1979 K20 5.3 Swap

[smurfasaur]

Ended up buying these bad boys

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For anyone who is a better fabricator than I am my 2010 camaro Long tubes are up for grabs. Will post in the classifieds


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[smurfasaur]

Speed engineering long tubes for SO much better it’s ridiculous. I can’t believe I spent so much time trying to get the camaro ones to fit.

Side by side

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Got them mounted last night and there is tons of room everywhere and the O2 sensors are exactly where they need to be. Definitely recommend them.


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[rpcraft]

I just saw yesterday Speed engineering has a Universal LS swap turbo log now.... You know you want it, wink wink...

 

[smurfasaur]

I just saw yesterday Speed engineering has a Universal LS swap turbo log now.... You know you want it, wink wink...

Definitely crossed my mind... unfortunately I only have a 60e trans and it’s freshly rebuilt but not “built”. If I had an 80e then holy smokes that would be tempting!!! Maybe down the road...


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[Jrgunn5150]

I just saw yesterday Speed engineering has a Universal LS swap turbo log now.... You know you want it, wink wink...

It wasn't super hard to build mine, but as cheap as they sell stuff, I'd buy a log from them. Their forward facing headers are garbage.

 

[Crispy]

Do you think you'd need to notch the frame to make the C10 headers fit like you had to with the Camaro headers?

 

[Jrgunn5150]

Do you think you'd need to notch the frame to make the C10 headers fit like you had to with the Camaro headers?

Absolutely not, they drop in and clear everything, even with the engine moved up and forward 1.5" in each axis.

 

[Crispy]

Absolutely not, they drop in and clear everything, even with the engine moved up and forward 1.5" in each axis.

Thats what I was hoping for. I really want long tubes but was worried about any extra work. The Speed Engineering shorties seemed nice but in my head I want the swap done before they are promised to be in stock. (as my yard sits covered in snow, soon to be muddy until at least mid april)

 

[rpcraft]

if you really wanted you could use stock manifolds, what you end up needing to notch on the frame isn't really much wider than the width of a quarter and maybe about a 2 inch stretch. After that just weld up the EGR hole and fab up your exhaust to good enough status until you get the headers and then have a clean setup installed on the exhaust.

 

[Jrgunn5150]

if you really wanted you could use stock manifolds, what you end up needing to notch on the frame isn't really much wider than the width of a quarter and maybe about a 2 inch stretch. After that just weld up the EGR hole and fab up your exhaust to good enough status until you get the headers and then have a clean setup installed on the exhaust.

You can also cut the flange off, weld a pipe on in such a way to avoid frame notching altogether

 

[rpcraft]

In my experience it wasn't the flange that hit but rather a piece above the flange that bulged out too much. Honestly it was way easier to cut the frame and so little was cut out it would be a little foolish to modify the manifold. Kind of like stepping over a dollar to pick up a penny. It might be different from chassis to chassis though so that may be the determining factor. My best advice is if you want to try the manifold first try feeding it from the bottom, make sure you are using a motor mount that is elevating the engine properly, and use some poly motor mounts. In my case I had the poly mounts and used Dirty Dingo slider mounts but I still had to notch the front cross member.

 

[smurfasaur]

Thats what I was hoping for. I really want long tubes but was worried about any extra work. The Speed Engineering shorties seemed nice but in my head I want the swap done before they are promised to be in stock. (as my yard sits covered in snow, soon to be muddy until at least mid april)

Same boat I was in. Asked the square body LS swap Facebook group a a couple 4x4 guys had successfully used the long tubes without clearance issues and I didn’t want to wait for the shortys.


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[rpcraft]

I don't think there is any harm in using one or the other. I think if I had to do it over again perhaps I would go with the long tube, after all it's a 4 x 4 build so any extra torque is always useful, especially considering the LS makes things a little more up in the rpm band. Also it will probably take a little less work to align the exhaust piping straight out the back section with a DIY kit than having to make and or add bends to the shorty headers.

 

[smurfasaur]

I don't think there is any harm in using one or the other. I think if I had to do it over again perhaps I would go with the long tube, after all it's a 4 x 4 build so any extra torque is always useful, especially considering the LS makes things a little more up in the rpm band. Also it will probably take a little less work to align the exhaust piping straight out the back section with a DIY kit than having to make and or add bends to the shorty headers.

Somewhere I read that on LS engines the long tubes are actually the only headers that will net you any significant gains over stock manifolds, but I can’t find the article now... With that being said I think the gains are not very much like 20-25 hp and I don’t know how much tq.

I think you are on track with the exhaust assumption, although even with long tubes my exhaust is going to need some S bends in order to get around the tranny crossmember. I may just have a shop make the bends and then the rest do myself to save some cash.


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[Camar068]

Somewhere I read that on LS engines the long tubes are actually the only headers that will net you any significant gains over stock manifolds

I've read the same thing all over the web as well. I've always wondered why folks waste their money on short tube headers over stock.