I RESTORED this JUNKYARD LTX Engine for Practically Nothing

[@lsxmatt]

Apparently some cheap harbor freight wire wheels and spray paint can work miracles.

[@Str8upstoopid]

Looks top notch my man!! 👍🏻

[@Michael-mj8ix]

You are a Vary sick man , in a good sickness to have mad respect keep up the great channel 👍

[@tcouty]

Always a fan of third gen content. The time you take to balance showing the work being done and the explanations is spot on man. Love the videos, can’t wait for the next one.

[@wanderinggentile]

I'm wondering about how well DOD would work in a vehicle a thousand pounds lighter than a Tahoe or a Silverado, with good aerodynamics. Would you consider taking a road trip with the DOD in place to show what kind of economy (I know, totally not the mission of the car) it does over 5-600 miles of limited hooning? I'm thinking you could do between 35-40 mpg at a steady 65-70, with all the power you want any time you want it.

[@moemoe0032]

It is when I drove a charger the mds kicks on at 80 my ram barely can keep it 70

[@myoneblackfriend3151]

Please do this test.

[@myoneblackfriend3151]

@@moemoe0032 Could your gearing need to be changed? I put a 5.3L in my 1957 truck and Quick Performance asked me how I would use the truck. MPG was the goal - not power. They suggested a 3.5 rear gear since 80 would be the fastest I would go in the truck.

[@thecitiots]

I really like that you spend time cleaning and painting rather than just tossing dirty stuff in the car nice work!

[@michaeldavis3430]

I'm a GM tech, spray some penetrating oil into the lower section of the injector holes. Let it soak for a couple of hours and they should work out with the pry bars.

[@lsxmatt]

Thanks I’ll try that

[@michaeldavis3430]

@@lsxmatt Yeah, the tools for the injector rails rarely work. Just be patient and keep working the injectors. I promise they will come out. 👍

[@johnstriffler]

Michael Davis. I've used the GM green top engine cleaner. A small amount on each of the injectors and let it soak for an hour or so to soften up the carbon and they come right out.

[@michaeldavis3430]

@@johnstriffler I'm going to try that next time, thanks! 😁👍

[@NotAGarage]

I'm very interested in seeing the header clearance on a gen V. And the tune for the direct injection to run on all 8. I did a LS1 swap in a 86 Trans Am I unfortunately sold on eBay. I'm looking to do a gen V swap in my 88 Formula so all these awesome videos help a fellow 3rd gen guy out!

[@andrewlintz9639]

I'm working on my lq4 swap into my 88 GTA and these are really helpful

[@thebigv8644]

Again, your 80s synth music is killer, especially the tune while doing the engine cleanup!! Your car content is cool too👍🏻 Your T/A and Camaro really makes me want a 3rd gen again!!!

[@TheFXofRobbRee]

Felt like I was watching a movie from my childhood and he is preparing to go on some epic save the world type mission in that Trans-am. Lol.

[@MarkTisdelJr]

I’ve now binged this entire T/A series in 3 days… love it man!! Inspired me to go pick my TA back up! Can’t wait to get cranking on it!

[@transam3041974]

Thank you for the content you produce, man! I'm learning so much from watching the Camaro and Trans Am vids, and the soundtracks are really cool! Keep up the good work, and God bless!

[@firstnamelastname9188]

Please leave those valve covers off. I've never seen a stock engine look soooo good! You did a phenomenal amount of work rehab'ing that baby beast of an engine and it shows. You have literally inspired me to go the same route one day instead of painting an engine in the typical chevy colors, ect. Way to go Matt!

[@chrisstavro4698]

how does the 3rd gen have so much more engine room than the 4th gen? I'm jealous! Great work! fun fact: GM had to change the name to AFM because the Department of Defense told them to.

[@rdpeach]

Ive been watching your vids for a while now and Im totally envious of your ability to do all the work. Even the interior work. Just remarkable. Your vids are a pleasure to watch !

[@jjay718]

Nice job! You rtv applying skills are on point.

[@mikejohnson9118]

I think you can spray a hi-temp clear coat on the engine to protect it.

[@lsxmatt]

I was going to but didn’t want to risk it yellowing.

[@mikejohnson9118]

The valve covers need a deep red Matt LSX logo on them.

[@Tiovergudo]

LTX

[@craiglange4852]

Awesome story telling/editing! Thank you for doing this. 👍

[@PNWBLUEBARON]

Did you happen to make that ac wire harness for your car? I have all my old wiring for the ac but I’m curious how you wired it for a base map of a how to would be awesome!

