brandon_6667

iTrader: (3)

Figured i'd finally start a thread on my slow LM7 to LQ9 swap.

2000 Silverado 1500 Z71
Wait4me tune (blackbear soon)
Rear 14bolt 9.5 SF axle with 4.56 yukon gears
Rancho 4" suspension lift
315/75R16 Cooper STT's
Flowmaster 40series catback 3"in 2x2.5" out


I had started a thread a while back about how I was finding thick sludge in my oil during oil changes and higher than normal oil pressure. thread link https://www.performancetrucks.net/fo...d.php?t=464231

I still havent checked it out to see if it's the castec heads leaking coolant slowly into the oil that caused the sludge but after finding this inside my oil pan I decided to do a 6.0 swap like i've wanted to for a long time. This also explains the mystery why my truck has only taken a little over 5 quarts to get back to the full line on the dipstick these last 4-5 oil changes! My oil pan had OVER 1 quart of THICK sludge sitting in the bottom



Pulled the 5.3




So I ended up finding a 6.0 LQ9 motor with only 52,000 miles on it out of a wrecked 2002 escalade for about $1000. Decided to do a cam swap and check everything out inside since it was out of a rollover accident and theres always the chance of oil starvation if it ran upside down (which the junkyard guy said it didnt but I wont take their word for it!).

Plans for LQ9 swap so far.:
Vinci 'trucker' cam 216/224 .551 .551 LSA 115
Pac 1218 valve springs (good up to .600 lift)
CompCams 7955-16 Hardened pushrods (5/16 7.400)
Trailblazer I6 converter (Hoping to get around a 2600rpm stall)
New factory water pump
Transgo HD2 shift kit with corvette servos for my 4l60E

Tearing down the 6.0..
I Removed all the carbon from the pistons and checked the cylinders, all very smooth with no ridges or lines. The heads also had alot of carbon buildup on the valves so I decided to get them serviced while they are off.




I Also pulled the cam and noticed that the front bearing right behind the timing chain looks kinda rough. It feels smooth but you can see a copper color showing. all the other cam bearings in the block looked fine and the surfaces on the cam look and feel fine so im not sure If I should mess with the cam bearings or not, Any input would be appretiated!



all the cam surfaces appeared the same and were very smooth, this is the end of the cam that was on the questionable bearing.

brandon_6667

iTrader: (3)

Got the heads back from the machine shop.
Hot tanked, 5 angle valve job, seals, resurfaced, PAC 1218 springs installed.
Looking clean!

blsnelling

iTrader: (4)

From what I've read, that's entirely normla on the cam bearing, and not to be worried about.

brandon_6667

iTrader: (3)

Thats good to hear. I heard somewhere else too that its normal for that bearing to look worse than the rest on the bottom half because of the downward torque the timing chain puts on the front of the cam. It's good to hear others saying it too. Think I should check the crank bearings? i really dont want to have to replace more bolts and stuff but I feel like I should because I already have it disassembled this far.

Also do you think I should be ok with the factory oil pump and timing chain set or should I go with a high volume pump and a heavier duty timing set?

lo&sloSierra

iTrader: (8)

unless it looked sludged when you took it apart i would leave the pump, as far as the timing chain you could put a new ls2 chain in it cheap just for insurance, but i would leave it...people get away with it a lot

brandon_6667

iTrader: (3)

There was no sludge or anything in the 6.0, i did remove the oil pump pickup tube and the windage tray because I am planning on inspecting the crank and rod bearings but i havent touched them yet. I have heard that people have alot of problems when reinstalling the pickup tube. Obviously I will use a new o-ring on it but other than the o-ring possibly being damaged is there anything else to worry about while reinstalling the pickup tube?

also, since the cylinders look good and the cam that came out looks good should I even worry about checking the crank and rod bearings? if i do check them can I reuse the bolts on the main bearings and rod bearings or are they one time use as well?

budhayes3

iTrader: (19)

I've seen pics of many LS engines with copper showing on the first cam bearing, and that's exactly what both my current 5.3 and future LQ9 first cam bearing look like

The pickup tube shouldn't be a problem since you have the engine out on the stand, guys usually run into problems trying to snake it on when doing a cam swap. Be sure that you get it seated straight and use the red o-ring. Maybe get some ARP or Katech rod bolts since you already have the engine apart (although not necessary, but if you ever upgrade and plan to spin real high in the future you'll thank yourself for not having to pull it apart twice), and an LS2 timing chain is very cheap insurance. You will be fine with the stock pump, it's more than adequate for most applications

brandon_6667

iTrader: (3)

Cool I was thinking the stock oil pump would be fine. Why a red oring? The one it had on it was blue iirc. Also since the cam bearings are good I feel more confident that the crank and rod bearings will be ok. I'm gonna take a couple of the main bearing caps off to take a look anyway though but if they look fine should I just run it? If I do remove the crank for further inspection can I reuse the main bearing cap bolts or are they one time use?

brandon_6667

iTrader: (3)

I just got my exhaust manifold gaskets in the mail today but they arend the multi-layer metal ones like I removed, they are both just a single gasket. the pattern matches up but they are different than what was on there. Does this matter? IIRC they use the multi layer metal gaskets specifically for the aluminum heads dont they?

baSICK5.0

iTrader: (1)

when i did my swap I used the stock multilayer gaskets from the 6.0L manifolds with my Longtubes. Works great with ZERO leaks. They gaskets has 100K on them and ive had no issues.