straight down, in tact. Manifold bolts become much more accessible out of the car if needed.

On my 40.... there's some wires, pull the steering hoses, bib/radiator and hoses, coolers (leave trans connected, just out of the way) a fuel line, a few vacuum hoses, trans inspection cover of the th350 and the 3 torque converter bolts, exhaust and push out of the way.... hook up the hoist, unbolt from trans and frame, and it's out.... if you dont want to deal with the torque converter in the body, pull the drivelines, set the trans cooler on the engine (if there), pull the doghouse and unbolt the transfercase from the body....

I'm not saying it's easy for all... but it's always more daunting to look and think about the needed work than the actual work. The hardest part of working on a car is the confidence to do it/try.


I'm always down to help anyone... I tend to be top far for most, though.
 
My driveline is coming out soon...It SEEMS easy, but I'm guessing it will be something I only want to do once...

@SuperBuickGuy - just caught up on your thread. MAJOR bummer about the engine man. That sucks - you were so close! Glad to hear it sounds like you have a plan going forward.
 
Driveline should be easy.....

To SuperBuickGuy.... though not the same extent, I understand what you're going through even with my 40..... 3 steps forward, 2 steps back - then in order to consider the next "3 steps forward" you have to do steps "A, B and C" which cropped up during the 2 steps back and took you back further from the expected budget..... I figured out my electric fan had the blade backwards and also decided I should finally put a timing pointer on.... once the parts to remount the fan showed up, I realize I have to first pull the PS pump to hopefully access the bolts to put the pointer in.... and hoping I don't have to repull the (new to it) water pump, which would mean re-draining and yet again, re-pulling the radiator I just got done fabbing up/into the vehicle... The fan matters because it sits right between the water pump and the PS pump....:meh:
 
As much as Mr. Buick likes to goof around on his post he really IS a master mechanic in skills. I bet he can have his motor swapped in the amount of time we have been typing replies. I use two thumbs to type this stupid phone and he is still faster than I am.
 
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