Just Fishing's 09 Tahoe Build thread

[Just Fishing]

Many of you know my saga.
I did a DOD delete back in Jan sparked by low oil pressure.
I noticed some brass colored sparkles in the oil prior to that, but blamed it a dirty drain pan.
Sparkles have gotten worse, but oil pressure is still good with the new pump i installed.

Pulled the filter today, cut it open and i found larger metal pieces, some are magnetic...
I'm thinking i probably spun a crank bearing...

I decided it's best to totally stop running the hoe.
So I'm now working on pulling the engine and a full rebuild.

I just pulled the lower hose to drain most the antifreeze, now the work will begin.
Tomorrow is a beer day.

Hoping to get some help tomorrow after beer to yank the hood.
I used a paint marker to draw lines around the bolt positions, and around the bracket location.


*sigh*

 

[Just Fishing]

Picture of the subject,
Good times before the problems started, visiting bear lake on a stormy day.

 

[pwtr02ss]

Glad you made a build thread. I visited the “what did you do to yours today” thread to catch up on your progress over the last few months. I’m doing a similar thing to the avalanche now. My engine is done, just have to final assemble the trans. Getting across the goal line always seems to be the hard part. Hopefully I don’t have to do it again.

 

[Just Fishing]

Yeah, the dream.
I thought i had it done, but i kept hearing a weird noise high pitched, almost screeching sound coming from the engine.
At first i thought it was a lifter, but when gutting afm i saw nothing wrong with the valve train.

then the glitter keeps getting worse. lol

I can still hear the sound, although not as bad as originally with the low oil pressure.
Can't wait to find out what i see.
My main hope is that the block is ok.
New OEM crank is something like $250...

I also hope the nice Melling oil pump i put in is still in good condition.
at least with the hard coat finish, it should be pretty obvious if it's damaged i imagine.

I'm also weighing in to just replace the AC compressor while it's easy to get to.
Plan is to go on a trip to the coast this summer, I sure would hate to have any issues while out on the road.


So I figured it's about time that I start a proper build thread...

I have on hand now, a set of Hummer engine mounts.
(While I'm in there)

And I'm also looking to replace the converter, I think a nice stall of about 3k rpm would be a nice workaround for the lack of low end oomph that the 5.3 has.

 

[89Suburban]

 

[Geoffsfas10]

Thats probably my favorite color GM has ever put on their trucks. I tried finding a tahoe before mine that was that color and it sold so fast they never had a chance to take it off their website haha.

I wish you luck on the motor adventure

 

[Just Fishing]

Thats probably my favorite color GM has ever put on their trucks. I tried finding a tahoe before mine that was that color and it sold so fast they never had a chance to take it off their website haha.

I wish you luck on the motor adventure

The color was a motivation for the purchase.

And the hood is off, I'm not touching much until next weekend.

 

[pwtr02ss]

Yeah, the dream.
I thought i had it done, but i kept hearing a weird noise high pitched, almost screeching sound coming from the engine.
At first i thought it was a lifter, but when gutting afm i saw nothing wrong with the valve train.

then the glitter keeps getting worse. lol

I can still hear the sound, although not as bad as originally with the low oil pressure.
Can't wait to find out what i see.
My main hope is that the block is ok.
New OEM crank is something like $250...

I also hope the nice Melling oil pump i put in is still in good condition.
at least with the hard coat finish, it should be pretty obvious if it's damaged i imagine.

I'm also weighing in to just replace the AC compressor while it's easy to get to.
Plan is to go on a trip to the coast this summer, I sure would hate to have any issues while out on the road.


So I figured it's about time that I start a proper build thread...

I have on hand now, a set of Hummer engine mounts.
(While I'm in there)

And I'm also looking to replace the converter, I think a nice stall of about 3k rpm would be a nice workaround for the lack of low end oomph that the 5.3 has.

Good luck on it. If it has spun a cam bearing, I've seen people use one a size up and still be ok.

I bought the circle d 26-2800 for mine (same as @iamdub ). Its a 4l60 though. What cam are you going with?

 

[Just Fishing]

i did a totally stock replacement cam when i did the dod delete.
lack of information, and nobody would return my emails.
so i took a "fk it" attitude.
Here is my chance to change my decision...


Cam actually supports VVT, had extra oil holes and stuff, but i liked that i could use the single bolt timing chain set that has the Gen 4 chain tensioner.

I'm open to options, and i do have hp tuners and know my way around it somewhat...

 

[pwtr02ss]

i did a totally stock replacement cam when i did the dod delete.
lack of information, and nobody would return my emails.
so i took a "fk it" attitude.
Here is my chance to change my decision...


Cam actually supports VVT, had extra oil holes and stuff, but i liked that i could use the single bolt timing chain set that has the Gen 4 chain tensioner.

I'm open to options, and i do have hp tuners and know my way around it somewhat...

I bought the btr stage 2 truck cam. Had I known I was doing ported heads, I would’ve done a higher lift, maybe slightly bigger overall. I wanted to maintain stock drive characteristics though. Mine isn’t running so I have no fking clue how it will actually perform. 3k stall seems on the high side for my taste though