LS2 Re - Build; Beware 56K!

[LS2Sonoma]

Heres for some of you who would like some pix of what my truck seems to go through every winter. well, that is, until i get more of it done the way i want.

right now it seems that i dont have the funds to do it all at once, so this year im sure that i will do these mods:

new 8.5" diff
body off/clean frame
new wiring harness/additional wiring for a/c, line loc, and fog lights
255lph walbro fuel pump
finish body work on my box

and now for some pix!

this is my buddy's dakota R/T with a 408. engine has a minor vibration due to an improper balance. it has to come right apart and rebalanced





some engine bay pix with the intake off. didnt have my wiring wrapped this year cuz it was never finished





theres a blue part!!! thats bad


new skin on the a$$, needs to be welded still


inside of the new skin, still in primer. going to box line it once the seams are sealed

[AmericanMuscle]

how long you plan on all this taking?

[02dime]

forever hahaha, you need to get me a head cover frank wtf

[lilsonoma]

Looking good, as always. I'm curious, what hydro boost unit is that from behind the master cylinder/reservoir?

[LS2Sonoma]

Quote: Originally Posted by AmericanMuscle

how long you plan on all this taking?

once the engine is out of the dakota ill have room to move my box and cab off the frame. diff and fuel pump wont take more than a week. the rest, i dunno... i have 5 months!

[LS2Sonoma]

im not entirely sure what year the hydroboost is from, but i believe its a 91-ish astro. youll know the one cuz the mounting plate is flat. the one i had was angled and i had to make my own

[lilsonoma]

Thanks. Looks good in there, and definitely helps with the V8 conversion/head clearance/coil pack room. How does it feel on a lowered S-truck with small tires? My only experiences leave me with heavy trucks and tall tires with hydro boost. I bet it'll stop on a dime for you and give ya 8 cents in change!

[LS2Sonoma]

lol

it stops great, but sadly, i get no change!! the truck eats all my money

[s10-den]

Frank, never ending my friend...LOL

[Black X]

Trucks looking good Frank mine will be coming apart shortly too!

[s10-den]

Man, you guys up there have problems..Take a perfectly good running lsx swapped s10 apart.For what reason?You dont like the way a wire is.....

[LS2Sonoma]

.....what else is there to do all winter? we cant drive all year round!

[lilsonoma]

Quote: Originally Posted by LS2Sonoma

.....what else is there to do all winter? we cant drive all year round!

Build one that can. I'd bet that ZR2 of yours would love an iron block 6.3L.

[sonomaguy]

Quote: Originally Posted by LS2Sonoma

im not entirely sure what year the hydroboost is from, but i believe its a 91-ish astro. youll know the one cuz the mounting plate is flat. the one i had was angled and i had to make my own

Nice work Frank, you did an awesome job on that.

[LS2Sonoma]

if i did a swap on the zr2 it would most likely just be a 350 vortec

thanks steve

[LS2Sonoma]

kk, so an update.... the 408 is ready to come out AAAAAND!! i took half my spindles off! not really, but the rotors and backing plates are ready to come out. you gotta check out this one side.

it wasnt making any noise last year! i found it and just changed the pads for the previous summer. scrap metal now!







no pads left, the groves are from the rivots that hold the pad on!

[s10-den]

Some peole just dont need to be driving ....AT ALL!

[Kampz69]

damn i didnt know you had a 408 in there. strokers FTW!!

looks like its time for a C5 brake upgrade huh?

[s10-den]

Oh shit frank...lmao I read that wrong, I thought it said this was from the previous owner... .....

[01cherryreds10]

The LS2 just looks like it's at home in there. Very nawce

[LS2Sonoma]

nope, its from me.. i had never bought brakes for this truck! i ran those rotors just cuz i didnt want to buy new ones for one summer. i plan on changing them asap. i will have to see what the financial situation looks like, my front end wont be cheap!

Kampz, the stroker is in the dakota, the sonoma just has a plain jane 6.0L

[Kampz69]

ah, my bad...still sweet nonetheless!

[LS2Sonoma]

well, no picture updates for you guys... i got my diff out and patiently waiting for the dakota to be moved. its getting trailer'd outta here. gonna start fitting the new diff in and cleaning up the frame.

unfortunately, since its cold out i need to do some other maintenance on my winter beater. need a new block heater and i think my intake gasket is leaking, its intermitent so i dunno! should have that done over the holidays and can get started on my ls2 thereafter.

anyway, Mery XmAs everyone! keep fit and have fun on the holidays!

[RazorS10]

Very nice bro keep us updated.

