5.3

[Hoopty_Mike]

Why tear it down? You'll let the magic smoke out!! Honestly these engines are extremely robust and will outlast the vehicles they were installed into. If it has less than 300k miles on it then you're wasting money. If you have the heads off then throw new lifters and head gaskets in to make yourself feel better. Replace the oil pickup tube oring, oil pump, and timing chain. Boom, rebuilt.

Might as well throw some chop chop at it while you're in there. Go from a stock rebuild to a built race engine 😁

 

[64nailhead]

i got one for 300 no harness motor running from 2000 Silverado tore down im about to rebuild

There 706 heads

I can see in your photos that the short block is still together. This implies 'still together' to me.

TurboLQ4 mentioned to not let the magic out - it sounds like a joke, but he is spot on. You need to only check a couple of things, especially if this was running, and this goes double if it was running with good oil pressure : is there any crosshatching left in the top 1.5-2" bore? And by any, I mean any. Pull the cam to check the journals for a cam bearing that is ready to let go. Drop #1 & #8 rod caps and see what the bearings look like (you could check them all if you feel the need). If cam and cam bearings are good and the rod bearings are good with even the smallest amount of crosshatch left, then swap the oil pump and go. For less than $100 of gaskets you will be good. The lifters and trays are good ideas if you hope to have this live 50-100K. If all of the bearings are good and the crosshatch is gone, meaning completely gone, then check for no vertical scoring. If none, then pull the pistons and dingleberry hon them. Clean the bores and slap the old pistons and rings right back in there.

Lastly, if this had bad oil pressure and you find any wiped out bearing (cam or rod), then save the parts and get another motor.

Do with the heads what you want. It doesn't hurt to disassemble and lap the valves back in and install a new set of seals, but it is unnecessary 75-80% of the time.

Your plan of rebuilding this is just a darn waste of money - these things don't need rebuilding unless you are into true longevity.

 

[Supercharged111]

I nabbed an aluminum 5.3 from the boneyard. Really didn't want to pull the heads for all the reasons above, but I had to yank the intake to fit it out of the truck and that let a bunch of dirt and sh*t down the runners. I plan to pop a couple bearings and hopefully just run it as is and this is in a road race car. Most everyone I know doing the LT1 to 5.3 swap does it this way and they're tough *ss motors.

 

[Texas79cutty]

I can see in your photos that the short block is still together. This implies 'still together' to me.

TurboLQ4 mentioned to not let the magic out - it sounds like a joke, but he is spot on. You need to only check a couple of things, especially if this was running, and this goes double if it was running with good oil pressure : is there any crosshatching left in the top 1.5-2" bore? And by any, I mean any. Pull the cam to check the journals for a cam bearing that is ready to let go. Drop #1 & #8 rod caps and see what the bearings look like (you could check them all if you feel the need). If cam and cam bearings are good and the rod bearings are good with even the smallest amount of crosshatch left, then swap the oil pump and go. For less than $100 of gaskets you will be good. The lifters and trays are good ideas if you hope to have this live 50-100K. If all of the bearings are good and the crosshatch is gone, meaning completely gone, then check for no vertical scoring. If none, then pull the pistons and dingleberry hon them. Clean the bores and slap the old pistons and rings right back in there.

Lastly, if this had bad oil pressure and you find any wiped out bearing (cam or rod), then save the parts and get another motor.

Do with the heads what you want. It doesn't hurt to disassemble and lap the valves back in and install a new set of seals, but it is unnecessary 75-80% of the time.

Your plan of rebuilding this is just a darn waste of money - these things don't need rebuilding unless you are into true longevity.

Thanks for that info

 

[Texas79cutty]

That cut harness is giving me anxiety, but hey, it works if you're going the custom harness route. Did you get the computer with it?

yes

 

[L92 OLDS]

Why tear it down? You'll let the magic smoke out!! Honestly these engines are extremely robust and will outlast the vehicles they were installed into. If it has less than 300k miles on it then you're wasting money. If you have the heads off then throw new lifters and head gaskets in to make yourself feel better. Replace the oil pickup tube oring, oil pump, and timing chain. Boom, rebuilt.

Well said. My spare 5.3 has 250K on it and still has cross hatching in the cylinder bores. I measured everything with bore gauges and it is still in spec. Lifters and drive train are usually the wear points on these engines.