Lutz

hey guys, for those of you on S10forum you may recognize the name of the thread. I've got the full build on my truck going on over there, but chose to make one here since this forum is more dedicated to engines and I'll probably get better responses.

The truck I began with is an '03 xtreme extended cab with a 4.3 V6 auto. Heres a shot of it when I bought it a few years back:



Thats the photo that was used in the ad. Fast forward a few years and a couple thousand dollars, and this is where my project truck is at.



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As it sits right now its on air ride with full FBSS adjustability. It has an LRD 6 link in the rear with 2500# airlift bags, and up front it has speedway upper control arms, thorbros lower control arms, and 2500# airlift bags as well. For air management I'm running the airlift V2 system and a york 210 EDC for my air supply.

Up next, as can be guessed, is the engine swap. While the front end is torn down, I'll also be swapping in a dash from a '58 ford fairlane and a steering wheel from a mid 60's chevy.

My main reason for the swap is to gain power obviously haha. Current engine is by no means tired out at 170k KM (just over 100k miles) but the truck is a project and not my daily, so i figured why not.

As far as the motorswap goes, I picked up an engine on saturday from a somewhat local junkyard.





I have yet to identify it as a 5.3 or 4.8. Regardless of what it is, I'm not to concerned. Right now I'm focused on getting it into the truck and then I'll worry about gains later.

So far, I've removed the headers, plugs, and pan and tonight I'll be removing the oil pickup and windage tray to get to the crankshaft and determine what block I've got.

Also, I've already accumulated a few things for the swap. I've got a hughes tranny spacer so I can reuse my stock tranny, as well as CPW poly engine mounts and sanderson headers. For a harness I'll be going to Jared at CPW when I'm ready for it. I've also got an LS2/3 oil pan kit on the way from southern performance that i'll have to notch for.

I plan on using stock truck accessories for the most part, and I'll be going the DBC route. I'll be changing out the stock a/c however for a sanden unit so I can use it as an air compressor for my air ride while keeping a mostly factory look. I'm hoping I can mount it in the stock a/c location so that I can keep the lines out of eyesight.

Thanks for looking! I'll try to keep this updated as much as possible!

Lutz

As of right now, I'm debating a full rebuild. On the one hand, it should be done solely for the purpose of it has quite a few miles on it, and if im going through the effort of putting it in my truck, it might as well be good to go for a long while.

But at the same time, if I'm going to be rebuilding it anyways I might as well upgrade parts and add some power to the beast to really get the truck to haul ***. No sense in me spending money on factory pistons and such only for me to replace them in a year. Theres no need for me to waste money now haha.

So, as of right now I'm kind of stuck, and not sure which direction to go. If I do build it up, its going to delay the time frame I have in my mind to get it in the truck and running properly. And to add to that, I'm heavily considering going FI soon after its in the truck, most likely with a rear mount turbo. So if I do choose to build it up, I have to keep FI in mind as well so I dont end up with a compression ratio that is unsuitable for it. So many options, not sure what way to go!

AUTOT3K

iTrader: (3)

where are you located? I noticed you speak that Kilometre jibber jabber as well haha

sounds like your stuck with a choice, Ive been there.
you mentioned you should rebuild it so that you dont have to touch it for a while and you mentioned you'd have a longer time frame.
I guess some things to consider would be can you live with a little longer start up date and have a well built motor go in once? or do you wanna do all the work, get it in, get it running and hope it runs well then re do all the work later on to build the motor up? doing it the two-way method you'll also be wasting money on fluids and gaskets etc etc...not a lot but its money you could save by pulling the engine once

Lutz

I'm located in Regina, wasnt really expecting anyone from within 1000km of me to be on here haha. But you do raise a fair point. I think I'll have to look into what exactly I'll be replacing if I were to build it up, and then go from there. A lot of it will depend on cash flow as well, thats my main limiting factor.

As far as time frame, its not like I'm in a huge time crunch, moreso just what I've set for myself. The stock motor has 170k km on it, so its still got a lot of life left in it. Theres no issues with it currently, so im not exactly crunched for time.

What it really comes down to I think is I just need to make a damn decision

Lutz

So I'm unsure of what to make of this. I found a few metal shavings/pieces after pulling the pan.

Heres the pickup tube:


And the pan, not sure how well this photo is going to turn out:


Searching the forums a bit here, sometimes small pieces are common, and to be expected. Im concerned though that these pieces are a bit larger than average and a sign of a needed rebuild. Honestly, this is my first go at building an engine and am not 100% sure of what is appropriate in this situation. I've gathered all my knowledge from heavy researching.

Anyone have any go forward suggestions? Does this call for further tear down, or should it be fine as is? These few pieces in the pickup tube were the only larger sized pieces of metal I found.

LSGUNSS

iTrader: (41)

It looks like there is something that needs attention in that motor. I would pull it down to the block and check it out. Wit the size of those metal shavings I would think that it would stand out like a sore thumb. It looks like rod barring material to me, but I'm not 100%. Did the junkyard say anything about it having rod knock?

Lutz

No there was no mention of it. Ive got it torn down for the most part right now, just need to pull the heads and then it's down to the block. Definitely need to find the root of the problem though

LSGUNSS

iTrader: (41)

Did all the barrings look good? Have you been taking pics? Come on man share with your PT buddies!

Lutz

Haha honestly I havent been able to do much to it the last few days. Ill take some pics next time I get out there though for yall. Ill post one up in a minute or two of where im at

Lutz

Hope that works. Damn do I hate using photobucket on my phone. Such a crappy mobile app!