TwiZtedZ71

Wasn't sure if this was supposed to go in here or the 'Projects Gallery', as it's more of a looking for advice thread than a 'this is how I'm building my engine/truck' thread.

I guess to start from the beginning... I have a 2000 Sierra ECSB with the 5.3 that I messed around with intake, exhaust, and the normal bolt ons, and had it tuned by Justin from Black Bear. Due to having our second child, 3 doors wasn't quite cutting it, so a few months back I picked up a 2005 Silverado CCSB with the 5.3. I got the truck for a steal of a price, and the four doors makes 2 car seats a million times easier. However, the engine in the 2005 I found out has a drinking problem. In the few months I've owned it, I've already put over a gallon and a half of coolant in it and a couple extra quarts of oil. So I figured I could keep her hydrated though this winter, and throw something new in come spring time. That being said, I have some experience with tearing engines apart and building them up and what not. I did a build on a smaller 4 cylinder Honda engine many years ago that I swapped into one of my cars. It dynoed in at 408 whp on 18 lbs out of a 1.6 liter, that was a fun little car. After that I have always wanted to do an 8 cylinder build. So online I found a guy selling a pretty complete 5.3 with the 862 heads, and said it came out of a 2000 Tahoe with about 120,000 on the clock. Said he bought it about a year ago to put it into an older 70's Malibu he had, but never got around to doing it, so I picked it up for $300. I started tearing everything down last week, and finished up this past weekend. Everything came apart rather easy. None of the bolts were over tough to get out, and most everything (other than the main caps) came out without needing to tap or pry on them.

Now I'm at what I consider to be the hardest point of the build, figuring out what parts I want/need to buy... I've been doing some research and looking at a lot of other builds for a while now trying to get some ideas on what direction I should take. But I guess I just wanted to stop by here and get a little feedback before I dove in too deep.

Mainly what I'm wanting to do with this engine is to build it up so it can replace my thirsty engine I've got in my truck now, and have a little more fun with it. I can't seem to ever own a vehicle and keep it stock for too long. I've already swapped in my built 4L60E (extra wide bands, 'The Beast' sun shell gear, Corvette servo, shift kit, drilled journals, and TrailBlazer stall converter), a locker in the back end, and intake into this truck, now I just need an engine to go along with it. I'm not looking for an all out race truck, in fact, this truck may only see a strip once or twice just to see what it does for fun. It is also my family hauler, so I understand not all builds are as reliable as a bone stock, factory engine, but I would like to keep it pretty reliable, as I will need to be able to drive the truck all year around. I want an engine that has a little more ***** than original, so I can whoop up on my friends in their trucks, and as cheesy as it may sound, I really want something that sounds awesome idling, just cruising around town, other than just every other truck on the road with an/lack of exhaust. I've got a little bit I can look at spending on this project, but would ideally like to keep it at/below $4k...

I would like to bore it out some, maybe to a 3.903 or something that the pistons aren't going to cost a fortune. I have heard a lot of guys run that bore size, and a few naysayers that claim that's too much off the sides. What bore do you guys run? I've also heard a few guys tell me just to get a 6.0 and go from there instead of wasting my time on a 5.3, but I think that's part of the fun. First because I already have a 5.3 torn down, and if I just buy a 6.0 and throw a cam in it, I wouldn't really consider that a build.

Along with pistons to match the bore, I am doing new rods as well to replace the press fit ones that came out of there. I got sick and tired of listening to all that noise every time I fired up my 2000 in the morning and heard those pistons slapping around in there. I am planning on keeping it at the stock stroke and using the original crank (as long as it checks out good a the machine shop) to help keep the cost down, and keep the reliability up.

As for the heads, I kind of want to go a little over on these. I have been reading and looking around and came across Texas Speed, and was thinking about sending the 862 heads down to them to get their Stage 2.5 upgrade, mainly because they CNC port and throw the bigger valves in. From my research, it seems like on the LS motors, the heads is where a lot of the power is. Do you guys have any experience with Texas Speed? Or is there another reputable head shop that may not be as pricey you guys know of? I'm located in central Illinois, and a few of the shops I've talked to around here will rebuild heads, but not really mess with porting them. As I said above, as cheesy as it may sound, I really want a cam that helps unleash power, but also want something that sounds mean/awesome while idling and just cruising down the street. The thing is, I'm about clueless when it comes to specing cam profiles, so I'm planning on calling someone to help me spec that out. I've ran across a few places, but do you guys recommend one place over another? Since we have another vehicle for long family trips, this truck will mostly just be driven around in town, to/from work. I don't really pull/tow much, if I do, it would probably only be a 19' boat about 30 miles, twice a year. I'll probably reuse the rockers, but plan on getting new rods and lifters to match the cam profile and valve springs. I know it's probably a little overkill, but I'm going to get ARP head studs, and probably main studs just because I'd rather be safe than sorry.

