My beast is alive again!


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Not sure how many of you know of my little project truck I have, it's a 2000 Chevy Silverado, regular cab short box, 5 speed stick, 2 wheel drive. Had a 4.3L V6 in it when I bought it and always wanted to put a V8 in it, got my hands on a LS6 a couple years ago (00-03 Corvette Z06 engine). Rebuilt it with different heads, big camshaft and some other goodies and dropped it in. Estimated horsepower between 450 and 500. Had some issues getting the clutch to work right! Anyways just posted this on a truck forum I'm on so I figured I'd share. :)

Got working on my truck finally today. Was having clutch and starter clearance issues. First setup was a LS6 flywheel/4.8 clutch/NV3500. Bolted up, starter clearance was good but the clutch wouldn't release. Figured out the 4.8 flywheel is about a half inch thicker than the LS6 so figured that was the problem. Got a 4.8 flywheel, bolted it up, and it was too close to the block so the starter dragged. Didn't know what the heck to do then, so I ordered a 4L80 flexplate spacer, went to put it in today and the damn bolts were too short, the bolts are direct ship from manufacturer, already had the tranny out of the truck. I was pissed. So I got thinking, I'll put the LS6 flywheel back in to solve the flywheel bolt issue, and shim the slave cylinder out. Got it back together before 5:00, fired it up and the clutch works perfect! Don't have it off the hoist yet, still gotta bolt the exhaust up, fired it up without the Y pipe and man does it ever sound sweet! Wish it could leave it like that! Gonna put the right fuel filter on tomorrow, throw a new leaf spring in it and take it for a test drive tomorrow!!

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Man I wish I could have got a video, I'll get some videos of it on the road once I get some insurance on it. Had it out for a rip last Saturday with the dealer plate on it to see how it ran. Ran great! Still getting the 3 year old gas out of it, it don't like that too much. It's started coming around after I put 40 bucks of fresh stuff in it. Holy crap does it ever scoot! Sure sits you back in your seat! Had a 2010 Camaro SS out for a tour the other week, it was automatic, the truck would put a good run on it let me tell ya! Still have some tuning issues to get addressed. Gonna call for insurance next week and see how that goes. Been over 3 years since my DUI and I turned 25 last year so it should be reasonable.

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The Vette's are fun to drive John! What year of Z06 did you ride in? If it was 06 or newer it'd have the LS7 7.0L which is 505hp stock. They are an animal! Have yet to drive a newer Z06.

Just did an online quote for insurance, $108/month. Gonna call monday to make sure that's right. Got a quote last year for $240/month or something. If it's anywhere near 108 I'll be driving it by the end of next week!

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He picked up an '02 on Ebay with 8,800 miles on it for about 26k. He's only put about 600 miles on it since last fall. Don't know what **** do with it, but he's got more money then sense, with 3 vettes, a 70 cutlass, 67 nova, and God knows how many trucks, a BMW, and an Acura. I'm sure there's others lol.

oh yeah, forgot about the GTOs.

Yeah I'm jealous, but sadly he never finishes squat, half of them will sit in the elements cuz he loses interest.

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He picked up an '02 on Ebay with 8,800 miles on it for about 26k. He's only put about 600 miles on it since last fall. Don't know what **** do with it, but he's got more money then sense, with 3 vettes, a 70 cutlass, 67 nova, and God knows how many trucks, a BMW, and an Acura. I'm sure there's others lol.

oh yeah, forgot about the GTOs.

Yeah I'm jealous, but sadly he never finishes squat, half of them will sit in the elements cuz he loses interest.

For what it's worth, the **** was supposed to be a "he'll", not "****"

Sometimes apostrophes can be useful. :chair:

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Well so far so good, have to replace the pressure hose for the power steering tomorrow. Started off as a seep but now it's leaking pretty good. Been mainly driving it around town and on the outskirts. Tonight I took it into Ottawa for the first time, it did well! Still waiting for my updated tune and trying to find the right MAF sensor for it, running it with it unplugged for now since it won't run right with it plugged in. Appears to get basically the same gas mileage as the 4.3L did. Ran it easy between 70 and 75 the whole way, where it purrs ~2000rpm. Never checked but probably got 20mpg on the little trip into the city and back. I imagine it'll get 22-25 once the tuning is right and the MAF works as it should.

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Friend of mine had an old stepside chevy, think it was a 67 if I remember right, he had a 327 vette motor in it. Nothing like your beast hp wise, but that truck was pretty quick.

You got a place to run her in the quarter Shaun? Would be curious what the truck would turn.

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Yeah there's a place over in Luskville, QC that has a 1/4 mile strip. Also one down near the border which is only a couple hours away. I figure it should run in the high 13's or low 14's depending if I can hook off the line. The tires actually stick a lot better than I thought they would, it's pretty quick! Peels the tires going into 2nd gear if you're really onto it. :clown:

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  • 3 weeks later...

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