[LS2Sonoma]

i had a few hours to kill between family events today, so i grabbed my new diff for a test fit.... you guessed it, it doesnt fit!!

i wanted one out of a 4x4 which should be 4" wider than mine, but this one is 8" wider

anyway, a few pictures to keep you guys entertained

[sonomaguy]

So what was the new one out of that it was so much wider?

[Kampz69]

must have been a ZR2 rear...

[AmericanMuscle]

^x2^

[LS2Sonoma]

dont know what it came out of, the vehicle was burnt to a crisp

[LS2Sonoma]

see how i have two and a half inches clearance? i originally thought the diff was 4" wider than mine, so it should have had 0.5" clearance and i was going to space the wheel to bring it out slightly. this diff is 8" wider, so im at 2.5" too wide. now, i can either sell this diff and find the right one or shorten it. only problem i have with that is i was planning on running a spacer which was to be equal on every wheel, 1". if i shorten it, why not shorten it to the exact size i want and run no spacer. it may be cheaper. time will tell.





that sticks out waaaay too far

[sonomaguy]

Or, if you'rer planning on running different rims, change the backspacing or offset so the wheel tucks in more. I guess if you're not changing rims though that would be a waste of money.

[SoLowXtreme]

ya thats probably a ZR2 rear frank...u need a Reg 4x4 rear end

[83blazer28]

or you could keep the rear and get some wide ass tires to fill the extra gap

[LS2Sonoma]

Quote: Originally Posted by 83blazer28

or you could keep the rear and get some wide ass tires to fill the extra gap

wide tires? they are already a foot wide

[Kampz69]

yea what size are those? they look great with those C5's

[LS2Sonoma]

305 45 18

[Kampz69]

those style C5's look 100x better black than silver or chrome...badass dude

[LS2Sonoma]

its been a fairly slow past few days. got the interior apart and windshield out.
heres the nest that im going to get rid of



also going to lose the rear jumper seats since i will never use them. just need to find a creative way to fill them in.

[rentedmule]

It took me far too long to figure out that was a trouble-light hanging there and not some weird part of the wiring harness for the engine swap...

[s10-den]

Quote: Originally Posted by rentedmule

It took me far too long to figure out that was a trouble-light hanging there and not some weird part of the wiring harness for the engine swap...

thats his flux-thingamagigy, (secret NOS bottle) thats how he is getting so much HP....
actually good place for a 'hidden' bottle mounted sideways...

[Kampz69]

nope, hes test fitting his neons lol

[LS2Sonoma]

duralite?

tyson, hurry up and blow your 4.3 up... ill sell you a duralite for your swap!

[rentedmule]

That neon underglow kit is gonna look sweet! LOL. At least with the turbo I can kill it with boost instead of broken bits of supercharger

[philntx]

Frank, on the picture with the wheels installed, is that with the same spacer you had on your old setup?

The owner of this GEN 1 truck used Late ZO6 wheels (not sure if they were GM or Aftermarket) and claimed to have installed a ZR2 rear axle to avoid having to use any spacers.

He did use spacers on the front.

I also realize that the offset of this 19" C6 wheel is considerably different than the C5 wheels on yours.

[LS2Sonoma]

Quote: Originally Posted by philntx

Frank, on the picture with the wheels installed, is that with the same spacer you had on your old setup?

no spacer there, just a 8" per side wider diff

im not sure what the backspacing is on the c6 wheels, but measuring off my old diff the c5's need anywhere from 2.5" - 3" spacer and not stick out.

i need a 4" more narrow diff (4x4, not zr2) or i have to shorten this one.

[s10-den]

Quote: Originally Posted by philntx

Frank, on the picture with the wheels installed, is that with the same spacer you had on your old setup?

The owner of this GEN 1 truck used Late ZO6 wheels (not sure if they were GM or Aftermarket) and claimed to have installed a ZR2 rear axle to avoid having to use any spacers.

He did use spacers on the front.

I also realize that the offset of this 19" C6 wheel is considerably different than the C5 wheels on yours.

WOW.....

[02dime]

those are the rims i wanna run

[Kampz69]

aftermarket C6 Z06 specs are as follows (from what ive read/seen):

19x10.5 are +79
19x11 are +64 or +79 (might be the same wheel as the 10.5, guy probably just rounded up)
19x12 are +59

[smoothdime]

ya thats my truck. the rears are 10" wide, not sure on the backspace or offset. cant remember, ordered them a year or so ago. the ZR2 rearend makes it nice for vette/camaro wheels- no spacers. i had ZR1 wheels prior to these with the same 2.25" spacersup front. the wheels are aftermarket ebay specials, paid like $900 or so i think. gary

[Kampz69]

the ZR2 rear would have made them stick out too far, you sure you didnt use a regular 4x4 rear?