Hey all,
I got tired of having an L98 that occasionally ran but normally didn't due to electrical gremlins. I've spent the last few months researching and collecting the required parts to get my swap up and running over the course of a month. Here it is as it sits, the global situation means I no longer have access to a shop after hours as I once did, so found myself a roomy storage unit. PO started but never finished a C5 body kit, and the car now has an 84 front bumper as it should but I'm not sure how I feel about the door panels and vents just yet, I do like the look of the C5 rear bumper. Don't mind the gaps, all the body panels were thrown on with a couple of bolts, apparently, AAA won't let you tow project cars.

A Bit About the Swap Motor:
I decided to go with an L59, the iron block flex-fuel variant of the 5.3L, mine happens to be a Gen 3.5, a Gen3 Block with the beefy Gen 4 rods and floating pistons. I know lots of people on the forum don't like seeing iron blocks in a Vette because of no weight savings, but I got this engine complete with harness, PCM and a toasted trans for less than $200 and it looks like it was rebuilt in the near past. I was initially planning on just putting it in the Vette and working towards getting it running and driving but decided to do a reseal, high volume oil pump with stock relief spring, somewhat mild cam, PAC1218s, and a trunnion upgrade, oh and a very thorough degreasing and clean up job. These mods get me close to 350RWHP and low 300's for torque to the wheel(based on dyno numbers with a 4l60), which puts me about even with what the L98 made torque-wise and a little boost to HP, it is peakier than the l98 but that power is usable from 2200-6800RPM. I'll be keeping the truck intake for this build, low-end torque means a lot more to me than high-end power and it is a sacrifice I am willing to make, that said, the intake will be ported and I'll be using a 95mm TB. My intake choice does mean the hood will need to be cowled, I've 3D scanned my hood and designed a bolt-on cowl that I'll be 3D printing and glassing, just waiting on getting the motor in and getting final height measurements, once I know it fits I'll also be making it available on Thingiverse, as well as an LS swap air box, but that's a WIP since I can't even get mine off. My end goal for this car is to eventually boost it and get it to 600RWHP, but it'll be a while before that happens, for now I'm focused on getting to drive it.

The real work begins tomorrow, the hood, and front and rear bumpers will be coming off, and the engine pull will begin. I'll have more pictures tommorow!

 

Awesome, I look forward to watching your LS swap!
Just recently swapped my 88' although i've still got some work to do yet.

 

This is mine. If I had to do it all over again I would have never messed with the factory PCM. I have the Holley Terminator X now and it's unreal how amazing it is. Worth every penny. Just a heads up, with your goal in power you might want to consider a 4L80e instead of the 4L60e. It fits very well in a C4 and will handle 750 hp with just a few simple upgrades. No need for an expensive rebuild.

 

Awesome build man. I too am excited for your progress. I have finished my swap of a 6.0L into my 84. We are here if you need any help.

 

Don't give the Iron vs aluminum block thing any thought. The weight difference between them is only 110 pounds. If you can save a bunch of money and get a better/stronger motor then go iron. Next winter I'll be removing my aluminum LS6 and swapping in a LQ9 iron 6.0L. Because I want the gen 4 rods and the increased displacement. It will also give me more compression if I re-use my 243 heads (11 to 1 instead of 10.5 to 1). And with more displacement I can run more cam. I'll be stepping up to the Summit 8707.

 

Thanks guys,
No progress pictures today, what was supposed to be a 30-minute cam swap turned into a whole day project of pulling the motor apart, the number 3 cam bearing somehow shrunk 40 thou and welded itself to the stock cam. Block didn't look damaged so I have some Durabond bearings on the way, hopefully the bearing didn't chew up the block, otherwise I'll have to have the block bored to match the diameter of the number 1 and 5 bearings. Very clear signs of oil starvation in the bottom end, but lifters, crank, and cam lobes somehow made it out alive and look perfect. At this point the motor has been stripped down to the block, I'm still unsure if the block will be going to the one machine shop we have in the area(which means extraordinary prices) or if I'm gonna install the cam bearings myself, I found a 3D printable install and removal tool so may give it a shot.
Phobos, the 8707 looks pretty similar to the sloppy stage 2 which is what I was planning on putting into this motor, it seems they're pretty close but the 8707 is higher lift.
Here are some pics of the carnage:

Number 2 rod bearing, the only bad one, all the others looked like they could be reused. I have a King rod + main bearing set also on the way.

Apart from some discoloration, the crank has no scratches that I can feel with my nail, it'll get a polish and should be good to go, the bearing halves were actually fused together and had to be pried apart.

Number 3 cam journal, had to remove the crank and use a screwdriver and hammer to beat the bearing off, got into the rhythm of hit, turn 90*, hit, weirdly enough, cam journal also doesn't feel all that bad and could probably be used, it'll be joining my wall of shame with the cam bearing.

