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Project NOVAKANE:
P
ASSEMBLING
OUR CRATE ENGINE
roject Novakane suffered a temporary lock
down after the birth of my son. Life got in the
way of going fast, and that’s why you haven’t
seen any updates in a few months. But now we’re
back on schedule and ready to assemble the heart of
our beast. A quick recap is in order; you’ll remember
us pulling out the worn-out factory 4.8L and ordering
a boost-friendly GM Performance Parts LSX376
crate engine. That 6.2L LSX engine is going to be
fitted with a MagnaCharger TVS 2300 supercharger,
American Racing Headers long-tube headers, an ATI
Racing 8-rib pulley setup, LS7 throttle body, complete
ARP bolt kit, and new sensors/OE parts from Summit
Racing. In the last Novakane installment, we showed
you the necessary parts to make your GM truck
engine swap go more smoothly and what parts we
recommend upgrading for optimum performance.
In this issue, we’ll show you how everything goes
together in preparation for our break-in and engine
dyno appointment in next month’s issue. For
photography and illustration purposes, we’re going
to show you the engine’s assembly on an engine
stand, this way you’ll be able to get a clear idea of
what our new engine will look like before we drop it
in our ’04 GMC Sierra. If going fast gives you tingles
and jingles, check out our LSX376 engine buildup and
don’t miss next month where we’ll see just how much
power our combo makes.
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by Dan Ward ■ photography: Brandan Gillogly
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Bolting on Serious Power
1. Opening the crate and placing the GM Performance Parts’ LSX 376 engine
on an engine, stand let us take a look at the cast-iron LSX block, high-flow
LS3 heads, and what you can’t see is the forged-aluminum pistons inside to
make the compression ratio a boost-ready 9.0:1. To give our engine a hot-rod,
race-truck feel, we painted the timing cover VHT Wrinkle Black. All other
components will be powdercoated black for a stealth and fast look.
2. Supplying the boost for our GMPP crate engine will be the latest and greatest
supercharger from MagnaCharger. Delivering 2.3L of volume, the TVS 2300
uses a four lobe rotor design which maximizes power potential and, thanks to
the internal intercooler, keeps air temps at a safe level. We used an 8-rib setup
to keep belt slippage to a minimum and the overall pulley diameter is three
inches.
3. & 4. To ensure the base of the MagnaCharger didn’t interfere with the
intake valley cover, we swapped it in favor of the new MagnaCharger piece.
First, we had to remove the oil pressure sender and remove the eleven 13mm
hex-head bolts, then the factory cover could be pried loose. You can see the
MagnaCharger unit (right) uses female Allen bolts with a beveled head to sit
flush with the new cover for a lower profile.
5. We were now ready to install the new intake gaskets onto the lower manifold
of the MagnaCharger supercharger. For the LS3 heads on our LSX376, the ports
are rectangular and we picked up a new set of gaskets at our local dealer for
an ’09 Escalade with a 6.2L. The gaskets simply snap into place on the outside
and in the center for a trouble-free install.
6. The entire supercharger unit weighs about 70 pounds and after some help
lining it up, we dropped the MagnaCharger in between the heads and torqued
the new bolts from the center out to 89 in-lbs.
7. One step we forgot to show you was the coolant crossover vent tube
replacement. The factory LSX376 vent tube outlet hose won’t clear the new
supercharger, but thankfully MagnaCharger includes a new tube in their kit.
8. Up next, we installed our new throttle-body gasket into the MagnaCharger
plenum and then bolted on the new 90mm LS7 throttle body (p/n 12605109)
we purchased at a local dealer. To make our factory 4.8L wiring harness
operate the newer-style LS7 throttle body, we’ll be using a product called
the X-Link, by Torque Rush Racing, which will mate the two connectors and
operate the throttle body. We used black, 12-point ARP bolts throughout the
build for superior strength, longevity, and great looks.
CRATEENGINE
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9. Belt slippage is a big problem with high-boost applications and to remedy that issue before it started, we upgraded all our pulleys to 8-rib pieces. The
conversion (p/n 917339) is from ATI Racing and includes a race-certified harmonic balancer/crank pulley. We first pulley the original crank pulley and replaced
it with a stronger and wider unit from ATI. This is the back pulley, which controls the A/C belt. It needed to go on first and with a new crank bolt used, was
torqued to 240 lb-ft.
10. We could then install the 8-rib ATI Super Damper using a T-40 Super Torx bit. Once each bolt was torqued to 40 lb-ft, we moved on to the water pump pulley.
11. After we pressed off the factory water pump pulley, we began to press on the ATI Racing water pump pulley. We used a press to try and make sure the
pulley went on evenly, but you can also use a hammer and an appropriately sized socket.
