Well, "productive" might be overstating since all I accomplished was finding lots of hurdles I need to overcome.
Long story short, GM doesn't want the 5.3L swapped into the AWD Astro/Safari van.
I thought I'd found an easy way to get this engine bolted in. I had seen LS adaptor mounts that are supposed to allow the 4.8/5.3/6.0 to be quickly and easily bolted in where a 350 once sat. I ordered a set from Advanced Adaptors and all they are is flat steel that converts the 4 hole LS mount to a 3 hole small block mount. I also ordered a set of AWD V-8 mounts from JTR. Here are the mounts.
Here is the plate mount bolted to the left side of the block.
And with the JTR mount bolted to it.
I then swung the engine into place... well, not really. Turns out the 5.3L A/C compressor wants to share the same space as the upper right axle mount. Here is where the A/C is located on the 5.3L
I will not live without A/C. But, I thought there must be a way to relocate the A/C compressor and bracket. So at this point I decided to remove the compressor and try again. Here is the engine back in the general area. I didn't remove the bracket and doing so would give me enough room.
But the A/C issue turned out to be the most minor. Two other problems popped up at this point. Using the plate adaptors, the JTR mount is too far rearward and won't match up with the factory V-6 mount. It is off by 1-1.5" Not only is it too far rearward, but with the thickness of the plate, the mount is also spaced too far towards the driver's side. (Note, I didn't install the passenger side mount, but I'm pretty sure I would have seen the same thing on that side.)
The biggest stumbling block though is with the oilpan. I thought I'd be OK here since it is a rear sump pan and came out of a fullsize 4x4. I figured it would clear the front diff. It doesn't. You can see from this pic the engine isn't yet down far enough....
And the oilpan is already touching.
So where does that leave me? Well, I discovered there is a way to mount a different A/C compressor up top on the passenger side. The problem is it isn't (I don't believe) the stock compressor and the mount and new compressor will run about $400.
And since I had already planned on installing a 5" welded in subframe lift, I have up to 5" of room to move the engine up. Of course this means fabbing up engine mounts... which obviously I need to do anyway... and a new transmission mount. Plus it will mean I need new driveshafts when I reach that point. Moving the engine up isn't all bad. This would increase the ground clearance under the pan which is really needed anyway.
My next step is to enlist a friend to help me get the engine and transmission bolted up and then lower the whole thing back down and see exactly how much clearance I need.
I won't be back in the shop this week, but I'm hoping to be back the following Friday.
