Prepping the engine bay for the LS3 powertrain requires a few key things to be done. First, the transmission tunnel has to be banged out to accommodate the larger T56 transmission. (A heavy mallet and a lot of muscle, combined with perseverance, go a long way.) Word to the wise, though — when you think you’ve banged the tunnel out enough, keep going. I learned that the hard way when I first tried to install the engine and had to pull the setup out to expand the tunnel some more. Sikky, which manufactures the mount kit, suggests about half an inch to an inch recession of the trans tunnel. It’s hard to gauge when you’re doing the job, but as I mentioned, when you think you’re done, hammer it more than you think is needed and you should be good.
If you’ve been following the build, you’ll remember that I installed a DeatschWerks 300-lph inline fuel pump that should supply adequate fuel for the LS3. However, the stock fuel lines have to be modified to fit a fuel pressure regulator, filter and fittings to mate to the LS3’s fuel system.
That beefy T56 transmission isn’t going to fit between those walls, so hammering out the t
There are many ways to approach redoing the fuel system. I decided that going with a clean AN-fitting setup would be best because of the ease of making custom lines and being able to mount everything exactly where I want it. Fuelab supplied me with its black 515 Series fuel pressure regulator that’s compact and adjustable up to 125 psi. A 1.5-inch EFI fuel pressure gauge was also included to make adjusting and monitoring fuel pressure a breeze. I had high hopes for the Fuelab inline fuel filter that supports 200-gph flow and a 10-micron element to keep the fuel free of any debris; however, after weighing my options, the filter was just too big to fit in the already cramped engine bay and I had to abandon using it.
In its place went an ultra-compact Earl’s fuel filter. Inside is a 35-micron element that should be adequate enough to meet the needs of my system. Since space was at such a premium, I cut the OEM hard lines at the firewall and placed Earl’s 6 AN aluminum tubing adapters so that any 6 AN fitting can be mated to them. For the actual fuel lines, black-colored (are you sensing a theme yet?) Earl’s Pro Lite Ultra hose was used in conjunction with varying Ano Tuff hard black anodized aluminum fittings. The Pro Lite Ultra hose is an extremely versatile piece that includes a black fabric outer shell with a steel braided and rubber reinforced inner tube that’s good up to 500 psi of pressure and withstands temperatures of -40 degrees to 302 degrees Fahrenheit. It’s also very flexible, making it ideal for custom applications.
The Ano Tuff fittings mate with the Pro Lite Ultra hose in rather simplistic fashion. Following Earl’s detailed instructions, the hose essentially screws into the fitting and seals as you tighten it up. Making such good-looking AN fuel lines has never been so easy.
As the photos show, I ran two AN lines up the firewall’s right side and mounted the Fuelab fuel pressure regulator on its protruding lip. You can see just how tight everything is — thankfully, the compact size of the Earl’s fuel filter enabled this setup to work out. Otherwise, it would’ve been back to the drawing board.
Earl’s Ano Tuff fittings and Pro Lite Ultra hose mate rather easily; a pair of wrenches an
The fuel line inlet on the engine is on the driver side, so the AN feed line will run along the firewall, and with a slight bend and a 90-degree fitting it lines up precisely. GM uses a barb-style fitting on its fuel rail, and a quick-connect adapter fitting is used to convert that over to AN.
That about wraps up everything needed to ready the engine bay for the LS3. With the fuel lines in place and tunnel beat out, once the engine is prepped it should slide right in.
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Fuelab’s adjustable fuel pressure regulator, gauge and inline fuel filter are high-quality
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Fitting a filter in a tight space is tricky business, but Earl’s fuel filter provides a co
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The Fuelab fuel pressure regulator was mounted to the lip on the firewall among the intert
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This is the quick connect adapter fitting needed to mate the AN fitting fuel feed line to