First gen 5.3 swap.

[horsepwraddict]

Quote: Originally Posted by s10-den

will ya hurry up already?...hehe,great progress

ya ya ya. trust me, i want nothing more than for this thing to be done. I do what i can when money allows, trying to leave small stuff to do for when i dont have money to spare.

[s10-den]

shit man,we all do what we can.......i have been "planning" the swap for who knows how long now,stuff always comes up seems like...I got lots of parts, a truck,but thats about it..lol

[Black X]

Man that thing is coming along great... I really need to spend more time checking out these build threads... GREAT WORK!

[horsepwraddict]

Stripped the rear end down.

Rebuilt the Traction-Lok. Alternated and stuffed more discs into it so it should grab pretty hard.

Installed Ford Motorsports 11" drum brake kit, still need to get drums.

Got the rest of my gauges and just about got the truck wired. Check out the cyberdyne digital
Speedo/Tachometer gauges. I like it.

[LS2Sonoma]

nOice!

[horsepwraddict]

gauges/switch panel in and wired up. just need to get the rear end in to get the speed sensor hooked up.

[camaro1]

good idea running the speedo from the 8.8 abs sensor, will your speedo program to this type of signal?,

[horsepwraddict]

it will drive it, my only concern is that it wont put out enough voltage at low speeds, but it 'should'. If it doesn't, i may just give in and put speedo gears in my tranny (doesn't have any) and run the adapter. I called cyberdyne and they said they have yet to find a vehicle with a factory speed sensor/abs sensor that wouldn't work with their speedometer.

[s10-den]

ready for takeoff?looks like a cockpit of a 747 with all those gauges and switches...ha

[horsepwraddict]

welded the axle tubes and put the rear end in today.

[jakethegriff]

man, this is looking great! I can't beleive i didn't see this before!

[HemiChallenger]

Great thread. What are you planning for headers.

How much wider is the explorer axle? I've heard that they are like 3" wider?

With the fuddle converter, I'm not knocking you or anything. BUT having seen many of them on the chassis dyno next to many other converters and they dont perform very well.

Also someone mentioned the beehive springs earlier I'd HIGHLY suggest those with stock retainers and stock rocker arms as long as your staying with a hydraulic(sp?) roller. I'd also be curious to hear your cam specs.

[horsepwraddict]

-Im using '98 F-body manifolds for the exhaust.

-The explorer is overall about 5-6" wider from wheel mount surface to wheel mount surface.

-As far as the converter goes, i bought it from fuddle because i heard nothing but good things about them over on LS1Tech.com and took advantage of their holiday sale and got a good deal on it.

-Im running Scoggin Dickey's drop in springs, stock retainers and rockers. The cam is a Thunder Racing TR220-114

[horsepwraddict]

mounted my tranny cooler and ran the lines. The cooler hangs down below the bumper a little, plenty of air flow but im afraid it might be a bit vulnerable. I think bending up tranny lines is my new favorite thing to hate...royal pain in the butt.

also mocked up the exhaust manifolds, these f-body manifolds fit better than the swap headers did with my SBC.

[horsepwraddict]

drilled and tapped the water pump for the coolant crossover tube.

[s10-den]

if you could/would,get a pic of the passenger side how close it is to the cab???....

[horsepwraddict]

made a y-pipe. 2.25" mandrel bends with v band clamps. Its going to be a single 3" out the back exiting in the stock location w/ a magnaflow 3" cat and summit fully welded muffler.

[brakenit]

That Y pipe looks nice.

I like the front tires too, doing a front wheel drive conversion?

[slam]

Quote:

also mocked up the exhaust manifolds, these f-body manifolds fit better than the swap headers did with my SBC.

So how about a little more info on these f-body hedders.Plz.

[horsepwraddict]

not much to tell really. They are just stock manifolds off a '99 F-body. I cut the flanges off, welded a 2.25" pipe into the end (fits perfect after cutting the flange off) and put a flange on the end of the extension.

[horsepwraddict]

didn't really like the sharp 90* merge. I took a piece of 3" pipe and put it in the vice untill it was 2.25" wide, slid it over the y-pipe, marked it, cut it and welded it on. Its not a whole lot better, but it sure wont hurt.

[s10-den]

no job is ever complete with out bandaids....

[horsepwraddict]

'tis the truth.

[SoLowXtreme]

any pics of the passenger side Manifold on ?

[horsepwraddict]

Keep in mind, i have a little more room around the firewall than most people. My motor is also set ALL the way back, the driverside head actually just barely touches the firewall. The picture of the control arm isn't very good either, their is more room than it looks, its still clost though.

[s10-den]

plus the flanges are still on there,unless your not cutting them off...

[horsepwraddict]

nope, cut them off and welded extensions on.

[s10-den]

how much more room did it give ya?

[horsepwraddict]

I probably could have used the stock flange on the passenger side, on the driverside i had to cut it off just to get the manifold into place though.

As far as control arm clearance, i think i might go with speedway motors tubular control arms down the road which will help with clearance alot. In the mean time i think i might fill the mounts with poly urethane to stiffen them up a little and run an engine limiter to keep movement down.

[s10-den]

for the passenger side manifold next to the cab?What, about another 3/4 inch space?

[horsepwraddict]

sorry, i dont understand what your asking?

[s10-den]

when you cut the flange off,how much more room is there between the cab and the pipe you welded on the manifold now versus when the flange was on there

[horsepwraddict]

oh, i gotcha. Just like it looks, about another .5". Not a whole lot, but it is some, depends how you weld the extension on too. Obviously.