Gpcalero's "The Duke" H3T Alpha Build
#51
12-22-2021, 06:21 PM
Finally, I nailed down a long weekend to start the 6.2L LS3 swap. After work, I loaded up the T with all the new goodies you'll see in time and went to my buddies place to get started. The SnugTop definitely came in handy here, no fear of stuff flying out of the bed or things flying out of the already opened boxes lol
I took Friday off (for more extra wrenching time) and started Thursday night after work. Works out well for me because my employer observes July 4th on the 5th since it's on a Sunday, so I had a 4 day weekend full of wrenching!! Here's what we accomplished after the first night. Bumper & grille removed, radiator, engine harness and misc items disconnected, cab mounts removed. We were ready to lift the cab off the frame in the morning and get more room to pull the engine/trans.
Hope you guys enjoy the follow along on this build!
I took Friday off (for more extra wrenching time) and started Thursday night after work. Works out well for me because my employer observes July 4th on the 5th since it's on a Sunday, so I had a 4 day weekend full of wrenching!! Here's what we accomplished after the first night. Bumper & grille removed, radiator, engine harness and misc items disconnected, cab mounts removed. We were ready to lift the cab off the frame in the morning and get more room to pull the engine/trans.
Hope you guys enjoy the follow along on this build!
???? Check your calendar?
#53
12-27-2021, 09:58 AM
Haha HEY there bruiser!!! You're right, it's not then right now, but that's when it was done so I'm writing it/catching up on the forum.
I tried to add in past tense and dates in my posts in case any of you guys were wondering lol. I didn't do all this work in just a month's time lmao
I'll add in another catch-up post tonight when I'm off of work and can put it together, but pretty much you guys are almost all the way caught up.
I tried to add in past tense and dates in my posts in case any of you guys were wondering lol. I didn't do all this work in just a month's time lmao
I'll add in another catch-up post tonight when I'm off of work and can put it together, but pretty much you guys are almost all the way caught up.
#54
12-27-2021, 10:49 AM
Haha HEY there bruiser!!! You're right, it's not then right now, but that's when it was done so I'm writing it/catching up on the forum.
I tried to add in past tense and dates in my posts in case any of you guys were wondering lol. I didn't do all this work in just a month's time lmao
I'll add in another catch-up post tonight when I'm off of work and can put it together, but pretty much you guys are almost all the way caught up.
I tried to add in past tense and dates in my posts in case any of you guys were wondering lol. I didn't do all this work in just a month's time lmao
I'll add in another catch-up post tonight when I'm off of work and can put it together, but pretty much you guys are almost all the way caught up.
#55
12-27-2021, 02:56 PM
More pictures & words on the way! For Hummerz, Doc, and all my Hummer friends lol.
#56
12-27-2021, 03:56 PM
LS3 Swap Time!!!! Part 2
Started the next day with lifting the cab off of the frame. Doing so makes it so much easier to pull the engine/trans/TC.
Rolled the frame back for access with the hoist. Looking over the body, and especially the frame after cab removal, they still look fantastic. Hardly any rust on the truck, if at all. With exception to the front driveshaft of just surface rust (which was the same case with the new '09 H3 we had back in the day -- went bye-bye for the Mustang lol). And whoever owned the truck beforehand had some exhaust hangers left unpainted and they themselves have surface rust, more on that later. But the Alpha T looks great, love it.
Done!
Engine/trans pictured below. We had already removed the transfer case at this point.
The T looks a little funky with just the bed and Snug Top on it lol.
Side of the bed facing the cab had some mildew or similar crap on it from never being touched. Cleaned some of it with cleaner and it came off the paint perfectly, so we'll clean the rest of it later.
Got the transmission off and back in the build room and isolated the Alpha's V8.
If anybody wants them, I'll be selling the LH8 specific manifolds, motor, torque converter & misc V8 pieces for those who are looking to do the I5 to V8 swap. Everything runs and works as it should! ---- UPDATED BELOW
The engine may already be spoken for, pending offer. ---UPDATED BELOW
We started digging into the transmission but unfortunately we needed a special bit to remove the bell housing. It's very similar to a Torx bit, and called a Torx Plus bit, which is just different enough to where we don't want to strip the bolts without the proper bit. In addition to that, we found that we are missing a few pieces for the transmission build so we have to wait to order some parts. And I couldn't go grab anything this weekend because it was the July 4th holiday weekend of course(some places closed), so we wait and put everything on pause until Tuesday or later.