[@shadowopsairman1583]

Any 5.3+ id remove afm and dod. For that matter I would do that on any engine

[@ramenhausten]

Just got a 5.3l avalanche wondering what mods you would recommend for both reliability and fuel efficiency?

[@isaacgreen1599]

I’ll be cool to see how you hook up your C 100 harness to the psi standalone harness

[@RatdogDRB]

Quite the transformation for that mill. Nice work there Matt. Too bad about those fuel rails. Hopefully some heat will rectify the matter for you. Good work on the wiring too. Cleaned that mess up nicely. The beard trim looks "more gooder" too. LOL

[@tsherwoodrzero]

Nice job on the cleanup. Pretty cool to see someone else make a gasket from scratch using the oldschool ball peen hammer method. I've done so on things ranging from a Mazda 20B throttle body and turbos in 2013 (Unobtanium, don't ask...lol) to a BMW transmission pan gasket since the OE ones leak as soon as you look at them. My go-to is Fel-Pro 3157 or 3137 for bigger stuff. It compresses quite a bit compared to a paper gasket, so increase your torque about 10%, and use anti-seize, and you'll never have a leak.

[@jstone150]

I had to replace a failed injector on my L83 at 61k miles, took me 2-3 days of intermittent prying to get one side out. That’s just the struggle.

[@d3sigN8t3dDruNk]

That cleaned up engine is gorgeous! Love this channel.

[@Ali-bz9gd]

WoW, the amount of knowledge in the last video and this one is out of this world, i like the clean shaven matt( no homo), the bearded matt was depressed and always grumpy. Id recommend to remove the transmission stock hard lines and run -6 AN, they look better and flow more.

[@rolandlluis3153]

Outstanding work / video... My 2 cents on that pass side harness , possibly loom it up tightly and pass it along the manifold passing through the fuel rail then down behind the a.c. compressor. Whatever you do I'm sure will kick ass ✊💯

[@gjrt7573]

This is great Ive been wonder how to get that particular scaling off.

[@davebarron5939]

Matt, You have gotten very good at these "build" videos, clear and concise. Like mine, I am VERY curious how you will address the fuel lines as mine was a carb car as well. Thanks

[@chicagorc3967]

i have a question if you dont mind me askin, do you use blue locktite on the adapter plates that go to the block? i never see people use locktite but i would think that would be something youd wanna use em on . have you or do you sir?

[@johnsommerfeld6889]

That LT looks really good in there! Catch you on the next one.

[@robmcconnell9645]

I wish I had the ability to do these types of projects. I want to build an early 2000's camaro build. V6 to ls6.0 but the task is so daunting to an hvac tech.

[@jasonhull5712]

I'm a HVAC-R tech and I'm in the process of putting a 2013 LS3 into my 1970 Camaro, there is so much information out there on it that no matter what hiccups you run into someone else has surely been there and probably has a video about it. But it is definitely a huge task. But hopefully it will be worth it !

[@78PastorE]

Incredible job Matt!

[@larrydeaton5452]

Nice looking engine Matt. That would look good in my Silverado. Lol

[@governmentcalamari9785]

If you have the interest you can find lt4 blowers for decently cheap. Kinda do a 5.3 lsa vs 5.3 lt4 comparison as well

[@ChrisLincolnHomes]

Those lifters suck. My parents 2021 Tahoe broke with 4K miles on it. Ironically I was in the car after my dad picked me up at the airport in Providence and on the ride back to their city in MA the lights lit up the dash like a christmas tree. Lifters went bad and thankfully didn't ruin the engine. It was at the dealer for 3 weeks waiting on new lifters and pushrods.

[@cool62chev]

Engine looks great! Editing is on point also.

[@ThePhatdoug16]

You make it look so easy. Love the 3rd Gens.

[@kennethduttinger1603]

I fabricate those fuel rails at my plant. They are conveyed through a 2000°f braze oven. The joints soldered with metallic braze made out of nichol and copper. The entire process take 1 hr.

[@jennyloughry896]

Matt your videos are freaking awesome. I’m a fan!!

[@davidcallahan5157]

Matt I bought the tool to pull fuel injectors and still bent the fuel tube . I soaked them with PB Penetrating. It took me awhile the tool was Absolutely no help! Probably a good three days.

[@chrisstrande5878]

What I noticed on the third gens is Gm used the pink with black stripe wires and bridged them together alot.

[@Linwood_Garage]

Im jealous of your meticulous attention to detail. I know it's a gift and a curse but I wish I had the patience. Excellent work as usual.

[@augustkreis9924]

I've been following him since I was 16 with my first Camaro American muscle baby

[@grumpyirish9627]

Can’t wait to see it finished.

