Motor plans have changed again…

Found an L33 5.3 sitting around at the shop, going to probably pick that up…

This is what GM has to say about the L33:

One of the L33’s distinguishing features is its engine block. As with the 2004 LM4 Vortec 5300, the L33’s foundation is a cast-aluminum block with pressed-in iron cylinder liners, similar to the block used for GM Powertrain’s LS1 and LS6 car V-8s. The L33 block is exceptionally light; as a result, a fully dressed L33 is 100 pounds lighter than cast iron-block Vortec 5300s (RPOs LM7 and L59).

The L33 takes its cylinder heads from the LS6. Originally developed for the Z06 Corvette, these heads improve airflow in and out of the engine. With their pent-roof combustions chambers and new flat top pistons (the pistons in other Gen III Vortec 5300s have a slight sump in the piston deck), the L33’s compression ratio increases from 9.5:1 to 9.9:1. This increase improves the engine’s volumetric efficiency yet still allows it to achieve full power with regular grade gasoline.

Finally, the L33 is equipped with a higher-lift camshaft. Maximum valve lift increases from 11.6 mm on the LM7 and L59 to 12.5 mm. The new cam and compression ratio are the primary sources of the L33’s increased horsepower.

LS6 Intake

LS6 Fuel Rail

LS6 Injectors

LS1 Throttle Body

Vorshlag 1 7/8″ Primary Headers

Cam swap after the swap is completed and tested.

So basically a 5.3L LS6 with a cam.

The Interior…

I have not given any space at all to the interior of the car. Mostly because it’s a black M3 stock interior in decent shape… However, here it is!

95 M3 with 96+ Side Airbag Panels... SuperGlue works wonders.

HMS Rollbar, NON-sagging, black headliner, Mint rear Seats, etc.

Flash sure does brighten it up!

console stuff is apart because of the swap, radio was "borrowed"

Other side, same deal, need to powdercoat the roll bar, but then I'd lose the baller stickers...

This is my FAVORITE part of the entire interior - UK Spec Euro Cluster. I am going to make the oil temp actually work.

Lots of Progress!

Today was a great day for working on the car, not a whole lot of heat and enough air flow through the shop to make it quite enjoyable.

To start off with I pulled the fuel pump carrier and return line carrier to see what the story was.

The Blue is the Fuel Pump and the White is the Return.

The blue one is the fuel pump obviously and the white one is the return.

I started with the fuel pump carrier:

The fuel pump carrier would turn out to be the easier one of the two today...

drilled a 1/2" hole which was just about perfect for the -6 AN fitting

The Finished Product

I didn’t post much info on the Bulkhead stuff. mainly because I ordered some of the wrong fittings which I need to grab on Tuesday when places open back up.

My idea will work, and work well. I am not going to use epoxy etc. the bulkhead fittings make it so that simple silacone sealant should be all that is needed. 

Instead of the 90 degree fittings I should have gotten straight and then a 90 degree hose end. 

I will get back to working on the in tank part as soon as I have the right fittings. I’ll do a complete DIY as well.

After I worked on the fuel pump carrier and realized that I needed to by some new fittings I moved on to the pumbing of the hard lines. I bought a tubing bender which I used on the 90 degree bends but otherwise was useless…

First off, the vette Filter/FPR  fits VERY well in the stock filter location, I just swapped the bracket around and turned the assembly so it fit my needs. The ground strap could be longer but it works as is.

Fits GREAT! I'm going to make an Aluminum Skid, the OEM piece has seen better days.

Then I started running the hardline.

The starting of routing the hardline

I started with the rear part of the hard line. I decided to stick with the OEM routing of the lines. If I had to do it again I would drop the tank all the way down and run the hardline up to the drivers side inspection port. I may do that if I get bored sometime.

90 Degree bend going to the Fuel Tank

Both line run to the Vette Filter/FPR

Then I worked on making the flex lines for both the feed and the return. I made them a good bit longer since I cannot work on the lines in their final place, the hard line must be loose from the car in order for me to access the fittings.

It's a very tight fit!

Here’s a few more shots of the hoses:

Fuel line from the FPR to the fuel rail, Marshall Instruments Pressure Gauge.

I love these lines!!

All of that work done today to just replace these simple lines:

The original fuel lines I replaced.

Fuel Pump Housing Ideas

We’ll see, I am supposed to be getting a second basket/carrier assembly today so that I don’t mess up the one in the car.

I am hoping that i can cut off the original “nipple” drill through the hole to enlarge it for the AN bulkhead fitting. and connect like legos.

Otherwise it will be cutting off the nipple plastic welding a few pieces together and then tapping into another flat area on the housing.

I’ve also found some pictures of the e46 pump housing and if it will fit close enough I may try adapting it… I’ve got one laying around in my parts stash.

I’ll have detailed pictures and thoughts tonight or tomorrow.

Plan for the weekend – Plumb the fuel system.

This weekend is a long weekend. Originally I was hoping that I could get the car actually running with the L33 5.3 but I do not think that is in the cards. My LS6 intake has still not shown up…

Instead I will be taking my time working on the fuel system and hitting the junk yards for misc pieces to make the swap even more clean. I am working on an idea to hide the bulk of the wiring harness as well!

The plan on the fuel system is to take the stock pump housing and cradle and adapt the -6 an lines and bulkhead fittings to it.  Then plastic weld the original ports closed. Not pretty but will do the job.

From the tank to the hard line I will be running -6 an SS braided line.

The Feed line will be 3/8″ Aluminum Fuel line using Russell no flare -6 an adaptors

The Return line will be 5/16″ Aluminum Fuel line using a Russell no flare -6 an adaptor

The fuel filter will be connected to the hard lines via -6 an adapters.

