yello guys, im looking for a bit of help/advice on my first build, ive never gotten to actually dig into an engine before. but finally found me a project without an engine in it.

this friday im going to the junkyard to find me a 5.3 or maybe a 6.0.

i am planning on doing a "rebuild" on the engine. im going to boost it(turbos), aiming to be in the high 500-low 600 hp range.

however before i start i am wondering from some of you out there what all is a must when it comes to upgrading, im planning on replacing all the seals, i believe i need new bolts for the heads? im not planning on taking anything like the crankshaft or cam out. do i have to replace the rod bolts? ive seen some mixed info on that. anything else maybe im missing? like i said im new, ive watched alot of Richard, but he obviously has a bigger budget than me. im just trying to put some ring gap in it and throw some boost at as stock of an engine as i can, cause stock is cheap.


my goal is just for it to be light, since its my first time getting to tear into the engine, and i dont have a very large budget, like at all.

also anything i should grab besides the engine? try and find an ecu maybe?

 

Here's the deal, if you're going to a pull your own yard, find an engine in a wrecked truck. That means it was running and driving down the road when it met its demise. 9 times out of 10, it doesn't need a rebuild. Cam it, put all new gaskets in it ( except head gaskets ) and run it. You will want a cam, it will make significantly more power, even if it's a mild cam. Richard Holdener sells inexpensive cams, I would run one of those. Don't worry about ring gap, 200K miles opened up the gaps.

 

If you don’t open up the ring gap,, don’t go crazy with the boost. A lot of the guys will gap them if running big boost. The day of plentiful cheap 5.3Ls are over.

 

Depends where you're at. Within 10 miles of my place in Michigan, I have 3 pull your own yards. All engines are the same price at each yard. LKQ is $433, Lucky's is $389 ( includes $100 core charge ), and Weller is the same as Lucky's ( same owner ). Everything rusts up here. At any given time, there are 30-50 full size trucks in the yards with LS engines. Yeah, they'll dry up eventually, but right now is prime time for picking.

 

pulled a decent L59 yesterday, out of a wrecked 02 burb.

what do yall reccomend fuel system wise? bigger injectors?

probobly wont end up doing a cam, any money saved is good, and making it less complex is better.

also what do yall reccomend ecu/computer wise?i didnt get any harnesses or anythign with the engine, they had alrety been picked off. should i just pick up another stock one do smthing like hp tuners on it?

 

down here they are plentiful. At least the 5.3 are.
was about 10 trucks still with the engine at my yard, another 20 without.

And they are only 300 bucks.

 

If you aren't changing the cam or doing anything else exotic your stock injectors should be fine. I'd get a decent brand harness from Painless or similar and use a stock computer.

 

Ok, so is 600 realistic on the stock pistons(turbo), with gap ofc?

got the engine down to a block, definitely a really high mile engine. Needs new rod bearings, no scratches or anything but starting to show copper. Ive decided im going to cam like yall said. Cams definitely a bit worn down, and theyre cheap enough.

 

If the rod bearings are showing wear and the cam is worn down, you should plan on cam bearings.

 

The cam bearings are even worse than the rod bearings. They have more copper showing.

Proboboly should check the mains shouldnt i?

 

The cam bearings sometimes will have copper showing from the factory due to the fact that they're machined after installation. It's not a true indication of wear. I'd still pull the main caps and check. Also, if you pull the mains, do yourself a favor and buy a new set of main bolts from BTR, as the factory ones are torque to yield and shouldn't be used again ( and yes, I know tons of people DO reuse them. Insurance is cheap, buy new. ) If you're going to replace all the bearings, you may as well take the block in and have it hot tanked when you have cam bearings installed. I myself wouldn't have bothered tearing the engine down. It probably wouldn't have had any issues, but now that you have, there's no reason to cut corners. As for power levels, people have gone WAY farther on an SBE 5.3. 600 HP is nothing. It'll be fine.