5.3 in 1972 chevy truck

[slammed1972]

Hi I am new to this forum and I need someone to help me with some headers cause the stock manifolds hit the frame. Any comments would be appretiated.

[kwkenuf]

A couple of us have been down that road. I used the stock manifolds and clearanced the frame in the offending areas. Nothing major. I don't have a pic of that area on my photocket site (link in sig) but I'll try to put something up soon. I've been told that LS1 F-body manfolds hug the block closer and are not as much a problem as the truck manifolds. Haven't seen a set installed on a ROBS truck however.

BTW, welcome to the board!

[custom 68]

I used a set of ls6 manifolds on my 68. I custom built the mounts so the engine is probably sitting differently than yours. The clearancing was minimal if any like kwkenuf said.
I thought about headers but went this route instead.
again welcome to the board
Dave

[67GMCMatt]

Hi, I am planing on puting a 5.3 in my 67 Shortbox. I hope to use the 4L60e tranny. My question is what are people doing for a driveshaft?? Do I use one out of a newer shortbox pickup and have a driveshaft shop modify it? Or do I use an original on and have that modified?? Any experience or tips are appretiated!!

[custom 68]

I just took my ends to a driveline shop and had them make a custom length one. It really wasnt that expensive and I knew it was right.
Dave

[kwkenuf]

Yup, the driveshaft is the easy part, as long as you have a good shop nearby..... I had my 2003 Silverado shaft cut to length, new u-joints installed front and rear, changed the rear yoke to match my 12 bolt and had it balanced for $100. And this was at a local shop that is known for it's quality work, not it's low prices.

The driveline that came out of my 65 was from a long tailshaft T-400 and was actually too short for my swap.

[67GMCMatt]

cool sounds like Driveshaft will be no prob, the only other questions I have right now are........Fuel pump options, Speedometer, and other guages, and what to use for a radiator (can I just use a stock old radiator?).

[kwkenuf]

Fuel pump options: Have you moved your tank out of your cab yet? If not, an inline pump will probably be your only off the shelf choice. Numerous brands avaialble from Jegs, Summit or one of our forum sponsors I'm sure. If you have moved your tank out of the cab, you may be able to sink an in-tank pump (quieter, more reliable) or use the inline.

Speedo: If you are planning on retaining your mechanical drive speedo, a cable-x box or a tranny tailshaft modification to add a speedo drive gear will be neccessary. If you are planning on swapping out your gauges to a custom panel anyway, speedo hookup is as simple as conecting a wire on the electronic versions available now.

I did the tailshaft mod on my Camaro swap to add the mechanical drive and original speedo, but on my truck I swapped out all my gauges for electric rather than mechanical easing the hookup problems.

Radiator: LSx engines are not inherently difficult to cool, so if you have a radiator in good shape that was doing a trouble free job and adequately cooling a Gen I V-8, it will cool your LSx engine. You'll have to play with radiator hose sizes but that's all part of the fun isn't it?

[slammed1972]

I just talked to my buddy who has a '02 vette and he just installed headers so he is going to give me his old manifolds. I am in the process of making motor mounts you got any suggestions on the clearance beteen the motor and the front crossmember. Like how high of of the k-member should
the motor set. And my motor has the (fly by wire) the cableless throttle is that going to be a problem or hard to set up. Thanks for the welcome guys.





<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(kwkenuf &#064; Aug 8 2006, 09&#58;37 AM) [snapback]60394[/snapback]</div>

A couple of us have been down that road. I used the stock manifolds and clearanced the frame in the offending areas. Nothing major. I don&#39;t have a pic of that area on my photocket site (link in sig) but I&#39;ll try to put something up soon. I&#39;ve been told that LS1 F-body manfolds hug the block closer and are not as much a problem as the truck manifolds. Haven&#39;t seen a set installed on a ROBS truck however.

BTW, welcome to the board&#33;
[/b]

[kwkenuf]

The fly by wire throttle is no problem to set up as long as you have matched year group components for the system. The throttle body, TAC module and throttle pedal must match. Things changed from 2002 to 2003 and you can&#39;t interchange across those years.

As to the engine mounts, I purchased off the shelf units from Early Classic, lot&#39;s of people use S&P style mounts or knockoffs available on Ebay. My oil pan is no more than 1 inch above the crossmember at the rear.