Cammed 5.3 Swap in '90 RCSS

[Jmac527]

I have been using this website among others to learn about doing these swaps and about the motors themselves. Once a rod started to let go in my current motor, that obviously meant I need to do an LS swap....

I originally was going to do a 6.0 swap but between getting burned by sellers, timing of the swap itself, and money forced me to do a 5.3. At first I was bummed, but coming from a 4.3 V6 I'll still be all smiles in the end. Also, the truck is my DD so it'll also have better mileage.

From here on out I'm going to try my best to include every step of my process, with pics and narratives. Keep in mind that this entire build/swap is budget oriented, and that my pocketbook has more say so than I....

I'm going to include a before and after pic of my truck, as well as a pic of my current V6.
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Now onto the motor and swap info....
I'm swapping in a 5.3 with full LS7 valvetrain, Schoenfeld longtubes, all backed by a previously built up 700R4. I know that the LS7 isn't the best cam for it, but originally I wasn't even going to cam it. I got all the vlavetrain for a steal though at $150 for everything out of a 8k mi Z06 Vette. Couldn't really pass it up for that price. Also, I'm going to do a dyno tune to get the most out of it.

This motor came out of a 2003 Avalanche with 150k on the odometer, the junkyard was real cool with me poking around their yard and warehouse to find the best one for me. I got it with all the accessories, "complete" wiring harness, attached hoses, MAF, etc...When they got it out, I did a once more look over to make sure everything was as I wanted it. The only thing I found foul really was that that the driver side most rearward manifold bolt broke the head off. On the plus side though, I was able to turn the motor by hand!
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After work today I had to hurry up and get the motor on the stand before the base hobby shop closed today.
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I'll be there in the morning when the hobby shop opens to start working on it. By the end of the weekend, the plan is to have the motor cammed, cleaned, and painted! I'll post more as it comes.

[bow tie klr]

Looks really good man. What drop and wheels are on your truck?

Just letting you know. The ls7 rockers wont work on the 5.3. The intake are offset where the 5.3 are not. Not to mention the ratio is different. A ls6 cam would work great and can be found for a good price! For the rockers, just keep the stock ones and put a comp trunion upgrade in them. Good luck on your swap man! You will love it when its done. I went from a 450K mile v6 to a built LS and its a hoot!!!

[exboatracer]

Your truck looks great,and your right---- you will be all smiles when it gets done! Take your time and think it all out. Looking forward to your progress.

[fast450ridr]

What all did you have to do to get the camaro wheels to work? Truck looks good. 5.3 will be a thousand times better than the 4.3 ever hoped to be.

[mike205]

I also want to know what was involve with the camaro wheels?

[Jmac527]

I forget to mention that I'm not using the LS7 rockers. I've seen first hand what happens when someone put 16 exhaust rockers a LS3, not pretty. Different angle on the valves between LS7 compared to all the others. The LS7 factory rockers are at a 1.8 ratio compared to all the truck motors coming with 1.7's. The 422hp 5.3 with LS7 cam dyno run that Car Craft tested utilized Comp Ultra Gold 1.8's, upgraded valvesprings, and dyno headers. I'll get the rockers later when I get the heads done.

Czech it out, great info for the budget guy like me....http://www.carcraft.com/techarticles...st_comparison/

Now, for the Camaro wheels....They are 2010 SS wheel, measuring 20x9 & 20x10. The adaptor/spacers I used are 5x5 to 5x4.75 Front-1.25" wide Rear 1.5" wide. This gets the front wheels perfectly flush and the rear ones as wide as possible without cut on the fiberglass lip, which I feel is needed for rigidity. The front fender lip will need to be rolled to clear the tires, which I had already done.

Tomorrow will be a full day and hopefully I have the motor put back together and have started on the cleaning. I'll give an update tomorrow on progress!

[baronsmith98]

Good lookin truck man! Like the camaro wheels

[Jmac527]

I had a BUSY 3 day weekend! I ended up getting doing everything I set out to do, which was get everything mechanically done and the engine painted. It was busy, but between some help from a buddy here and a surprise visit from my Dad it went by smoothly.

