Welcome to the FirebirdV6.com/CamaroV6.com forums.
You are currently viewing our boards as a guest which gives you limited access to view most discussions and access our other features. By joining our free community you will have access to post topics, communicate privately with other members (PM), respond to polls, upload content and access many other special features. Registration is fast, simple and absolutely free so please, join our community today!
If you have any problems with the registration process or your account login, please contact contact us.
If this is your first visit, be sure to
check out the FAQ by clicking the
link above. You may have to register
before you can post: click the register link above to proceed. To start viewing messages,
select the forum that you want to visit from the selection below.
08' L76 6.0L 4X4 Chevy EXT.Cab LTZ Vortec MAX with Snug top cover, Dynomax exhaust,Hptuners& K&N intake
96' Camaro M5 to A4 conversion, alot of mods . GT35R Turbo full suspension. Built engine
yeah... I've been planning on doing this for years and came SO close so many times and right before I began, things came up which knocked my plans out.
My original idea was a 6.0L LQ4 (or Turbo V6) but to do so I was needing a investment property deal to close and once again, every time I got close we always had to invest more in it until it got to the point where I got fed up with it and started using my investment money to fix my car.
Unfortunately due to budgeting I'm ganna have to settle on either a 4.8L or 5.3L - most likely a 5.3L with a LS6 cam or something similar - I'm partly curious as to what a cammed 4.8 would put out. I know it won't be as strong as an LS1 but might not be disappointing. If I did go 4.8L then eventually Im ganna pull it and stroke it to a low compression 383 and run 87 octane till I pro-charge or turbo.. ..or I just might throw on a turbo / procharger onto the stock 4.8L or 5.3L.
And apparently I'm having a hard time making my mind up but god will make it up for me.
Most definitely. I was thinking of painting the valve covers black, as well as the oil pan black and the intake manifold chrome - and getting these engine covers ... http://ep.yimg.com/ca/I/afterthoughtsauto_2196_81587204
With the exception they will say Firebird W68 instead of TransAm and 5.3L where the 5.7L normally is. The thing is, Black, Red, and Chrome might be too much color... maybe if I make the intake red and the valve covers back it will be okay - or maybe keep the chrome intake, paint the valve covers red and use this instead...http://ep.yimg.com/ca/I/afterthought..._25520952...or this...http://ep.yimg.com/ca/I/afterthought...2193_103370213... Mind you I'm only speaking of color schemes here so ignore the actual words.
The only problem with the second two color schemes is I intend to leather my interior silver and black. If I do this then I'll have to leather it silver and red, and while that will go nicely with my gauges and interior lamps, I'm not sure how it will look with the red of the dark interior... maybe by replacing all my carpet with silver carpet, it will be okay. I dunno though.
Time to go over my quotes and what I've spent so far.
So far I have...
4L60E Transmission - $450
Accessories - $350 (still need to get tensioner and a idler pulley)
Oil Pan - $146
That means I've spent - $946 on this project so far and I have purchased BELOW the cost of my original estimates.
What I have left...
5.3L or 4.8L Engine $400 - $600
K Member $200 (Complete with suspension, steering rack, and motor mounts.)
PCM $65
Wiring Harness $325 (Quoted by Camaro and Firebird Salvage)
LS1 Intake Manifold $250
Corvette Fuel Filter $30 (Necessary for fuel regulator)
160 Thermostat $10
Radiator $55
Intake LID $90
Ebay Long Tube Headers - $160
Off Road Y-Pipe - $140
2 Bullet Cats - $82
Cat Back - $240
Making the absolute bone minimum for a LSX swap to be - $2,047 in parts using a 4.8L V8 with about 70k miles on the clock.
Thats not too bad... - I'm ganna likely spending about $2,571 as I'm aiming for a 5.3L ... There's other stuff too.. like oil, coolant, radiator hoses, gaskets, maybe some bolts - but those could vary too much so I didn't include them.
Just found out I could go from a 4.8 or 5.3L to a 5.7L for $200 ... Might try it, if I do I will most likely use a 5.3L as a 4.8L will require a new crank and rods too... 5.3L will only need new pistons.
Of course there's other things like head gaskets, head bolts and what not that will have to be changed too if I do... doing so will add about $500 to the project... but will still come out about $600 cheaper than an LS1.
