my first ls swap 1996 2 door Tahoe 4wd 385 Stroker to LQ4 cam headers **pics**

[smithkid1996]

oh ok coool! i will definately try that! the foil sounds like a great idea and should be pretty easy to install. any idea on paint the wheel wells? which sandpaper to use andd stuff?

inner, or outer wheel whells?

PS:sorry, i have to go to school, i will reply more when i get home, but yeah, you rap hoses and stuff in foil, and it just kinda stays there...

[myzterray]

i removed the wheel well from the fender. i was planning on doing the outer wheel well in flat black and do the inner in a gloss black to match the firewall and frame

[Paulster2]

wow, a 100 shot? lol. ok, so i was talking a some 75 year old guy, and i guess he was one of the original hot rodders, and i learned A LOT from him- balacne the pistons (i can tell you how), get the lightest valves possible, same with the pushrods and rockers, get springs with just enough tention to close the valve, you want as little tention as possible, port and polish the heads, balance the valves, and where the fuel goes in is a small tube (i think is what he told me) and that needs to be as smooth at possible, so the fuel is more of a mist when it gets in the combustion chamber. he also told me how to rase the compresion, without replaceing the pistons, but thats a huge pain in the but... but that should help to get a few more RWHP, and help the mileage some.

hahaha, our daily driver for 6 months was the 65' olds, 7MPG, it runs on premium gas ONLY, and lead additives... that thing went through SO MUCH gas...

You don't need to do all of this to get 350whp out of a 5.3L LM7 engine. Check this thread here. While 322 is not quite 350, it wouldn't take much more to get you to 350. This is a very street/wallet friendly build.

Another thing with the above statement is: there is a lot more to selecting valve springs than just "get springs with just enough tention to close the valve", as there is such a thing as harmonics. I agree you don't want to get a spring with so much pressure it's overkill, but throwing a general statement out there like that will bring bad results.

[myzterray]

what do you suggest? so far im ordering the schenfeild lt headers. i was talking with someone else as far as the intake because i need to convert from dbw to dbc. so i was planning on changing the intake to a car intake. with the lm7 heads what intake would work well?

[classic1]

thats cool you must be up in barstow area. what issues did u run into installing the 5.3?

No actually I'm in Rancho Cucamonga. I didn't really run into any major problems just some wiring headaches. I would suggest a pre made harness from nelson because it really would have helped me. I cut up the stock harness and it is not as clean as I would like to be. For the 6.0 i will have a pre-made harness with just the essentials.

[myzterray]

No actually I'm in Rancho Cucamonga. I didn't really run into any major problems just some wiring headaches. I would suggest a pre made harness from nelson because it really would have helped me. I cut up the stock harness and it is not as clean as I would like to be. For the 6.0 i will have a pre-made harness with just the essentials.

oh ok. i found a guy in south gate that said he can do a harness for 450. i might go with that. my original harness was designed for dbw. so is my intake. so im converting to dbc because i dont have the module or the pedal assembly. im still kind of confused on one thing with this swap however. how does my transmission work? ive read so much and the info regarding the transmission during this swap is very vague. i have a 96 2d with 4wd and a 4l60e. all ive found is that i need a spacer and a flat flex plate. i have the original off the engine and i plan on using a yank 300 stall. is there a plug on the ls harness that will power the trans or how does that work? if your ever in the long beach area i could always use a hand! lol

[smithkid1996]

thats what i would do... allthough, powder coating the inners would work alot better, because it will stand up to the elements WAY better.

[pl4yboy]

I don't think Shoenfields fit 4x4s... Sorry.

[PitchBlackC3]

Your 2005 DBW truck intake is exactly the same as the DBC 99-02 truck intake. You just need the throttle cable bracket to bolt on to it.

[myzterray]

I don't think Shoenfields fit 4x4s... Sorry.

really???????!!!! that sucks it really does. anyone else run into this problem?