NorCalAnthony

Hey Guys. I’m looking for opinions and info about swapping out my stock ’00 truck intake to one of the TBSS/NNBS intakes. I’ve been reading all kinds of threads here and over at PerformanceTrucks.net for the last few days and am seeing some mixed info/results. It seems like most of the people that had positive results had larger 6.0 motors or 5.3’s with a fair amount of add-ons and the people that had bad experiences had basically stock motors and some didn’t even get a tune initially… Other than the mixed reviews it seems like a fairly easy swap and pretty cheap too with the intakes only being $150-200 used w/fuel rails and injectors.

My first question is if you guys think it’d be worth it on a mild budget build like what I’m trying to do. My engine is a ’00 5.3/LM7 that is going to be swapped in to my ’89 K5 along with a 4l80e. The engine is out of a good running wrecked Yukon that had 140,xxx miles on the clock (still in the donor in my driveway). I should probably just throw the engine in my K5 the way it is but I know I’d be kicking myself if I didn’t try to fix it up a little before I get it dropped in there. I’m already planning to basically redo the top end and have already picked up a cheap used set of 243 heads (Craigslist) and will be ordering a mild custom ground cam shaft from Martin @ Tick (208/212 .554/.558 113+2) along with new springs, lifters, pushrods, oil pump, timing chain, etc. The heads will be getting cleaned up with a performance valve job and may be getting milled .030” to get my compression back up unless I can find a cheap set of 4.8 flat top pistons to drop in… I picked up my complete donor vehicle for way less than I could track down a 6.0 engine by itself so I don’t mind spending a little money in the right places for the 5.3 to help out it’s power and efficiency.

The next question is what size throttle body should I go with? I was originally going to just get a cheapy 90/92 mm throttle body but I had seen a few people say that those are too large for a 5.3 and that it’ll hurt low end performance which is where I’ll need it with my ~5000 lbs truck. Is there any truth to that? One guy actually said he picked up some performance when he switched back to his original 78mm TB… I’m assuming those guys were most likely just losing performance because they either didn’t get a new tune or still had a stock cam and 706/862 heads that couldn’t effectively utilize the added flow. I’m hoping that my new set up would be a decent combo that will work well together and not have any of those issues…

There are lots of swap threads out there so I have a pretty good understanding of what’s involved and what needs to be done to make it work. I’m mainly wanting to know if you guys think it’s something that’d be worth doing while the engine is sitting on a stand and if my heads/cam/intake combo would all work well together. What do you guys think?

Thanks, Anthony

NorCalAnthony

Bump for any opinions or information. I'm working on finalizing my parts list for the engine now that tax season is here and am trying to figure out if this is something worth including in my plans...

omc8

iTrader: (7)

This question comes frequently , the nnbs intake is a good set up but there are obstacles to over come to use with a Gen III . Need more info to help you tho , are you wanting to run it dbc . If so you will need a aftermarket 4 bolt 90/92 tb for dbc. In short its not fun, quick and easy swap.

NorCalAnthony

Thanks for jumping in omc8. I’ve been searching but haven’t seen any threads that are similar to my build yet… What obstacles do you think would cause problems? There are lots of swap threads and how-to’s out there and the two main problems people run in to are if they try use the new return-less fuel rail when their trucks are set up for the return style (remedied by adapting a Corvette filter/FPR near the fuel rail) or when they're trying to mate up the newer 87mm DBW TB to the 78mm DBW TB’s harness (remedied by using an X-Link). If I go through with the swap I’d most likely be using my existing fuel rail (return style) with some spacers and newer style injectors (hopefully bought with the intake). I’d also be using a DBC TB since I’m already set up for it so I won’t have to worry about adapting any harnesses. The only thing I’m not sure about yet is if I should be trying to get a 90/92mm TB since I’ve heard a couple negative posts about them flowing too much and hurting performance. If there is something to that I've also seen guys running a Fast (or other) TB adapter/spacer that lets you keep your older/smaller TB with the bigger/newer intake. The couple of guys I've talked to that have gone that route were still really happy with the results.

What additional info were you looking for? I thought I hit the main stuff in my first post with the specs on the engine, heads, cam, intake, tranny, vehicle weight, etc but if there’s anything else I might have missed to help people fill in the blanks please let me know so I can include it.

Sales3@Texas-Speed

iTrader: (2)

I will also tell you from customer's experiences, that you do lose torque down low. The 07.5+ 5.3's have the intake but they also have higher compression to offset the loss in power/torque down low. We had one guy with minimal mods and the NNBS intake call complaining that he couldn't spin the tires on take off anymore. After going through his combination we finally talked him into switching intakes back out to the original. After the swap he gained his torque back and could spin them again. This was in a crew cab 4x4 truck btw so it is more difficult to induce tire spin due to the weight but a good representation as to the amount of torque lost.

Lonnie

omc8

iTrader: (7)

Well it looks like you have done some research on this, thats a good thing. As for your combination the flat tops , the Tick cam , and heads . Should be a good combo , I would suggest 243 heads if your budget allows as these intakes were designed to run with. I would run a Nick Williams 92 tb or something similar. I would not run a spacer and old 78 mm. Now if the spacer and the 78 where going to create more power or torque I would say go for it, but there not. If any thing they may make more problems. What bracket are you going to use for your throttle cable ? Does your truck have traction control .

