1995 5.7L Engine Build from Salvage Yard Parts List

[incipfer]

I started repairing my 1995 Chevrolet K1500 Tahoe 5.7L TBI and have encountered one issue after another. The truck was stolen and the PCV system was completely removed and blocked off along with several evap. vacuum lines and all but one ground wires cut out by the time it had been driven at high temperatures with no water until it had stalled out. It started and ran extremely rough after it was recovered. During the tear-down I have so far found the original heads were drilled into badly to remove the original intake bolts. New bolts were chemically welded into the heads and haven't been extracted.

I am desperately in need of suggestions on how to get this vehicle moving again while adding some upgrades along the way. Every suggestion is greatly appreciated even the bad ones. I also planned to keep the TBI setup unless swapping out cylinder heads. My TBI has both spacers and has been cut down to increase airflow but not ported or polished.

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[deadbeat]

I have a 1995 motor that used a little oil bolted to a low mileage (less than 5k) transmission for a 4x4. The tranny that was in it went out with about a month left on the warranty, and the new one was only driven about a year as a extra vehicle before the frame broke. Getting ready to haul them to the scrap year, the cab, they are sitting on that section of frame with no cab or fenders on them. If you are interested in them let me know, I do seem to remember the 1995 transmission being kinda hard to find. I am about 2.5 hours from Dayton.

 

[Schurkey]

When this was me, about six months ago...I used aftermarket aluminum heads, not "stock 1997+ aluminum heads".

Far as I know, the only "stock" aluminum SBC heads commonly available are the discontinued "Corvette/ZZ4" heads and the reverse-cooled LT1 heads. I'm thinking that the "Corvette" heads don't have an exhaust crossover which makes EGR operation impossible without other modifications. The LT1 heads will not fit the TBI block without block and head modifications.

Summit sells emissions-legal aluminum TBI heads, which include the goofy middle-bolt angles and an exhaust crossover. Those heads plus the OEM intake manifold and intake-mounted accessories such as EGR are a direct bolt-on as long as you use hardened pushrods and non-guided rocker arms, and they retain all the mounting pads for the A/C compressor brace, the alternator brace, throttle, cruise, and TV cables, etc. If you use the original intake manifold, be sure to use the TBI-specific intake gasket set.
https://www.summitracing.com/parts/sum-162108

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I happened to have a pair of ancient Trick Flow Twisted Wedge heads parked on a shelf in the garage. I put them together with a back-cut on the intake valves and some 400-grit lap-dancing for the valve faces and seats, fresh stem seals, and BBC rocker studs and suitable 1.6 ratio roller rockers. I used a "ZZ4" style intake manifold with some mods to retain the EGR, and an adapter plate for the TBI. The manifold has a boss for the alternator brace, but not the A/C compressor brace. I probably should have bought the Summit heads, as there was a fair amount of fabricating involved in getting these to work properly.


As long as you're in there, be sure to scrap the flat-tappet camshaft in favor of an OEM-style roller cam and OEM-style roller lifters. GM sells a conversion timing set that includes the roller-cam timing gears, chain, and the thrust plates and fasteners.
https://www.summitracing.com/parts/nal-12371043/applications

You could also get this stuff from any roller-cam equipped SBC, and then disassemble and clean the lifters one-at-a-time which is what I did. GM did change the bolt spacing on the thrust plates; but if you get one that fits your block you'd be fine.

Consider flat-top pistons from a '92 Caprice 5.7 instead of the truck-spec dished pistons. You'll have to deck the block because the Caprice pistons are .010 short on compression height--but you'd deck that block anyway because it's probably warped from overheating. The Caprice pistons use a "special" thin ring set. Both the pistons and rings are VERY reasonably priced. I had a Caprice service-replacement "crate engine" in my K1500 for almost twenty years. Ran flawlessly until the head gasket popped.

 

[PlayingWithTBI]

I too went with the Summit heads (made by Trick Flow) with Proform 1.6 full roller rockers and Summit 1457900 chromoly push rods (you may need different length) for my 88, I'm happy with them. At the time (last Aug) the heads were $999.99 with $100 Summit Bucks refund. Can't beat the price! I also went with the Edelbrock 3704 intake which fit well with some minor mods.

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