drew78bu

Hi, I've been visiting this site for a while and just decided to join. I plan to put one of these engines in my malibu so I was looking for an opinion.

I have a nice little 5.3. Heads are cnc ported gm castings stainless valves, double valve springs titanium locks and keepers, Roller rockers and hardened pushrods, also have arp rod bolts. The engine only has 30,000 miles on it


I have someone that wants to trade me a stock 6.2L aluminum block engine with the l92 heads for my 5.3. The 6.2 has 180,000 miles on it. What I'm asking is does anyone think its worth trading to gain the cubic inches? I know the power potential is better with the 6.2 But I will have to start all over with the performance add ons

3pedals

iTrader: (3)

180,000 miles........walk away! If it was a low mile engine then sure, but the 6.2 may have DOD which will cause more expense to get rid of.
If you NEED more than the 5.3 has, go find a low mile 6.0 at a wrecker, and put your CNC 5.3 heads on it.
Or force feed the 5.3

drew78bu

The mileage is the thing I'm worried about the most. This is not a DOD motor but it does have VVT. I was thinking the same thing about getting a 6.0 and putting my heads on it. This just came up and I was thinking about it.

NemeSS

iTrader: (127)

It's ur call. However a 6.2 has more advantages than a 5.3 180k willhave lot of wear I own a dd truck with a 310k+ miles 4.8

ZONES89RS

iTrader: (25)

Personally, i would go with the 6.2, take it apart, hone, new rings, check the rods and crank, polish/turn if needed, new bearings and then slap it back together. Then, with a fresh bottom end with ARP bolts, it is a new engine ready for action, possibly netting to 500 RWHP with the proper induction and cam.

3pedals

iTrader: (3)

theese guys have a point, if you are willing to go through the high mile 6.2, it certainly will out perform the 5.3, but it obviously will have freshening costs involved.

Schwanke Engines

iTrader: (1)

I would grab the 6.2L and go through it!!! Then you will have a fresh engine, plus more power.

moge11

180k aint shiit anymore... get it! It will make more power stock than your modified 5.3 anyway.. Its a cam swap away from making some SERIOUS POWER

nova6.2

i will go to 6.2 is big torque motor and power i have nova with a stock 6.2 with a 750 demon

Jim85IROC

iTrader: (6)

I'd run the 6.2 until it starts to show signs of age (burning oil, knock, low oil pressure, etc). When I bought my "low mile" LQ9, it wound up having 130k on it according to the carfax (double what I was told), so I tore it apart and am now building a stroker out of it. When I took it apart, what I found inside was a brand new motor. The bores still had a perfect crosshatch and were only .0015" above their original bore diameter. The bearings looked like brand new, as did everything else. My machinist commented that the block was "perfect" and couldn't believe that it had the miles it did. (he doesn't do many LS motors).

Here's what a 130k mile bearing looks like:


One thing that I'd want to find out is what vehicle the 6.2 came out of. One reason I paid extra for an LQ9 over an LQ4 is that it comes out of a cadillac, and if the previous owner did all of their maintenance at the caddy dealer like the Carfax says that mine did, that means that the motor got synthetic oil for its whole life. I can't say what one of these would look like at this mileage with conventional oil, or if it wasn't maintained properly, so those are concerns that you should take into account when deciding to do this swap. Knowing the history of a high mileage motor makes a big difference. If you don't have that luxury, pulling a valve cover off to see what it looks like inside can tell you a lot too.

3pedals

iTrader: (3)

I'm surprised at how good theese LS motors seem to hold up to mileage that would have been the END for a SBC or BBC.