First off I'd like to mention that we found that the motor recently had a fair amount of work done to it recently. This actually made me feel better about the purchase, being that I paid a couple hundred more than I originally set out to do. List of all the things replaced: Water pump, thermostat, plugs and wires, knock sensors, alternator, and possibly a head. I say that because the rockers arms had a lot less bronzing on the passenger side than the other side. The way I look at that is, by taking the price of those items and deducting it from the original purchase price. $48 for plugs, $150 for wires, $100 water pump, etc...

Now what I did this weekend to rebuild it I replaced the; Front and rear cover seals, front and rear main seals, valve stem seals, LS7 cam and valve springs with titanium retainers, new sparkplugs, put in an LS2 timing gear and chain, as well as install GM's "Muscle Car" oil pan that came with new windage tray, bolts, and dipstick.

WARNING AN UNNECESSARY AMOUNT OF PICS!!

To get rid of the broken manifold bolts that protruded, I applied heat to the head around the bolt, shot PB Blaster in the threads, and then I used my Knipex pliers to loosen the bolt out. I used those pliers because the teeth are opposing and dig into the bolt as you loosen it. [IMG][/IMG]
I also had one that broke off flush, for that I first drilled a hole in the center and used an EZ-out after I applied heat and shot it with PB Blaster.

Many hands make light work of it.[IMG][/IMG]

This is the Muscle Car oil pan I got from the dealer, at $145 it was one of my best purchases.[IMG][/IMG]

If any of y'all could tell me if this is really an LS7 cam, that'd be much appreciated![IMG][/IMG]

Factory truck springs on the left, LS7 on the right[IMG][/IMG]

Face palm, shoulda placed the chains in a better spot....[IMG][/IMG]

The motor had maybe 1000 miles on some E3 plugs, but I don't believe in those at all. I put in what I've always ran, Autolite Iridiums....[IMG][/IMG][IMG][/IMG]

I then had to switch shops to continue the painting, which isn't allowed on base :/ There I just detailed and cleaned it thoroughly to prep it for paint. To do that I used picks and steel brushes on the block to dislodge any lose paint and little flakes of rust. For the heads I used bras brushes so it would scratch the heads. I then used oven cleaner (for the lemon smell), and some elbow grease on everything to get it clean.
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After degreasing it, I laid on 2 coats of Dupli-Color Engine Primer on everything. Once the primer cured I used 3 coats VHT Burnt Copper Engine Metallic paint for the block, timing cover, water pump, and oil pan. That laid down VERY smooth for high metallic rattle can paint.[IMG][/IMG][IMG][/IMG] Once the Copper cured up, I painted the heads and valley cover aluminum using Dupli-Color Aluminum Engine Enamel. I was going to leave them uncoated, but some of those stains I just couldn't get out. Then I moved onto everything else; Alternator, tensioner, steam tube, power steering pump with bracket, and valve covers. I coated them with about 3 coats of Dupli-Color High Gloss Black Engine Enamel. Once I let the paint set for a couple hours I moved on to the clear. Which everything used up about 2 cans worth.[IMG][/IMG][IMG][/IMG][IMG][/IMG][IMG][/IMG][IMG][/IMG][IMG][/IMG][IMG][/IMG]

I didn't take apart clean and paint the coil bracket like I did everything else b/c I've decided that I'm going to do remote mount coils once I get the truck actually going first. I'm also going to clean up the truck intake without taking away the factory look of it, something along the lines of this:[IMG][/IMG]

Another thing I did which some might find interesting is that when I put the knock sensor covers back on, I laid a small bead of ultra-black on the edge to help seal the knock sensor from the inherent moisture.[IMG][/IMG]

This will be it for a couple weeks, I've got class on Saturday and another fiend of mine is on vacation where I'm pulling the motor out at. Most likely I'll be working on my harness while watching some TV Sunday, I'll try to take pics for y'all. To give y'all a heads up, I'm going to be intergrating the new harness with the old truck one and utilizing the original truck fuse panel. No big ugly fuse/relay center for me! I'm figuring that's the best way to make this swap ultra clean, yet 1990 factory looking. I know I kinda blew that outta the water with the whole burnt copper thing, but I did that so it could tie in the stripe from the outside of the truck.

Lemme know whucha think!

[mike205]

I like the look
The copper block looks awesome

[DRAGGIN95]

Nice project, looking awesome!