[@johnstriffler]

Hey Matt love the content. I'm about to start an ls swap on my 87 iroc z so the information has been awesome. I just wanted to chime in on removing those injectors. Poor a small amount of GM top engine cleaner (green) onto each injector where it goes into the head and let it soak for an hour or so and use a pry bar to pull the rails and injectors out. That j tool from GM is junk and bends easily. Good luck and look forward to more videos.

[@joemillion2372]

Man i wish you do a gbody because you are a blessing and i learn some much and am doing my build in a gbody 6.0 and i want my OG guages to work and save money and you helped

[@shadowopsairman1583]

Do you think a smaller idler may have prevented you from grinding the locator off? Or a corvette tensioner?

[@LSswapGarage1]

You have to love how GM cheaped out on literally everything on those direct injected messes. You went from reusable silicone impregnated aluminum gaskets to just beads of RTV..... And they leak all the time...gee I wonder why lol. With a good tune and the 6L80e I would not be surprised with sub 5 second 0 to 60's. Adding like 3 degrees of ignition timing over stock takes them from feeling lazy to ripping tires in the trucks haha. I like now since the L8T came out in the HD trucks they went away from that goofy water pump to a normal central mount one and utilize a hydraulic power steering pump again. I think all the aftermarket power steering bracket setups get you to install an LS3 waterpump.

[@Daniellopez-tx5xq]

Awesome LS build

[@GreatnPwrfulSteve]

Man I love the progress you have made! It motivates me to get to work on my own projects

[@Thin1_Slim]

Where did you get the wire diagram worksheet from?

[@kittykitty643]

Great job! Wasn't sure how to address mine thank y'all

[@carlosg1165]

Wow that was awesome I would had find high temperature clear coat paint and painted all that beautiful polish aluminum you clean and polish for long term against aluminum rusting wow beautiful keep them coming .👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👏👏👏👏👏👏👏

[@GoGoGarage]

Great video, I find myself saving a few of them for later.

[@franciscovasquez4555]

Outstanding content, lsxmat keep up the great work

[@Danman1972]

Nice work on the clean up! looks great. My 5.3 in my 08 GMC has 250K on it. Still has DOD. I really want to find someone local with HP tuners to just turn it off and I will let it live out the rest of its time in truck until it won't run any more. I told myself if the truck hits 250.... Its likely to see 500 with me! The only reason I'd ditch it is for a larger truck if I got a travel trailer or gas prices get so high I snag up cheap 4 banger beater and a open trailer to haul my dirt bikes.

[@mitchgriffin]

Well, 9 months later are gas prices high enough that you got a 4 banger? 😂

[@Danman1972]

@@mitchgriffin Dam near! I do have a small open trailer, but no beater yet. Keeping my eyes open and looking for a smaller SUV (cheaper). Might end up with a high down and picking up a tote your note SUV, but the are usually pretty beat and expensive. Currently a day ride at the place I like to ride on the dirt bikes cost a full tank and then some in the guzzler. Round trip its 350 mile. 110 bucks for my last tank (at current prices) + entry fee (15 bucks) and 5 hrs of driving for a 4 hour ride. The dirt bike gets premium non-ethonal gas. Thankfully it sips the fuel. Then when I get back the tank is on empty so you can figure another full tank for the week. Its costly! You can see a small beater will pay for its self quickly. That said, I've been riding closer to home at a place I'm not super fond of, but only takes a little over a 1/4 tank or another that cost more and is a little farther out. That one is just over half a tank. The temps are well into the hundreds and with full gear its super hot, so early mornings to beat the heat start at close to 80 degrees if not right at 80 by the time you get in and dressed to ride. I've been pretty busy on the weekends so not a bunch of riding. Will be looking for someone to share so gas that is near me. Buddy has a TDI jetta he pulls a converted jet ski trailer with so I maybe sharing some gas with him and my open trailer, but we live pretty far apart.

[@mattm5786]

Tahoe has rock music Trans am has 80s montage music

[@lucioustz28]

Enjoying the content. Cant wait to see the finished product! That bird is gonna be sick!

[@michaelhanewich245]

So many questions.... Here is a couple .... Power steering plans? Are you able to bypass the freekin RVC for the voltage regulation with that stock alternator?

[@lsxmatt]

I’m pretty sure the rvc won’t be a thing being there is no body control module. For the power steering I’m either going with a hydraulic pump that I’ll mount below the water pump, or an electric volvo unit.

[@MegaWolfman76]

You could paint the intake and valve covers to match the color of the trans am would probably look really good

[@mikebruegger8654]

Great work and great video construction skills..

