Seeking swap/rebuild wisdom

[Kenny302]

Hey guys, new to the site so if I do something incorrectly feel free to let me know. I’m thinking of getting my former daily back on the road instead of buying another one the used market is to crazy. Truck is a 93 k1500 5.7 4l60e with 288k on it, rear end has been replaced and trans rebuilt less than 100 miles ago before it was parked. It runs good and never had an issue from the engine but it’s worn out and don’t hold good oil pressure when warm. I’m willing to toss some time and money it’s way but unsure what route to take and thought I’d ask for recommendations from people who have been where I’m headed. Intended use case for the truck is daily use with occasional towing. My goals are retain all current features a/c cruise factory gauges and so on, at least 10mpg hwy, sound good and be reliable and low maintenance. With my job I may be called in at a moment’s notice and I’m expected to show up regardless of conditions. I’ve looked at ls swaps crate engines or even a garage rebuild but I figured I would see if anyone had so experience in the matter. Thank you in advance

 

[Drunkcanuk]

First question I guess would be budget. Second would be skills, experience and time frame.

If you want simple and reliable, go with a GM direct replacement crate motor.
I personally would stay away from a LS swap if you want a reliable everyday turn key and go daily driver.

 

[HotWheelsBurban]

First question I guess would be budget. Second would be skills, experience and time frame.

If you want simple and reliable, go with a GM direct replacement crate motor.
I personally would stay away from a LS swap if you want a reliable everyday turn key and go daily driver.

Yes I agree with you! 350 out, another 350 in, is the best way if you are on a budget. If you have some $$$ to play with, a modded 350 or 383 stroker will give you plenty of power and torque.

 

[Kenny302]

I’m actively bad at budgets. But I shouldn’t struggle to purchase anything needed, time frame is also loose I maintain 2 daily drivers so if one goes down I’m still ok. Experience wise I’m an industrial maintenance tech and have most basic abilities needed other than machine work and I’m unfamiliar with the tbi limitations. I have more experience with older and newer cars. I’ve got a 290 horse 350 gm crate motor sitting in a different project but it’s pre 86 style and I’m not sure the tbi would run it without a lot of work and I won’t be upset about buying/building a new engine. Thanks for the response

 

[Schurkey]

Have you ever rebuilt an engine before? Have you ever had the cylinder heads off of an engine before?

My experience has been that everyone screws-up their first engine. The second one may come out OK; or they never do the second one because the first scared them off. The first engine is the eye-opener as to how "clean" things have to be, and how many details there are--torque specs, cleanliness, cam timing, cleanliness, lifter issues, cleanliness, gasket fitment, and cleanliness.

A "new" GM long-block is probably the wise move. A "rebuilt" long-block could be OK, but they're rarely spectacular; and there's often warranty issues.

 

[PlayingWithTBI]

Good luck finding a quality short block 350, most builders wanna do the 383. Read the reviews, most of them suck. ATK does engines for O'reillys and other sites. Lots of bad reviews.

Better quality ones; Blue Print wants $4100+ for a 383 short block. Dart wants $4000+ for a bare block.

Chevy Performance L05 350 long block is over $4300.

Maybe find a local machine shop to "freshen up" your engine?

 

[Kenny302]

I’ve got the screw ups out of the way. My main concerns with building one is my limited understanding of the tbi system and the cost and turnaround time at machine shops is getting silly near me last one I priced building the crate wasn’t much more expensive so I went that route. I can’t leave anything alone and if I get into it I’m afraid the tbi won’t like what I built. Getting a chip burned via mail kinda seems stressful, older carb stuff I’ve had luck with and newer stuff I do what I want with it and the tuner sorts it out on the dyno. Do the online chip burners have it figured out? Or is it a trail and error process

 

[Drunkcanuk]

If you stay "stockish" with a rebuild there is no reason to be messing around with the TBI or it's chips. That's for if you are going to want to start hopping up the motor with performance parts like cams and heads.
If you are going to start hot rodding, look into a aftermarket system like a Sniper, FloPro or the EBL 2.

 

[PlayingWithTBI]

If you are going to start hot rodding, look into a aftermarket system like a Sniper, FloPro or the EBL 2.

With the 4L60E, the EBL is out unless you run parallel computers. At least the Sniper and others have trans controls for more money - of course. You can get the hardware to tune and burn your own chips or, find a guy that will take you logs, tune, log, tune, and so forth. A mail order chip is the last resort, IMHO.

 

[Kenny302]

Thanks guys, good info. kinda backing up my own research. 4K for a bone stock motor seems pricey considering at 288k I will need to replace all supporting components. Atk had a stage 1 long block at a decent price but the reviews weren’t good. I’m afraid a rebuild will get a way from me. I like to make improvements and if the heads needed much work I’m sure I’d just buy aftermarket definitely would change cam nothing crazy, still need low end torque and want to run the stock converter or close to it at least. But if it’s goin to lead to after market efi and a separate trans controller that’s most the cost of an ls swap as I figured it 3500 bucks plus cost of engine and tune. I just keep going around in circles on this thing.