And to make things worse, there was a hurricane coming, Hurricane Elsa. Hopefully we wanted the predictions of it being a tropical storm when it hits, stays true. We were worried about the cab blowing off of the lift and ended up going through the annoying process of putting it back on til the storm blows through. Ended up being fine
So we waited on parts...
UPDATES:
- LH8 5.3L Alpha ENGINE -- SOLD. For all the 08-09 Alpha owners, hotrodders/racecar guys love our engines FYI. We have the aluminum Gen 4 (strong pistons & rods) 5.3L engines with no DOD or VVT, so these aren't some regular run of the mill junkyard iron 5.3 for $500. For the motorheads out there, they like our engines because they have stronger pistons/rods than gen 3, plus lighter being aluminum, and you won't have to delete the displacement on demand (DOD), or the variable valve timing (VVT). I was actually able to sell just the longblock motor just less than 2 days of having it listed, got $1850 for it (they sell online for $2000-$2800 for longblock, some accessories & intake manifold) on ebay and a guy bought it to supercharge it and place on his airboat lol.
- LH8 5.3L Alpha Exhaust Manifolds -- SOLD. Held these to really sell to an H3 guy only. Sold em to a buddy who is gathering parts to do a V8 swap on his I-5 H3.
- LH8 5.3L Alpha torque converter -- Still Available. May keep it for a while longer or trash it unless somebody wants it. You really can get a new/aftermarket stock stall one for cheap if you don't need a specialty one.
Rolled the frame back for access with the hoist. Looking over the body, and especially the frame after cab removal, they still look fantastic. Hardly any rust on the truck, if at all. With exception to the front driveshaft of just surface rust (which was the same case with the new '09 H3 we had back in the day -- went bye-bye for the Mustang lol). And whoever owned the truck beforehand had some exhaust hangers left unpainted and they themselves have surface rust, more on that later. But the Alpha T looks great, love it.
Done!
Engine/trans pictured below. We had already removed the transfer case at this point.
The T looks a little funky with just the bed and Snug Top on it lol.
Side of the bed facing the cab had some mildew or similar crap on it from never being touched. Cleaned some of it with cleaner and it came off the paint perfectly, so we'll clean the rest of it later.
Got the transmission off and back in the build room and isolated the Alpha's V8.
If anybody wants them, I'll be selling the LH8 specific manifolds, motor, torque converter & misc V8 pieces for those who are looking to do the I5 to V8 swap. Everything runs and works as it should! ---- UPDATED BELOW
The engine may already be spoken for, pending offer. ---UPDATED BELOW
We started digging into the transmission but unfortunately we needed a special bit to remove the bell housing. It's very similar to a Torx bit, and called a Torx Plus bit, which is just different enough to where we don't want to strip the bolts without the proper bit. In addition to that, we found that we are missing a few pieces for the transmission build so we have to wait to order some parts. And I couldn't go grab anything this weekend because it was the July 4th holiday weekend of course(some places closed), so we wait and put everything on pause until Tuesday or later.
And to make things worse, there was a hurricane coming, Hurricane Elsa. Hopefully we wanted the predictions of it being a tropical storm when it hits, stays true. We were worried about the cab blowing off of the lift and ended up going through the annoying process of putting it back on til the storm blows through. Ended up being fine
So we waited on parts...
UPDATES:
- LH8 5.3L Alpha ENGINE -- SOLD. For all the 08-09 Alpha owners, hotrodders/racecar guys love our engines FYI. We have the aluminum Gen 4 (strong pistons & rods) 5.3L engines with no DOD or VVT, so these aren't some regular run of the mill junkyard iron 5.3 for $500. For the motorheads out there, they like our engines because they have stronger pistons/rods than gen 3, plus lighter being aluminum, and you won't have to delete the displacement on demand (DOD), or the variable valve timing (VVT). I was actually able to sell just the longblock motor just less than 2 days of having it listed, got $1850 for it (they sell online for $2000-$2800 for longblock, some accessories & intake manifold) on ebay and a guy bought it to supercharge it and place on his airboat lol.
- LH8 5.3L Alpha Exhaust Manifolds -- SOLD. Held these to really sell to an H3 guy only. Sold em to a buddy who is gathering parts to do a V8 swap on his I-5 H3.
- LH8 5.3L Alpha torque converter -- Still Available. May keep it for a while longer or trash it unless somebody wants it. You really can get a new/aftermarket stock stall one for cheap if you don't need a specialty one.
#57
12-27-2021, 05:52 PM
Haha HEY there bruiser!!! You're right, it's not then right now, but that's when it was done so I'm writing it/catching up on the forum.
