Exhaust is pretty self explanatory. I had a custom setup already so to make the connection to the piping I just had to get the truck to my local pipe guy and have him custom bend the intermediate pipe. I also had him weld in the bungs for the O2 sensors and just for the hell of it, an extra bung for a wide band in case I want to tune more accurately later. Earlier I mentioned about the debacle with the flanges. Make sure you have those first if you are connecting to stock manifolds.
Fuel pump and lines. If you have a TBI injection system, the stock pump will not flow enough pressure. The 96-99 Vortec pumps work and a few others as well. I stuck with an AC Delco pump. Since I have a Tahoe, I needed to drop the tank. Not a big deal since I did that 3 years ago to change my sender. This turned out to be another process. You see I had upgraded my fuel pump years ago for the TBI, but it still wasn’t enough to pump the SFI injection on the LSX. The issue I ran into was that I had to change the plug to run the Walbro. I must have discarded the old smaller GM style fuel pump connector. GM has a part number for the pigtail (25117765) or Standard Motor Products Part # S722. Both were available online but I didn’t want to wait. I wanted the tank back up. Rain was coming and keeping the tank in my garage was fuming us out. Some research led to Airtex #WH3000. This is the fuel pump 4 wire connector that goes in between the upper and lower portions of the pump on 96-99 pumps. This wasn’t supposed to be compatible with my truck because the upper plug was different. It didn’t matter as long as the actual pump plug was the same. I matched it up in store (Auto Zone) and bought it over the counter. Then just cut out the pigtail piece I needed and spliced it into my existing setup. Then put the tank back up. I should note that the pump I had in there had a rather dirty filter. There wasn’t a sock on the bottom of the pump but there was one on the bottom of the plastic outer can. I made sure to install a sock inside the can. Factory pumps have the sock, most aftermarkets don’t, but since my tank seems to be prone to junk getting in, I will run the sock inside the can. If your factory lines are still solid, you can just get the adapters to make the connection to the fuel rails at the engine. My lines were a pish posh of repairs and rubber tubing everywhere that may or may not have been fuel injection hose. Also my fuel filter was rusted to the lines. Some engines have a returnless setup where you only need to run one fuel line to the engine. The return line comes off the back of the corvette fuel filter. My system had dual rail and it would have been simple to connect to the engine if my lines were still solid. They weren’t. I was going to run braided line the whole way but the fancy fuel injection connectors were 20 bucks a piece. Between lines, fittings and filter it would have cost me near 200 to do this. I ran rubber FI hose from a clamped connection at the fuel pump down to a 60” straight steel line which had rubber on the other end running up to a clamped connection at the fuel rail. (Quick connects at the fuel rail) I ran solid line for the straight away and spliced fuel injecton hose to make the connection between the center solid line and the repair kit plumbing. There is no difference in fuel filters with regard to the TBI injection pressures and the SFI injection pressures so you can use a stock filter part number. I went with the Delco filter as its stainless and I don’t have to worry about threads rusting together later on. As for making the connection to the fuel filer… Advance Auto parts had an elbow with 3/8” line that connected to the filter. I cut the elbow off so I just had a 3” piece that threaded onto the filter. To this I clamped the FI hose that ran up to the pump. On the other end I did something different. Adavance had a kit that was a 16” piece of 3/8” tubing and a union. The threaded end went into the pump, the union connected to the 60” piece of 3/8” I had bought prior. FI hose is expensive so I made sure to fit up the metal lines where I wanted them and then take measurements for the length of hose I would need. The feed line is 3/8” and the return is 5/16”. All clamped connections were with double fuel injection hose clamps.
This is one dept I chose to leave to a professional. Luckily for me, MJEngineering is right near me and was able to do all my tuning. He flashed my PCM initially to get me running so I could get the truck down to the exhaust shop and add in my 02's. There were a lot of things to be changed. Remove Vats, remove rear O2, change tach pulse, raise idle slightly. Once I log some miles, I will have him make some small changes. I can't say enough great stuff about his work and I have personally seen him in action at the shop. Thanks again Mike at MJEngineering. Without your support I wouldn't have taken on this project. Your knowledge and experience gave me the nudge I needed to make the right decision going LSX.
-I needed to select an intake tube. After reviewing some threads online, the Hummer H2 tube seemed to be the best option. I ordered that up. The blue couplers didnt fit my theme though. I will start looking for red or black ones.
-Engine covers: different covers need the matching brackets to connect. I am going to run the 5.3 cover for now because that’s what I have the brackets for. In the meantime I am going to look for the 3 piece 6000 or Vortec Max covers (GM #12597908 ($17) driver, 12598332 ($19) center, and 12574573 ($30) left)
-Most trucks run the heater core lines right to the two bungs sticking out of the firewall. My truck had some plastic valve with a little vacuum actuated dashpot on the side. A little digging turned up that this was a diverter valve used in the SUV trucks. Supposedly it cuts off the flow of hot water when using the AC system. I chose to left this in place. The small vacuum line source is atop the intake as I identified in the “Intake” section.
-Alternator: since my engine did not come with one, I needed to source one. At first I wanted to use my SBC alternator as it was a higher output model. I couldn’t confirm if this was a possibility so I decided to run with a new LSX unit. Nothing was available in a junkyard but if I knew then what I know now, I would have pulled a junk one to use as a core charge when purchasing a new one. stock is 105amp but there is a 145amp version of the new alternators available (KG3 Option). Rock Auto had the KG3 for 110 which was the best price new and didn’t require a core like my local parts place. I took my chances with a used KG3 from Ebay as it was only 40 bucks. At least this way I will have a core when I need to replace it someday. Supposedly the fan belts are different sizes with the different alternators. I pretty much confirmed this when my AC bracket arrived. You will need a belt about an inch longer for the larger alternator.
