Texas Noob

[dimeraider]

Hello all! My name is Bryce and I'm a 22 year old student here at Texas Tech University in Lubbock, TX. I have a 1995 Chevy S-10 ext. cab with the 4.3L TBI and 5-speed, but that nearly threw a rod as I was loading it onto the trailor to get hauled back home to Marshall. Lucky for me Texas Speed & Performance is a few minutes drive from my place and this town has few stock LSx's. So far I've gathered the 5.7L alum. block out of an SS or TA, 5.3L Sierra full heads/intake/tb/exhaust manifolds/etc., and a C5 Vette oil pan. About the only thing really needed for the engine is a timing chain, get everything cleaned, computer/wiring harness, and a 6-speed tranny. Don't plan on doing much until I graduate in a year though and probably head to Dallas to personal train. Alright, well my hands are tired from typing. I'm just glad I finally found a truck-specific LSx forum.

[nonecktribe]

welcome to the site

[TurboMic]

Welcome

[Riceeater]

Welcome to the site!!

[txarkitekt]

Welcome to LS1truck! So you are a Red Raider...its cool, we won't hold it against you... Sounds like you've got a pretty sweet truck and motor for it--make sure you completely disassemble the entire thing and inspect it thoroughly--you never know what you are gunna find... So, do you have the T-56 to match up to it yet? Make sure and try to get a 98-02 T-56--not one from the LT1 cars... Are you going to do a cam since you've got the motor sitting in the garage? It would be easy to throw on in there now...

[dimeraider]

Yes sir! One year left here at Tech and then out into the real world... As for the engine, everything except the heads are basically disassembled, but I do need to have them looked over and get everything cleaned. I'm going to get it bored probably .030 since the block lost compression in the 7th cylinder and it'd just be a waste to hone it I think. I'm going to gradually save up for the T-56, since I haven't seen any for cheap anywhere before. I'm still debating on the cam really, since these projects always seem to cost more than projected. I'll see what kind of deal I can get at TSP and then see how much it'd cost to get the 5.3 heads p/p. I was just thinking yesterday about how much the gaskets and such alone will probably cost. Luckily though we don't have modular motors that cost a kazillion dollars for one gasket. Ford...

Welcome to LS1truck! So you are a Red Raider...its cool, we won't hold it against you... Sounds like you've got a pretty sweet truck and motor for it--make sure you completely disassemble the entire thing and inspect it thoroughly--you never know what you are gunna find... So, do you have the T-56 to match up to it yet? Make sure and try to get a 98-02 T-56--not one from the LT1 cars... Are you going to do a cam since you've got the motor sitting in the garage? It would be easy to throw on in there now...

[RedHeartbeat]

bad news is that the LS1 blocks can't be bored out more than about .010" unless you have the engine resleeved, then its cheaper to buy a new block.

[ducky]

welcome to the site!

[txarkitekt]

What is the reason why the #7 lost compression? Bad rings? Leaky FPR? You can have the 862 heads reworked for a decent price, hoping that if you get them done right and have the deck honed, that should fix your compression problem--if it truely isn't a piston ring issue. If that is the case, you might as well disassemble the entire motor and put in new rings on all the cylinders. Depending on how you have the heads reworked, you need to take into consideration that the stock 5.3L heads are 61.15 cc, and the LS1 heads are 66.67 cc. Just by bolting up a set of good 5.3L heads, you are raising the CR by a few points--and it will get even higher depending upon how much honing of the heads is required.

As for the head gaskets, you can go with either the GM ones or get the metal head gaskets made by Felpro. The Felpro 3-layer head gaskets are VERY close to OEM. When you put the heads back on, make sure to buy ARTP head studs. They are not Torque to Yield like the factory head bolts. They cost a little bit more, but it is well worth it--with your possibility of removing the heads again. Depending on mileage, all of the stock gaskets and bolts can be reused. If you plan on taking off the harmonic balancer pulley (if and when you do a cam), you will need to replace the crank bolt--but they are like $8.00 from the dealership.

As for a cam, TSP is a good resource. Or since you are building on a slight budget, the Z06 cam would be a worth-while addition and you can find them pretty cheap.

[dimeraider]

Ah, didn't realize the blocks couldn't be bored even .030 without resleeving. Scratch that then. I didn't get a lot of details about why it lost compression and at the time I wasn't educated enough to ask a lot of questions. He just mentioned that honing it should fix it. Everything sits as it does right now in the picture at the beginning of the post so I'll probably buy new rings anyways. I'm not quite sure what I can to do after first getting it all assembled. I'm thinking about just spraying it until I have money to just buy a crate LS1 (unless the current one is running strong) and do about a 76mm turbo setup. That will be after a mini-tub, 12-bolt, coilovers, etc. On that subject, what kind of rear, or front even, suspension mods would you recommend to help get the power to the ground? Drag springs? I may ask my buddy on RaceLubbock.com if he kept his Z06 cam and buy it off of him.