Charlene

Keeler

New member
Mar 25, 2012
254
9
0
39
Claremore, Oklahoma
Charlene is a truck I bought from my brother. 2004 ECSB fully loaded Silverado. Been doing stuff here and there and slowly collecting stuff and the work has begun!

The day my brother bought it, nosed up to my old 2500HD.
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He wanted the front to be level with the rear so we put a leveling kit on it and wheels and tires. This is right after I bought it from him after he owned it for 2 years.

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I pretty well immediately pulled the leveling kit off the front put some drop shackles in the rear. Did a little trading on Craigslist and traded for some Dubstar 20s. Not my first choice, but not bad. Put all new lights up front and did a Denali cluster swap. How it sits now. Eventually I plan on doing a 2/4 drop to get it a little lower but still usable. Its a truck and I still intend to use it as a truck and its fairly frequently down dirt roads and driving through cow shit filled pastures.

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Now that I was happier with the way it looks, time to move on to the nitty gritty and get it ready for a little more power. I bought HP Tuners a few months ago and have been playing with it here and there. Slowly collecting parts here and there. I ordered and installed a Truetrac and replaced all the bearings in the rear end last weekend. If you're thinking of going with a Truetrac, do it. I picked mine up on Amazon for 460 shipped to my door. Found my bearing kits on there as well for around 60. Set up was easy, was able to reuse the stock shims. Decided to stick with the stock 3.73 gears for now, but will likely end up swapping in 4.30s or 4.56 gears in the furture.

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Weekend before last, I installed new cross drilled/slotted rotors and carbon ceramic pads. Got those on Amazon for 150 shipped. I'm sure the rotor stock comes from China, but they are machined in Canada and so far seem to be a solid product. Truck stops in about half the time as before.

Going to be ordering more parts this week in addition to the parts I currently have. As of now, I have a 4L80E (HD2 kit installed couple weeks ago) waiting to be swapped in, Racetronix hot wire kit, AEM Wideband, and a few other odds and ends. This week, we're ordering the cam, lifters, springs, Circle D converter, and some other engine stuff. Ultimately I ended up going with a 228R .600 lift 110lsa for a cam. The shop I work at is a TSP dealer, so its a no brainer for me. Trying to do this build on a bit of a budget while maintaining daily driver status at the same time. I have a 5.3 gen 3.5 with castec 706 heads that is sludged up that will be the power plant. Soon as I get the 80 swapped in, I will start on the engine tear down and clean up. Truck currently has a 5.3 but with around 225K miles, the lifters are extremely tired and its a true gen 3 with the still stout, but weaker bottom end. Unless I come across a smoking deal on a set of 243 heads, I will likely end up going with some 317 heads and mill them around .030. These are pretty close to the 243 heads they just have a larger combustion chamber. I usually refer to milled 317 heads and a poor mans 243.

I'm doing this project mainly on the weekend and as time allows. I spend the majority of my time fixing other peoples shit but I usually try to squeeze in my own truck on the weekends. Shooting to have the bulk of everything done by late summer, early fall at the latest. Really wanted to have it done by June, but thats a bit ambitious. I will update as the progress continues!


PS, Sam is gay.
 
D'awwwwwwww. I've missed you assholes too. Been here. There. And everywhere in between. Pretty well forgot forums existed until I started this build. Got out of aircraft work a few years ago and decided to go to the automotive sector. Couldn't be happier! I miss the money from aircraft but no longer having to deal with the stress of it all is worth it. Plus, I do pretty decent as a mechanic.
 
Fedex dude delivered some goodies today.......

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Also went to the pick a part and robbed a fan harness and a few other odds and ends Saturday. New electric fans will be here Friday. All I need to complete my transmission swap is a new pan! Need to call my parts guy and get that coming. I'll eventually switch to a deep aluminum pan, but for now stock will be ok. Might do the transmission swap this weekend but will likely be next weekend. Once my engine stand is free I'll hang the 5.3 and start the tear down and clean up on it!
 
