c-bolt

iTrader: (1)

I'm going to be replacing the little engine that couldn't in my Jet boat. Weight is huge, so I'm looking at the aluminum 5.3's because the HP is just about right and the cost is too. A new 6.2 sounds fun, but the truck engines are easy to come by cheap...

The 2 choices I have so far are...

2005 L33 with 120000 miles, compression is 180 low, 215 high and 45 psi of cranking oil pressure.

2007 LH6 with 66000 miles, compression is 190/210, 45 psi oil pressure.

The L33 is 980, LH6 is 1600. I know these prices aren't the best, but I'm in Alaska and we pretty much get boned...

Which would you choose and why. Would it cost a bunch to rebuild the L33? The engine would mostly spend its time in the 3500 to 4500 rpm range.

Also, would I need to run open loop. Do I have to do anything for a tune? Ive heard without the o2 sensors hooked up they just run a bit rich, which isn't too bad for the marine application. Does anybody make a harness I could buy to run just the ecm...etc. I really would like the FI, but I suppose a manifold and carb wouldn't be the end of the world...

I appreciate the info. I'm obviously new here and am searching as I go. Ive got a ton to learn....its going to be fun.

Joe

team39763

iTrader: (3)

If I remember right, the L33 is Gen3 style while the LH6 is Gen4.
I know this thread is old, but hopefully that helps a little if you haven't picked yet.

cobalt964

also the lh6 is dod and active fuel management. if that's what you want that's fine, if not then its added expense to remove

c-bolt

iTrader: (1)

Yeah, I think I decided to go with the L33. Less crap to screw with, but a couple more ponies.

Ill look at both engines when I get back in town in about 10 days or so and decide looking at the condition.

I did decide to keep the FI, converting to a carb would be just way too much money and no more knock protection. But I do need a mechanical throttle body for the cable in the boat.

Im going to use BP-A for the wiring harness, seems like a good guy and very knowledgeable. He's done harnesses for airboats so that's a plus.

I really wanted to pull the MAF, o2 sensors and all transmission wiring, pretty much run a minimal setup, but BP-A recommended I keep the o2 and MAF for the injection. I guess its not the end of the world, but it does add a significant cost to the exhaust manifolds. Is there anybody who does a really good MAP tune? He said speed density wouldn't work since there is no speed input. I don't know about the tuning side of things, I have mostly been focusing on the hardware changes and all the crap to buy to stick it in my boat.



Ill probably pull it apart and re-ring it, depending how the exhaust looks. Any suggestions what else to look for?

c-bolt

iTrader: (1)

Once I get the engine, Ill start a new conversion thread and document the process.

Here's a pic of the now removed engine. It just wouldn't perform...lol

Torqueshaft

You live in the Valley or Anchorage area...(Looks like the Knik River in your pic)

What make/model and size pump do you have on your boat...?

Are you planing on changing it ?

The 5.3 will most likely blow right through what you have behind that ecotec...You might get away with a impeller change depending what pump you have...

Are you getting the L33 from Hilltop...?

Have you thought about just turbocharging your ecotec ?

Nice boat...

c-bolt

iTrader: (1)

Thanks for the compliment on the boat, I live in Wasilla. Its a 2009 River Wild. The 2.2 ecotec was supercharged, but in order to use the supposed 252hp (im not buying it) at 5500 rpm, I have to impeller so small and then blow out at take off. Im not a huge fan of the super loud blower either...lol Not enough exhaust noise to make it sound good.

Yeah, Im going to re-impeller, I should be able to handle 330 or so HP with . Its a 2 stage hamilton 772. I was looking at a 2005 l33 from northwest with 122k on the clock, but its gone (in the last couple days). I see they have a ~70k mile LH6 though.

In order to use that engine with a cable throttle body I have to:
Swap reluctor and cam sprocket to 24x +machine work prob $150
Delete AFM $400
Non DOD cam $400

This should get me back into L33 territory...lol

God, this is going to cost me a crap load of money.

19wagon63

l33 is the way to go.

Torqueshaft

According to car-part.com Hilltop is supposed to still have a L33 with
172k on it for $700...

I know they still had it a couple of months ago when I called about it...

Torqueshaft

Oh...I'm not sure how well the 772 is going to work...It's rated at 100-240 hp depending on the impeller...

You really need a 3 stage 773 for the power that a L33 will put out.

c-bolt

iTrader: (1)

The guys in nz have been doing it for a bit with mild ls engines around 315 hp or so. Marine power makes some impellers that should work and if they don't, I can always get some larger pitched ones from nz.

