The more I look at this motor, the more I realize there are so many little odds and ends required to complete this swap, who knew?! I am making progress, but none of it recently has been terribly exciting. In an effort to stay up to date and provide some useful info for anyone searching for answers in the future I will continue the mundane updates.
A while back when I installed the 302-1 oil pan I didn't think about the dip stick. Recently, I noticed the hole in my engine block and thought something ought to go there. That's when I realized I needed a new dipstick and the original truck one would not work. Apparently a 12625031 tube and 12669528 stick from a later model Camaro will work. I have since confirmed this is correct and it fits nicely around the Summit manifolds. Another thing here that has shown up in previous photos but I failed to mention are the plug wires. I went with original equipment Delphi XS10389 and they are niiice. Lastly, notice the PCV feed line from the manifold. This is stock for the 5.3 and I saved this guy from the junk yard. The return from the PCV on the other side of the manifold is also stock style.
For the steam vent (I may have mentioned this already) I added a 1/8 NPT fitting into the water pump and connected the stock hose directly to it. I decided to keep the line that feeds through the throttle body. I am not hot rodding this engine, so no need to delete this (for now). I will reuse the stock brake booster hose since it has a nice curve formed in it. I also disassembled the fuel rails/injectors and fully tested and rebuilt these with a kit from Amazon. All injectors tested fine w/ some backpressure from a can of carb cleaner and a pulse from a 9V battery. After a cleaning and new o-rings they are good as new. Also spy the ICT Billet purge valve block off. Can't leave any gaping holes in the manifold now can we? Also notice the copper line behind the manifold. I removed the 5.3 oil pressure sensor since apparently it isn't used for anything other than the CEL. I replaced it with an Auto Meter 2268 adapter that let me convert from the M16x1.5 in the block to a 1/8 NPT so I could connect a standard mechanical oil pressure line.
It was about this point that I realized just how unsightly the stock truck manifold is. Originally I was going to leave the Vortec cover off because I think that piece is kind of hideous as well, but if the tradeoff is looking at this manifold, maybe I'll use the cover afterall. I could smooth this intake, but that's a lot of work!
For now, I threw the cover on just so I could stop looking at that intake. I may have to save this dilemma for another time. Right now, I am focused on making this thing run!
Here's another photo for fun. Just an old truck with an old small block. Come to think of it, this "modern" engine is already 20 years old!
