Hey Guys,

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
- Custom Tick Cam
- Edelbrock Super Victor Manifold (too good a deal to pass up)
- S400SX4-75mm Standard BW 96mm Turbine
- 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.

 

Get ready to eat Hoosier's

 

This will be an excellent build. Nice to see a G body that has been kept in great condition!

 

i would say consider a martin cam since the ls9 cam in anything larger than a 4.8 seemed to really hold us back power wise

 

I'm definitely on board with this but I am also a bit of a pu$$y at the moment...one because I haven't ran this thing in a few years....two I have easily 1200 hp worth of turbo...and three I already had it for the last year or so sitting in the box. I plan to put good springs etc...in ths pig out of the gate so a cam swap down the road shouldn't be an issue for me. I'm more concerned about the converter and rear gear at this point and finding a good tuner. I need someone to walk me through it once then I'll be good.

But in the process of writing this you have already got me thinking more about cam swapping and perhaps going with ebay GT45 twins...lol...and you didn't even mention that!!!!

Dave

 

G-Body FTW! Building an '85 Cuty myself. Subbing for sure.

 

79 Malibu here, 5.3, s475. Eventually. Can't wait to see this come together

 

This has all the makings of a great build...Keep it up.

 

ah well if its out already the ls6 cam isn't a bad start if you have it already.

you can always swap it out later.

we have made 650whp on a single gt45 they are beasts for the price.

 

Picked up the tranny today - rebuilt 4L80e...she'll get a bad *** converter and a Transgo HD2 kit.

 

After a bit of reading and an awful lot of overthinking...been stuck in the house on Percocet from a botched wisdom tooth removal (I'll admit a lot of my ideas generated over the last week have not been my best...lol)..but I have made the decision to go with a much earlier build plan of a BW S475 single on the 5.3L. I still have all the goodies for it from a previous turbo build "attempt" on my '69 Cutlass shown below:









This time around, however, I have a much better plan for running the hotside tubing. I will be using the Car Shop Alt only accessory drive with an F body water pump and balancer, and will run my exhaust foward to feed the turbo. Here's the CarShop drive I am talking about:



I am going to start with getting the engine and transmission positioned first (probably using 1 inch set-back plates to gain more room) then I am going to see if I can move the radiator forward a little bit. I would ultimately like to mount the turbo front and center so I can tie into the block for additional support.

More to come tomorrow as I am going to start tearing the motor apart while on Perks!!! Woohoo!!!

 

nice.....

 

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!

 

Good stuff, keep it coming.

 

Will do man! Thanks for following along! I am trying to keep the budget on this one under control. I have less than $2K in the engine and should have some really good reliability out of it. Where I see myself possibly blowing the sensible budget build is with the Holley Dominator EFI. It looks soooo cool but to be honest with you, I already have HP Tuners and have used PSI Conversion Harnesses with a lot of success. Since I am not doing anything revolutionary with this build, I may start out with the PSI Harness then down the road migrate to the Holley Dominator.

We'll see how this year goes with work, etc... and how the cash flow holds up...haha.

 

I am debating the same for my engine management. Having no tuning experience is pushing me towards the holley setup. Decisions, decisions.

 

I hear ya man...its a tough decision. With the Holley EFI you get a phenomenal system, but they do nickel and dime you a bit. However, from what I hear, their Customer Service as well as the simplicity of using the system is fantastic.

For me it boils down to what I already have and that is the HPTuners...plus I have first hand experience with the PSI Conversion harnesses and they are fantastic...they work very well!

On a different note, pulled the heads today and was amazed at how great the bore looked, even on a 120K engine. Taking the heads over for a valve job and get the Tooley Springs fit up correctly. Pics to come tomorrow some time.

Have a great night!!! Sitting waiting for the snow to start!

 

This is all I saw. Congrats man! proud father of an 18 month old here. Best thing I have had a hand in building yet. Hats off to supportive ladies as well. when we found out we were having a boy we went out and looked at an 01 Trans Am I couldn't bring myself to spend the money but my 7 month pregnant wife in a voice from the exorcist said "I want this car, and we are not leaving without it." we already have great memories in it and I expect so many more.

Looks like you are getting it going. I am loving my Cutty build as well. I have my motor in and am using the factory ECU and harness. If you have any questions feel free to reach out. I found a lot of contradicting info on oil pans and mounts and what not so I know the waters can be muddied.

I love that intake I am going to have to upgrade when I have the money. Right now I am building this thing on a shoestring budget

 

Thanks man! I amso ridiculously excited about having a child that it really puts life in perspective. I already told my wife...girl or boy....Junior Dragsters or Midget racing...lolol.

PM about the intake...there is a vendor on here...not sure if they are sponsor but they give STUPID deals on intake and rails. Couldn't pass it up.

More pics to come tonight.

Dave

 

Getting the head work done...waiting to get those back shortly...still deciding on a cam.

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