OK Guys, lots of stuff accomplished the last couple of weeks. Finally got the truck into the shop. Picked up the 5.3 (more on that later). So first of all the before pics: remember i did hit a deer
Needing replaced: Grill support (obtained), Complete Grill (obtained), Hood (still lookin), core support is bent, bumper (lined up for pickup next weekend), headlights and other misc stuff...
You can kinda see the BRAND NEW complete intake the guy gave me with the motor. Guy i bought it from was super nice, lets just hope the motor turns out to be decent.
Cheap gauges filling the holes the PO butchered into the dash (which has quite a bit of filler in it) Some people should be beaten. I don't know where the seats came from, but they're like 19-way power adjustable with lumbar and all kinds of other crap. However all this does not mean they're comfy at all. They will be replaced with a cloth covered stock bench. Like all the wires hanging out of the dash? Me too...
Is it written in stone somewhere that EVERY sbc will leak oil from day one? This thing has 10,000 miles on it and drips no oil, but man is it covered. It was a good little motor though. Pretty much everything in this picture will be gone.
So here it is in all its glory: compression test reveals bad head gasket (hopefully) on the passenger side. It has since been completely disassembled. Bores look good. All bearings, ring and gaskets will be replaced. Valve seats all look good. LOTS of varnish. Way too much gunk in the oil pan. Oil rings were all completely caked with junk. This is what you get for 150 bucks i guess... Side note: gaskets are pretty expensive for these things and i now know why: they are very well designed. This thing should seal up well. This will pretty much be a stock rebuild, might go with a 98-00 ls1 cam (cheap) i think the computer will be ok with it... we'll see
End of the first week... No real surprises. Cab mounts need replaced. Rockers are junk. Floors look good. Doors look good. Overall, cab is pretty soild. Next weekend: pickup block, heads, covers, and oil pan from machine shop. Man i wish i had a hot tank... Then on to pick up some more parts up north.
I'll get some more pics of the engine, disassembled and assembled (hopefully) next week....