Parts List information for my swap: TOTAL $2211.00
LQ4 6.0 from 03 GMC Yukon Denali XL with 103K from Evertetts Auto Parts for $650
“How to Swap GM LS Based Engines into almost anything” book from Barnes and Noble $25
Pilot Bushing SKF 6302VSP43 (also #12557583) Ebay $25
AC Delco Fuel Pump EP381 Ebay $50
Dirty Dingo Motor Mount Offset Plates $100
Coolant temp sensor adapter from speedway motors #1822277 $10
Oil Pressure sending unit adapter #1822268 from speedway motors for $11
Sachs Flywheel for 6.0 from O'Reilly #NFW1050 for $55
Flywheel bolts (6) from GMpartsgiant.com 11569956 $15
Nipple for brake booster connection to intake 12559760 from gmpartsgiant.com for $5
Oil Cooler Block Off Plate Kit w/ Gaskets and Bolts from Ebay for $16
Exhaust Manifold bolts from Ebay - $17
Exhaust Manifold gaskets from Rock Auto GM #12617944 - $18
Two Oxygen Sensors from Rock Auto #Bosch Part #15703 - $50
KG3 Option (145amp) Alternator from Ebay for $56
Standalone Harness from Current Performance (no fans and no tranny control) - $550
Spark Plug - TR55 from Rock Auto - $12
3 Wire Coolant Temp Sender (Standard Motor Products #TX111) from Rock Auto - $19
3 Wire Coolant Temp Sender Pigtail (Standard Motor Products #S619) from Rock Auto - $14
Oil Filter Wix 51522 (Tall Filter) from Rock Auto - $5
Idler Pulley from Rock Auto - Dorman 419602 - $6
Intake Tube IK-701 (Hummer H2) from Ebay - $68
Quick connect 5/16 and 3/8" for Fuel Rails from Advance Auto Parts - $24
LS R4 AC Compressor Bracket from Dirty Dingo Motorsports with belt - $320
Everetts misc items. Cost was $90 for the 2 buckets filled with the following:
Radiator Hoses and clamps
Accelerator Cable from 96 truck
Drive by Cable throttle body
OBS Drivers Side Battery Tray
OBS Drivers Side Windshield Fluid bottle to go under Battery
5.3 Engine Top Plastic Cover/Shroud
Bracket to mount above Cover/Shroud
Bracket for Throttle Cable
ECM from 2000 Silverado Serv #09354896
Starter and both mounting bolts
Power Steering Pump and Pully
Bracket to mount Power Steering Pump and Alternator
So if you wanted to know how one gets an engine into a truck lifted as high as mine. Check this out.
My dad brought home the boring rig tripod from his work. He is standing under so you can see how high the engine has to go to clear the radiator support.
I think anyone taking this on will incur some small unexpected things. Maybe these should be shared more to help others. My exhaust shop had difficulty in doing the splice because flanges were not readily available locally. I should have ordered the exhaust manifold weldable flanges up front to save some time and money. In the end the shop bought two passenger side downpipes (since the drivers side is connected to a cat). They modified the flange on the drivers side to work so I could have my truck back that day. Also I asked them to service and recharge the AC. Since the high side check valve was the original one from 95, it burst as soon as they connected to it. The part was available over the counter at my local Advance Auto. By the time he got the truck back to my house, the junkyard alternator bearings were whining. I ended up buying a brand new 145amp alternator but at least now I had a core to trade in. I swapped the alternator and then after putting everything back on, found a nasty belt chirp. Looks like my power steering pump pulley was not pressed on far enough. Despite it looking to be in alignment, it was clearly off when I tried to put a straight edge on the harmonic and power steering pulleys. Simple fix there. Also while doing a random check, I felt the need to heat tape wrap the starter wires as they seem to come a lot closer to the stock manifold than the old headers.
There was also an issue with my wire harness from Current Performance. The flip flopped the drivers side O2 sensor plug which fried the O2 as soon as I ran the truck. Thanks to their incompetence, I had to eat the cost of another O2 and pay additional fees to have my tuner come back to finish the job. Anyway here is a nice walkaround and startup video I did the day before we finished up the tune.
Been driving it about a week now. Just some very minor adjustments to make. One of which is the clutch and stall issue when the AC and fans are on. I will have to start another thread to solve that issue. Something to do with the AC request but not sure how to go about it.
Last edited by WhiteHavenFarm; 08-07-2012 at 09:16 AM.
Just wanted to say thanks for posting all of the info, sometimes it's hard for us who are doing swaps to keep track of all the little things but you did a great job. Awesome Tahoe by the way what is your suspension/wheel setup?
Red 94 GMC Sonoma
Red 94 Jeep Wrangler
Red 02 RCSB Silverado
Red 03 Ford Cobra
Red 04 CC Silverado
Red 05 Yamaha Raptor
Thanks a bunch. I'm happy to contribute to the community. The truck has a Cepek Stage 2 on top of a modified body lift for 12" total. The Mickey Thompsons are 38x15.5x18 MTZ on Ultra Wheels. Unfortunately the 4 year old chrome coated aluminum is already peeling off. Plans for next year will be to void the truck of all chrome, color match some stuff and run with a more conservative less blingy wheel I think.
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