12. This was where we ran into our first problem. The new water pump pulley that was included in our truck kit was actually for an F-body car and the water
pumps are different. What that meant was our 4-inch-wide pulley wouldn’t press onto the shaft a safe length without hitting the base supports of the water
pump. Rather than press our luck, after the mock-up photos were taken, we took the pulley to a machine shop and had ¾-inch shaved off the bottom and that
made it fit perfectly.
13. We were now ready for the water pump to go on. We ordered a new unit from Summit Racing and then painted it wrinkle black. ARP bolts were again used
to install the pump onto the block.
14. The alternator and power steering bracket could then be installed with new ARP 12-point bolts. Specialized Coatings, in Huntington Beach, California,
powdercoated the bracket black wrinkle to match our painted pieces and the black supercharger.
CRATEENGINE
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15. A big upgrade over the factory tensioner and idler pulleys, we contaced Lingenfelter for their awesome billet idler pulleys and heavy-duty tensioner
assembly. Lingenfelter also included a modified MagnaCharger bracket so that everything would simply bolt up. These pieces were really trick and the heavyduty tensioner will keep our serpentine belt nice and tight throughout the RPM range.
16. Lingenfelter’s new idler pulley and tensioner bracket assembly (which we’ll powdercoat black later on) was bolted onto the alternator bracket and water
pump using four supplied bolts with an 8mm Allen socket.
17. On went the 225-amp Powermaster alternator that came powdercoated black. This heavy-duty alternator will keep our multiple Optima batteries charged
up and it looks great too. The standard 6-rib serpentine pulley was replaced with an 8-rib unit from ATI.
18. During the wrinkle black paint process, we removed the front crank trigger and we made sure to reinstall it onto the front timing cover.
19. American Racing Headers long-tube headers were the next items to be bolted on. These bad boys feature 3/8-inch laser-cut flanges, along with 17⁄8-inch
primary tubes that collect into 3-inch crossover tubes. These headers came in a raw finish and we had them ceramic coated at Specialized Coatings.
CRATEENGINE
20. Minus an 8-rib belt and an oil
pan, our LSX376 was ready for its
dyno day at Westech Performance.
Our initial guesstimate is that our
small-block will belt out 620 hp
and 640 lb-ft of torque. If it does
achieve those figures, our GMC
Sierra should be a rocket ship.
Source Box
American Racing Headers
(631) 608-1986
americanracingheaders.com
ARP Bolts
(800) 826-3045
Arp-bolts.com
ATI Racing
(877) 298-5039
atiracing.com
GM Performance Parts
gmperformanceparts.com
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From The Driver Seat
B
olting everything onto our GM Performance Parts’ engine went smoothly, with the exception of
making a trip or four to the parts/hardware store. We needed new intake and exhaust manifold
gaskets, longer intake bolts, and we bought six different 8-rib belts to make sure we had the right
size. That’s why we assembled our engine before making the trip to the dyno, because there’s nothing
worse than wasting everyone’s time while your engine is sitting on a Super Flow dynamometer. Our LSX376
looks nasty with the accessories and covers painted black, and after our dyno testing is completed, we’ll
paint the throttle body and tensioner black to match the other components. As far as power goes, in just
four short weeks, we’ll be able to show you how many ponies our combo makes. Go to the blogs sections
of truckinweb.com to cast your vote and we’ll mail out a free T-shirt to the person who comes the closest
to guessing the real number.
MagnaCharger
(805) 642-8833
magnacharger.com
Powermaster
(630) 957-4019
powermaster.com
Summit Racing
(800) 230-3030
summitracing.com
Torque Rush Performance
(204) 232-3118
torquerush.com
Your Questions Answered
Time Spent Working: .......................................................................................................5 hours
Degree of Difficulty: ..................................................................................................Beginner
Tools Needed: Torque wrench (in-lb and lb-ft), 12-point 8-,10-,12-, 14mm sockets, 8-,10-,12,
14mm wrenches, 7 and 8mm Allen sockets, T-40 Super Torx bit, 24mm socket, 11/16-inch socket
(for oil sender)
Parts Used:
GM Performance Parts LSX376 crate engine 19171049 ...................................................... $5,954.95
American Racing Headers long-tube headers GMTE78NC ................................................ $1,375.00
(price from americanracingheaders.com)
ARP Bolts LS-engine 12-point black kit 534-9705 .................................................................. $263.99
ATI Racing 8-rib conversion 917339 ........................................................................................$952.85
MagnaCharger TVS 2300 upgraded supercharger .............................................................$7,450.00
(price from magnacharger.com)
Powermaster 225 amp alternator black 58237 ....................................................................... $379.95
Summit Racing water pump AAZ-58-626 .................................................................................. $73.95
Total: ..................................................................................................................................$16,450.69
(prices from summitracing.com and do not include tax, shipping, or installation)
Posted with permission from the May 2011 issue of Truckin’® Copyright 2012, Source Interlink Media. All rights reserved.
For more information on the use of this content, contact Wright’s Media at 877-652-5295
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