I drove my Cougar from the Kansas City area to the Chicago area on Saturday, September 4th. The next day we rolled the Cougar into the garage to begin the process of removing my 5.3L and installing the LS3.
With everything removed, transmission pulled, it was time to take out the old engine to make room for more horsetorques...
Once the 5.3L was pulled, we started moving everything over from the 5.3L to the LS3. This included the exhaust manifolds, valley cover, accessories, oilpan, etc...The plan was to reuse my old clutch, but when we pulled the old clutch apart, it was obvious that the disk was a little thin. We managed to track down a new disk and pressure plate locally.
Here is the LS3 with all of the parts bolted to it, ready to go in its new home. We used the new balancer from the LSx454.
Here is BA, doing his awesome best. Without his help, this would not have been possible. He is a beast with the wrenches.
LS3 in its new home, resting between the fenders of my Cougar. Its even Ford blue...BA has a sense of humor.
Everything installed, trans back in, ready for the new intake base with the old upper part.
To be continued...