'78 K20 to C10. Almost 20 years in the making.

[cable666guy]

Just read your entire post. Really nice truck !! You have a lot of determination and perseverance, that's for sure !!

[cruizin01]

Originally Posted by cable666guy

Just read your entire post. Really nice truck !! You have a lot of determination and perseverance, that's for sure !!

Hey I appreciate that.

And its never done, I can't leave well enough alone.

I have a few updates Ill try and post at some point soon.

But for now Ill leave this.

[cruizin01]

Been a while since I've updated...

This summer I was able to put nearly 1k miles on the truck and after quite a few alternations to the tuning on the Sniper, the 396 was running pretty well. I continue to fight some small pre-warm up drive-ability stuff but overall it drives great.

But.... its slow... like not 250ci inline 6 slow but its the slowest thing in my small group of cars. It'll power brake a burnout but its pretty lethargic outside of that. Its probably around 350hp maybe? It really needs a converter but I didn't want to buy one knowing it still wasn't gonna satisfy my power craving.

Anyway, I decided to follow the hurd and build a turbo LS. I found a L33 locally for $700 with low'ish miles this summer so I went ahead and grabbed it. The L33 is an all aluminum 5.3 with flat top pistons and 799 heads. Originally rated at 310hp. This is a gen3 engine but a few guys mentioned they have the better rods maybe? Im not certain.


These past couple weeks I tore the accessories, etc off of it to get started. I flipped the manifolds just to get an idea whether I wanted to use them or buy a turbo manifold. Im not certain one way or another yet.


This is a "budget" engine build. Im just swapping the cam and valve springs and leaving everything else internally stock. Lifters probably would have been a good idea but I didn't want to pull the heads.

I order a Summit Stg2 turbo cam kit that came with TF valve springs and new valve seals. I checked the pushrod length which was good, so I reinstalled the stockers.




Since I dont have access to a TIG, I ordered a front cover with the turbo drain installed already. I have a new balancer coming (cheap) and replaced the front and rear cover, rear main seal, valley cover and lower oil pan gasket.




I hate the look of the truck intake manifold so I found these knock off of a knock off dorman intake. Im gonna shave most of the mounts, etc off the top to try and clean it up some. I bought some fuel rails to plumb a return system and a mechanical throttle to work with the Holley Terminator.



Im still in process of cleaning up the rest of the engine. I think Ill leave the block and heads alone after cleaning and maybe just paint the valve covers and accessories. I ordered a camaro water pump which moves the outlet towards the drivers side so I dont have to run a big ugly hose across the front of the truck.

Im hoping the rest of the build will come together this winter. I need to pull the bbc and the sniper and try and get it sold to fund some more turbo parts.

The goal is like 500-550 whp on pump gas.

The basics are
-VS 78/75
-80 lb snaker eaters
-budget 80e converter
-Holley Terminator X
-A/W intercooler so i dont have to hack up the front grille, etc.

[Mike W.]

I hate the look of the truck intake manifold so I found these knock off of a knock off dorman intake. Im gonna shave most of the mounts, etc off the top to try and clean it up some. I bought some fuel rails to plumb a return system and a mechanical throttle to work with the Holley Terminator.

I'm working on a similar build and am about to pull the trigger on the Holley Terminator as well. I am thinking about going with the X Max due to the transmission control and DBW capability as I bought my 5.3 with the pedal assembly from the same truck. What made you decide to go with the standard terminator and convert to mechanical throttle body?

[cruizin01]

Originally Posted by aggie91

Nice work. Who's log manifold are you using for the turbo?

Thanks Aggie, its a amazon/ebay item. Im pretty happy with it. Its a heavy duty piece and it fits perfect in my setup.

Originally Posted by Mike W.

I'm working on a similar build and am about to pull the trigger on the Holley Terminator as well. I am thinking about going with the X Max due to the transmission control and DBW capability as I bought my 5.3 with the pedal assembly from the same truck. What made you decide to go with the standard terminator and convert to mechanical throttle body?

I already had the standalone controller for the 80E and I like the controls and display that I have with it. I believe I would also loose the paddles if I went with the integrated holley setup. And as far as the TB goes.. I just think its a more simplistic setup. I plan to do some of the tuning myself so that should make things easier. Along with not having to mess with the pedal, etc.