turbo 5.3l rebuild
Thread Starter
Joined: Oct 2005
Posts: 1,687
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From: Fairfax, Virginia
turbo 5.3l rebuild I purchased a complete early style 5.3l LM7 with 140K miles off Craigslist for $600. My plan was to do springs, cam, rod bolts, head studs, ls9 head gaskets then boost it. Goal is 500-600hp. This is going in a Jaguar XJ6 conversion project.
I was tearing down the engine and everything looked good. Rod bearings were all good except #1 and #2 were a tad wiped. I could hear some odd noise when spinning the crank. Pulled off the front main cap and found the bearing spun.
Now the dilemma. I don't want this to turn into my LT1 where I dropped over $20K. The more money I put into something, the less I drive it in fear of breaking it. I want this build to be cheap, but reliable. Should I just take it to the machine shop and have them freshen up the short block? What type of machining is required for this? Is keeping the stock rods and pistons pointless if I'm going through the trouble of a rebuild? What would this cost? Should I cut my losses and find a known good short block? Looking for advice from people's experience.
I was tearing down the engine and everything looked good. Rod bearings were all good except #1 and #2 were a tad wiped. I could hear some odd noise when spinning the crank. Pulled off the front main cap and found the bearing spun.
Now the dilemma. I don't want this to turn into my LT1 where I dropped over $20K. The more money I put into something, the less I drive it in fear of breaking it. I want this build to be cheap, but reliable. Should I just take it to the machine shop and have them freshen up the short block? What type of machining is required for this? Is keeping the stock rods and pistons pointless if I'm going through the trouble of a rebuild? What would this cost? Should I cut my losses and find a known good short block? Looking for advice from people's experience.
Thread Starter
Joined: Oct 2005
Posts: 1,687
Likes: 0
From: Fairfax, Virginia
The crank doesn't look destroyed. I can feel little grooves with my nail. I believe polishing the crank would fix this? The main cap looks worse though. I should probably get a quote from a machine shop and start there.
If new bearing and some machine work is all I need then that doesn't seem so bad. I guess my main question is what stock parts can I use for my 600hp goal? Are the rods/pistons right on the edge of reliability? Should I upgrade those? Then I feel like I should of went ls1. Sorry for all the questions. I've been around f-bodies and forced induction for a while, but first time building a ls motor.
If new bearing and some machine work is all I need then that doesn't seem so bad. I guess my main question is what stock parts can I use for my 600hp goal? Are the rods/pistons right on the edge of reliability? Should I upgrade those? Then I feel like I should of went ls1. Sorry for all the questions. I've been around f-bodies and forced induction for a while, but first time building a ls motor.
