Huck's new daily - Victory Red '05 CCSSB

[Huck]

So as I pulled into the shop Sunday, I rolled past 498mi on the near rearend setup. So what did I decide to do? Start yanking the motor out I've been planning this for a long time anyway, this 5.3 leaks from every orifice

First thing's first, put the hood in service mode. Didn't know this was a thing till like 2 years ago, wish I would've known all these years with all these trucks lol. 'Course this is the first one I'm doing serious work on





Another goal of this job is to re-loom the harness cuz all the factory stuff is just brittle as hell and falling apart



This truck had a fresh trans put in it a couple years ago so thankfully the Y-pipe didn't fight me too bad other than this one nut. I'm gonna have to replace this one



The first real hiccup I ran into was the damn spark plug wires and plugs. Whoever did the tuneup before I got it didn't put a SINGLE DROP of antiseize or dielectric grease on these things so they were seized on there hard. Ended up pulling the front liners out to get better access

 

[Huck]

While I had the liners out, I cleaned the back of the fenders where they meet the door jamb where crap always collects






And this was the dirt that JUST came out of the bottom of the driver's flare



Remember the brittle harness I mentioned? I popped the main harnesses out of their firewall brackets and there was nothing there, thankfully the wires had not started chaffing yet



Then getting ready to drain the coolant

 

[Huck]

Pulled most of the accessory drive off. I think I'm just gonna bungee the PS bracket/pump out of the way and same thing with the AC compressor/bracket



Popped the intake off in prep for the lift plate



Did discover my lift plate is only for a GenIV, so I had to make a cut. Dropped the Gen3 valley cover on and traced it





20min later, worked great

 

[Huck]

Ran out of steam at about 7:30 and called it quits. At this point, I need to yank the fans out, move the PS and AC brackets, undo the wiring that goes under the front of the oil pan and get the bellhousing bolts out and trans supported. I was brainstorming with some buddies and might go ahead and install the 1.5" bodylift I've got laying around first to give me better access to the bellhousing bolts lol

 

[gmc00z]

another 5.3 or 6.0?
Looks like those front shocks are ready to be replaced as well.

 

[Huck]

another 5.3 or 6.0?
Looks like those front shocks are ready to be replaced as well.

I forgot to mention, this is just for a reseal. The engine runs great, is literally silent (not even any piston slap or lifter tick) and has fantastic oil pressure. But the whole thing is nasty and it drips a little oil when parked. Figured I'd do this now while the front diff is out of the way, it's easier that way.

I also have all new front suspension and steering ready to go for it, LCAs/Spindle Source UCA's to correct BJ angles, level keys and Bilstein 5100s. That'll get installed after the engine is back in