I put a lot in here, but felt like I needed to get my whole story out there. I'm not looking for anyone to build my motor for me or give me an exact parts list. I guess I'm just looking to see if anyone has done a similar setup themselves, and how it's worked out for them. And if they were to do it again, if they would do anything different that they learned from the first build. I want to try and get at least my pistons and rods bought soon that way I can get the block to the machine shop and at least get that process started. Then work on getting my heads sent out, then start piecing the other odds and ends needed for a rebuild (high flow oil pump, gasket kits, double timing chain, etc.)

I attached a few photos below with what I'm working with and kind of where I'm at...

















The boy wanted to help, so he was working on his motor while I was working on mine, and needed to take a little snack brake...

Atomic

iTrader: (42)

A cam in the 218-220ish range would probably do you well and give what you are looking for in terms of sound and a little extra power without needing a big stall. You probably wouldn't gain too much by boring it out, if it were me I would just do a clean up hone and throw in some new pistons and rods and call it a day. Later you can throw on a 100 shot for when your buddies want to race without any major changes to the engine.

1FastBrick

iTrader: (17)

Given the nature of the 2000 engine with no coating on the pistons, I would take a minimal clean up. Say .020 over bore. This will give you a clean true cylinder wall to work with.

I know you will have taper and run out as I have torn plenty of those down. You will likely be on the high side of spec before you hone it. This is why I recommend a minimal clean up.

Your machinist, If any good, can get a nice piston to wall clearance. I like to use the later year specs since the aftermarket pistons are coated and call for a tighter wall clearance. Switch to a floating pin rod as well.

Cam, as mentioned above. 218- 220 range.

Heads... This is a whole nother story... You have to consider what your doing before you decide on what heads to run. For a Tow rig/DD I would look into West Coast Cylinder heads. IMO, His stage 2 head is on par with what you're doing. You get alot of work for the price of the head package he offers.

Alot of other heads out there are geared toward a larger Bores and maximum output.

TwiZtedZ71

I definitely planning on doing floating pin pistons. So since the wear of the cylinders is almost a definite, and unknown, would the best thing to do is bring the block to the machine shop first, have it checked out, then get pistons based on what he finds? The machine shop in planning on taking the block to is about 30 from me, and is locally known for his precision, and has put out some high horsepower Chevy drag motors. So I've got faith in his work.
Would a cam in that range require pistons with valve reliefs?
I'm not doubting you in any way on your suggestion for the heads, just asking a question. I looked up West Coast Cylinder Heads, and they seem to do good work. Just comparing them to the Texas Speed/PRC CNC Porting Service. It seems the Texas Speed service uses a 2.02" intake valve vs a 1.95" intake valve at West Coast, and Texas is $188 cheaper for their service with the dual springs. If you think West Coast is definitely the way to go and is better for this/my style build, I believe you and will probably go that route instead. Just curious if you knew the differences in their services?

1FastBrick

iTrader: (17)

The wear is not definite, How ever they ran a looser piston to wall clearance on the early motors with no coating on the pistons. My personal experience has found more wear on these early motors as a result. It would be wise to let the machinist at least inspect it. The problem is if the Std size pistons have too much wall clearance or the walls have excessive taper, the pistons will wear faster and likely knock on start up.

As far as the heads. While I have no experience with Texas Speed PRC heads myself, they are geared toward a larger Bore with a 2.02 valve I believe those were Flowed on a 3.900 bore or something in that range. The WCCH were flowed on a 3.780 bore which is a std bore size on the 4.8/5.3L. The larger Intake valve will be closer to the cylinder wall. When this happens the air starts to stall. Tony Mamo, The former lead head guy at AFR found the same thing when testing Intake Valves on the 4.8/5.3L Bore. He is developing a head based on an AFR casting and decided to also use the 1.95 intake valve for his signature heads. He hasn't finished them yet the last I heard, but there nearly double the price... Designed for more of an all out performance head.


