I just picked up my first 5.3 and I should probably add my first swap ever. It's an 02 and pretty dirty. What would be the right way to go through and clean it and every thing else? It's pretty much the long block. Or is there any one in central Louisiana that could help or I could pay to do it for me?

Thanks a lot in advance.

 

are you tearing it down or no?

if no, I'd just spray it down with some degreaser / carb cleaner and go at it for a while with some scrub brushes and a wash bucket. don't spray any highly pressurized water directly onto it.

if yes, then that's a completely different story.

 

It's a bit away from dropping it in. What do you think is best? I wouldn't mind having it gone through and cleaned thoroughly

 

that depends on the scope of your build and what your goals are. if you tear the motor down there's a good chance you'll find something that needs fixing, then the whole "while I'm in there" mindset sets in and you end up spending waaay much more money than you originally intended (ask me how I know).

 

Haha no I agree a 100 percent. I just don't know how thorough I can be with a brush. I'm in fort polk in central la and it's hard to find a good shop that won't take advantage of a soldier and even harder to find parts and a good group of car guys. Goals though is probably comfortable saying 750-8 to the crank. I'm going to run a turbonetics hurricane series. I've been doing absolutely tons of research and have a general idea on paper what I want on it soon and what I want on it down the road. I want to keep it budget but I don't want to cut corners. But I fully agree the while I'm at it mentality will come about while I'm in it. I mean the engines been sitting for two years on a stand so should I just brush it off or go more thorough?