Hey guys I just picked up a 5.3 and have a few questions. It's going into a 96 s10. Anyways, I was wondering what to do about heads? Are 862 heads any good? I was considering port and polishing them and then having them gasket matched? Would that be worth the money or would it make more sense to buy new, different heads? As far as what I want from the motor I planned to change the intake to a ls6 intake, forged rods and Pistons, cam and all the needed mods to go with cam, and 150 shot possibly 200. Thanks guys!

 

What's your power goals n/a? 862 heads are good but not the best..
Daily driver or weekend toy?
What cam you going with ?

 

Do you need the LS6 intake for clearance or looks? The truck intake works well.
How fast do you want to go? A modded 5.3 on the jug if a 2wd truck I would expect 10s.
Why the forged rods and pistons? Just for the spray?

 

The 862's are decent but there are definitely better options out there depending what your budget is. If you're on a tighter budget you could send them to WCCH or TSP for a CNC port job and bigger valves for under a grand. If you have a bigger budget you could with some Trick Flows or AFR's.

 

I'd keep the 862 heads, port them, install 2.02"/1.6" valves, and punch that 5.3L out to a 5.7L since you're using forged pistons.

 

I'm in the first steps of the build so I don't know which can I like te best yet. I'm looking for the best with nitrous. And yeah the ls6 intake would be just for looks haha. I heard the truck intake was good just never got a straight answer. And the reason for forged is because I want to do at least 150 which can be maintained by stock intervals. But I know I would want to end up going over 200 shot. And it's a weekend vehicle. I really wanna hit the single digits on the 1/4. And I'm not so sure about n/a rwhp.