The fuel rail will be connected to the filter via Fuel Rail adapter, Fuel pressure gauge, and -6 an line.

I have a feeling that this will take me most of the day to build… but I need tasks for all weekend. I am sure I will come up with other things that need to be done!

Might even get a little paint work and stuff done… We’ll see!

Here is what is waiting for me to assemble!

Wiring and Blood Shed…

Went to work on the harness last night…

Got the 5.3 harness completely disassembled, labeled and ready to be laid out on the LS6 intake… which reminds me… dude needs to get it on it’s way!

Everything laid out, with my side kick Jack.

Shortly after that while working on the e36 harness I slipped with my utility knife and gashed my thumb open… first blood of the build…

I also ordered about $250 bucks worth of stuff from Summit Racing yesterday, that should complete the fuel system and convert everything from the silly Metric thick wall tubing that is IMPOSSIBLE to flare to -6an hose, 3/8″, and 5/16″ aluminum tube.

Pics of said blood bath later.

Fuel Parts are HERE!

I ordered a Vette Filter, and fittings from Speedway motors!

Two day shipping isn’t bad at all! Great Prices, good selection, and fast service.

Speedway Motors - Give them a try!

Here’s what I got:

Good packaging!

Of course I couldn’t just let it sit there… 2 minutes later and it’s together!

All assembled!

Quick Parts List:

• Wix  Vette Filter: 33737
• Russell -6an to 3/8″ adaptor – 640850 x2 – For Fuel Feed and LS6 Fuel Rail
• Russell -6an to 5/16″ adaptor – 640860 – Return Line
• Russel 3/8″ to -6 an Push on Fitting – 64940 – Outlet of Filter to -6an hose

Reluctor Wheels and Crank Sensors…

I needed to clear up a little issue that came to light… Drive by Wire and Drive by Cable motors are inherently different. The harnesses are different, the ECUs are different and at somepoint, the reluctor wheels are different.

LS1Tech.com is a wealth of information where I came up with the following breakdown:

24x – Black Crank Sensor:

24x Black CkPS

1997-2005 cars (except GTO, CTSV and a few others thru 2007)
1999-2007 trucks (old body style)
58x – Gray Crank Sensor:

CkPS Gray 58x

2006 and up cars (except LS4 and as select few others)
2007 and up trucks with single bolt cam applications and new body

Wiring… Now THAT is a deep subject!!

Saturday afternoon while Kristin was off with her brides maids looking at dresses, shoes, and generally speaking having a girls day. I started to attack the wiring harness.

I started out with an 01 Yukon 5.3/4L60E

The start of a Standalone... 2001 5.3 Harness

Found an awesome site to help me with the paring down of the harness.

http://www.lt1swap.com/wiringharness.htm

This guy has his stuff together!!!

Read through the pages and pages of information it is invaluable!

Check out the menu at the top of the page and click on the Wiring tab for my wiring notes, what I deleted and what I paired with the stock e36 wiring harness. I don’t want to clutter up the blog with a HUGE spreadsheet.

I pared down the harness to only the essential parts to make the engine run. I deleted all of the Emissions and transmission related stuff. I also deleted anything fuel tank related…

The start of a HUGE wiring mess!

Yeah, the blackberry takes NASTY pictures now…

Today I was able to get to the u pull it yard and grabbed two OBD I harnesses. After I finish up the teardown of the 5.3 harness I will dive into the BMW harness!

It’s REALLY in now!

Now it's sitting in the right place!

After a good 3 hours of work and planning I got the motor, got rid of the charchol canister, and figured out how I am going to route my fuel lines and clutch line.

I’ll shut up and let the pictures speak for them selves!

Look at the engine set back!! It's almost all behind the front "axle"!

Look at the ground clearance!

I MIGHT even be able to use a Motorsports X Brace!

The lowest thing is still the sway bar, then the K frame! No busted oil pans for me!

Looking from the back side, I can see why headers are such an issue on this swap!

Passenger side - Starter will be tight, but lots of room for headers

The story changes dramatically on the Drivers side

The transmission tunnel can easily swallow the T56, I was surprised actually. There is more room to move my hand around on the transmission with the T56 then there was with the ZF!!! However two things need to be addressed. Though EASY fixes.

The shifter linkage bracket from the bimmer transmission gets in the way. I will most likely be cutting that out with the rest of the tunnel there to make for an easy shifter swap.

The other issue is just cosmetic…

I need to find a replacement for this stuff that can withstand the temperatures and water. This isn't going to cut it.

Work Space today:

Work area for the day

After I finished fighting with the Motor and transmission I decided to plan out my fuel system. As was mentioned in an earlier post, I will be using the Corvette FPR/Filter. I ordered mine from Speedway Motors with -6AN fittings for almost HALF of what I could find them from anywhere else.  Here’s what I am thinking…

The soft lines run from the pump to this location where it is met with the hardline. The soft lines will be replaced with -6an line for both the Feed and Return. The blue line is a vapor return line and was removed just after this photo. The line furthest to the left is the rear brake line.

This is the stock location for the BMW fuel filter. This location looks to be the PERFECT spot for the FPR. I will probably replace the BMW hardlines with the proper size SAE lines so that there is no confusion and no adapters. From the FPR I will then run a single -6 AN line to the fuel rail on the LS6 intake.

So basically the plan for the fuel system is go have AN line running from the fuel pump to the stock hardline location. Double Flare SAE Hardline to the -AN adaptors, then straight to the FPR, from there a -6 AN line to the LS6 intake.

It sounds pretty straight forward, so I hope it works!

Oh yeah a Walboro 225 gph pump resides in the stock fuel pump basket.