schaef_12

Hi guys, I am attempting to build my first ever forced induction gas motor. I spent most of my life hooked on diesel and 4x4 and have been pretty ignorant otherwise. Anyhow, I stumbled on to the Sloppy Mechanics youtube page about 6 months ago and its been downhill since. Lol. I know Denmah hears this all the time but I would be even more confused with all this than I am now if it wasn't for all the great information he has posted over the years.

I'm here for some general advise, motivation, and also a nice place to document where I am at with this thing haha.

After wrapping my mind around what a spark plug is I decided to make this first project as easy as possible on both my wallet and my mind. I picked up an 88' C1500 step-side shortbox 2wd. 181,000 on the ticker. Figured that would be the easiest platform to stuff an ls motor in.....and it was cheap!









Has a burned up 700r4 and a 5.7.



I already have the motor and transmission pulled. Here's where I'm looking for some advice. This is going to be a toy, something to raise hell with and do awesome burnouts with, but would still like to cruise the streets on occasion.

Parts already acquired

2001 Tahoe 5.3 DBC with factory ECM and Wire harness

-Denmah VS racing Turbo Kit
-Pac 1218 valve springs
-Deka 80lb Injectors
-Going crazy and stuffing a
-Dirty Dingo LS swap mounts
-One Walbro 400 seems like I should be putting 2 in the stock tank since it was factory EFi?
-Universal 2.0" exhaust tubing kit to fab the hotside
-AEM Wideband
-IAT Sensor from 2001 S-10 V-6

Things I am having a hard time with

-I think the easiest/cost effective way to get a transmission to hold any power is a TH400? I had hopes of building the 700R4 but it seems like that's a lost cause? Would like a 4l80E but they are hard to find in my neck of the woods.

-At this piont I am leaning towards an MS3 Gold box, I guess the only reason is because tuning info seems to be readily available and HPTuners just doesn't seem as simple. I am struggling with the fact that I have a 411 PCM and wire harness that came with the motor so I feel guilty about not using it haha. Any pointers or words of wisdom on this?

Right now my biggest hurdle is which way to go on the engine managment system. My goal is to get this thing going to sway a few buddies to build a couple. It seems in the long run figuring out HPtuners would be the way to go as once you get over the initial cost of the software, it would be cheaper to tune multiple vehicle with?

I can't wait to fry the tires off this thing!!!

Fahrenschnell

iTrader: (1)

Looks like this could be a very cool project. Good Luck

schaef_12

Thanks! Usually not my style, but I think it will turn out pretty sweet.

Going to order a MS3 gold box today, still not a 100% if that's the right decision or not but it sounds like I can't go wrong with the MS3.

Also going to order a TH400. Any suggestion on a reasonable converter for this thing? Believe it or not this will be the first vehicle with an auto that I have ever owned.

schaef_12

Finally found some time this weekend and made a little progress. I had already installed the valvesprings and trickflow cam, so it was time to throw the motor in.

I used dirty dingo mounts, and the thing basically fell into place.


I order a FTI reverse manual valve body TH400 from summit, along with a hughes performance TC 3200 RPM stall


Going in

Then jumped right on to building the Hotside.




I'm just leaving everything tacked together at this point. I want to mock up the intercooler piping and make sure everything fits before welding it together. I dropped the fuel tank last night and need to install my Walbro 400. Also, the powersteering lines bolted right in place, but they are also in the way of my turbo so i need to move them.

What are you guys doing with the coolant ports that run through the throttle body? Just blocking them off or drilling and tapping the water pump to circulate?

Also, I'm not sure what to do for the vaccum source for the power brakes? Obviously the line is there from the intake, but if I just hook that up will that turn into a giant boost leak when under boost?

On the transmission end of things, I have everything bolted up, but there is a reference line that i think is for line pressure. Can I just block this off or does it need to be vaccume referenced with a check valve to prevent positive pressure?

Fahrenschnell

iTrader: (1)

Vacuum modulator on the TH400 needs vacuum source or it will shift very late. Unless that is a Full Manual Valve body.

schaef_12

Thanks for the Input, I forgot to put that it is a Full manual Reverse valve body. That being said I can just block it off correct?

schaef_12

Been working on this thing after work and on the weekends.