So turning the 5.3 into a 5.7 you would be changing pistons, and at least having a machine shop bore, hone and balance? I'm assuming you would be doing the engine assembly? Im curious as to the details of the extra displacement just because $200 doesnt normally go very far. Ive seen complete gasket kits including head bolts for about $300.
So turning the 5.3 into a 5.7 you would be changing pistons, and at least having a machine shop bore, hone and balance? I'm assuming you would be doing the engine assembly? Im curious as to the details of the extra displacement just because $200 doesnt normally go very far. Ive seen complete gasket kits including head bolts for about $300.
To be dead honest I didn't get specific with him yet. I'll ask tonight and get back to you on that... (Just wondering, I thought the crank was the only thing that needed to be balanced...How do you balance a bore hole?) But yeah I'm the guy assembling the motor along with a friend of mine as well as dropping it in the car.
I'm getting a deal on LS6 Head Gaskets $35 per gasket if I go this route - then I need bolts... What other gaskets would I need though? I know the intake gasket and the exhaust manifold gaskets (both of which are coming anyway cuzz I'm running long tubes and getting a LS1 intake.
those guys made 10000+ hp on a stock internal 4.8l stock everything minus a 102/102 combo
Yea I saw that on hotrod magazine. It was a twin turbo setup and it was pretty insane. It kinda makes me want to do it but mounting turbo's in V8 F-Bodies without losing A/C is hard... tempting but I dont know where to put them. Dont wanna do the rear mount cuzz I dont like the idea of running an oil line to the back of my car.
Procharging has a relatively stockish clean look, might do that... I dunno... decisions decisions... I think a turbo can be done cheaper though. I wish there was a place where I could see some turbo'd LS1 FBody setups
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
IF I go Iron LS1... out of a 4.8L or 5.3L (dependent upon what whitdog just mentioned)
I can get an LS1 Crank for free provided by the guy who's helping me.
Saw LS1 Pistons and Rods for $75 on craigslist out of a 25k mile motor.
Can get LS6 Head gaskets for $35 a piece
Head Bolts are ganna be $23 a set
Bore to 5.7L - $200
Thats a 60 - 70 HP increase for $400 ... ganna get more info.
My transmission will arrive either tonight or tomorrow morning. I'm just going to sit it here in my apartment for now. My oil pan will arrive in 2 more days and accessories in 3 more days. The Windage tray and pickup I ordered from GMPartsdirect because I couldnt find them used at a reasonable price. Those will be here in probably a week.
Edit: Btw, how much should I sell my engine / trans for? 162k miles after the swap - Engine has a loud knock at startup that gradually fades, unsure what it is, Engine also appears to be eating coolant and killing O2 sensors fairly rapidly. Transmission used to have a 1st - 2nd shift problem but for some reason it hasnt done that lately (runs the RPMS all the way to 4k before shifting, doesn't shift hard, just refused to shift till 4k RPMs regardless of speed)
It has a new water pump, MAF, oil level sender...
I see on car-part.com these engines are still costing $1,000 even up to 100k miles - 150k miles seems to be averaging at around $650 ... Transmission for like $100 for the miles listed and honestly there's not alot you can do with these trans when not coupled with a 3.8L...
Think I can get away with $500 for the engine / trans / Stock Y87 exhaust combo and throw the complete K-Member and V6 Radiator in for another $100?
Yes the crank does need to be balanced, but with everything attached to it which is your rotating assembly. Thats your crank, rods, pistons and flywheel. If you change pistons the rotating assembly will probably need to be balanced. To increase displacement from 5.3 to 5.7 liters without swapping cranks I would assume you would have to bore out the cylinder holes and put in oversized pistons. The guy may have some crazy idea of running a thicker head gasket and switching to a dish top piston with the same bore which would increase displacement but lower compression at the same time idk. Let us know about the details just out of curiosity.
IMO just find a low mile engine that you believe to be healthy and get everything running. It appears your doing somewhat of a budget build anyways which is cool. If you want to get aggressive later on you can always bolt on an aftermarket head/cam package.
Edit: Btw, how much should I sell my engine / trans for? 162k miles after the swap - Engine has a loud knock at startup that gradually fades, unsure what it is, Engine also appears to be eating coolant and killing O2 sensors fairly rapidly. Transmission used to have a 1st - 2nd shift problem but for some reason it hasnt done that lately (runs the RPMS all the way to 4k before shifting, doesn't shift hard, just refused to shift till 4k RPMs regardless of speed)
It has a new water pump, MAF, oil level sender...
