Mikey 97Z M6

iTrader: (37)

Thanks man. Looking forward to posting up some progress on it soon.

Mike

Mikey 97Z M6

iTrader: (37)

Got the 2WD front bearing/hub assemblies yesterday. FWIW, Autozone wanted 185.00 each for these things. I got them through Rockauto.com for 237.00/shipped for both!! Unbelievable markup on these. The original bearing/hubs are just about shot anyway so the timing on this worked out great.



Mike

Mikey 97Z M6

iTrader: (37)

The new Monster LT1-S Twin Disk clutch showed up. Supposed to be good for 650hp and drive like stock. Will be giving a full review of this bad boy once its installed.

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actrite80

iTrader: (2)

Will that fit the V Haha

Mikey 97Z M6

iTrader: (37)

Probably. Call up Monster and talk to Steve or Chris. These are on sale for under 1000.00 shipped and are upgradeable and rebuildable. The next level up is rated for 1000 I think. I went with this because I was concerned about the weight of the Tahoe, even after ditching the 4wd, will still be around 5000lbs.

Mike

Mikey 97Z M6

iTrader: (37)

So the engine plans have changed. I scored a complete 6.0 LQ4 this past weekend that had been torn down. Current plans involve parting out what I don't need from that engine and building up a basic 6.0 using Gen IV rods and pistons. Original plan was to do an iron block 5.7 using LS6 pistons/rods and hand ported 799 heads. Not sure what style of cyl head I'm going to go with just yet but thinking about just porting the 317's and milling them down to get the compression back up.

Check out my FS ad in the classifieds section in here. There is a lot of stuff for sale.

Mike

Mikey 97Z M6

iTrader: (37)

I got the 2WD front bearing/hub assemblies installed last weekend. Might be installing the rearend gears and posi this weekend if it's not pouring down rain.



Mike

WaLsFan

This is going to be awesome when you get it done..what headers are you going to go with? Replica ebay longtubes I bought for my 99 5.3 need alot of fab to make work...I like the color wife has 01 burb same color

Mikey 97Z M6

iTrader: (37)

Thanks, it should be fun as hell for a daily driver. I'll be using Texas Speed fbody headers and will fab up my own y-pipe and exhaust. From what I've read, those headers fit like they were designed for these trucks.

Mike

WaLsFan

Man wish I new about those fbody headers before I bought mine...you should toss a turbo on it also!

welldonecj7

iTrader: (13)

That's awesome, those are supposed to be nice headers i would like to find a set of longtubes that would fit inside the frame of a jeep. If I ever pull the sbc I will prob end up searching for a set of corvette manifolds unless I find that there is long tube that would fit

Mikey 97Z M6

iTrader: (37)

LOL,,,, a turbo would be pretty sweet but that is a very slippery slope. It starts getting expensive real quick and it's just not really worth it to me for a daily driver. If I want to worry about breaking parts,,, I have a race car for that kind of thing. But on the same note, don't think I haven't thought about it haha....

A 5.3 in your Jeep would be cool,,, and easier to work on to boot.

Mike

Mikey 97Z M6

iTrader: (37)

I did some test fitting of the newer style center console yesterday. This newer style (03+) console is much nicer than the old one. The shifter position is going to be nearly perfect. This made me very happy as I was concerned than I might have to reach forward a tad to shift it.

Excuse the messy floor... it's been a little while since it's seen a vacuum but the carpet is getting replaced this summer.






So I picked up some lower dash panels that matched the same color as the center console. It was a lucky find and I got them for dirt.... Pretty happy with the way the finished product turned out. Looks much better than the original piece.






Mike

Mikey 97Z M6

iTrader: (37)

Here is the foundation for the engine build. Got the block stripped down this last weekend and dropped it off at the machine shop to get hot tanked, magged and honed. Also dropped off the crank to have tanked/polished and rods are getting tanked as well.

So, the shortblock will be:
6.0 Block, stock 4.00" bore
6.0 Stock crank
6.0 Gen IV Floating rods
6.0 LS2 Gen IV flat top pistons
LS2 Timing Chain
228/230 .587/.592 112LSA custom ground cam
LS7 Lifters
New Lifter Trays
New Head Studs
New Cover Gaskets and Front/Rear Seals

Essentially this will be a Gen IV LQ9 or iron block LS2.

The rotating assembly will be re-balanced since this engine originally came with the press fit Gen III rods/pistons.



Mike

welldonecj7

iTrader: (13)

That's going to be a good running engine for a daily driver, going to be a quick tahoe should be a lot of fun

WaLsFan

That is going to be a quick SUV...its like a bigger more comfortable 6spd TBSS

Mikey 97Z M6

iTrader: (37)

Thanks guys. The toughest part for me has been to keep this a realistic build and not go crazy with it. If I had the funds it would probably end up being a twin turbo with a forged 408 lol.. But, it should still be really fun to drive on a daily basis. This is going to be my daily driver so it needs to be reliable and not break parts every week.

So for an update, I'm kind of in a holding pattern. For the T56 swap, I can't find a GTO main shaft anywhere on the planet!! So I'm currently having one of my spares repaired. That will hopefully get back here next week and then I can finish building that trans. I was hoping to have the trans installed before I leave on a road trip to Montana in early July but that isn't going to happen. So, without the trans, I can't realistically install the 5.13 gears either because I'm driving the Tahoe to Montana...... Very frustrating...

For the engine, I'm just waiting on piston rings to show up and then I can start assembling the short block. Got the block all prepped for assembly. So, if the rings don't show up I might start porting the cylinder heads this weekend.





Mike

Mikey 97Z M6

iTrader: (37)

Made some progress on the 6.0 budget build this weekend.

I checked the tolerances on the main bearings and got the crank installed. Also got the rods mated with the pistons and installed the rings. Should have the short block finished up this week if I can find my cam degree wheel....







Mike

Mikey 97Z M6

iTrader: (37)

Well I can't seem to find my degree wheel for degreeing the camshaft... Not sure what happened to that but I did move twice last year so who knows.

In the mean time I decided to see how the cheapo Chinese eBay head studs fit. These were less expensive than stock GM head bolts so I decided to give them a try. Visually they look just like my ARP's on the Z28. They're even broached on the ends for allen socket which I was not expecting, and a slight taper on the block side just like the ARP's, with 12 point nuts to boot. Not bad for less than 70.00!!



Mike

WaLsFan

This thing is going to be awesome! Looks like its coming along nicely