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Project Miscellaneous Expense - 1972 Nova 5.3 turbo
So I started out planning a 5.3 swap on a 73 Nova that I already had and did a build on about 5 years ago. Ran the numbers and tried to sell the built 383 that was in it and ended up deciding to sell the whole car.... Before selling it I picked up a 72 Nova roller that made more financial sense to swap into.
1) this is my first lm7 / lsx family related build so input is appreciated...
picked up a 110k mile 5.3 for a good deal and hauled it in a Honda SUV lol
2 Novas before saying goodbye to 1
Components
2003 Tahoe 5.3 lm7, dbw
TH400 transmission w ati 4000 converter (will be changed to circle d probably)
vs racing 7875 t4 turbo
deka injectors
BTR Stage II 4.8 turbo cam (budget buy off a member here used)
pac 1218 springs
holley 302-2 oil pan (required for getting the engine to fit into a Nova)
44mm wastegate precision clone, 50mm blow off valve
kb racing log manifold, crossover by me (1st time be gentle lol)
ford 9 inch rear w detroit locker 31 spline axels, 4.11 gear (will this be ok for street / 1/8 mile use every so often?) I was thinking going lower 3.08 even??
fuel system fuel cell, -10an feed, need to run -6an return line and figure out a fuel pump inline & regulator 93 octane as no e85 here
engine mounts - dingo sliders , moroso solid mounts, stock frame stands
power goal - 600 safe tune whp and I will be happy
Log manifold arrived... very nice. I didn't want to swap from truck accessories and didn't see how I could route a merge in front with my novice fab skills so I figured the most cost effective way was to purchase a log manifold and do my crossover...
Got my crossover mocked up and tacked together... yes I am aware that it looks low but it isn't any lower than the bottom of the oil pan
crossover all welded up with some vibrant flex pipe that I got using an amazon gift card lol
I wasn't planning on swapping in a cam, but I have read alot of people are making serious gains with them on these budget swaps so why not....
yep.. dont have the holley pan on yet... So my crossover might need some adjustment lol. I just wanted to make some progress while waiting on other parts.
Nice looking Novas! The rear gear will depend on a lot of things. But it's safe to say 4.11's will be too steep and not much fun on the highway (from experience, LOL). And 3.08's may be a little too high. Depending on rear tire diameter, 1/8th or 1/4 mile and your end ET goals, I'd go with something around a 3.23-3.55 range.
I cringe when I see crush bent exhaust piping lol. But that's a personal kinda thing.
Looking good otherwise. Remember if you pull any cover it needs to be aligned on these motors. Timing, rear, oil pan! Depending on the trans you plan to run the oil pan will be more critical.
Same mentality as my 5.3 swap except I went supercharged and kept it all stock except for a new fbody oil pan and LS6 blue valve springs. Stock cam is very tame but will give u amazing street manners and lots of usable vacuum for brakes etc and makes tuning a hell of a lot easier.
Consider a CTS-V oil pan also. Much cheaper than the Holley pan if you look around. It sits about 1-1.5" below the crossmember which shouldn't be a problem unless you plan on really slamming the car. Also one boy boss on the left side of the pan needs to be shortened to turn full lock. Use 1 inch setback motor mount adapters and that'll keep the trans in the factory location. Might dive you some money over the slider/adjustable mounts. Looks good.
Holley pan is stupid expensive for what it is. I got all new genuine GM parts, fbody oil pan with gasket and bolts, Windage tray, pickup and dipstick for less than $250 new. GM parts direct price matched by summit. Another option is the GM muscle car swap kit. It's not as deep as the truck pan but not as short as the fbody, it's like $179 for the kit from summit.
Other people cut the bottom off the truck pan and weld on a filler peice to make it shorter but you loose capacity unless you add out width wise while making it shorter.
the gm musclecar pan fits a nova . it is a good couple inches below the cross member but never has gave me an issue. and it costs about $140.00 from the dealer. or ebay .
comes with
pan
windage tray
dip stick
pickup tube
gaskets
bolts.
nice looking pan . it is about 1.5 inches shorter than the Tahoe pan.
the gm musclecar pan fits a nova . it is a good couple inches below the cross member but never has gave me an issue. and it costs about $140.00 from the dealer. or ebay .
comes with
pan
windage tray
dip stick
pickup tube
gaskets
bolts.
nice looking pan . it is about 1.5 inches shorter than the Tahoe pan.
UGH... My Holley 302-2 pan arrived Monday and I had to buy gaskets and dip stick later. I will also be modifying the truck windage tray.
So I am thinking about converters to use and have been looking at the Circle D for TH400 w ls flexplate bolt pattern. That is a nice convenience. Ultimate Converters is also local to me so I may reach out to them.
I am thinking 3500 stall for my combo would work... any suggestions? Going to swap 4.11 gear for sure.... maybe even go down to 3.08's
How tall of a tire? I have a 27" tire and a 3.55 gear, but I also have overdrive. I couldn't imagine cruising the highway with a 3.55 in 3rd gear. I would have to step down to at least a 3.27.
I'm already worried about riding the limiter through the traps with a 3.55.
I have the Holley pan and use a stock truck dipstick. I just marked the dipstick for my new Full mark. The LS3 dipstick they recommend you use didn't fit with my KB racing manifold. I also just reused The stock truck pan gasket.
