I have purchased an 02 v6 trans am. I want to make it a v8 but have little to no knowledge of motors. I know 5.3 runs forever. I want to build it bad. Naturally aspirated no nos. Should I stick with ls 5.7, 5.3 or a 6.0? Which is going to be the easiest for noob?
Question 2 if I am going to rebuild it then does it matter how many miles are on it?
Question 3. Should I buy a complete engine or just the block?
Tia

 

The older truck iron block 5.3 liter motors are inexpensive and abundant. Difficulty of the swap will also require an oil pan change because the truck pan is deep - will hit things on the street. Miles do matter to keep the overall cost of the rebuild low and its easy to find a running 5.3 with lots of life remaining. I bought a complete 5.3 with a 4L60E - $800 for the motor and $500 for the trans and it has worked well so far. The larger, newer motors are more expensive and more complicated - Active Fuel Management and Displacement On Demand.

You have little to no knowledge of motors? Do you have a hard surface shop floor work area out of the rain? Tools? Some knowledge of electrical circuits? Own a multimeter? Access to an engine hoist? Access to somebody that can tune your powertrain control module? A shop that can adjust the length of your drive shaft, change the ends if required and re-balance the shaft?

I don't want to discourage you but this is a daunting job. Have you searched the forums here? Looked at a few You Tube videos? I bought and read two LS swap books before buying my engine and transmission and this saved me lots of money and grief.

Where in Kentucky? I'm originally from there.

Rick

 

Thanks for the help. I do have a shop, tools, and access to friends that have accents the other stuff. No knowledge of wires. I did industrial maintenance before I was a a realtor so I have mechanical knowledge just not ever worked on cars other then bolt ons and brakes and little stuff. I did turban in power plants which is pretty much a real big motor but still different cause it was just tear down and put back the same way.
I live in Elizabethtown ky.
Money is not really an issue. Not that I am loaded but this is a long term project and would rather do it the best way and take longer then done quick for cheap.

Also when rebuilding is there stages to stop at or ways or ways to keep the project protected from rust or any other stuff I need to be considered with? Of course I will keep it covered with something.

 

Hello,

It sounds like you have a good idea of what you might be up against and have many of the skills needed. Anything you don't know can be learned and there's always the University of You Tube or here on this site to guide you. Yes, this will be a long term project and it took me two years to go from a non running rust bucket 1970 Chevrolet El Camino to a nice looking, street legal vehicle. I still have a VERY long list of things I want to do. I still have no heat or AC which is trouble here in balmy summertime Louisiana. But the crank vent windows do help.

For me, it was body work and rust repair first. But I also rebuilt the front suspension, brakes, upgraded to disk brakes up front, and replaced all brake lines and fuel lines.

Only after those things did I get serious about engine and trans work. This allowed me a longer amount of time to find my 5.3 liter LM7 engine and 4L60E trans at the lowest cost and miles on them. I wound up buying it all out of a wrecked but running truck from a shop I had dealt with before that could tell me its mileage and DTC codes status. Better yet, this same shop had done a complete head rebuild and valve job only three thousand miles prior to the wreck. These deals are out there if you look for them and can pounce on them when opportunity knocks.

As far as rust, once I got my engine, I removed my fuel injectors and purged the ethanol fuel out of them. I also periodically rotated my engine to keep the valve springs conditioned. This was not exactly rust avoidance but it was trouble avoidance. AC Delco wants $140 each for brand new LM7 fuel injectors and I quite simply did not want to buy those if I could avoid it.

I would buy complete engines and transmissions plus their matching powertrain control module, electronic accelerator pedal and a complete engine wiring harness if I were you. Its no fun trying to gather all of these things one at a time with different part numbers, wiring and connector differences. Get a package deal or better yet, buy an entire wrecked and totalled out but running vehicle that you can pull everything from. Yea, might be a bigger chunk of money up front but probably less money in the long run and way less frustration.

How you proceed is up to you of course and what condition your current vehicle is in. Keep those questions coming. And I'm originally from Owensboro.

Rick

 

I have a good friend from Owensboro Jason hart.
Another question, I have access to insurance auctions and that was an option I was thinking too. I really want to make it a 6 speed from auto also. So the question is if I find a good running low ish mile set up. Then do I cam it headers and intake and beat on it till it blows then rebuild or is that stupid?

 

You can do anything you want but I remind you of your desire in the 2nd paragraph of your 2nd post above - "do it the best way".

Rick

 

One thing you will likely read over and over if you search this is your best bet is to get a donor car. There are a lot of little parts that will nickel and dime you to death. It's not as simple as dropping a V8 in a V6 car. The K member is different, radiator, wire harness/PCM, transmission, rear end (assuming yours didn't come with LSD) and a lot of other little things. Also, if you get an engine that isn't from an F body car, you need to get all the parts that bolt on to the engine from an F body car; intake/fuel rails, oil pan, accessories, etc. You can't use any of that stuff from another engine as it won't clear the hood/cradle. I have looked into this quite a bit, I'll also be going the donor car route.

Also, all the LS engines are very similar, look in the Gen III Engine sections. 4.8, 5.3, 5.7, 6.0.... they're all externally interchangeable. You can drop any one of those long blocks into an F body, but again, you'll need all the stuff that bolts to the long block. There are also many different versions of the 5.3 (4 I think), so you'll want to look into those options too. If you can get a good deal on a truck 6.0, that's likely your best bang for the buck long block.

 

Once most people see the final cost and how involved the project is they sell the v6 and use the money towards a decent v8. The only way to make it halfway affordable is to buy a v8 as cheap as possible as a donor, and getting a running driving v8 is going to be at least 3k for high miles in well used condition. Trying to do it any other way will likely take years or cost more.

 

I agree with it being cheaper to buy a V8 overall. The only way it would make sense is if you have a 100% mint car that you want to drop a V8 into. Buying a really clean LS car isn't cheap anymore.