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jrblanke · 06-03-2016, 12:34 PM

Hey guys,
Quick update.
I finished building the engine last month. Oil pan, harmonic balancer, and timing covers are installed. My only concern is that my torque wrench only went up to 150, so I was unable to torque the balancer to 240 ft lbs. I believe I am going to try to get it a little tighter with a breaker bar. I definitely don’t want to strip out the crank.

Next step for the engine is to clean the intake, injectors, and fuel rail. Then that should be ready to bolt to the transmission.

Speaking of the transmission… This past weekend I converted the transmission to a 2wd. I work for a company that manufactures Aisin/Toyota transmissions, so I am familiar with all of the parts, but I didn’t have any experience with GM units. I spent some time reading about the weak points of the 4l60 and tried to address some of those during the 4wd to 2wd conversion. I used youtube videos to guide me through the rebuild.

In addition to new seals, o-rings, and clutch discs, I upgraded following parts: 3-4 clutch pack with borg warner high energy discs , 2-4 band with a high energy band, sunshell to sonnax smart shell, and sonnax line pressure boost valve kit. I also confirmed that the previous owner installed a trans-go HD2 shift kit, aluminum 1-2 accumulator piston, and corvette servo.

The biggest challenge was keeping foreign matter out of the trans while doing all of this in my driveway. The number 1 cause of failure that I see at my work is foreign material making its way into the valve body. This results in stuck valves, burned discs, etc. I have seen valves stick from material as small as 0.5 mm (20 thousandths).

At work right now, I'll post pictures later.

06-03-2016, 12:34 PM	#30
jrblanke Registered User Join Date: May 2011 Location: Raleigh, NC Posts: 240	Re: Finally starting my engine swap project: 5.3/4L60e into '84 short bed 2wd Hey guys, Quick update. I finished building the engine last month. Oil pan, harmonic balancer, and timing covers are installed. My only concern is that my torque wrench only went up to 150, so I was unable to torque the balancer to 240 ft lbs. I believe I am going to try to get it a little tighter with a breaker bar. I definitely don’t want to strip out the crank. Next step for the engine is to clean the intake, injectors, and fuel rail. Then that should be ready to bolt to the transmission. Speaking of the transmission… This past weekend I converted the transmission to a 2wd. I work for a company that manufactures Aisin/Toyota transmissions, so I am familiar with all of the parts, but I didn’t have any experience with GM units. I spent some time reading about the weak points of the 4l60 and tried to address some of those during the 4wd to 2wd conversion. I used youtube videos to guide me through the rebuild. In addition to new seals, o-rings, and clutch discs, I upgraded following parts: 3-4 clutch pack with borg warner high energy discs , 2-4 band with a high energy band, sunshell to sonnax smart shell, and sonnax line pressure boost valve kit. I also confirmed that the previous owner installed a trans-go HD2 shift kit, aluminum 1-2 accumulator piston, and corvette servo. The biggest challenge was keeping foreign matter out of the trans while doing all of this in my driveway. The number 1 cause of failure that I see at my work is foreign material making its way into the valve body. This results in stuck valves, burned discs, etc. I have seen valves stick from material as small as 0.5 mm (20 thousandths). At work right now, I'll post pictures later.