1988 1 ton suburban buildup
- Thread starter xpndbl3
- Start date
Larry
Bigassgas Explorer
From websters dictionary........
mo·tor [moh-ter]
noun
1. A comparatively small and powerful engine, especially an internal-combustion engine in an automobile, motorboat, or the like.
That maybe true for dime store dictionary like Webster’s but not with the Society of Automotive Engineers. Motors are electric and engines are internal combustion. Just razzing you anyway. :sombrero:
Can’t wait to see your LSX swap. You’ll love that engine! The 5.3L might be taxed a bit hauling a ¾ Sub around but with some ECM tuning you can squeeze a few more ponies out of it. I have one in a Tahoe that is kind of a dog but at 5,000 ft elevation most vehicles are lacking power compared to sea level. The only thing I don’t like about the 5.3L is it doesn’t start building power until high RPM’s which is not really what you want in a 4x4. Send your ECM off to a tuner and have the Torque Management turned off. That alone will wake up the 5.3L and help give it some low end grunt.
xpndbl3
Adventurer
Actually we have HP tuners from all our race cars that we tune with, so I already have all that turned off in the computer. I was hoping to find a 6.0L but they were much more expensive and since I'm going from 160hp to 295hp, I think I'll be ok lol. Hoping for some extra fuel economy too, overall I think it'll be a great swap.
Larry
Bigassgas Explorer
I agree, 6.0L or even an 8.1L would be better but they are indeed spendy. If you have connections to good tuning software and a person to do it you should be fine getting the 5.3L up to snuff. There is a guy on another board that did a 5.3L in a ’76 Jimmy with a manual trans. It turned out really nice and he says the power is much better than the old 350. I have a 5.3L here in my garage that is going into my buddies ’75 K5 someday too. Similar to the swap you are doing. 6.0L’s are hard to find for the right price. I have two more 8.1L’s and a HO7.4L in the garage but I am saving those for other projects.
5.3L in a '76 Jimmy
Lots of LSX swap pictures in GM trucks here
5.3L in a '76 Jimmy
Lots of LSX swap pictures in GM trucks here
xpndbl3
Adventurer
Motor is in, just need to hook everything up now lol. Rims are all painted and on the truck, I think it's a huge improvement in looks.
Hopefully over the next couple of nights I'll get even further into the 5.3L swap, motor sure looks at home in this huge engine bay. I definitely either need to remove a leaf out of the front spring pack or two or buy some softer springs. Bouncing on the bumper I can't get ANY suspension movement out of the truck now that this engine is 125 pounds lighter than the motor before.
Hopefully over the next couple of nights I'll get even further into the 5.3L swap, motor sure looks at home in this huge engine bay. I definitely either need to remove a leaf out of the front spring pack or two or buy some softer springs. Bouncing on the bumper I can't get ANY suspension movement out of the truck now that this engine is 125 pounds lighter than the motor before.
bldeagle10
Explorer
sounds like you need a big winch up front
nice burban, makes me want to paint mine black
xpndbl3
Adventurer
well bolted up the ported and polished throttle body today. Cut and welded my passenger side battery tray and mounted it to the drivers side fender so that I can run the stock air intake setup to the passenger side. Been sick the last two weeks coughing up fun stuff so haven't done as much as I would have liked. here's to hoping it's done before the snow falls lol.
Also got the computer tuned and all the emissions, vats, torque management deleted.
Also got the computer tuned and all the emissions, vats, torque management deleted.
