I found a complete 5.3 out of a 2001 truck for $950. It has 25,000 miles on it. I want to do a swap in my 69 camaro. Should I get this or look for a 6.0 or ls1 out of a camaro? Any pro's or con's about a 5.3?
Thanks for the help guys!

 

I have a 5.3 in my 5,800lb. Avalanche with 3.73 gears and like it. I can't spin the tires over, but it has good pep. 310hp. Put a little larger cam in it, change the valve springs/retainers and you could probably get another 20hp out of it. A better intake and exhaust might give you another 20hp.

 

PROS:

same stroke as LS1

almost all LS1 parts are interchangable

truck intake makes great torque

low CR (9:1) makes it a great candidate for boosting

good gas milage. with a T56, MPG can be high 20s low 30s highway

iron block can be bored to accept LS1 rods/pistons/cranks without resleeving. think: iron block is good for 1200-1500 HP on forged components

CONS:

about 50lbs heavier than its aluminum counterpart

low CR ratio limits N/A capabilities

truck intake is limiting in higher (6k +) RPMs


It all comes down to a couple of things. Budget, goals and know how. For instance, if you're only looking to make a 300-350hp DD with good street manners and great MPG, then a 5.3 is the way to go. If you want to boost the hell out of your engine a 5.3 is great since you don't need to buy aftermarket dished pistons. However, if you have a limitless budget then by all means get an LS1 and go to town. 6.0 (LQ9/4) are great. They have huge N/A potential and CarCraft has seen 485 and 550 HP from them, respectively.

NOTE:
I am particularly biased to boosted 5.3s since I'm building one.

 

I had a 5.3 with a hot cam and ls6 valve springs in a 97 s10 that ran 11.9 on a 100 shot and had well over a 100k on the engine. there a lot cheaper than the bigger engines and still put out good hp

 

keep in mind how light the S10 is though...

 

you can also find aluminum 5.3's

intake & alternator are too tall to clear hood. fiberglass cowl hood should clear intake.

 

what is the actual engine code for the 5.3? do the alum. and iron motors carry different engine codes? would after market ls1 heads and intakes bolt onto this motor?

 

I have a 5.3 in my 85 MCSS Daily Driver, and love it. It starts every time, gives good power and decent mileage. There are some issues with clearance on the accessories and the intake, but they are easy to fix.

 

Aluminum 5.3= L33.
Iron 5.3= LM7

There was also an aluminum 5.3 that was put in the SSR, trailblazer EXT and Silverado EXT. It was made for one year in 2004 and goes by the engine code LM4. But if I were you, I'd stick with the L33 if you want all aluminum 5.3.

Aftermarket LS1 head and intake can be used. However, the 5.3 has great heads and in fact, many LS1 owners choose to use the 5.3's heads on their engine. I would NOT reccomend using aftermarket heads on the 5.3. They're much more suited for larger displacement (LS1/LQ9) engines.

Additionally, you don't really want to use an LS1 intake for a couple of reasons.

Cost: once you buy LS1 intake you'll need to buy LS1 fuel rails, reflash the PCM, LS1 injectors and pigtails, etc. etc. Once you get to this point, you might as well have just bought the LS1 to begin with.

Flow: the truck intake outflows the LS1 and produces great torque. It's true that it can be limiting in the very upper RPMs, but most people will never get there, so it's a moot point unless you're building an all out race car. Using an LS1 manifold would actually be a step backwards.

 

So you can bore a 5.3 to 5.7? I figured the way modern castings are made, it wouldn't allow that.
Does anybody know the maximum a 5.3 can be punched out?

 

thanks a ton for the info. helping a friend out with a motor swap in his jeep, trying to make a informed decision before he buys the motor.

 

What engine is he currently running in the jeep? If it's the 4.0 it will be an enormous difference.

 

The above may not be applicable depending on your circumstances or the vehicle you are using. The below is based on my experience of using an LM7 in a Supra and an L33 in an RX7.

I have rarely found a complete LS1 for under $2000, and these often have 100K plus miles on them and don't include the PCM. For the Supra, I found a 2003 30K LM7 intake to oil pan for $400 at my local JY. I paid about $50 each for the LS1 intake, injectors, and rails, $200 for a car water pump & alternator, balancer, and bracket, and another $250 or so for the oil pan & parts (new from Dal, less than some were selling used parts for lol). The engine harness was another $85 and a PCM for $100. I did buy HP Tuners $500 (+/-) but this was due to knowing I was doing more Gen 3 swaps.
Here is how my money broke down:
Engine $400
Intake/rails/injectors $150
Accessories $200
Oil pan & parts $250
Harness $85
Subtotal $1085

You then have a 285~295 HP motor with a bunch less miles that weighs about 90 pounds more and has 400 cc less displacement than an LS1. I did not add in the cost of the PCM since the LS1 motors don't usually come with them.

This really works well for those of us that can't plop down $2K at once for a motor. You can buy the parts as you can afford them, then put everything together.

You can also possibly offset some costs by selling the stuff you don't use.

I paid $800 for the 2005 L33 in January 2007, so my total here was around 1485. I did add an '02 Z06 cam and springs and hardened pushrods for around $325.

One other thing about truck motors is that the intake is usually too tall to fit in most car applications. I see you are looking at doing this in a '69 F-body. I doubt the truck intake will clear the hood, so if you want to run a scoop that would be the only way to accomplish this. As I noted, the water pump, balancer, and alternator need to be changed over to car parts as well.

BTW, $950 is too much money for a 2001 motor. Look on car-part.com and search using a 2005 Silverado 1500. This will give you prices for 4.8 through 6.0L motors. Often, affiliated JYs can ship stuff to a yard near you for free (my L33 came from 250 miles away).

I hope this added perspective is helpful.

 

When you find another deal like that let me know. Most I can find near me are $800+ with 60k plus on teh clock.

 

get a 5.3 without any of the intake/computer and wiring, should be about $400, spend the $700 and put a carb on it, and bolt it up to your existing trans. swap cams, and you have a 350hp motor that is light years ahead of an old small block
Gary

 

I would, but as the saying goes "I saw it first" .

Just bought another L33 from a JY 130 miles away for $850 for the BMW. It is a 2005 w/ 39K miles from a wrecked GMC Sierra. The JY delivers to bodyshops for free in my area, so I have to drive 16 miles to get it.

Shop car-part.com, craigslist, etc. and get an idea of what they can be had for. Don't get sucked into paying $2K for a used motor!

 

Car-part.com is how I usually look. Lately ive been looking for a new motor for my soon to be dd but after thats done ill be back on the search for a solid 5.3 for the monte.

 

I have a steel goodmark 2" cowl hood on my 76 Camaro, do you think it would clear the truck 5.3 engine and accessories?

 

if it's a steel hood w/ a just round hole for an air cleaner, then no

if it's like the fiberglass hoods where the entire raised section of the hood is exposed below, then the intake manifold should clear fine

the alternator will have to be relocated in either case

 

So what did the L33 come out of, and what makes/years have them...

T.