I tried to add in past tense and dates in my posts in case any of you guys were wondering lol. I didn't do all this work in just a month's time lmao
I'll add in another catch-up post tonight when I'm off of work and can put it together, but pretty much you guys are almost all the way caught up.
I tried to add in past tense and dates in my posts in case any of you guys were wondering lol. I didn't do all this work in just a month's time lmao
I'll add in another catch-up post tonight when I'm off of work and can put it together, but pretty much you guys are almost all the way caught up.
#58
12-27-2021, 08:58 PM
#59
12-29-2021, 08:46 PM
But you can do it!! Just research on here and practice what other H3 guys have done on here or have posted about. Doc, Hummerz and MULTIPLE users all share great information that you and even I have learned myself. .....like me needing to grab some CRC electronic cleaner to avoid an issue many H3 guys have experienced haha -- more on that later!
#60
12-29-2021, 09:18 PM
LS3 Swap Time!!!! Part 3
Adding in some more notes for you guys after going through the process.
Well...
It took a while but I got the missing pieces that I needed at that time. This Torx Plus bit, and the rest of the clutches and steels for the forward and overrun sets. Due to the pandemic, Raybestos had a 6-8 lead time on the pieces that I needed back then. May still be like that now, wouldn't surprise me. Luckily, I was able to get the friction set from WIT and they pieced together the few missing steels that I needed to move forward.
Started the teardown.
Don't want to do this twice so I've tried to build this thing the right way.
Sonnax smart tech input housing and Borg Warner 29 element dual cage sprag. The Sonnax housing allows for more full sized frictions and steels for more power holding capacity.
(note) ^^^ Thing really looks like a beauty to me compared to a stock sprag
GM 5-pinion rear planetary below to replace our stock 4-pinion piece & Sonnax high strength input shaft.
NOTE: I want to add in here that I bought the Sonnax high strength input shaft AND output shaft because, during my research on anybody with any larger engine, found a guy that toasted one of his shafts (maybe twice, not sure).
Installing the Sonnax 2nd & 4th gear super hold servos.
The smart tech input housing loaded up with the 3/4 Raybestos GPZ frictions and lindered steels
New GM reverse input drum and Sonnax extra wide Kevlar band
NOTE: Better to use a new stock reverse input drum unless you are sure yours is fine. Using a good straight edge, you can see the used drum start to contour or bevel with light behind it if it's bad. Can affect your band's effective area, where it may not apply enough in a lowered area.
And probably my favorite piece of this tranny build is this 6-pinion front planetary. This changes our gear ratios to allow less engine RPM on the 1-2 and 2-3 shifts, thus keeping the engine better in it's power band.
More Sonnax parts. Modified oil pump and installed their Performance Pack modifications to the valve body (didn't get any pictures).
All wrapped up and ready to go back in
Still lot of work to be done from this point!!
Well...
It took a while but I got the missing pieces that I needed at that time. This Torx Plus bit, and the rest of the clutches and steels for the forward and overrun sets. Due to the pandemic, Raybestos had a 6-8 lead time on the pieces that I needed back then. May still be like that now, wouldn't surprise me. Luckily, I was able to get the friction set from WIT and they pieced together the few missing steels that I needed to move forward.
Started the teardown.
Don't want to do this twice so I've tried to build this thing the right way.
Sonnax smart tech input housing and Borg Warner 29 element dual cage sprag. The Sonnax housing allows for more full sized frictions and steels for more power holding capacity.
(note) ^^^ Thing really looks like a beauty to me compared to a stock sprag
GM 5-pinion rear planetary below to replace our stock 4-pinion piece & Sonnax high strength input shaft.
NOTE: I want to add in here that I bought the Sonnax high strength input shaft AND output shaft because, during my research on anybody with any larger engine, found a guy that toasted one of his shafts (maybe twice, not sure).
Installing the Sonnax 2nd & 4th gear super hold servos.
The smart tech input housing loaded up with the 3/4 Raybestos GPZ frictions and lindered steels
New GM reverse input drum and Sonnax extra wide Kevlar band
NOTE: Better to use a new stock reverse input drum unless you are sure yours is fine. Using a good straight edge, you can see the used drum start to contour or bevel with light behind it if it's bad. Can affect your band's effective area, where it may not apply enough in a lowered area.
And probably my favorite piece of this tranny build is this 6-pinion front planetary. This changes our gear ratios to allow less engine RPM on the 1-2 and 2-3 shifts, thus keeping the engine better in it's power band.
More Sonnax parts. Modified oil pump and installed their Performance Pack modifications to the valve body (didn't get any pictures).
All wrapped up and ready to go back in
Still lot of work to be done from this point!!