Opinion on a 5.3 chevy

[jacobdavis1979]

As alot of you know i pulled the Malibus motor and put it in my Sierra. I had nothing to do today except help my brother with his truck and we ended up going to a local salvage yard in my area. I figured i might as well motor hunt while im here. I found a motor i really wanted LS1 out of a camaro but they were asking $2000 out of my range for sure but then i found a 02 03 i think Silverado up there that had been rear ended pretty bad i popped the hood on it and behold it had the 5.3 the guy said if i was interested i could start it yea it actully runs with no pings or knocks that i can hear i even got to drive it around the lot. I liked it i wanted it i dont have the money right now but he told me for $600 it includes everything but the harness, intake, and manifolds. So basically the long block i guess but the truck has 174,000 miles so im iffy on that cuz i dont wanna have to rebuild this thing in the near future. So my question is i wanna put this in my Malibu since my truck stole its motor so even if i had the money would something like that be worth it for that many miles? And on top of the fact i would have to pay extra for the fuel injection and accessory drive?

 

[bygddy]

174000miles is lots, I know you will hear "that's nothing for an LS" .....but 174k is still lots. For any motor, especially if its going to be used in a performance application.
LS swaps are smart money in the long run, but they really can nickel and dime you to death trying to get them in a running.

 

[DRIVEN]

I know there was a problem with head porosity issues on some of them. Other than that they seem to be pretty hearty. I agree on both points that 174k is a lot of miles and an LS swap can nickle and dime you. Even at $600 for a longblock you'll probably be in it anywhere from $2-3K by the time it's done. You could build a pretty stout 350/383/400 that would literally drop in for that kind of money.

 

[axld86]

ok, been doing the gen 1 thing for years ( and still do ) , last year I pulled the trigger and did my 5.3/4l60e swap. engine had 100,*** miles on it, I had the transmission was rebuilt. I wish I would have done this 4 years back when I first thought of it ! mine was not a low buck swap. but the way the car drives now is AWSOME. the wife will now drive also. I paid bout $1350 for my engine/trans/harness/tb/all the front accessories. yes it cost WAY more to do it right. but we are very happy with the end result. and I get damn good mpg. my 2CT

 

[lilbowtie]

Make sure it's not a 4.8

 

[jacobdavis1979]

It says 5.3 on the fan shroud so im sure thats what it is. And the thing is i know i really should just drop in another crate 350 or somthing get it running a call it a day and thats what i would do if i needed it lets say like next week but i dont ive got a fleet of 10+ cars here so if my truck quits tomorrow il still have a way to work so no worrys there. I just feel times are changing and even though im not a master mechanic even though i wish i was i feel confident enough that if i did find a 5.3, 6.0 or any LS for that matter i can figure this out. I just have that paranoia in the back of my head saying the old SBC is dieing out and the LS is the way of the future. If thats actully true or not people would debate but this is the way i feel i need to go. And i want it fuel injected but even if i had to put a carb on it i dont think that i would lose sleep over it. Also to add that parts for the old small blocks are getting harder to find in my area but i walk into any salvage yard and find LS parts it seems like.

Does anyone understand what im getting at lol

 

[bygddy]

It says 5.3 on the fan shroud so im sure thats what it is. And the thing is i know i really should just drop in another crate 350 or somthing get it running a call it a day and thats what i would do if i needed it lets say like next week but i dont ive got a fleet of 10+ cars here so if my truck quits tomorrow il still have a way to work so no worrys there. I just feel times are changing and even though im not a master mechanic even though i wish i was i feel confident enough that if i did find a 5.3, 6.0 or any LS for that matter i can figure this out. I just have that paranoia in the back of my head saying the old SBC is dieing out and the LS is the way of the future. If thats actully true or not people would debate but this is the way i feel i need to go. And i want it fuel injected but even if i had to put a carb on it i dont think that i would lose sleep over it. Also to add that parts for the old small blocks are getting harder to find in my area but i walk into any salvage yard and find LS parts it seems like.

Does anyone understand what im getting at lol

I get it, I live in a big city, filled with old school hillbilly hot rodders like myself, and yet I cannot find 3 fkn pulleys for a SBC, been to several wrecking yards, not a single small block to be found... Ls stuff....all over the place. If I had time, and didn't "need" to get my junk on the road next month (I have cash bets that it will run, and make a certain number on the chassis dyno) I likely would have sold my "built" SBC, then bought a used LS and taken a stab at fuel injection. Unfortunately I would have been forever making it fit, then learning about fuel injection. I'm a moron when it comes to that stuff lol.
I would still shy away from that mileage unless willing to tear it down and rebuild what's needed.

 

[jacobdavis1979]

Dont worry ive already decided i dont want that one. It ran fine for the most part but it didnt have very good oil pressure so i imagine it was almost its time anyway.

Money isnt an issue as long as i still have my job i will be ok and its just gonna take me time to save the money for it.
There is a LS1 on my local craigslist with 120,*** miles minus manifolds, accessory drive, and harness for $700 it seems like a good deal but i cant afford it right now all my savings went into my truck lol. I want the 5.3 because there a dime a dozen around here so when i do have the money i know i will find one. The biggest thing im worried about right now is clearance i dont care about the harness, fuel injection or any of that jazz right now i will deal with that later im just worried that somthing like the oil pan wont clear the steering and exhaust manifolds that will fit in the car its things like that make me nervous i dont wanna gut up things to force somthing to fit

 

[bygddy]

That's what's got me afraid to try it myself lol, around here, a fully dressed 5.3 with ecu and harness and reasonably low mileage is about 1k. But..... oil pan, headers, accessories etc is my concern. When I break my 357 this year as I'm sure im going to, I'm going to look at a 5.3 swap myself, only I will dumb it down, no PS, no AC, and a blow through Carb. Still gotta get that spendy oil pan tho.....

 

[Clone TIE Pilot]

You could buy the crate 350 Vortec truck motor, swap in a GM LT4 or ZZ hot cam, and make 400 HP for about $2,250. Plus it would reuse most of what you already have. LS motors do have some downsides, they use cast in cylinder sleeves that can only be .010 overbore, the damper needs to be heated to be removed and installed, oiling isn't as good as SBC, and the stock PCV system for the LS stinks. The software to tune LS engines starts at $650 or pay a tuner $250+ to tune it for you.

Either way you go, don't listen to marketing hype and make up your own mind.