Great work, nice welding, and great execution. I was thinking of going with an LS and a 4 speed too but I ran into the issue you had as well. I just decided to keep the original plan I had and quit trying to make it more difficult. It seems 5.3's can be found all over for $500-$950. I wanted to go with a 6.0 and those seem to be about double or more than the 5.3.