I currently have a 5.3 (iron block) that had to be bored anyways. So I drop it off at the machine shop w/a set of Diamond 3.905 dome pistons (10.0cc) and some Compustar rods. It will just be using the stock 5.3 crank w/ all the internals rebalanced together. Probably just be a set of 317 or 241 heads as I can't find any 243 or 799's at a decent price. Cam wise I'm thinking 224 or a 227 unless I go custom grind..
What I'm curious the most part is what kinda HP & Torque should it be putting up at the crank? I'm thinking it should hold a pretty good shot of juice as well. I'm just curious on the reliability part as I know 3.905 is cutting it close on the 5.3 sleeve/cylinder as it is... Thanks...



.... I know I know a 6.0 would have been cheaper... but then I would have had to buy one .....

 

Iron block does not have sleeves.......

 

Not sure. Was it sonic checked? If not you may have a paper weight that isn't safe to run even NA. You might be plenty safe too. Just depends on how thick the cylinders really are.

 

I'm running a iron block bored out to 3.903" with a 4" stroke. Over 3k miles and no issues so far. I've never heard of any problems with this setup, but its not a popular one.

 

I get the vibe it isn't a popular build. Seems Due to the cost of the machine work mostly? I figured what the heck cause it had to be bored anyways just get my money's worth out of it. Ive seen a few posts scattered out the forums and they seem like a decent combo, it will hold a pretty good shot of juice if that is wanted as well. I was going to go w/a 224R cam but might go a lil bigger or a custom grind to get the best out of it...

 

It's not super popular being it will cost $300+ to sonic check and bore the block as far as you need to. I mean you gotta bore it almost an eighth of an inch to go from a 5.3 to a 5.7. It's also a gamble being the block may not be safe to bore that far.

 

Agreed, many people don't do this because the cost of machining many times outweighs the performance advantage where as they can buy another block for almost he same price if not less.