Oh and my KBRacing crossover was insanely close to the ground. I hit a big block of wood and destroyed it. Then I was smart enough to fab one on the car and get it as close to my converter as I felt safe doing. Much better.
I would just return the pan and stuff and get the cheaper pan and save a few bucks to put towards the converter.
Alot of people go with circle D, not sure about the cost of a decent billet converter there but I'm all about saving money when I can. I went with a somewhat local to me (NJ and PA) and got a full billet converter from winners choice transmissions, custom built and stalled. Should be good for 1000hp and the lockup clutch is massive so i can do WOT shifts and lockup the converter if wanted and not worry about it slipping. Cost was like $750 total to my door. Lived behind my 550hp/650+tq 521 BBF (2004R trans) just fine and is now behind my 5.3 supercharged. Its a Dad and son shop and pretty happy with the customer service and product.
One thinig I will tell you is not to change the bolt pattern on the converter. If its a 400 then leave the pattern 400 or get the converter with both 400 and LS bolt patterns. Mainly bc of resale. Specialty converters are hard to sell if you need to. Get multiple bolt pattern converter or swap out the flexplate for a multi bolt pattern. I forget but i think the LS pattern is very close to the BBC or SBC pattern and all you have to do is elongate the flexplate holes and it bolts right up. Thats what I did and mines in no issues with the OEM 5.3 flexplate.
How tall of a tire? I have a 27" tire and a 3.55 gear, but I also have overdrive. I couldn't imagine cruising the highway with a 3.55 in 3rd gear. I would have to step down to at least a 3.27.
I'm already worried about riding the limiter through the traps with a 3.55.
I have the Holley pan and use a stock truck dipstick. I just marked the dipstick for my new Full mark. The LS3 dipstick they recommend you use didn't fit with my KB racing manifold. I also just reused The stock truck pan gasket.
Oh and my KBRacing crossover was insanely close to the ground. I hit a big block of wood and destroyed it. Then I was smart enough to fab one on the car and get it as close to my converter as I felt safe doing. Much better.
Agreed, I have 3.55s and 0.67 OD with lockup converter and I had 28.1" tall tire and my highway was like 1900rpms at 80+mph. Alittle too tall for me as it felt boggy at 65-70mph but this was with a 521 BBF and a cam that required a 2400-2800 stall. Ive just put new rims and tires on and now Im at 26.6" tall tire so I should be alittle happier around 70mph now.
Same with the dipstick! Great minds think alike lol. I tried the Fbody dipstick and it wouldnt fit with my LTs and supercharger so I bent the hell out of it and got it to fit but it was too hard to get the dipstick in and out of the tube so I scrapped it and rebent the stock truck one slightly and it worked perfectly. Scratched in new fill marks using the Fbody dipstick as a template and all is well. I could use the Fbody dipstick if I really wanted to but only like 1.5" sticks out past the tube in the pan. I could easily cut the end off the truck dipstick and flare it out now that I think of it lol to make it shorter to match the Fbody tube.
Yep made my own crossover, but may have to adjust it later on.
Great advice and keep it coming guys.
My progress is somewhat slowed as my son is not old enough for me to have him hang in the garage w me lol... 4 months
Got some parts coming to move ahead
Originally Posted by JoeNova
How tall of a tire? I have a 27" tire and a 3.55 gear, but I also have overdrive. I couldn't imagine cruising the highway with a 3.55 in 3rd gear. I would have to step down to at least a 3.27.
I'm already worried about riding the limiter through the traps with a 3.55.
I have the Holley pan and use a stock truck dipstick. I just marked the dipstick for my new Full mark. The LS3 dipstick they recommend you use didn't fit with my KB racing manifold. I also just reused The stock truck pan gasket.
Oh and my KBRacing crossover was insanely close to the ground. I hit a big block of wood and destroyed it. Then I was smart enough to fab one on the car and get it as close to my converter as I felt safe doing. Much better.
If you decide to send the Holley pan back, you might go with a stock f-body pan... in which case you might also check out a thread I made on notching said oil pan.
I also know Dorman has started producing an aftermarket f-body oil pan, rockauto has them for cheap. You'll probably have to source the windage tray and pickup tube though.
There are a lot of really good builds on here for novas...
If I learned anything from my build, it was to do your homework and try not to reinvent the wheel too much.
Got some good garage time in this weekend, but man the weather has been real nice here. Makes me wish that I still had my other Nova. I miss it somewhat, but it helps motivate me to finish this one.
So my BTR stage II turbo 4.8 turbo cam arrived that I bought off a user here gently used.
My goal was to install it this weekend, but I was slowed alittle by a balancer pulley installed by thor himself. The advance auto loaner puller kit worked well in the end and I won.
Installed the cam sloppy style by turning it upside down to hold the lifters lol... went pretty smoothly
Everything looked nice internally. Could still see cross hatching on the visible cylinder walls
Next week I am going to tap my oil pan for the turbo drain and notch / modify the windage tray as shown below. Shorten and notch
After that I will finish doing the springs and button everything back up!
Looks like great progress! I had issues with my bulkhead fitting on my 67 also into the side of the moroso pan, ended up going with a bung also. No leaks and clears! =) Keep up the good work!
02-20-2016, 11:01 PM
Project Miscellaneous Expense - 1972 Nova 5.3 turbo 
