Hello All- New here with a new project!

[Danimal08]

Well the more I'm digging into this, the shortblock is in pretty good shape. It looks to have been recently rebuilt. 030 over and some possible journal work or rebuilder crank...seems to measure 3.520 on the stroke with about a .028 quench. It's super clean overall.

All of the cylinders still look to have some crosshatch. Very little if any discernible ring ridge. Even found tattle tale overheat indicators in freeze plugs and they were good.

I'm gonna pull this thing apart and clean everything, measure, check bearings, deglaze and rering, and reassemble. Looking at summit 8800 cam on the stock heads with behive springs. Going to upgrade to 411 pcm. Looking at either summit vortec heads, or having local shop check and clean up the 062 vortecs.

Any thoughts or inputs? Looking to tow at most a 6,000 lb boat with this thing down I75 to KY/TN. Want it to be durable and not hunt gears the entire trip like my gmt800.

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[Danimal08]

I also left out that it had the crappy plastic intake gaskets that came apart in pieces when I took it apart. Also very little torque if any on the front two intake bolts...all of the coolant passages were full of stop leak...guessing more likely than not that intake gasket was the problem

 

[Danimal08]

Alright- at a crossroads and need some input/advice.

I've got my tree-fiddy torn down. Bare minimum shes gonna need heads, bearing set, gaskets, crank polish, etc. Its had a recent rebuild as there is no discernible ring ridge, etc and its 30 over. Rebuilder pistons sit in the hole at TDC .048-050 and seem a little sloppy in the hole- .007 wall clearance. Likely would find a better piston set too. Probably 3500-4000 all told. New crate is 4400. Smedling 383 can be built for 5.5k.

I'm really looking at cost to rebuild vs crate vs LS swap. SBC parts have just gotten completely insane over the last 3 years- local machine work is even worse. Local shop quoted 7500 to rebuild it. 1k just to go through heads. To be at stock 330 hp. And as time marches on, more obsolescence. And the idea of dealing with intake gasket failure again is offputting.

I dont love my 5.3 in my gmt 800 when pulling my boat. I've driven 6.0s I wasn't impressed with either, but from all my reading a Cam and tune help wake them up. Didnt help that the 6.0 is in a truck that weighs a half a ton + more.

I'm eyeing a 6.2L L9H with 70k miles at the moment. My research says nobody has pulled off the 6.2 keeping VVT with 4L60E (I'd like to keep the 4l60 to maintain stock 4x4 dimensions) while maintaining gauge and ABS function (seems like the e38 PCM interfaces via CANbus with many other modules) That's offputting to attempt that swap. So leaning toward 6.0. Any input? Goal is to maintain stock function of everything in the truck. I've tried to filter a bunch of info from swap section on this site and others. One thing I wish there was more of was actual feedback after performing LS swap. What's the seat of the pants feel?

 

[BPizzle]

Welcome and clean!

 

[Danimal08]

Updates-
After teardown of my peanut-butter filled "original" engine and over-analyzing a boatload of options (LS swap, crate l31, smeding 383, etc) I picked up a new-to-me L31 from a 2500 last week with 150k miles. Seemed to run great...no knocks or smoke and compression galore.

Giving it a Craigslist rebuild along with new Mahle complete gasket set to fix all the minor oil leaks for now (I skipped the head gaskets, which I'll probably regret soon enough but no signs of problems currently). Also opted for the 1255 Felpros for the intake as they seem like the best gasket option for these trucks. This bolted joint design for these vortecs is definitely not ideal for clampload, IMO... Cleaned up the little bit of funk in the lifter valley but this thing was clean. Timing set looked to be in good shape with little slack so I stuck a new holley cover on it and sealed up the pan. It is a 4 bolt, so was happy about that for any potential future build. Hopefully will have intake and exhaust manifolds back on tomorrow and dropping back in this weekend. Would like to port the intake as runners are rough as a corn cob, but time isn't on my side at the moment. Again, just wanna get it on the road. I do have a second manifold now to work on at my leisure.

Currently analyzing whether to keep or delete the oil cooler and lines. Really doesn't seem like it's worth $250 for new lines to seep again in two years. It's a summer queen. I pull a small boat, but I have a hard time imagining that the one quart of oil in the rad would amount to pulling much heat out of the oil.. My 5.3 has a 6qt pan, but no external cooler. ‍

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After crunching numbers and looking at time involved in this project, I decided to just get it back on the road since it's been sitting for 3 years and I dont have $5-6k to do a thorough rebuild at the moment (it's incredibly expensive to have an engine rebuilt in post 'rona era). After resealing this SBC, itll probably be the last one I do. So much nicer to work with machined aluminum surfaces. If I end up keeping this thing, long term I'll be looking at a turbo 5.3 setup to help with the torque I'm after.

Wish me luck...need some encouragement to persevere here. Was seriously thinking about a for sale sign the other day...

 

[Sean Buick 76]

Good idea tossing another 350 in it for now. If you haven’t yet driven a turbocharged LS you really should they are pretty darn amazing!

 

[Danimal08]

Good idea tossing another 350 in it for now. If you haven’t yet driven a turbocharged LS you really should they are pretty darn amazing!

I can only imagine...LS EcoBoost! Without the Eco. Just seems like a good idea. You still get the more modern (but aging) FI system, economy, reliability, and power of the LS, and as much power as you want when you plant your foot in it. Loads of real estate to pull it off too.

 

[Sean Buick 76]

I can only imagine...LS EcoBoost! Without the Eco. Just seems like a good idea. You still get the more modern (but aging) FI system, economy, reliability, and power of the LS, and as much power as you want when you plant your foot in it. Loads of real estate to pull it off too.

Or an old school SBC with a turbo and a CSU Holley blow through carb. Been there done it and it works well.

 

[Danimal08]

Forward progress! Engine is back in. Taking some time to repair the tape and cor-tube on the harness as I go...its fairly brittle.

Currently at a standstill while I wait on parts. Hoping to have it back on the road next weekend.

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