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

 

[Just Fishing]

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

I love the 3200 stall in my vette, weird at first but it's a burn out machine now.

And i think if I want to stay with a larger volume converter, then i'm stuck with a max of like 2800 rpm or something along those lines.

The stock converter in this thing feels like it has a stall of about 1100 or 1200 rpm.

I think anything above 2400 would be awesome.

 

[pwtr02ss]

I love the 3200 stall in my vette, weird at first but it's a burn out machine now.

And i think if I want to stay with a larger volume converter, then i'm stuck with a max of like 2800 rpm or something along those lines.

The stock converter in this thing feels like it has a stall of about 1100 or 1200 rpm.

I think anything above 2400 would be awesome.

I think the added weight of the Tahoe will exaggerate the stall speed. I have a pro yank 3400 in my camaro but it has a 3.23 gear (yea, it needs waaay more gear) with the Texas giant cam. I really need like a 4k stall and 3.90 gear but the combo works. Tcc lock up doesn’t happen until 55 mph and it still jerks. Definitely not the right combo but it is what it is. You have enough knowledge to make a decision on this thing. I’m excited to see the route you take

 

[Just Fishing]

Doing a little dreaming...
https://www.summitracing.com/parts/mll-psls4270

I also found a few 6.0 basic short blocks for right around $2400 or so.
Seems to hard to find a 58x tooth crank.

How hard would it be to go from a 24x to a 58x?

I also realize that my 5.3 heads may suck on something larger, but i'm curious how badly...

Price wise, something like this looks pretty good.
https://www.summitracing.com/parts/hpe-sp19-f/make/chevrolet

 

[Rocket Man]

Doing a little dreaming...
https://www.summitracing.com/parts/mll-psls4270

I also found a few 6.0 basic short blocks for right around $2400 or so.
Seems to hard to find a 58x tooth crank.

How hard would it be to go from a 24x to a 58x?

I also realize that my 5.3 heads may suck on something larger, but i'm curious how badly...

Price wise, something like this looks pretty good.
https://www.summitracing.com/parts/hpe-sp19-f/make/chevrolet

I love how they charge $200 for a core and say you can avoid that by returning a suitable core at your shipping expense which is probably more than $200 so you’d get zero or less.

 

[Just Fishing]

Actual Gen IV 6.0 block...
https://www.summitracing.com/parts/nal-19369841
Toss my own crank in there...

Rods the same maybe?

 

[pwtr02ss]

Doing a little dreaming...
https://www.summitracing.com/parts/mll-psls4270

I also found a few 6.0 basic short blocks for right around $2400 or so.
Seems to hard to find a 58x tooth crank.

How hard would it be to go from a 24x to a 58x?

I also realize that my 5.3 heads may suck on something larger, but i'm curious how badly...

Price wise, something like this looks pretty good.
https://www.summitracing.com/parts/hpe-sp19-f/make/chevrolet

The 5.3 heads would work great on the 6.0. Thats what came on the ls2 (6.0 with 243 heads).

What part fo Utah you from?

 

[Just Fishing]

The 5.3 heads would work great on the 6.0. Thats what came on the ls2 (6.0 with 243 heads).

What part fo Utah you from?

I'm in northern utah.
Probably like 20min north of slc

 

[pwtr02ss]

I'm in northern utah.
Probably like 20min north of slc

Way over there...

We did a road trip last October, Tennessee to Utah and back by way of Nebraska. We came up from Page, AZ through Moab. Stayed in Moab and did Arches NP, then hoped on I-70 east bound. Beautiful country and the most dramatic changes in scenery I've experienced, over such a short distance. The route from Flagstaff to I-70 was absolutely breathtaking.

I plan to fly into SLC, go see the salt flats and maybe this big ass lake I spotted from the plane on a previous trip, head south and do Zion NP, maybe fly back out of Vegas.

pic of said lake. I think I was coming home from Portland Oregon when I spotted this...

 

[1BADI5]

Sweet, i love build threads

A 3k stall with a TSP Stage 3 5.3 cam would be nice. TSP has 2 versions, a low lift and high lift......I went high. With the low life you would only need some LS6 beehive springs.

 

[Just Fishing]

Oh baby,
It looks like the crank and rods are also compatible.

Just the pistons are different.

How much does it cost to usually have a block bored, honed, decked, etc?

$1400 for a brand new 6.0 block..