[@billhartsfield424]

Damn dude! You got a lot done in this vid. Looks great !

[@ae86hatch14]

What is your opinion on current GM quality?

[@darrellcoy]

Looking great man!!

[@petersingh4825]

Matt the car and the progress is awesome! Can’t wait for the next video! I just bought a new aeromotive tank with baffles and 300 liter pump. How do you plan to fuel that engine?

[@TransAmMazing]

I came for the T/A video, but I stayed for Matt’s humor.

[@jofridz]

I love watching this stuff, but if you get more of the dancing mullet lol. 25:00 minute mark. You definitely have my wife’s attention too.

[@ElrodsGarage]

Looks awesome! Thanks for the knowledge.

[@nasty3145]

Great content. Youre giving me the confidence to do a L83/l86 swap to my 1931 hot rod. The old warnout 327 sbc has seen better days haha 😄

[@anthonyrodriguez-fo4lz]

Great job, looks great

[@GM-sk2wk]

Really a nice looking engine when it's all cleaned up

[@JamesBond-yw3dj]

Engine looks beautiful, nice job 👍

[@danteg8311]

I feel like I was watching Crockett from Miami Vice prepping his new engine for the big takedown (it was the music - lol)

[@MrIgor1955]

Looks great! Nice job!

[@07bluelbz]

Matt, is it just an optical illusion or does the motor lean to the driver side a little?

[@jacobhallett6524]

That’s an awesome Kix shirt you were wearing.

[@matthewmontgomery6033]

I love the KIX shirt!

[@garypease7414]

I have that firehouse shirt! Good job

[@nitrous07me]

That’s normal for them injectors not to come out, nope them special tools never work, only low mileage ones will come out with ease, what I highly recommend is soaking them injector bores with a ton of wd-40 for a couple of days or at least over night, make sure you blow out the stuff before you go at it again so it doesn’t fall into the cylinders if your successful

[@lsxmatt]

Ok I’ll try that thanks

[@kevindangeleit6679]

How is the powersteering going to work?

[@lsxmatt]

A few companies sell a hydraulic pump kit that mounts below the water pump. I’m either going with that or electric steering from a volvo.

[@quentinstore1464]

Two words…vapor blasting!

[@jeffboyer8214]

A Lsa supercharger would fit well 👌 lol 😆. Nice work sir. Be safe team !

[@pitbullkngz7236]

I wonder how a engine like this would do in my 84 c10 is it cost effective to make this swap

[@lsxmatt]

It’s probably more cost effective to do an ls swap being there are many more of those motors floating around. However I will taly everything up once it’s running to see how much it cost.

[@arthur1980]

Hey man, I have 87 GTA Trans Am 5speed. Would like you to work on it

[@ryanhawhee826]

WHAT MOTOR MOUNTS DID YOU USE

[@evanhooper1]

I like the coilpack cover, keep it.

[@juanmena4676]

Why didn’t you use the bmr cross member.

[@lsxmatt]

Its made for an ls swap. I didn’t want to cut it up to make it work when I can just use it in my Camaro.

[@warrenstearns9068]

On LS engines the weight savings of aluminum vs iron is also about 80 pounds

[@marcusmaddenov2451]

Trans Am! About time!

[@heavychevy7382]

Remove the rocker arms and fill the cylinders with Berryman for a day or 2. That will break down and penatrate the carbon that is holding the injectors in.

[@BigIsleJ]

Nice work!

[@J2A61]

👍🏾👍🏾 get rid of the DOD ASAP…. bad thing is a cam kit is $1,000 🤦🏾‍♂️ but totally worth it…..

[@Sam808Sch]

Nice work.

[@shadowopsairman1583]

No to the plastic vovers

[@Thompsongs]

Firehouse!! Oh yeah.

[@YZ250Yamaha969]

You forgot to put sealant around the oil pan oil ports.

[@coltengottschalk1049]

Why not pick up a tr6060?

[@myoneblackfriend3151]

I recommend a drip pan.

[@mattm5786]

That engine is popping

[@danielsimpkins9662]

So did you borrow the gasket making technique from 805RoadKing? I’ve seen him do that so many times on old Briggs engines.

[@lsxmatt]

I’ve seen my uncle do it to make gaskets when working on home plumbing, it works extremely well!

[@danielsimpkins9662]

@@lsxmatt your uncle is part of an old school crowd (and smarter) then. Nowadays everyone just gobs on RTV and calls it a day. I’ve only seen a handful of folks make their own gasket with gasket material and a ball peen hammer. Massive respect to you for doing it the right way.