Installed E-fans and the wideband sans sensor this weekend. Transmission swap should be happening this coming weekend. Going to delete cats and add the wideband sensor while the y pipe is out.

I went with the AEM 30-4110 off of Amazon for around $160. Have used Innovative in the past but they've had some issues lately. Going to see how the AEM does. Nice unit, has 2 different logging wires depending on how you data log. AND it doesn't require any kind of open air calibration that most do. I looked high and low for a brown 2 pod set up but couldn't find one anywhere. Found 3 pods all day long but no 2. Went with this cheap set up for the time being.
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Went with the factory GM set up for the fans. Ordered the fans off of Amazon for around $140 tax and all. Scored the harness for free from a local pull a part yard from an 07 classic silverado. Tuned with HP Tuners and the set up works flawlessly. I have the fans set up to come on with AC and engine temp. I turned the temps down a little to hopefully keep it a little cooler.
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Looking for an Airraid intake tube if anyone has one for a deal. Planning on detailiing the engine bay and fixing the wire loom where needed when the engine swap happens. Being on dirt roads here and there makes it hard to keep everything dust free. Currently on the hunt for a cheap SUV or 4wd truck to bomb around in. Had a Subaru but I didn't fit in it too well...

Ordered a case of AC Delco Dex VI for 83 dollars on Ebay last night. Long as it is here by the weekend the swap will happen. Cleaned up and painted the trans this weekend as well. Totally Awesome cleaner from the dollar store makes a badass degreaser/cleaner. Used the Bluecat tuning stuff to get a good base tune for the transmission and I'll adjust the shift points from there. I tried it out on my 60 for grins and it gets you pretty close! Also swapping in a Circle D 3000-3200 converter when the 80 goes in. You can buy the adapter harness for some extra money or repin your factory 60 harness to work for the 80 and run a couple extra wires for the speed sensor. I'll be using a modified factory crossmember for the time being, but will either be buying a Scruggs crossmember or build my own eventually.

Soon as my stand is free I'll hang the 5.3 I have and start the tear down. I have most of the parts ready for it but still need a few gaskets and heads. Haven't decided which heads I'm going with but will likely either be 243s or 317s. If I can find a deal on some 243s I'll be getting those, if I come across another set of $100 dollar 317 i'll get those and mill the fuck out of them. I don't plan on getting too crazy with the heads as this 5.3 is just to play around with and hold me over for a while. After this is done I'm on the hunt for a gen 3.5 6.0 to build up for a turbo.
 
You could probably find SEM paint to match your interior color if you wanted to color match the pod
 
Eh, for now its ok. I only need it for the wideband for now, probably won't be boosted for a few more years. Still have plenty of time to find exactly what I want.

Been a slight change of plans. My boss and a couple of other people talked me into camming the 5.3 thats in the truck now. After 230K miles, the rings should already be gapped enough for a little sniff of nitrous down the road so fuck it. Tore it all down last night and cleaned parts and gasket surfaces. Everything was surprisingly clean for a high mileage truck! I been into engine with half the mileage that looked 10X worse. Started the reassembly today but didnt get where I wanted due to running back and forth most of the day making sure the AC in my house got fixed right. AC is a lot like sex or oxygen, you never miss it til its not there anymore. To top things off when I was tearing down the truck I knicked the condenser juussstttt right and put a pin hole leak in it. $150 dollars later and thats squared away. House AC is back up and running and working on the tune for it tonight. Have a few things left to button it up and it will be ready for fluids, oil prime, flash, and fire. Had planned on doing the tranny swap Monday but after the past few days it can wait til next weekend. I have a feeling dealing with converter surge all week will give me the proper motivation to get it done. Pics/vids coming soon. For anyone that cares to follow I usually post truck shit on Snapchat. EatSleepJets
 
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Finally made some progress on the tune this weekend. First time really digging into the ECU for changes and its one hell of a learning curve. Didn't take many pics of the tear down or reassembly but this is what I have.

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I have a video on FB of it running but no idea how to link it here to where people can see it. Might load it to youtube sometime. Anyone have any ideas??
 
