So I guess im starting a 5.3 rebuild project.....

[ThwopKing]

So sitting at idle in the parking lot at work the other day and I could swear I heard a slight rod knock in my Tahoe. Cant really tell if thats what it is yet because I haven't thrown it on the lift...but 15X,*** miles on a ex undercover cop vehicle and sure that might it....
That's the story im telling the wife anyway lol...

But really buddy of mine is giving me a 5.3 short block that needs a rebuild. I have no idea what its out of, does it really matter? I admit if it were a ford I would know off the top of my head what I needed to do ...but I figure all new bearings, some low priced I beam rods, set of hyper pistons - not adding boost so dont want to go forged - im sure I will have to take it .30 over, stock style crank or clean the stock one up if its ok and a mild cam.. BTR or the like. Then heads im not sure... I know there are some stock heads that flow better but I want to be able to run a stockstyle intake and ALL the stock accessories with A/C, P/S...etc etc etc.
Granted im still and staying 4WD with daily driver reliability in mind all year long...so for -10 degrees to 110 degrees lol. Hopefully I can do a total parts cost of under 2k bucks and then the labor I can pull some favors or do some trading for lol.
I haven't even seen this short block so are there any marking I should be looking for as far as things i DON'T want get. Like oh that's a XXXXX you don't want that one. But, oh well any of you who have done the same thing please chime in.
TIA

 

[iamdub]

So sitting at idle in the parking lot at work the other day and I could swear I heard a slight rod knock in my Tahoe. Cant really tell if thats what it is yet because I haven't thrown it on the lift...but 15X,*** miles on a ex undercover cop vehicle and sure that might it....
That's the story im telling the wife anyway lol...

But really buddy of mine is giving me a 5.3 short block that needs a rebuild. I have no idea what its out of, does it really matter? I admit if it were a ford I would know off the top of my head what I needed to do ...but I figure all new bearings, some low priced I beam rods, set of hyper pistons - not adding boost so dont want to go forged - im sure I will have to take it .30 over, stock style crank or clean the stock one up if its ok and a mild cam.. BTR or the like. Then heads im not sure... I know there are some stock heads that flow better but I want to be able to run a stockstyle intake and ALL the stock accessories with A/C, P/S...etc etc etc.
Granted im still and staying 4WD with daily driver reliability in mind all year long...so for -10 degrees to 110 degrees lol. Hopefully I can do a total parts cost of under 2k bucks and then the labor I can pull some favors or do some trading for lol.
I haven't even seen this short block so are there any marking I should be looking for as far as things i DON'T want get. Like oh that's a XXXXX you don't want that one. But, oh well any of you who have done the same thing please chime in.
TIA

Any Gen3 short block will be fine. Depending on the year, the cam bearings are different, but you just need whatever's appropriate for that block. Look for some take-out rods from a Gen4 as they're a stronger factory design and can be had for cheap. Shave the heads and/or get thinner head gaskets to raise the compression and you'll have noticeably better torque across the whole RPM range. You'll need to run 89 or 93 octane fuel and have a good tune, though. You'll need a tune for the cam, anyway.

 

[swathdiver]

So sitting at idle in the parking lot at work the other day and I could swear I heard a slight rod knock in my Tahoe. Cant really tell if thats what it is yet because I haven't thrown it on the lift...but 15X,*** miles on a ex undercover cop vehicle and sure that might it....
That's the story im telling the wife anyway lol...

But really buddy of mine is giving me a 5.3 short block that needs a rebuild. I have no idea what its out of, does it really matter? I admit if it were a ford I would know off the top of my head what I needed to do ...but I figure all new bearings, some low priced I beam rods, set of hyper pistons - not adding boost so dont want to go forged - im sure I will have to take it .30 over, stock style crank or clean the stock one up if its ok and a mild cam.. BTR or the like. Then heads im not sure... I know there are some stock heads that flow better but I want to be able to run a stockstyle intake and ALL the stock accessories with A/C, P/S...etc etc etc.
Granted im still and staying 4WD with daily driver reliability in mind all year long...so for -10 degrees to 110 degrees lol. Hopefully I can do a total parts cost of under 2k bucks and then the labor I can pull some favors or do some trading for lol.
I haven't even seen this short block so are there any marking I should be looking for as far as things i DON'T want get. Like oh that's a XXXXX you don't want that one. But, oh well any of you who have done the same thing please chime in.
TIA

Here's some reading for ya: https://help.summitracing.com/app/a...4dDFnOUJ4Z3NRZ1c3TzJfV0tQcm1zc0NaUSUyMSUyMQ==

Check out the companion articles below in that link, Intro to the LR4, LM7, L59 and for the LM4 and L33. The L33 was the ultimate Gen III 5.3. The spec sheets have the part numbers, write them down so when you are introduced to your new block you'll know what it is and where it came from.

 

[ThwopKing]

Thanks for the info guys... my buddy also has a bare 6.0 block with the main caps in strongly considering as well!

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