This car was my daily driver for the past year or so. Leaving to head back to school for summer the KA24e ate a timing chain. I had been wanting to get a GM power plant in it for some time and really could not justify putting money into repairing the 2.4 liter. My goal for the project is to build a reliable daily driver with great potential for further modification, while keeping within a tight budget (less than 3K if possible).

I picked up an 03 5.3 and sold most of the truck external components in order to purchase their F-Body or Vette counterparts. Surprisingly I was able to come out pretty close to even on most of the items. I should be able to get a spread sheet together once I have time to go through my receipts and paypal logs.

Here is a short major parts list for the car and a few pictures.

-03 5.3/4l60e
-F-body Accessories W/PS Delete
-PXracing S14 mounts (slight mods to fit my s13)
-Custom Trans Mount
-Shortened Steel F-body DS
-LS1 Intake, Rail, Injectors
-Bo White TB
-4" Intake Pipe W/Amsoil Filter
-External Holly Pump(free from an old build)
-Vette Regulator/Filter Assembly
-Mishimoto Radiator
-Flexalite 13" Fan(Also from old build)
-98 Vette Manifolds (hacked outlet)
-3" Y to 4" Rear Section(future turbo plans)
--4" AFE Diesel Muffler
-Self modded Harness
--PCMforless Tune





Here is a link to the flickr set of all the photos I have taken so far.

http://flickr.com/photos/27512899@N0...7606450741291/

Ill try and get some pictures of the whole car when it gets closer to completion.

 

Should make for a fun car to drive! Good luck.

 

thats a nice build man, and a sound sleeper on hand. NICE

 

don't mean to steel the thread, but thats one bad *** Monte you have there, and nice page too.

 

what a beast of a ride. should be alot of fun, any updates? Looks VERY clean, besides that front bumper

 

Things have fallen behind schedule and I have to return to school tomorrow. Ill be back over the labor day weekend to try and wrap things up.

I finished the manifolds over the weekend. I have less than $100 into both of them.

 

i am doing a hybrid where can i get some info on modding a harness myself

 

Spend some time and use the search function.

Check the stickies at the top of this forum. Specifically the FAQ thread.

 

Sorry for the lack of updates. School took over the last couple months and I was not able to get much done on the car.

Just about all of the mechanical is done, save for a few minor details. Now its just wiring and addressing any issues after start up.

I got a few pictures of the current state of the car. Im not too happy with the muffler. Its going to need to be cut down and re welded at some point, but it will do for now.

There are some new pictures in the original flickr link as well.

 

nice project

 

nice! not to thread jack, but i've got a 4.8 lying around, and i was thinking of dropping that in my 91 hatch.

along with some sort of manual transmission. of course i want a t-56, but i might have to settle for a 5 speed of some sort, cause i'm not sure i want to drop the dough on a 6 speed.

congrats on getting more done one this! i'll be looking forward to updates

 

whats the weight difference between the 5.3 and ls1...im picking up both motors tomorrow and really wanna do a 5.3 turbo but worried about the extra weight up front.

 

i would say about 100lbs between the iron block 5.3 and the ls1. probably slightly less just motor-wise, but turbo parts are heavy.

*edit*
what kinda car is this going to go in?

 

if your truly worried about the extra weight of the 5.3 get the L33 version available in 05-06 silverado its an all aluminum version with an extra 10hp a little more rare but readily available.

 

Well I already have the LM7,its probably going in an S13 hatch...It was gonna be a tubbed out street/strip car but i miss corners too much will mainly be used as a street/drift/weekend/take out sat nights car...maybe some auto X. I just dont want it to be a donut machine im hoping it will be controlable with the extra weight...what kinda power are people pushin n/a with the 5.3's?

 

Depending on Mod's you can expect roughly 295rwhp-330rwhp and very similar #'s on rwtq. Most people with ls6 intake, mild cam, and some kind of headers/exhaust on the 5.3L are in the 320-345rwhp neighborhood. Good luck, great motor at a awesome price if you know where to look.

Progress is nice on this project, lets see some video of it running and driving!!!

 

+1 I want a review of driving impressions. I may try a maggie on mine to keep a good useable power band

 

Sorry to resurect the thread, but what mounting kit did you use for your car? Do you have the car running yet? I've got an l33 motor that I'm gona throw into my s13 silvia as soon as I can get a t-56 and some other parts.

 

Is that a gto oil pan?

 

what kind of modifications did you have to do to the subframe?