NorCalAnthony

Thanks for the input Lonnie, that's exactly the kind of info/experiences I was hoping to hear. Do you remember what your customer's SCR was at? I thought the newer engines were 9.9:1 instead of my engine's 9.45:1. I'm already planning on milling my 243's to get my compression up and was going to shoot for 0.030" for 10:1-ish but if the newer style intake really does sacrifice low-end tq for top-end hp (where I personally don't need it) then I'll just use the one I already have.

omc8

iTrader: (7)

Getting cr up to 10:1 will be good . But is not a must. How much does your truck weight ? I believe the stated case above probably more of a tuning issue and weight.

NorCalAnthony

omc8 - Yeah I was able to pick up a set of 243’s locally for a decent price last month and was going to be dropping them off at my machine shop for a cleanup, valve job, and some milling (unless I can find a good deal on some flat tops before then). I’d love to get a Nick Williams TB but spending $400+ for it would kill the budget I’m trying to stick to lol. I’ve read a bunch of guys have had good results with the Alper Motorsports 92mm TB that goes for $170 which is what I’d most likely be going with since there are so many mixed results with eBay TB’s. For the TB bracket I’d likely be going with the one from Scoggin Dickey but there are a few different ones I’ve seen out there.

The K5 weighed around 4800 lbs from the factory (at least according to Google) but I’ve never weighed it myself. And no, no traction control on it yet. It’ll eventually get a locker when I put on a lift with bigger axles and tires. Why would that matter?

Since I'm swapping the engine in to an older vehicle and changing out the cam, heads, trans, etc a re-tune is mandatory. Hopefully whatever tuner I go with will be able to make sense of my Frankenstein engine, trans, transfer case combo lol.

Sales3@Texas-Speed

iTrader: (2)

Milling 243 castings .030 will net you 9.75:1 compression. Stock 5.3 heads are 61.15cc, 243's are 64.45cc. If it was my build I would keep the stock intake. If you plan to run steeper gears or a stall converter then you will not notice the loss down low very much especially at W.O.T. if you do decide to go NNBS intake. I'd put the price of the intake, rails, etc, toward just getting your heads CNC ported and going to larger valves. You'll gain way more in doing that than doing the NNBS intake swap. That's where my money would go.

Lonnie

omc8

iTrader: (7)

Missed the part about it being a K5 , as far as the bracket Scoggin Dickey has temporary suspended selling the bracket for now they said to check back next week. I guess there is some kind of issue with them. Never heard of Alper motorsports , but that is real cheap . What is cost of the adapter spacer plate , if you go that route?

NorCalAnthony

Lonnie - Thanks for the correction. I think 0.030” just got stuck in my head because that’s what I see most people having done. Do you think that the 9.75:1 would be good enough or should I have them milled some more to get a full 10:1? I’d love to get my 243’s CNC ported by you guys or WCCH but that’s a big jump in price that I don’t think I could justify on my project right now... If I were building a 6.0+ engine that could make use of all the extra flow I’d be all for sending them out for porting and doing more of a max effort build but that’s not in the budget for this project. For now, I’m just trying to put together a good parts combination that’ll help the 5.3 perform better than it does now but not break the bank in the process lol. $2-300 for an intake swap is doable but $2-3000 for ported heads, gears, and a stall isn’t at this point.

Do you know if you guys will be having any good sales on your head/cam gasket and bolts kits coming up soon would you? I’ll be needing to pick up one of those kits and a few other things for my swap in another month or so once I get my tax return in. 

Thanks for the heads up on the SDPC bracket I hadn’t heard about any issues or it being suspended yet. There are a few others out there like Holley, Professional Products, and all the eBay knockoffs though. I hadn’t heard of Alper Motorsports either until I was researching this intake swap and saw a few people use them with good results. If I go the adapter route, I’d likely just get the one from Fast that runs $44 from Summit http://www.summitracing.com/parts/fst-146029-kit

omc8

iTrader: (7)

Yes I see the adapter , Summit wants $58 dollars for it shipped to my door and they are in my state .Do they not make a adaptor like this for the 90/92 fast ? I don't like adapters, one thing about this one is its for 102 mm fast , so its has to a have a lip where it mounts to the mouth of NNBS intake . A big part of increase in power with new intake is the larger 4 bolt mouth, and using a 75 tb you not going to realize its full potential. I would try to find one in the range of 87 to 92 mm . The way it looks now , I think would try the Alper tb if its 92 as apposed to the adapter.

Hamrdown

iTrader: (25)

You said you're using 243 heads. If you haven't already done the valve job & milling I know TSP includes that in their stage 1 porting process. Stage 2 or 2.5 whatever includes larger valves with the same port job. I looked and they only charge $750 for CNC porting, valve job & milling. Not too shabby in my book and a solid 25-30 rwhp gain from what I've seen on here.

omc8

iTrader: (7)

I'm thinking that is just a single isolated experience, what tb was he running with the new intake and did he have it tuned for the new setup?

NorCalAnthony

I don’t think they make the adapters for the 90/92 because it doesn’t work for most people’s applications and what we’re talking about would definitely be a one-off application. I don’t think you would have to worry about any interruption in airflow using that adapter though since the adapter is for a 102mm and everything bolting up to it would be smaller. If anything there might be some distortion caused but I doubt it’d be anything to worry about in this type of build. Either way I don’t think I’d be going that route since there are so many 92mm TB options out there.

The Stage 1 CNC package TSP offers is definitely a good deal with great results, no arguments there. I just don’t know if I can justify that price for what’s supposed to be budget build and if I were to go that route, it would add way more time to this build while I save up the extra coin. The other thing holding me back is I don’t know how much the smaller 5.3 would be able to use the extra flow in the heads with it’s smaller displacement and me having to use a fairly restrictive exhaust because of my smog requirements so long tubes and a cat delete aren’t an option.