PerformanceTrucks.net Forums - How-To: 03-07c NNBS/TBSS intake swap

first off ill say this is a very simple swap..i was skeptical at first but a big thanks to GREENSIERRA and Bumpers for answering my questions and helping me through this, there's really not much to this swap at all. sorry i didnt take a ton of pics of everything i did but ill try to answer as many questions as i can.

This swap is dyno proven on a 6.0 to be a +25rwhp mod..thats pretty substantial on a gas motor. i did this swap piecing parts together for anyone that doesnt buy a complete kit to be able to follow. to start, let me show u the differences between the TBSS/NNBS intake and stock NBS intake that u will need to accommodate for (go ahead and pull your intake tube and engine beauty cover/"vortec" stamped manifold cover):

This is an EVAP purge solenoid on an nbs intake. notice the grey clip in the center of the pic? the solenoid is right below it:
http://i50.tinypic.com/28qud7b.jpg

here the EVAP solenoid is in the TBSS/nnbs intake..notice its actually in the line?
http://i46.tinypic.com/2ecp0z6.jpg

there are a few options here, go to the dealer and pay $60 for a freakin evap line and then another $40 at the stealership for the EVAP, or make your own evap line and buy just the EVAP. i went to O'Reillys and got this evap nnbs evap purge solenoid for $13. everywhere else wanted $40!

NNBS EVAP Purge solenoid purchased:
http://i49.tinypic.com/2lkte83.jpg

to start, u want to remove the EVAP line, by doing this pull the grey clip and pop the line off your intake. the clip looks like this: u can see how u can slide it and pop it right off
http://i46.tinypic.com/2s6aq7t.jpg

next, i measured between the "hose stops" on the nnbs evap and cut my stock EVAP line to accommodate for the "inline conversion" of my evap and hose clamped it on like so:
http://i47.tinypic.com/10prfh0.jpg

now that we got that out of the way, heres our next manner of business. the PCV line on the passenger side. (dirty side iirc)

notice on the nbs intake, its located here behind the TB:
http://i45.tinypic.com/241t5ar.jpg

and here it is on the nnbs/tbss, in the intake tube:
http://i45.tinypic.com/2mh5sp3.jpg

so what do we do to solve this? drill a hole in your intake tube and RTV/silicone a heater hose fitting in it like below..but DO NOT PUT IT WHERE I DID...itll hit the throttle body. drill up above the line in the intake tube for it to clear
http://i47.tinypic.com/33azynd.jpg

now that we have those 2 lines conquered, lets swap our intakes!

-first, ull wanna unplug the hose that runs from the brake booster to behind the intake manifold. just undo the hose clamp with pliers and slide it off (sorry, no pics but its self explanatory when u see it.)

-next, ull see a connector with a blue band around it on top of the intake mani. thats your knock sensor connector. unplug it and move it to the side

-then unplug your PCV (clean side) hose that runs off the center of the intake mani to the driver side by popping it off the valve cover and the intake

-on the top, very back of the intake mani, ull see your map sensor (its the only other thing plugged in), unplug it and move to the next step

-there's a plate with 3 bolts in it that the large wire loom with all your wires from your wiring harness come through on the top of the intake as well, unbolt it

now that all that's done, lets unplug the fuel injectors. to do so, locate your fuel injectors under your fuel rail. there are 8 of them. notice a little grey clip on them? they look like this:
http://i45.tinypic.com/aujh93.jpg

grab that clip and slide it up, ull feel it click (dont pull it all the way off, it just slides up a hair.) then u see where there's 3 sections at the top? fat one in the middle and skinny on the sides? pinch the fat part hard and slide up and itll unclip right off the fuel injectors. repeat 8 times.

now for the the fuel line. look on the rear/driver side part of the fuel rail and ull see this:
http://i47.tinypic.com/70gxht.jpg

pop that little clip off that connects the braided line to hard line, just pop the braided side off and slide towards u and itll come right off.

keep in mind that this fuel line has pressure, if u pop the braided line off without depressurizing the rail, ull get soaked in gas. locate the valve stem looking piece on the passenger side of the rail, unscrew the cap and stick a flat head screwdriver down to squirt some of the gas out of the rail to relieve some pressure (best method i found, not the most perfect way)

next, remove the braided line. here is the inside of the line:
http://i46.tinypic.com/uxzyh.jpg

notice the 4 prongs on the inside? get a quick disconnect tool at any parts store for $5 and slide it in, pull the fuel line forward, then push the line and the tool back and itll pop right off

now, lets pull the intake off! u can leave your fuel rail on or pull it off, choice is yours. on the bottom of the intake manifold are a bunch of 8mm bolts that look like this: (the connector u see with the blue bands is the knock sensor connector mentioned earlier)
http://i45.tinypic.com/xct3zr.jpg

once youre done with that, pull the intake off and this is what ull see:
http://i49.tinypic.com/vpcacz.jpg

see the black round things on the top of the motor? pop those up and look in there, thats your knock sensors. if they look clean, leave them be. if they look like rusted ass, take some needle nose pliers and pop the connector off and change the sensors. when u put the black covers back on, i RTV/siliconed around them so no moisture can get in.

-now that thats done, throw your TBSS/NNBS intake on and tighten it down! time to reconnect things! go ahead and either install your new intake gasket or reuse your old intake gasket (not recommended)

-the next problem you are going to encounter is the fuel rail on the nbs trucks is shorter than that on the tbss/nnbs intake mani. AKA, youre going to have to modify. some weld on AN fittings and use pushlock hose, others like me, cut and weld. notice the 2.5" of added steel on either side:
http://i49.tinypic.com/xqj969.jpg

be sure to know the fuel rail is stainless steel, i was told aluminum which is wrong

now that we got away from that problem, on to the next one. the pockets the fuel rail bolts fit through are much higher than the tbss intake and too narrow. how much different are they u may ask?
http://i50.tinypic.com/8z0ged.jpg

the bolt on the left is stock, the one on the right is the one u will need to buy. the little sleeve on the far right is what i dropped in my intake port and crushed a piston with on my 5.3 and the reason i got a 6.0 :nono: u do not need that sleeve.

here is how much i had to cut off of my "rail pockets"..as u can see i needed to cut a hair more:
http://i47.tinypic.com/23uxvcy.jpg

then drill out a hole in the pocket for your new bolts to go through and tighten your fuel rail down.

go ahead and reconnect your fuel line and injectors. we're done there!

reconnect your knock sensor plug, driver side PCV line, and brake booster vaccuum line and now to the map sensor. the TBSS/NNBS map sensor is different and will not plug into nbs harness so i reused my stock map sensor. seeing as i had a tbss map sensor handy, i modified my stock map sensor with the tbss o ring like so (green is off the tbss intake mani):
http://i48.tinypic.com/2s7h02e.jpg

then i RTV/siliconed it down for insurance, u dont want a vaccuum leak. dont cake it, a thin layer will do the trick. u also have to break one on the 4 tabs off the sensor for it to fit, ull notice one of the 4 tabs is missing in this pic:
http://i46.tinypic.com/v6rrdd.jpg

remember the map sensor was on the back of the nbs intake mani? well now its on the front. so trim some tape out of the wire loom and extended the map sensor connector like so:
http://i48.tinypic.com/9roq6a.jpg