 

As much as I love 3d printing stuff in my spare time (mostly gun parts) I don't think you want a 3d printed cam bearing install tool. You need to tap the bearings in firmly. It might break or push the bearing in en-evenly. Summit racing sells an LS specific cam bearing tool. It's very good quality and doesn't cost very much. Something to consider with your block. Since yours is a gen 3.5 you could pull any "run of the mill" running 5.3 from a junk yard and swap in your gen 4 rotating assembly. That's the beauty of the 5.3L. If yours is messed up just go get another one. The early 5.3's in my area sell for well under $200 for a running long block. Might be cheaper or less hassle then messing with your block. Hell you might even find a L33 if your lucky.

 

I've begun looking for a new block, but 5.3s go for about $500 here and 4.8s go for 400. If that is what ends up happening, I'll be looking for a gen3.5 4.8 for the flat top pistons and compression boost. Advice taken on the tool, I'll order it tonight and it'll hopefully make it here with the bearings, my work week has begun so I'm constrained to weekends moving forward, next weekend regardless of what happens with the LS, I'm gonna go ahead and pull the L98, that way I have access to the harness and can hopefully find what's wrong.

 

See how far of a drive it would be for you to get to Pittsburgh. This Saturday the yard I go to is 50% off. You could get a 5.3 for $150 out the door. I'm going to be there all day pulling parts for ebay. I can give you a hand if you need. They have a couple 6.0's to if you want to go that route. Same price as a 5.3.

 

Also I have a gen IV 4.8 that is rusting peacefully next to my garage. I would love it if someone made it disappear so I don't have to look at it anymore. Pistons are in good shape and it still turns. Will for sure need new rings though.

 

Thanks for all the updates,

I hate to be the bearer of bad news but if that engine underwent oil starvation that destroyed some of the bearings, its very, very likely that little metal particles are spread all through the oil gallies and are inside the lifters. If you want the rebuild to last your going to have to proabbly get the whole thing hot tanked and get new lifters bearings etc. Otherwise your going to run a real risk of having your rebuilt motor take dump.

You could also just get another cheap pull out motor and roll the dice that its going to be in better shape, but don't just put new bearing etc... in that motor without cleaning it out and replacing the lifters that's just asking for trouble.

 

Pitt is an hour north of my university and about 5 hours away from me, that's part of why low-end torque is important to me. The last 75 miles or so of the trip (Cumberland, MD if you're familiar with the area) is brutal on gas mileage and requires constant downshifting in my truck, I want to get this engine to the point where I can drop out of OD and power through. I didn't mention it in my first post but after I get this car to the point where I like it drivability-wise, it will become my new daily and probably do right around 250-500 miles a week.

I hear you, machine shop quoted me $250 for hot tank and cam bearing R&R, which I will be doing assuming the durabond bearings don't just slide through the number three bearing housing.
I'm not sure this was a case of oil starvation anymore, in the end, it really looks like a really bad rebuild where the failed rod and cam bearings weren't installed correctly. I thought all the "tearing" in the bearing was from where the bearing had fused to the crank, but looking at the back of the bearings, there's no bluing or heavy discoloration, hell there is barely any on the face of the bearing. Showed the pictures to my friends and they agreed, as did the Mahle engine bearing guide, here are the excerpts:





There is lots of metal migration from where the two halves meet, and this is the only bearing that looked like that, the number one main had hints of cold start damage, which is pretty common since it is the furthest away from the oil supply, but the rest of the bearings I'd feel very confident in reusing. The motor also has LS2 lifter trays and what look like brand new LS7 lifters in an early model year 05 Yukon (NCSA shows the VIN at 2004) which means it was definitely torn into, the lifter area does not have the hump of the later engines that fit the LS2 trays, the tell-all I believe is this:


That hit mark on the bearing surface should have resulted in a raised edge, measuring with my micrometer, it is almost perfectly even with the bearing surface in front of it.

On the outside of the bearing starting at that mark on the inside is this scar, I'm surprised I didn't notice this earlier and piece two and two together, I was pretty bummed about the situation so that probably clouded my thoughts.
Luckily I have the last oil filter from the engine, its a blue can of death STP filter, my personal experience with those filter is they drop oil pressure by 10 or so pounds. I rechecked the oil I drained from it, and while it was black, there were no shinies or metal particles in it or the pan.

 

Good to see another LS swap! Check out my LQ4 build I replaced all the bearings and rings and hand polished the crank. If you can swing it get the larger engine worth every penny.

 

I have to agree about going with a 6.0L if you can possibly afford you can't beat the $$$ for HP, unless your going F.I then it doesn't matter. I
bought a aluminum 5.3L (LC9) but every way I calculated it for my HP goal a 6.0L made more sense. So I resold the LC9 for a profit and got a LS2 instead.

 

I have to agree about going with a 6.0L if you can possibly afford you can't beat the $$$ for HP, unless your going F.I then it doesn't matter.

I bought a aluminum 5.3L (LC9) but every way I calculated it for my HP goal a 6.0L made more sense. So I resold the LC9 for a profit and got a LS2 instead.

Either way best Of luck with it, its great to see another LS swap, i'll be following along.