Made some mounts to hold the radiator in


Drilled and tapped the oil pan for the turbo drain. I had a braided stainless line that came in the vsracing kit but it was to short. So i just made it out of hydraulic hose and fittings.

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My old man is a welder by trade, so he welded up the hotside for me and then we figured out where to put the wastegates.





Then I moved on to the intercooler



Getting closer! wiring in the gold box, fuel pump, and fans

schaef_12

So I finally got everything together close enough to where I could start the darn thing. I quickly realized I am in way over my head with the megasquirt lol. So i printed the manual off and have been scouring it trying to decipher what i need to change.

Basically the thing is running way rich at idle. Like 10.1:1 AFR. Plugs are blacker than hell lol. Anyway, was reading up on Tuning the VE table and ensuring all my settings were correct and decided to work on leaning the idle out. As luck would have it, my brand new AEM wideband that worked fine the first time I started it no longer lights ups. Verified power and grounds are good, just simply will not turn on or send info to the MS3 box.

So it runs (kinda) and moves, just need to work on the tune (ALOT). I am getting really anxious to drive this thing and it kills me I can't because I need to learn to tune!

89C1500

Awesome Build!! Will be checking back. Just finished my 6.0 swap in a 89. Def a fun build with plenty of room to work in!

schaef_12

Thank you! Yes there is definitely plenty of room in the engine bay. I have been battling setback after setback with this thing. First I had a bad injector driver on the MS3 box, then the Motor I got from the Junkyard had bad lifters, and now the replacement motor they sent me spun a main bearing on the crank. I have had it running 3 different times but never long enough to do any tuning lol.

TZ2884

iTrader: (14)

awesome build. subscribed

brandon6.0

iTrader: (32)

Hey bud check the inlet size of that hydraulic return line. It may look big but its inside diameter is.very small. Like -6AN small. I helped a buddy build a turbo civic and used that as a return. Blowed the seals out because of no oil return.

Figured u should know.

DavidBoren

Will the supplied SS drain line reach the front cover? You can locate your return there, assuming it's still below the turbo.

Then just use your oil pan return bung for a oil cooler.

schaef_12

For some reason the turbo drain hose looks small in the pics. It's 3/4" hose with -12 an fittings, which was the same size as the hole in the bottom of the turbo.

brandon6.0

iTrader: (32)

Yea but what is the inlet size of the hose? Same as thread size?

Think about it like this. Hydraulic lines are used in extreme harsh environment. Equipment and such. So the outside diameter is way thicker to protect from elements. Inside diameter is usually smaller. But it does depend on the size and such. It may work just figured i would pass it on to who.ever.

schaef_12

Yeah I hear ya, I work at an ag dealership so I'm building hydraulic hose all the time. The physical size of the hose is way differnt the the inside dimension. The hose itself is 3/4 inch, meaning inside diameter. Same as a -12 an fitting. Which is the same size as the fitting that is on the turbo.

greenvortec97

iTrader: (1)

awesome build man! I love these trucks!

schaef_12

So it's been awhile but I finally have an update on this build.

I finally got this thing running and driving. Was still having issues with tuning the MS3. I chalked most of it up to not knowing what I was doing, and that had some merit. I kept ruining the same piston time and time again, with that I thought was detonation.





I had several used piston and rods laying around so I slapped them in there and tried again, and again.

Kept having bad luck so I put it on the back burner while I built an old grain truck to race in our local grain truck races.


This was a 5.3 straight out of the junkyard, used a microsquirt and built our own harness and had zero trouble at 4.5lbs of boost. Over 20 laps around and oval dirt track and still running like a champ.

This made me think there had to be something wrong with my MS3. So I bit the bullet and bought another brand new Gold box and finally am having some success making a motor last and be able to make adjustments to the tune with good results.

Currently running 7lbs at 18 deg timing and looking to go up from there. Goin to get a hold of a local shop that has a dyno and see if I can rent it for the day and try to make some adjustments without blowing it up.