I bought a 2006 H3 a few months ago and have really enjoyed it with the exception of the complete lack of power from the 3.5L I5. The only modifications I've done so far are black out the chrome, tint the windows, level the front, and new wheels and 35" tires (which definitely did not help the HP problem).
Recently I had a pretty major issue with the stock motor. A small bolt came loose and fell out inside of the timing chain cover on the back of the engine. After bouncing around inside for awhile (made some very strange noises), it caught the timing chain and was ejected through the timing chain cover. Luckily I was not too far from home and was able to make it before it lost too much oil. The engine is very repairable but I decided since I was probably going to have the pull the engine anyway, this would be a great time to do a 6.0L swap and build a H3 that would have the power I reliability I want.
After doing some research and talking to some knowledgeable people, I decided the best engine for the swap (while staying within a reasonable budget) was a 6.0L LY6 out of a 08+ chevy truck, van, ect. These engines have the desirable L92 heads, variable valve timing, are 58x, and make great power. I found one out of an 08 2500HD with only 23k miles complete with all the accessories.
Most people who have done similar swaps in 06-07 H3s and also Chevy Colorados use a car intake for clearance with the pinch seam on the firewall (08+ models have a different firewall shape). I have read that the stock truck intake makes great power and torque so I wanted to keep it if possible to save some money by having to buy a somewhat expensive car intake/injectors. I spent some of that saved money and bought a mini sledge hammer from harbor freight and went to work "modifying" the pinch seam and firewall for clearance for the truck intake. I did a test fit today and everything seems to fit well so far.
I spent a lot of time trying to find similar swaps and there's not a lot of info out there for H3 swaps yet so I'll try to cover all the major stuff and post a complete parts list. I'm hoping to make this a reasonalbly quick project so I should have some updates soon.
Recently I had a pretty major issue with the stock motor. A small bolt came loose and fell out inside of the timing chain cover on the back of the engine. After bouncing around inside for awhile (made some very strange noises), it caught the timing chain and was ejected through the timing chain cover. Luckily I was not too far from home and was able to make it before it lost too much oil. The engine is very repairable but I decided since I was probably going to have the pull the engine anyway, this would be a great time to do a 6.0L swap and build a H3 that would have the power I reliability I want.
After doing some research and talking to some knowledgeable people, I decided the best engine for the swap (while staying within a reasonable budget) was a 6.0L LY6 out of a 08+ chevy truck, van, ect. These engines have the desirable L92 heads, variable valve timing, are 58x, and make great power. I found one out of an 08 2500HD with only 23k miles complete with all the accessories.
Most people who have done similar swaps in 06-07 H3s and also Chevy Colorados use a car intake for clearance with the pinch seam on the firewall (08+ models have a different firewall shape). I have read that the stock truck intake makes great power and torque so I wanted to keep it if possible to save some money by having to buy a somewhat expensive car intake/injectors. I spent some of that saved money and bought a mini sledge hammer from harbor freight and went to work "modifying" the pinch seam and firewall for clearance for the truck intake. I did a test fit today and everything seems to fit well so far.
I spent a lot of time trying to find similar swaps and there's not a lot of info out there for H3 swaps yet so I'll try to cover all the major stuff and post a complete parts list. I'm hoping to make this a reasonalbly quick project so I should have some updates soon.