5.3 swap done cheap...ish

blistovmhz said:
I sent my PCM to Brendan (lt1swap) for a basic tune. Removed EVAP and one of the downstream O2's, setup fan controls, no idea what else :). Good turn around and a thousand internets for all his reference material, but he doesn't really tell you what he's actually DOING to your PCM. Just asks for all your info and I guess I just hope it's tuned how I need? Perhaps the tuning process for swaps is pretty generic.
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Its pretty generic. I did my own harness and tune, I would assume he uses software like HPtuners or EFIlive. They both are easy to use and basically allow you to turn on/off features and change parameters for others (like fan settings). The PCMs are basically all identical so there are a lot of features on them that are just not used at times. Like the fan outputs. Mine came from a motor with a mech fan and one aux fan, but all I had to do to get two fan outputs was connect a wire to the right pin and switch it on in the tune.
 
Hoooper said:
Its pretty generic. I did my own harness and tune, I would assume he uses software like HPtuners or EFIlive. They both are easy to use and basically allow you to turn on/off features and change parameters for others (like fan settings). The PCMs are basically all identical so there are a lot of features on them that are just not used at times. Like the fan outputs. Mine came from a motor with a mech fan and one aux fan, but all I had to do to get two fan outputs was connect a wire to the right pin and switch it on in the tune.
Click to expand...

Exactly. Its more of an elimination of security and emissions stuff than an actual "tune."
 
I keep meaning to tell you guys that my little Griffin radiator worked perfectly! Crawling on the trail the temp was sitting at 192 the entire time. running down the roads at 4k rpm for a long time i was able to get the temp up ust above 200 but thats as high as it got!

Im really surprised that small radiator did that well. I think it goes to show that a decent fan and a well build shroud makes a big difference in cooling.

Heres a link to the rad again for anyone interested.

http://www.summitracing.com/parts/gri-1-25182-x/overview/
 
NorIdaWheeler said:
I keep meaning to tell you guys that my little Griffin radiator worked perfectly! Crawling on the trail the temp was sitting at 192 the entire time. running down the roads at 4k rpm for a long time i was able to get the temp up ust above 200 but thats as high as it got!

Im really surprised that small radiator did that well. I think it goes to show that a decent fan and a well build shroud makes a big difference in cooling.

Heres a link to the rad again for anyone interested.

http://www.summitracing.com/parts/gri-1-25182-x/overview/
Click to expand...

The sand dunes when it's near 90* may tell a different story :)
I'm glad a cheaper option is working for you though. I hated spending all that money on a radiator.
 
NorIdaWheeler said:
I keep meaning to tell you guys that my little Griffin radiator worked perfectly! Crawling on the trail the temp was sitting at 192 the entire time. running down the roads at 4k rpm for a long time i was able to get the temp up ust above 200 but thats as high as it got!

Im really surprised that small radiator did that well. I think it goes to show that a decent fan and a well build shroud makes a big difference in cooling.

Heres a link to the rad again for anyone interested.

http://www.summitracing.com/parts/gri-1-25182-x/overview/
Click to expand...

Pretty much the same rad I just installed for my swap as well, except I got the one with the inlet and outlet on the passenger side, and spent the extra $600 to get the kit with the shroud and fan because I'm lazy and I know all too well that if I'd just got the rad, I'd end up duct taping a fan and calling it a day :).

I hear about guys running stock XJ rads with ... moderate success for these swaps, with a dual or triple fan setup. The stock XJ rad is 31x11x1.5 while the Griffin 19x22x3.
Consider that the Griffin not only has 30% larger frontal surface area over the XJ rad, but also that every square inch of frontal area has 2x more fin area (3" vs. 1.5" depth), and I figure the little Griffin should be well more than adequate.
 
Speaking of rads, we have about the same size in our rigs, running the same engines and trannys. How well does your rad keep you cool? My fan is programmed on/off 94/92c and it comes on every few minutes when it's only 13c out. When are your fans programmed and how often are they coming on? How hot do you get just bombing around when it's around 10 or 15c out?

(My trans is overheating on the highway at 13C out. No idea why yet. Using built in trans cooler, which Griffin assures me should be more than sufficient unless I'm planning on towing 5000lbs up a mountain in a desert). I'd just throw an external cooler at it if I thought it was just insufficient cooling, but starting to think I have a trans slip issue somewhere, that isn't throwing a code).
 
94C is too low, thats why its kicking on a lot. If I set my fans to come on at 210F, I can drive around in cool temps (70F) for 10-15 minutes or so before the fan even comes on at all and then it will cycle on/off every couple minutes. If I set the fan to come on at 200 it comes on within a couple minutes of starting and pretty much never turns off. These engines like to run warm, mine settles in at 205F so if the fan is below that youre just fighting the thermostat with the fan.
 
Hoooper said:
94C is too low, thats why its kicking on a lot. If I set my fans to come on at 210F, I can drive around in cool temps (70F) for 10-15 minutes or so before the fan even comes on at all and then it will cycle on/off every couple minutes. If I set the fan to come on at 200 it comes on within a couple minutes of starting and pretty much never turns off. These engines like to run warm, mine settles in at 205F so if the fan is below that youre just fighting the thermostat with the fan.
Click to expand...