I see on car-part.com these engines are still costing $1,000 even up to 100k miles - 150k miles seems to be averaging at around $650 ... Transmission for like $100 for the miles listed and honestly there's not alot you can do with these trans when not coupled with a 3.8L...
Think I can get away with $500 for the engine / trans / Stock Y87 exhaust combo and throw the complete K-Member and V6 Radiator in for another $100?
Junk it. Nobody is going to buy somehting this common and then drop 2 grand to have it all repaired. Especilly when you can get a good running 3800 for under 1 grand with a tranny.
X2 to junk the engine at least, maybe part the good stuff off the engine, maybe sell the tranny for cheap. As long as you tell them theirs problems with it.
08' L76 6.0L 4X4 Chevy EXT.Cab LTZ Vortec MAX with Snug top cover, Dynomax exhaust,Hptuners& K&N intake
96' Camaro M5 to A4 conversion, alot of mods . GT35R Turbo full suspension. Built engine
Yes the crank does need to be balanced, but with everything attached to it which is your rotating assembly. Thats your crank, rods, pistons and flywheel. If you change pistons the rotating assembly will probably need to be balanced. To increase displacement from 5.3 to 5.7 liters without swapping cranks I would assume you would have to bore out the cylinder holes and put in oversized pistons. The guy may have some crazy idea of running a thicker head gasket and switching to a dish top piston with the same bore which would increase displacement but lower compression at the same time idk. Let us know about the details just out of curiosity.
IMO just find a low mile engine that you believe to be healthy and get everything running. It appears your doing somewhat of a budget build anyways which is cool. If you want to get aggressive later on you can always bolt on an aftermarket head/cam package.
Yeah, you're right. I'm getting too far ahead of myself... Its better to just have stuff like that done the right way.
Junk it. Nobody is going to buy somehting this common and then drop 2 grand to have it all repaired. Especilly when you can get a good running 3800 for under 1 grand with a tranny.
X2 to junk the engine at least, maybe part the good stuff off the engine, maybe sell the tranny for cheap. As long as you tell them theirs problems with it.
True. I might try to part it out. Don't know cuzz Its on borrowed time in the shop.
----
Pics of trans will be tomorrow. He wasnt able to deliver today.
theres plenty of single turbo setups make 900+hp and using stock a/c and k member! id get a 5.3L, slap on some headers and a fast intake/tb and get a used turbo kit (like 2-3k on ls1tech complete hotside and sometimes cold). for about 5k you have a potential 700hp set up. even could crank it down to 500ish just for MPGs and life of the rest of your drivetrain. thats whats nice about a boost controller.
if your gonna take all this time to swap a v8, mine as well go turbo while your at it. Because in about 3 or 4 months you're gonna be wanting more power anyway. with a turbo and a v8, your options are limitless.
Okay. Santa Clause came and his payload was heavy. That would be my transmission. It's rebuilt but still dirty. I just had a junker rebuilt - I'm going to pressure wash it and paint it when I can get it to the shop. I was thinking maybe paint it black...or maybe red cuzz my accessories are red...or maybe just primer... I dunno yet.
Also found out the guy who sent my accessories forgot to send me the A/C Block, P.S. Hose, and belt so he's ganna have to wait 10 days before he can send them to me (out of town)...oh well... Anyways...
Either way, I have a few questions...
For starters... What is this?
I at first thought this is where the dipstick fed to but I don't think it is anymore because I saw this...
and finally I just wanna make sure...
This is where the wiring harness plugs into correct?
Its been a while since I've been on the forum. Hope everyone is doing well. I still have my camaro! Unfortunately, the slave cylinder and clutch has went...
been a while but looks like i'm back in the game thanks to my brother. he went and bought an'02 bird, and since i'm a technician at the nissan place...
4 weeks ago
FORUM SPONSORS
Collapse
Working...
X
We process personal data about users of our site, through the use of cookies and other technologies, to deliver our services, personalize advertising, and to analyze site activity. We may share certain information about our users with our advertising and analytics partners. For additional details, refer to our Privacy Policy.
By clicking "I AGREE" below, you agree to our Privacy Policy and our personal data processing and cookie practices as described therein. You also acknowledge that this forum may be hosted outside your country and you consent to the collection, storage, and processing of your data in the country where this forum is hosted.
Tweet
Comment