87 GN 5.3 swap

I re routed the turbo oil fed and put on a turbo hat , I need to relocate my O2 sensor and heat wrap the down pipe and wastegate dump pipe
 

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Looking awesome, I am about to pull my 3.8 and do a 5.3 turbo swap,got my log from kyle @ kb racing,motor mounts,etc,cant wait to get it together
 
Looking awesome, I am about to pull my 3.8 and do a 5.3 turbo swap,got my log from kyle @ kb racing,motor mounts,etc,cant wait to get it together
Awesome ! It's a fun journey but hopefully good in the end . The only negative is it all cost way more than I planned originally but the biggest over budget cost was the Holley Dominator but it's worth every penny being able to tune it myself and when I make changes it make it's easy with the Holley ECU
 
Awesome ! It's a fun journey but hopefully good in the end . The only negative is it all cost way more than I planned originally but the biggest over budget cost was the Holley Dominator but it's worth every penny being able to tune it myself and when I make changes it make it's easy with the Holley ECU


That's my plan,use the holley dominator system,i will be selling my fast xfi to help offset some of the cost of the holley system
 
Here is my car, can't wait to start this swap, I wanted to have almost all of the parts before I started, I am so close
 

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I finally figured out how to change my tune in the Holley Dominator for E85 to get it started and running , it still needs some fine tuning before I can drive but I'm so close I can taste it !! It's been a long 2 years building this in my garage on my back
I bet you can't wait to get that thing tuned and put the power to the pavement. See I was a little naive when I rebuilt my 109 and transmission. I would have to pull my receipts, but it was close to $20k. The reason I say naive is because I never inquired about going the LS route or even the 3800 series II/III block. Obviously the LS is stronger than the 3800, but the 3800 is a much sturdier block than the 109. The stock crank, that's not be cut or beaten on, in the 3800 series II/III is good to at least 800whp. The 3800 block came with the same crank whether NA or supercharged. So get one out of an NA engine and you're good to go. The only probably there is no forged aftermarket crank, they make billet one, but $3k is out of my price range. Anyway, 800whp is plenty for a street car. My goal is to run low 10s, but my car weighs 3800lbs so even with a built 109 it might not survive too many low 10s passes.

Anyway, best of luck with this beast and sorry for going off topic.
 
Finally drove the car .. still need to finish out the exhaust , drive it with it just the downpipe (pissed my neighbors off ) only let it see around 6-7 lbs of boost and it’s moving .. some more fine tuning and double checking things and it’s finally done
 

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Got to drive the GN around all weekend and it’s running great ! Finally after a 2 year build in my garage it’s done .. well till something breaks at least .. the car is running off the wastegate spring and hitting around 11-12lbs , when it comes in it’s a beast . I would suggest to anyone thinking a Just swapping over to a LS and think it’s cheap like I did be prepared to spend double to triple ! Don’t get me wrong I’m glad I did it since I have always talked about doing a LS turbo swap in a GN . I know I ruined it original values of the car but I did not buy the car to make money . Now on to getting the AC going and work on upgrading the breaks next , But I’m ready for some car shows and possible do the Power Tour in the next few years
 
Only worry about value if you plan on selling it. I don't ever plan on selling mine so I will do what I want with it and enjoy it.
 
Everyone is breaking my balls about swapping out the six to an ls, I didn't buy my car as an investment,i built the car for me,my car isn't some low mile garage queen that at best would be worth mid 20's if it was,instead it has a fab9 rear,rj race cars anti roll,4 wheel wilwoods,trz rack,tubular arms,chromoly bar with swing outs,etc,its just a bad ass street car with full power everything!!!! Cant wait to get the swap done,its going to be a blast to drive,more power and much more reliable.
 
Everyone is breaking my balls about swapping out the six to an ls, I didn't buy my car as an investment,i built the car for me,my car isn't some low mile garage queen that at best would be worth mid 20's if it was,instead it has a fab9 rear,rj race cars anti roll,4 wheel wilwoods,trz rack,tubular arms,chromoly bar with swing outs,etc,its just a bad ass street car with full power everything!!!! Cant wait to get the swap done,its going to be a blast to drive,more power and much more reliable.
Everyone is breaking my balls about swapping out the six to an ls, I didn't buy my car as an investment,i built the car for me,my car isn't some low mile garage queen that at best would be worth mid 20's if it was,instead it has a fab9 rear,rj race cars anti roll,4 wheel wilwoods,trz rack,tubular arms,chromoly bar with swing outs,etc,its just a bad ass street car with full power everything!!!! Cant wait to get the swap done,its going to be a blast to drive,more power and much more reliable.
its your car man ! Do with it as you please ? I have caught hell myself about swapping mine also and mine had a bad motor and trans so it all needed to be rebuilt anyways
 
Great thread, I’m pondering a turbo LS swap as well
It was a lot of work and $ building it but worth it now . I have it on only 13lbs and it’s got awesome power , I think I’m going to turn it up to 18lbs this week since I have my tune lined out
 
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