 

I originally wanted to do a 6.0 but couldn't find one for a reasonable price, salvage yard wanted $550 for one that came out of a great-looking truck so I passed because that's usually a mechanical failure. I got this motor with a 4l60 for $50 and a base tune on the seller's truck. I will be going forced induction just not in this stage of the build, I want to break-in all the new components before I start pushing this thing, I also don't have any miles on this vette, since I bought it in June I've put maybe 75 miles on it working on the tune. Apart from the randomly dying L98, I know this car also pops out of second when engine braking, I think the shifter needs to be adjusted though because second is super shallow compared to the other gears. The 6.0 would have made a really nice daily though, just gobs of low end torque, but I never budgeted for it, if I can find one for a reasonable price with gen 4 rods, I'm thinking of selling this engine with all the upgraded parts and buying one.

 

There are several LQ4's and one LQ9 in Pittsburgh right now. $150 out the door on Saturday.

 

I wanna see more pics of the body kit

 

How long did you day the sale was for? If it last till next weekend, I have a 3 day weekend and can make the drive.

Will do, the engine mishap stopped me from pulling the bumpers. The fitment is pretty poor and takes work to make it look right, the front bumper from this kit wasn't even close and it looked weird on the C4 but the rest of the kit is slowly growing on me. Definitely makes it a unique C4 though, last issues I need to figure out are driver side fender vent and the door panels don't look like they were prepped all that well and are peeling off.

Parts are starting to come in, I have my rod, main, and cam bearings here and dear God did that number 3 bearing shrink, it's a difference I can feel holding them next to each other in one hand, don't even need to measure. Talked to a few machine shops not quite in the area and got some tips on installation, A few recommended some sort of bearing retainer so I got some Loctite 603, I don't think it will be needed but it's cheap insurance and peace of mind. I decided to just go ahead and call it an overhaul and ordered rings and coated flat top pistons, I'll be ball honing the cylinders since the crosshatch is just barely visible and I want to make sure the new rings seat well. Looks like the first 500 miles of this LS build are gonna be slooowwww.

 

This weekend went by way too quick, but here's a quick progress update.
Corvette Side:
I'm just about ready to pull the L98, just got to figure out whether I'm pulling the trans and engine all together or pulling the engine+bellhousing. It fought me every step of the way and it's still in the car after 6.5 hours, all the threads of people pulling them in 3 to 5 must have some religiously maintained cars and tiny hands.
I ended up having to pull the manifolds off to get the motor mount nuts loose, the weight of the motor didn't hold the bolt well enough to let me loosen them, maybe it's the angle I have the car jacked up at? I tried to pull the AC compressor out of the bracket after pulling the valve cover and removing the number 2 rocker so the inner bolt would come out and it won't come out, it just rocks side to side in the mount. I'm gonna go ahead and recover the refrigerant and see if I can get it out with the lines disconnected. Apart from those two things, it came apart pretty easily. The harness is in rough shape, to say the least so that is probably why this thing is a non-runner at the moment.
LS:
Yesterday was pretty uneventful, I removed all the old cam bearings and practiced reinstalling them so I wouldn't mess up my new set. Unfortunately the first bearing I went to put in(#5) didn't go too smoothly, I am using an expanding bearing installer, and had two of the retaining bands on, one on the inner expander and one on the outer. Not quite sure how it happened, but the inner band somehow walked itself out from the setup and the outer die shrank as I was hammering the bearing in, not a pretty sight. Thankfully, the bearings are cheap so I still come out almost $100 less than the machine shop quote. I had to leave after that because of an emergency at home so Saturday was a waste. Today on the other hand I spent a couple of hours cleaning up the block, I ran a soapy water mix and then a water/lye mix through the oil galleys to hopefully remove any contamination and dissolve any aluminum-bearing shards that could be in there. I captured all the water from the soapy water run and rand it through a coffee filter to see if there were any metallic bits, and thankfully there weren't so I'm gonna go ahead and run the LS7 lifters I removed from the motor. Also got to flex hone the cylinders before my 3-hour engine work time limit ran out (9.5 total hours spent in the storage unit today, it's getting cozy), I didn't realize how glazed they were until after the first cylinder was honed, I ended up only doing 20 strokes per cylinder since the only available hone is a bit oversize, I am gonna rehone them all with 10 or so strokes since looking at the pictures the pattern seems a little too flat.
The flat-top pistons come in tomorrow, rings come in Tuesday and the head studs came in today, which means next weekend is final assembly weekend and hopefully a mock-up install by Sunday night. I can't work on the Vette on weekdays because of my work schedule, but the heads, rockers, and valve springs came home with me today, so hopefully, I can sneak them in sometime during the week.
Results:




Couple of questions for the LS swappers:
Did you install the LS with headers/manifolds installed or do them retroactively?
How hard is the sparkplug change on numbers 7 and 8?
Edit:
Forgot to grab pics of the body kit before I left, but I've set a reminder on my phone to take them first thing next Saturday.