Huh. I've never hit 96C/205F :p. I suspect you're right about my fan fighting with the t-stat. T-stat (stock I assume) should be opening at 180-185F or around 85C. It would barely be fully open by the time my fans come on, correct?
So what'd you think? Should this cooler be sufficient?
http://www.amazon.com/70264-SuperCo...151&sr=8-2-fkmr0&keywords=b&m+supercooler+lpd
 
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My fan is on a switch right now but definitely needs a temp switch. Last wheeling trip the highest temp i saw was 200 and that was after blasting around on the dirt roads at around 4000rpm for around 10 minutes. It was only about 60* outside that day so we will see how she does when the days arm up. our hottest wheeling days are only around 90*
 
on the factory tune on the trucks the auxiliary fan doesn't even come on until something like 225 or 235. Of course you can keep it cool if you turn the fans on too low and have enough radiator capacity. If you just wheel on the trail it probably doesn't matter but if you plan to put some street miles on and care about mileage or just that it runs right you want it to run in the proper temperature range
 
blistovmhz said:
... Your fans come on before your thermostat opens?
Click to expand...

Actually, that's fan 1 at 175. The other two fans I think are 190? I'll check when I get back home.

Hoooper said:
on the factory tune on the trucks the auxiliary fan doesn't even come on until something like 225 or 235. Of course you can keep it cool if you turn the fans on too low and have enough radiator capacity. If you just wheel on the trail it probably doesn't matter but if you plan to put some street miles on and care about mileage or just that it runs right you want it to run in the proper temperature range
Click to expand...

If you're talking about mine, I run a 186* thermostat and its tuned for that temp.
 
From the factory it's going to run at about 200-210, same as most anything else. Emissions.
In the performance crowd, lower operating temp seems to = better. I think you can run more advance & make more power with a cooler engine, as well as not preheating the air charge so much through the intake? Anyway, sounds like LT1swap might have had a performance oriented (much cooler temp) thermostat in mind. Dunno - I'd ask him.
 
ok 5.3 guys, I have something I wanted to run by you.

I have had a terrible exhaust leak on my drivers side header. I finally pulled it off and this is what i found. The manifold gasket has holes in it that are considerably larger than the ports on the head and the header primaries. so large that the gasket holes are actually almost too big to even contact the sealing surface on the header.
This is just a fel-pro local parts house gasket.

In this pic you can see the very little amount on the header where the gasket was contacting(shiny area on gasket surface) and on the far left primary you can see where it wasnt contacting at all.



Heres a couple more comparing the gasket to the header.





does anybody have a stock manifold gasket that they can measure the hole diameter on? Im wondering if the gaskets i got are meant for headers with large primaries or something? My next step is to get ahold of some stock gaskets and compare. of course none of my local parts stores have any in stock... :banghead:
 
blistovmhz said:
Is that a Sanderson header? Is the flange mating surface raised?
Click to expand...

They are Hooker headers. The actually mating surface is raised by about 1/8"

They basically stick the tubes through the flange by a bit, weld around them, and then grind/sand flat.

This is how the headers my buddy just bought for his 6.0 are as well.
 
Sounds like a gasketless system to me man.
My suggestion would be to forget the gasket entirely, don't grind down those welds around the tubes. Just clean them up and get'm shiny, grab some black RTV and make a 1/8" (diameter) bead on each of the mating surfaces (a ring of RTV on each, nothing else). Let it cure 24 hours and stick'm back on and torque to spec.

I was sceptical as all hell about this, but it's how Sanderson has done their headers since forever, and it seems to work perfectly.
I got my headers and the first time I saw them, I looked at the weld bead and was all "wtf, there's no way this'll seal" and almost started grinding them flat :p.
But, I left it alone, stuck a bead of RTV on, and they're sealed perfectly.

Edit: Yea, I'm almost 100% on this. They look exactly like my flanges on my gasketless headers that I just installed, as well as the last v8 headers I installed on my 69 chev pickup 20 years ago.
Know what sucks? Being able to tell stories that start or end with "well 20 years ago..." **** I'm old.

Edit Edit: If I'm wrong, the worst case is you've wasted $0.10 of RTV and a day of possible wheeling time. If you're not going to have new gaskets in the next 24 hours, I think you've got nothing to lose by giving the RTV a shot :p.
 
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blistovmhz said:
Sounds like a gasketless system to me man.
My suggestion would be to forget the gasket entirely, don't grind down those welds around the tubes. Just clean them up and get'm shiny, grab some black RTV and make a 1/8" (diameter) bead on each of the mating surfaces (a ring of RTV on each, nothing else). Let it cure 24 hours and stick'm back on and torque to spec.

I was sceptical as all hell about this, but it's how Sanderson has done their headers since forever, and it seems to work perfectly.
I got my headers and the first time I saw them, I looked at the weld bead and was all "wtf, there's no way this'll seal" and almost started grinding them flat :p.
But, I left it alone, stuck a bead of RTV on, and they're sealed perfectly.
Click to expand...

I was curious if that was the situation. Thanks for that info. i will give it a go. so you let the rtv completely dry before you put them back on? interesting.
 
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