I'm back, with another project that isn't a personal car. An extended family member got wind of the conversion van that that I was working on, and he wanted in next. The truck is a 53 Chevy 3100 cab that is set on a square body Suburban 4wd chassis. The truck was stolen shortly after he acquired it, the engine and steering wheel was stolen, and the truck was recovered around 6 months later. Seems like alot of effort to steal a generic 350....
So the truck has just been sitting sadly for a little over a year with no engine, waiting for a new life. Pics as it sits now:
complete with wasp nests too!
Looks like it still has a 700r4 sans torque converter, transfer case and driveshafts in tact. I'm hoping the swap is as simple as @youngboomers k5 square body swap that we did.
Will most likely be going to pick up the truck in the next week or two and will hopefully start moving as fast as I did on the van. Should be a sweet ride when done!
@youngboomer helped me at the junkyard last Saturday, successful operation. Found a 2005 5.3 2WD Silverado, with a pretty size-able rear end collision. Motor spins, so it wins! It was sans wiring harness and ecu, but had everything else. Even scooped the airbox, intake tube with MAF, battery tray, ecu mount all for the "8cyl engine with accessories" price. I didnt realize it didnt have the starter though, bummer.
As found in truck:
3 hours later:
Ended up buying the transmission with it and re selling for a $300 profit (nice!) so I didn't have to split it on the nasty pap engine pickup station.
Majestic picture before I obliterated my driveway with bio hazard water and oil:
A few before shots (after I sprayed the engine degreaser though):
And after (looks like a crate engine!):
Beautiful. Cool project. But boy that E39 looks out of place!
I guess LS engines have been around long enough for me to get one. Cool truck, definitely following this!
Made some progress on the engine last night. Went from this (already on the stand though)
To this:
Too many projects at once!
The engine is dirtier than I hoped. Maybe a few neglected oil changes. But the bores actually look pretty good, the engine had really strong compression from turning it over, and it rotates super smooth and freely now that the heads are off.
I think ill get the heads dipped, decked, and checked. Then I'll lap the valves and reassemble it all. Should be just fine considering the truck is gonna run stock cam and tune.
Super cool! Also disgusting! Let me know if you want a filter-regulator thing. I've got two on the shelf, never to be used. There might also be a Wally 250 that still works. I take beer as payment.
In reply to rustomatic :
I'll let you know for sure! Might need that filter regulator. No idea on what I'm doing for pump yet.
Made some more progress tonight. The engine ended up being so nasty, and the pistons showed signs of bad detonation or rocks? Not sure. Needless to say we decided to go full rebuild instead of just top end refresh.
Amazing that the rod bearings are perfect even though there was sludge up to the oil pickup.
LS heads and a wild BMW head ready to go to the machind shop tomorrow.
Well, machine shop had i one day turn around on the heads, pretty sweet. Unfortunately they found one of the heads to be cracked in multiple spots where it would leak water into the oil. So that one is going back to the junkyard to get exchanged.
Got the valves lapped, fresh valve stem seals, and springs reinstalled on the good head though.
So satisfying to see most of the sludge gone. I still have some detailing to do on the parts of the head that will be seen, but it's looking good. Block and replacement head will go to the machine shop monday.
Got the block and the head back from machining today. Also finally got the replacement pistons, had to swap out press-fit for floating-pin because this 2005 engine has gen 4 rods apparently.
Head assembled.
Block before paint
Rods after old pistons removed and sludge cleaned
All new pistons installed, ready for rings.
After an hour of masking.... got the block painted. 
Then after a few hours of cleaning the gunk off the crank and main caps....
Also got the setup organized a little better. Too many projects at once!
Not much to show here. Did a final torque of the main caps. Checked the gap on all 16 rings in each corresponding cylinder, installed rings, installed rod bearings, installed assembly into engine.
Made some pretty big progress. Still lots of cleaning.
Cam retainer plate, new timing set, new oil pump.
New lifters and trays.
Here's a good example of what stuff looks like before I clean it. Nasty!
Ended with front cover, balancer, valley cover, and heads partially installed.
Well life, job, personal cars all got in the way and posting a detailed build thread just got pushed to the back of the list. I figured I should at least dump the pictures I had.
Got rid of the janky unsafe steering shaft and installed a new collapsible shaft with hefty u joints.
New steering column and wheel, horn button was added later.
Had to chisel all the asphalt out of the brake rotors since the truck was sat on the ground with no wheels from the theft.
Replaced front calipers, pads, and all rubber brake hoses.
Thinned the engine harness and added this nice waterproof relay and fuse box.
Fabricobbled a mount setup for the ecu and fuse box. This engine bay was WAY tighter than even a slightly newer c10.
Had to rewire the whole front of the truck as well. New headlights and LED turn signals. great pic of the new aluminum radiator too.
Had to make some "downpipes" to go from the LS headers to squarebody exhaust.
Turned out great, engine ran quiet and smooth after the rebuild. Luckily the trans that was in the truck shifted smooth and overall the track drove well!