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Did the transmission swap this past weekend. Everything went pretty well as planned, aside from the fact that my 4L80E didn't have the shift cable bracket. Ended up hacking up and bending my stock 4L60E bracket to work. I refuse to spend almost 200 bucks on a Scruggs crossmember. Is it worth it? Absolutely! Is it worth it when you know how to weld and bend shit? No. I ended up using a modified stock 60E crossmember for the time being until I can get some tubing and make my own. Installed an HD2 shift kit and it shifts beautifully. Barks the tires on the 1-2 shift if you're in it somewhat or all the way. You have a few options when you drill out your seperator plate, I went with step 3. I ordered transmission lines so everything looks factory. You can splice your factory 60 lines and make them work, but thats a hot area and transmission fluid is flammable at the right temp. new lines are cheap on Amazon so why chance it. The ECSB have a 2 piece DS so no need to have one made. Theres a few different ways to do the wiring. Me, personally, I like using factory shit when and where I'm able. I like for everything to look factory as possible. Going from 60-80 there are 2 wires in your harness that the 80 is not going to use. A white wire and a tan with a black tracer. I used to two wires for the forward speed sensor and repinned my ECM. After doing this swap a segment swap is necessary, I had zero issues with this. Literally drove the truck in about 11:00 Saturday and drove it right back out about 4:00 the same day.

Here is my complete parts list for everything

Detroit/Eaton Truetrac - 913A481 On Amazon.
Ordered a master bearing kit for the rear at the same time. Contrary to what Eaton says, the bearing kit for my rear end worked on the locker.
I ended up using dino oil in the rear but will likely pull the cover for an inspection soon and will change it to a synthetic gear oil. Eaton says this is a no-no but there are no ill side-effects that I'm aware of. The newer trucks actually call for a synthetic fill. We have another truck like mine with the same rear end set up using synthetic and it works fine. Still using factory 3.73 gears but will be stepping it up (down) to 4.10s or 4.30s this winter.

Trans Swap
Being a 2 piece DS from the factory, I'm able to retain my stock DS. RCSB needs a DS made, crew cabs have a couple of options. Swap in a 2 piece or have a new DS made. This is the parts list for my ECSB.
U-joint - 447 Moog conversion u joint
Yoke - Spicer 3-3-5571x
Lines - Lower - 15867484 Upper - 15812029
Dipstick Tube 15832205
Actual dipstick - I used my 60E stick. The 60 and 80 share the same one.
I used my stock shifter bracket and stock shifter cable. Had to modify the stock shifter cable bracket work.
Crossmember - Get a Tyler Scruggs crossmember or modify your stock one.
I don't have the pin outs in front of me, but if you search, you will find them.
Circle D 3200 converter that uses the factory 60E flexplate

Engine stuff
228r TSP cam - Valvetrain is stupid quiet with this cam, TSP is using their own lobe so valvetrain noise is at a min.
TSP .660 dual spring. I believe these are rebranded pacs but I cannot confirm.
TSP Chromololy pushrods
LS6 (I think its an LS6) HV oil pump
LS7 lifters/trays
GM headgaskets
All other gaskets are felpro
LS2 timing set (didn't need the LS2 cam reluctor but it was a lot cheaper and works just fine)
Hell, I reused my factory head bolts. I don't recommend you do this. I have a Snap-On electronic torque wrench that almost wipes your ass for you, I knew none of my bolts had stretched.

Misc
E-fans TYC 622230
Wider radiator was bought from my local autozone
Harness, I robbed a truck with factory fans at the pick-n-pull
Brakes Slotted/crossdrilled rotors with carbon ceramic pads from Amazon. For whatever reason they are no longer available. Wish they were because they are pretty awesome.
AEM 30-4110 Wideband


Probably forgetting some stuff but this is the jist of it all. I'm using HP Tuners Pro to do my own tuning. All said and done I'm around $4,000 for parts and HP Tuners. I went cheap as I possibly could on everything. Most of my parts where purchased from Amazon with others coming from wherever.