With a smaller cam you don't necessarily need dual valve springs. Once you pick a cam, then you can decide on the springs to match.


Hope that helps clear some things up!

TwiZtedZ71

Thanks 1FastBrick, your info has been most appreciated!
Onto my next question, I heard some horror stories lately about the machine shop I was originally planning on using. So I've been calling around and talking with a few others around the area. My question is, how important is is for the use a torque plate? Of the four places I've called up, none of them have torque plates for the LS motors. The last place I called said that they don't really even use them anymore unless I was looking to run something above 12:1 compression. Two of these shops are considered performance shops and highly recognized with a lot of the local racers. It's just I've read that when picking a shop, make sure they use the torque plates when boring/honing the engine. I was thinking about getting the block punched out to the stock LS1 bore (3.905) and using LS1 pistons and rods. I talked with the guy at West Coast Cylinder Heads and that's what he recommended. And as I looked into it more, it seems like a semi-common bore on these blocks.

Atomic

iTrader: (42)

I would use a shop that did it correctly (with a torque plate), even if that meant shipping the engine. A lot cheaper to do it right the first time than to do it twice.

TwiZtedZ71

Soo... Last Monday I found a machine shop that had all the torque plates, and did a lot of LS motors and could sonic check the block for me. I was just an hour and a half away, but I felt comfortable talking with them and they really seemed to know their stuff. So I dropped my block, crank, caps, and all that off to them. I asked them to clean everything up and check it all out first before digging too deep into it. I did notice the rear cap looked a little different than the rest, but without me being any type of expert, I figured I'd let them look at it. I got a call from them today saying that the rear main cap had excessive wear and looks like it may have spun a bearing at one time. Said the cap was worn more than they would recommend fixing with a line hone, and said it would probably need a new cap, and that the back of the crank was shot. That with just some micking and not doing any grinding on it, said I'd probably be more into fixing the issue than I would be trying to find another...
Well that blows, but I'm glad they noticed that and told me about that now while they were just doing their initial cleaning and before they started doing anything more with it.
So, I started looking for another doner short block. Called a few yards and could get a short block for about $125-$150. Then, I found out a guy I work with has a 99 Silverado within the 5.3, but it has a busted frame, leaking brake/fuel lines, and a lot of body rust, but the motor/drive train still run strong. However, it has about 250,000 miles on it. I can get this whole truck off him for practically nothing, he's just trying to get it out of his driveway, being it's not drivable with the busted frame. It would be nice to get a known running motor, plus I'd then have access to a spare 4L60, transfer case, and whatever other random pieces I'd want/need. Then could part out any other parts, and scrap whatever's left over.
All of that being said, I could take the motor out of that truck and use as a donor. But, was curious if a block with that many miles would be an issue? I know I'm planning on getting the block, cylinders, and everything checked, along with the crank, having it polished and balanced and everything like new. Just didn't know if that many miles on a block made it more brittle, or anything that would make it a bad idea to do a slight performance build on? It would just use the existing block, crank, caps, about everything else in the rotating assembly would all be new.

Atomic

iTrader: (42)

Nope, itll be fine. I would run it.

1FastBrick

iTrader: (17)

Milage does not affect it as much as running it low on oil does.

Yours was probally run low on oil or had an issue with a transmission to damage the rear cap like that.

It's less expensive to replace the block than to repair it properly. the 4.8L / 5.3L blocks are a dime a dozen. They were made at a 2:1 ratio to any other LS engine.

Replacing A main cap will cost you around $400 in time and machine work. You also need a cap that can be used with your block...

I was fortunate enough that the machine shop screwed the pooch on mine and they fixed it at there cost. (long story) I supplied the cap from a donor block. If it wasn't a 6.0 block, it would have surely went in the scrap bin.

If that doesnt work out, You can get a new NOS block from Summit or there is a guy on Ebay that sells them already punched out to LS1 3.988 bore size

Seller is bding44 business name is BBJ Automotive Cores.

He has some reasonable prices on some stuff and has always been fair with me including returns.

Chevrolet Geniii 5 7 5 7L LS1 LSX Remanufactured Bare Block 12567392 | eBay