I'm kind of concerned with the 170k miles on the hilltop motor. I figure with that many miles it's gonna need rebuilt before I run it at high rpm for an extended time. I figure the lh6 would be cheaper to delete the afm and swap a cam than rebuild an entire engine with new pistons/rings, top end... Etc

cobalt964

I have a l33 with 16k miles but the shipping would kill the deal likely.

c-bolt

iTrader: (1)

How much do you want? Complete? How much to ship it to zip 98188? If I can get it shipped to Washington, lynden will forward it up here for not too much money, probably less than 200...

cobalt964

its a longblock. oilpan to valve covers, no injection, although I have a complete truck injection that is dbc like you are looking for. I have the accessory drives with waterpump and power steering pump. but none of this is on it at the moment, currently its just a longblock. I buy them to put in Porsche 911's. I have a lh6 with 2k miles on it as well, but again it has dod and fuel management. last time I shipped a motor to west coast was expensive, like 600.00. if you have a shipper with a commercial account they give you lots better discounts than joe public walking in and shipping. if you have a shipper that would be better for you likely.

post script; im in okc Oklahoma area for shipping purposes. l33 I would take 1700. because of its low miles. same for lh6.

Torqueshaft

Ya...I kind of figured the Hilltop one might have more miles than you wanted...It was the only other L33 that I knew about...

On a different note...I would love to throw that supercharged ecotec you have into a clean Vega...That would make a killer combo...

gnx7

iTrader: (28)

As a suggestion I would use POR-15 or some other type of engine paint rated for marine use to prevent corrosion.

I have a 5.3 EFI motor in my '97 Ski Centurion waterski boat for 2 years now. We run it in speed density mode (no MAF) and a tuner had to come out on the boat to get it running properly. We did add an LS6 cam/springs/ported TB for a little more grunt. Cold air for the intake inlet is essential. When the engine bay gets warm the top speed goes down a bit.

We run Marine Power exhaust manifolds on it which worked out well. Those cost more than the engine.
It runs a closed loop cooling system with a heat exchanger. The fresh water pump for the heat exchanger is located below the alternator in the picture. My buddy did all the fab work including the custom radiator and exhaust crossover which did gain some power.

Stock truck cams are dead at around 4500rpm. This motor will pull to 6,000rpm+ when running correctly.
Only thing I would do differently is run a 6.0 liter instead. It would get worse fuel economy; however the torque would really help with getting the boat out of the hole faster. Top speed is really more dependent on hull design.

c-bolt

iTrader: (1)

Ah, screw it. 09 Silverado L76 with 80K will most likely be the winner if it's still there when I get home. At the yard for 2400...seems like a no brainer...

DOD and VVT Delete, Cam choice to be in the 400hp ish range, looking for gobs of low torque.
GMPP Dual plane carb setup, Any guess on a carb?
MSD 6012

Now I need to find parts for a 3 stage...lol

c-bolt

iTrader: (1)

I'm second guessing the carb setup now...since I'm already changing the cam I could just go 3 bolt and 1x, then swap out to the 24x and run a cable throttle body. I would really like some economy with this engine...

The big deal is I could run a mild cam with those l92 heads and possibly make huge power while retaining engine protection...lol.

Maybe I should buy that l33 from hilltop for 700 as well. Is there anything besides the reluctor wheel I can use? Not really worth it...???

Thanks

Joe

c-bolt

iTrader: (1)

TS, engine is sold. Its headed down to montana. No vega in its future, just another boat.

G7, who did your base tune? It looks like you have MAF in one pic, but not the other. Are you running 02 sensors? I think Im just going to bite the bullet and go efi. So many choices.

Also, at the wreckers locally I can get:
2010 LC9's, from 2500 for a 4k motor to 2200 for for a 49k.
2011 LC9 with 37k for 2300.
04 LH6 w/ 101k for 2000.

There is also a possibility to still pick up that 05 L33, It was on hold for a customer, but I'm not sure if it was picked up or not. It would be the cheapest option by far, but that aluminum 6.0 w/ l92 heads would be awesome with a cam swap...expensive (probably around 3g extra total) but most likely worth it...

edit: That 6.0 L76 is on hold for me as of now...

c-bolt

iTrader: (1)

So I picked up that L76 and took it home. It looks great in the exhaust manifolds and overall condition was pretty good, just a bit of oil seepage. I pulled a bunch of stuff off and will likely sell as much as I can.


I also found a couple MarinePower 6.0 engines on craigslist. They are the heavy iron block, but have a few parts I can use for this project. I've got a ton of parts to sell still, like the marine manifolds and stuff. Let me know if anybody needs any parts.