BanditDave

iTrader: (11)

UPDATES!!! Finally made up my friggin' mind...see post on 04/10/13. A little teaser....


Hey Guys,
Been posting in the Forced Induction area for a bit and figured I would drag this over to conversions in case anyone has any feedback, good bad or otherwise...haha. The first post is all catching up...my second post will be from last night...thanks and enjoy!

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FINALLY getting my crap together and doing a little simplifying in my life. Back in July I leased myself a '13 CTS-V and while it was absolutely amazing...I was just freaking out about every little thing...it stopped being fun for me because I love to drive stuff and drive it hard. Also because it was rather pricy for me, it precluded me from doing what I really love...build cars.

So, I decided to do a little "life-simplification". Sold my '69 Cutlass project, got rid of the V and got rid of my old truck and got brand new '12 Silverado 5.3L Z71:



I absolutely love this thing. Great economy for a daily (compared to the V...haha) and has plenty of power to tow what I need it to.

Now that my garage is ridiculously empty...but still a mess because I haven't wanted to go in there...I decided to finally pop back in and get my *** in gear on a project that sat for over 6 years...funny another as long as I have known my wife (absolutely no coincidence there........)

Anyhow, here she is...a longtime love of my life, what I am calling Simplicity:





Here is how she currently sits...disgraceful:



BUT...she will live again...very soon! Here's the list:

- Junkyard 5.3L ~120K on the clock - going to ARP the easy stuff and use LS9 head gaskets
- Right now I am sticking with manual steering so I will need to come up with an aftermarket Alternator-only bracket
- LS9 Cam (Strongly leaning in the Tick direction)
- Edelbrock Super Victor Manifold (too good a deal to pass up)
- Procharger Corvette C6 F1A Bob at Brutespeed very persuasive
- rebuilt 4l80e with Transgo HD2 kit
- definitely going with the Denmah-esque "triple billet lock-up ****" for a converter because I don't want that shitting the bed.
- Still working on rear gear...right now I have a built GN rear that was set up for an NA car. Currently 3.73s. Not sure I will stay with them or drop to 3.23/3.42s
- Cell and monsterous Fuel Lab pump PWM controlled.

Here's some pics of the 2004 5.3L:







Much more to come! Picking up the trans on Friday.

BanditDave

iTrader: (11)

OK...been a long while but finally have an update!!! Started tearing through my house and garage doing a lot of cleaning (there's a dumpster sitting outside that is evidence to that) and now that I have finally turned the corner with that crap I can focus on what's important!

Speaking of important...I found out I am going to be a Dad a few weeks back and I couldn't be more excited to be honest!!! While this will slow down the build for sure, it will not stop it at all...my amazing wife won't let me.

Anyhow, on to the build!!!

Started collecting a LOT of parts over the last few weeks and basically have what I need to finish the engine once I pull the heads and get a valve job done. Still need injectors and purchased the rockers yesterday so another thing off the list.

Here's the 5.3L on the stand sans intake...doesn't look horrendous.





Box O'goodies that were stripped from the engine...not sure if I am going to try and reuse the coils or not.



4L80e getting the HD2 trans-go:



Vette Accessory Drive (C6):



Fuel Lab 1500 HP Fuel Pump



LS2 front cover and conversion parts



Way too expensive LS9 Head Gaskets adn ARP Head Bolts



LS9 Cam



CTS-V Pan and Pickup...



Car Shop Mtg plates:



Brain Tooley Springs...highly recommend, ridiculously fast shipping.



LS6 Valley Cover



Super Victor, 95-deg Elbow...not shown is the Eddy fuel rails







And finally...garage over-flowing with toys!!!



Enjoy...more to come soon!

Deezl SS

iTrader: (13)

Awesome. I'm dying to get another G body to do a turbo LS swap on. Where about in NJ?

BanditDave

iTrader: (11)

I'm down around Philly, just over the Delaware River. This car has a lot of history with my family. It was my uncle's primary driver for many years, stolen three times and recovered....lol. Then it was my brother's first car in high school with the monster 231 V6...NON-turboed...haha. I got ahold of it and turned it into a race car...it isn't leaving the family until I'm dead.

