rkulp89

So I'm at the very beginning of my first real project car and I've already made some mistakes. The plan is to buy a cheap fox body mustang and do an LS swap. The budget is 7k. After asking for some expert advice and searching the web, the consensus is put in a cheap 4.8/5.3 + turbo.

Here is where things went wrong.... This weekend I found a "running" 4.8 w/ 165k on it for $250 (no ECU, harnessing or coils). I get it home and take the heads off to see how things looks. Unfortunately one of the cylinders had a good amount of water/coolant in it so I continue to take it apart to see just how bad it is. In the process I'm pulling out push rods, lifters, etc. with no regards to orientation. I also pull the piston/rods out and didn't mark which cylinders they came out of. Probably the only thing I did right was keeping the rod caps with the correct rod.

At this point, I don't know if it makes sense moving forward with this engine. The cam looks like it needs replacing and to put it together correctly I'll have to have it machined and balanced... this is going to cost a good bit of coin just to get it back to stock. I've considered blowing the budget and building it up with a forged 5.3 or boring out to 5.7 but I don't think this engine is worth putting that kind of money into.

I think I can part out the engine and cover the cost. Even a total lost of $250 isn't the end of the world for the lessons I've learned so far but I also don't want to piece out the engine if its worth saving. I'm thinking I should buy a gen IV 4.8 with low miles and just do head studs, gasket and turbo.

If you've made it this far, thank you! If you would, please let me know if I'm on the right track here.

truckdoug

iTrader: (26)

IME it doesnt matter which bore the pistons come out of. if it was a running engine dingleberry hone the hole that had water in it, slap the small trickflow cam in there and some pac 1218s and put it back together and boost it.
machining and balancing a stock anything is a waste of your money.

your best money will be spent on learning how to tune

brandon6.0

iTrader: (32)

^^ Well said advice! Slap it back together and install some cheap Chinese headstuds and ls9 gaskets while your in it. does this motor have the gen3 or 4 rods? flattop or dished piston? dished piston is a 5.3 and flattop are 4.8. they both share same bore and block. just different pistons, rods, and crank.

dburt86

iTrader: (2)

x1million

svslow

x2million

SteenH

Add another million

rkulp89

wow a total of x4 million on this already! Must be some good advice. Thank you!

I already trashed the bearing and rings thinking this needed to be replaced regardless so I'll run a hone down each hole and do new bearings, rings, cam, springs, gasket and studs and call it good.

Zizzle

You see there is this guys who just made nearly 1,000hp with a used 6.0 and recycled head gaskets and reused factory head bolts.

Go and watch this, subscribe to the channel and learn the sloppy ways.


I doubt you need new bearings or rings.

Slap it back together and beat on it.

Cam & springs optional.

gtfoxy

FYI;

I've pulled a few apart where the cams had one bad lobe. Visually inspect lobes & if any look damaged or shorter grab a mic. & measure them.

Also, be sure to check the ring lands for cracks or damage. It is a good practice to make sure the pistons move freely on the pins. I have seen stuck or crudded up pins cause miss-fire codes.

If reusing the stock lifters I soak them in cleaner & periodically actuate the plunger to get any built up crud out.

Do you have any idea where the water in the cylinder came from? Sitting around or ?

rkulp89

I have no idea where the water came from. I live in Vegas so there isn't much water or moisture around. It looked like mostly water with maybe a little bit of fuel and a little bit of coolant. Most of the oil was just black, only a small portion of it was milky.

The pistons and cylinders had so much carbon buildup, I don't know how it was even running... if it was. Here is a picture of a before and after soaking in cleaner. The dirty piston was actually one of the cleanest one before getting a bath.

brandon6.0

iTrader: (32)

yeah they pretty nasty. I always try and reuse the stock rings whenever possible. they are a good rings set all steel. most aftermarket sets are moly plated. which to me isn't near as strong as a steel stock ring. And usually the higher milage engines have the rings gaps loosend up already which us boosted guys love!!! just a FYI

Project GatTagO

iTrader: (7)

Those look like Gen 3 rods. What year is the engine? If you don't know, post pictures of the valley area.

Andrew

gnx7

iTrader: (28)

Gen3 vs. Gen4 rods. Much beefier for the '04.5+ style on the left

rkulp89

I think it's 2000. Definitely has gen 3 rods. I just bought a 07 gen 3 engine with 130k on it and will just part out this engine. I already scrapped the rings, bearing, etc. so it's going to cost more to repair than to part out and start over. My understanding is 04-05+ engines have the gen 4 rods, even though it's a gen 3 engine. Is this correct?

Project GatTagO

iTrader: (7)

I have heard that to be the case. If you already have the engine, take the pan off. The rods are noticeably different between 3rd and 4th gen.

Andrew