Here is my nightmare, back in February I had a chirping belt and looked under the hood and saw the wobbling H/B. No worries I thought, I went to the local Chevy dealer and bought the stock replacement, huge mistake, I had an ASE certified friend install the new H/B, and he owed me a favor and installed it for $400. Which was no easy task considering I have an auto-trans and LG Motorsports long tube headers, which restricts access to the starter, and the steering rack had to be partially removed. So after less than 8 months later and around 6k miles the new H/B started separating just like the original one. And to put salt in the wound GM will replace the part no questions asked, but will not cover labor incurred to install the part. So I got smart this time and got an H/B from Jegs part #55551613 which is rated for 12500 RPM, and is made from a solid chunk of 1045 steel, and no rubber to fail like the stock H/B. I am not sure if anyone else shared my nightmare with a stock replacement H/B, but paying for 2 installs within a year is not on my priority list...

 

That sucks..hopefully the second one works and you can get back to enjoying your car again

 

How much horsepower are you putting down ?

 

I hope you got the same guy to do it for $400 again. Wouldn't hurt to pin it while it's all apart. I've done it three times, and if I could get someone to do it for 4 bills, there wouldn't be a fourth time on jackstands. BTW, you know you're %90 of the work needed to replace your cam, chain, oil pump, etc., when you do a HB replacement.

 

Stock balancers suck a high, hard one.

 

Not sure why he had to pull Starter and Exhaust. I did mine for the cost of the part and my time. Auto here as well.

I put stock on and been 15000 and counting with 425HP

 

I pulled the rack out of the way in a few hours it's not a hard job. A few bolts and lines and it's out. You should of pinned it while you where down. if you ever do a SC install you will have to do that part again..

 

LG Motorsports Long tube headers w/ hi-flow cats,, Corsa pace car cat back, 25% under drive H/B as mentioned, Hurricane cold air intake, Z-06 calipers, stainless brake lines, Baer slotted discs, ZR-1 Aftermarket rims, custom tune, changed some of my shift points, had him trigger the fans at a little lower temp than normal too...Not sure of the HP no dyno yet...

Not going to get a SC...I almost got the 480 HP LS-3 hot cam motor, but it would have been about 10K with all the labor LPE converters wire extensions etc. might do it next summer.

Yes a cam, heads, would be nice, but then I would pray the motor would hold together after all the upgrades, I would rather go with a new motor as this one has 125k on it, yes I have read here in the forums that some guys have still seen cylinder swirls from the factory at this mileage, but I just don't want to take the gamble...

The starter and header were not removed, it was just a pain for him to freeze the motor up to loosen the bolt.

The new H/B works perfect, no issues with low voltage at idle, only use AC 2 weeks out of the year as I work in AK for the summers...

Ok and here is the cool part. The GM dealer refunded me the money for the H/B I bought, even though I purchased it last February which was nice...

 

I agree the crank bolt can be a pain to loosen up but if you have an impact gun with some power behind it the crank bolt will loosen right up. Also the guys above are right.. you are pretty much doing everything needed to do a cam swap. if you replace the lifters (which most would recommend) then you will have to remove the heads, and of course then your getting into head gaskets and head bolts. If you bought cam/lifters/springs, (i would also recommend a comp cams trunion kit) then even with proper tuning your prob still barely gonna make the 450-480 range. The stock bottom end will hold every bit of 500hp as long as you are not turning the motor above 6500 on a regular basis. Don't underestimate how rugged the ls motors are. i even have a couple friends that have thrown turbos on the 5.3l and pushed 600 hp and all they did was a top end and treated the rotating assembly to an "ARP treatment". Also for 400 bones i would let your buddy help you if you needed it. to replace the harmonic balancer you are removing the radiator/ac condenser, all the accessories on the front, and the biggest pain in the a$$... getting the steering rack pulled through the passenger side. Id say you have a friend indeed. Trust me when i did my cam swap i didn't have a puller small enough to pull from the inside hub so i pulled from the outside and killed the integrity of the rubber bond. After only about three days of driving and a crazy four hour tune session the damper let go and threw the belt. I was not ready to tear the car back apart. I hope your new damper stands the test of time...

 

I was there helping him to in the beginning, he is a ASE certified retired mechanic, he tried the impact with different extensions to no avail, He froze the original H/B with a couple of 4" bolts with nuts and a bracket (he didn't take the radiator or the AC condenser out or the Impact probably would have got it ) because my headers were in the way to get the starter out to freeze the fly wheel. We ended up using a 3' breaker bar, he held the base of the ratchet while I loosened the bolt, we even preheated the H/B in the oven just like the manual said to do, used the old bolt to pre tighten the new H/B before doing the final torque with the new bolt. Its a shame all that work to waste. The second H/B was done in a shop from a lift, not on the ground lol, and it was a speed shop that did it...