I am very much looking forward to this build...I am in between what I really want with this car and what the budget will allow. I am leaning toward S475 with the 5.3L and race it a bit with some light street driving, but I am also wanting to massively upgrade the suspension toward the pro-touring side so i can handle.

Bottom line goal...I want to drive this thing to the track, rip a ridiculously high 9 second timeslip and drive home. Hopefully the wallet will come along for the ride.

On a side note, pulled the heads last night...I am amazed at how good everything looks inside for a 120K mile motor...Very pleased and will be dropping the heads off for a valve job this week and make sure all is well to install the Brian Tooley Springs kit.

Pics to follow today!

Dave

psiconversion

iTrader: (5)

Nice !

Jon
PSI

BanditDave

iTrader: (11)

Thanks!

You'll be getting another call from me real soon for. harness, pcm, etc...was very happy with the last one...plus who else answers their phone on a sunday!!!! Lol

kainedogg

iTrader: (23)

Sweet truck & nice Oldes bro. I want a 3500 Silverado that color.

BanditDave

iTrader: (11)

There was an AMAZING Duramax 2500HD at a dealership near me...victory red, tan leather interior, console, sunroof...it was insane...at the time it was priced at $67K...I said NO EFFIN' way! It hung around for over a year and by the time I checked in on it againg it was down to $46K...went over to talk turkey and it has sold the weekend before.

Fine with it though because this truck gets great gas mileage, tows great and I got it for a fantastic price being a 2012 leftover.

Dave

MillsMotorvation

Off to a great start!!!

Beatdown Z

iTrader: (18)

Sweet project!

kainedogg

iTrader: (23)

Thanks Dave. If you don't mind sharing...how much was it out the door?

BanditDave

iTrader: (11)

For my truck out the door was just under $30k... then they gave $7000 for my old truck...still shocked at that.

kainedogg

iTrader: (23)

Congrats on the young one on the way brother and thanks for the info. What made you go from twin turbo to single? I had twin plans for my Lemans but the C5 accessory drive has the driver side crowded.

edrex

that thing is going to be sweet win its done

BanditDave

iTrader: (11)

Simplicity and cost of piping honestly. There is nothing I can't do witha single that could only be done with twins...

Also, this may throw this thread for a little curve ball, but I MIGHT accidentally be putting an F1A on this thing instead...don't tell anyone though...

Thanks man...I hope I can actually enjoy something I built for a change...it is a rarity for some sad reason. Usually build it then sell it shortly after it is done...lol.

BanditDave

iTrader: (11)

Small, minor, insignificant update. After a lot of discussion over the past few months with Bob from Brutespeed, I may have convinced myself, with a little of his help, to go with an F1A on the lowly little 5.3L. Since I feel less will be damage when the 5.3L takes a dirt nap plus I have to change less of my current set-up to accommodate the blower,this may be the better choice for me at this time. I will also be giving Martin from Tick a little ring so I can update my cam selection decisions.

Sorry for no pics this evening, I was too busy freeing myself of the insanity that is Comcast. Those who live under this cable provider's shadow know how insane their prices have become...I went out and purchased Apple TV and Hulu Plus this evening and don't regret it one bit. I'll save over $1200/year just as a result of this evening's decision.

Back to the regularly scheduled topic. Definitely more pics tomorrow. Sorry for the delay.

Dave

Frans96SS

iTrader: (15)

Should be a cool car. Your local too. Let me know if you need any help with anything. We can help you out.

BanditDave

iTrader: (11)

You don't know it yet...but you'll be doing the initial tuning on my car. We met at your old place. Got an LSX block from me last summer...that place was great, but I can't wait to see the new place!

Also, you got PM Fran.

Dave

Frans96SS

iTrader: (15)

haha Oh ok ... sounds good. We are in our new location now.

kainedogg

iTrader: (23)

Hilarious Dave. What are your power goals for the supercharged 5.3?