How much in parts ball park if I wanted the 450-480 hp range with just doing the top end, oil pump, chain, lifters, cam etc... And how much time in labor would that involve, as I am not qualified to go that deep in motors, nor do I have the tools or a garage to do it in.

The hot cam LS-3 motor from Jegs is around $6500 shipped and that is brand new from GM...

What is an ARP treatment?

 

I paid 315 dollars for the Comp Cams Beehive spring kit off of amazon ([url="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B003NNWCS4/ref=oh_details_o04_s01_i00?ie=UTF8&psc=1 ) I paid 220 for the Comp Cams short travel race lifters (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000CIOCW2/ref=oh_details_o03_s00_i00?ie=UTF8&psc=1 ) I paid 100 dollars for the pushrods (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B007VR9X76/ref=oh_details_o02_s00_i00?ie=UTF8&psc=1 ) they are jegs pushrods but also sold on amazon, and 130 for the Comp Cams stock rocker arm trunion kit (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0046ZEAE2/ref=oh_details_o01_s00_i02?ie=UTF8&psc=1 ) The cam i bought is a t-rex cam that i bought through Thunder Racing but they are no longer in business. There are plenty of Reputable dealers out there that will recommend a cam thats right for you or even custom make a cam for under 400 dollars. for a total of $1145.00. The original comp cams beehive spring kit was only good for .600 of lift but they re-did the spring kit that now is good for .650 lift. the jegs pushrods are chromoly and are just as good as some of the other pushrods in my opinion. The Comp Cams short travel race lifters are designed to supply more support to your valvetrain in the upper rpms which is why i bought them considering my cam was designed to operate up to 7200 rpms. if your going for more torque oriented cam i would consider similiar comp cams roller lifters designed for lower rpms. The Comp Cams trunion kit is in my opinion a must have if your going with an aftermarket cam. it replaces the bearings in the stock rocker arms that are known to fall apart even with stock cam applications. The rocker body itself is a stout design with a flaw being in the bearings which this kit provides replacements for. As for a cam if i was going to buy another one i would go with either Texas speed as they have a decent selection of cams for low end power or top end and relatively priced, or EPS and talk to the guy there. I believe (someone correct me if im wrong) but i beleive he used to help develop the cams that thunder racing used before they parted ways and he opened his own business. They design custom cams along with their standard selection displayed on their website. Other people on here will give you their recommendations on where you should buy cams and their testaments to the customer service.. (thats a big part for buying such an influential part to your motor).

 

Also when doing the swap i would go to www.ls1howto.com specifically http://www.ls1howto.com/index.php?article=1"] which is a step by step guide for doing a heads/cam swap. it is very detailed and if you have any mechanical ability you should be able to complete this with minimal help given you have all the correct tools. It is close to a 12 hour job give or take 2 or three hours with no snags. I was quoted about 1500 for the labor from a local but expensive vette shop. i wish you were closer id charge you a couple hundred dollars and a couple cases of MT. Dew and teach you how to do it. teaching is more rewarding for me. If your buddy that helped you with the harmonic balancer would do it for around 5 or 6 hundred dollars i would ask him. Having the tools is one thing, having the know-how is another, however time, patience, and organization are key. if you rush it you can mess up, if you don't have patience you won't have fun and you won't enjoy it, and if you don't take the time to individually bag groups of bolts and label them you can easily create a nightmare especially if you can't find the bolts or parts/peices to put everything back together. Also an "arp" treatment is replacing all the stock hardware that holds the bottom together.. i.e. crankshaft main bolts, rod bolts. The stock rod bolts can stretch under high rpms and high hp applications so you can swap out the stock bolts for ARP bolts. There are various typs of ARP bolts offered for many applications although the ARP 2000 bolts are popular among engine builders because of their strength and offer reassurance through 900hp applications. Sorry if im long winded, by all means if you have questions ask away and i will reply as soon as i can. Swapping a cam in can be very satisfying especially when you pull in somewhere and people compliment you on how good your car sounds. You have a ton of great guys in this forum with tons of knowledge. Hope this info helps!

 

Tons of helps thank you sir...

 

No Problem!

 

That link is great but do not use the method that is in that procedure. It is possible to strip the threads in the crank. Use the proper tool to get it on or make one. I made one for about 20 bucks and have enough rod left over to make 2-3 more..

16mx2mm

 

I should have mentioned that as long winded as i am. you should never use the stock crank bolt or a crankshaft bolt only 1" longer. i would do what he said and make your own. all you need is some thread stock (they only sell in 3' lengths) and some nuts and washers to go with it. your local bolt company like fastenal (if you have a fastenal) will have thread stock.

good call by the way

 

That's where I got mine.

 

So I got smart this time and got an H/B from Jegs part #55551613 which is rated for 12500 RPM, and is made from a solid chunk of 1045 steel, and no rubber to fail like the stock H/B.

First off what you replaced is in reality a torsional damper, now the problem is you deleted the damper effect with a solid steel weight. Hope you're saving for a new crankshaft.