Hey guys.I am working on a '64 C10 build and have a 2002 (L59) 5.3 engine. I am admittedly totally green and wet behind the ears on these engines which is why I am here! I am a diesel guy looking for some help . I will be using the truck for some daily driving use, a pass or two down the drag strip, and an autocross track day or two. Would like to make some power with it, but would most importantly like it to drive on the street nice and do somewhat decently on MPGs.

The truck will weight right at or just under 4,000lbs, has a build 4l60E trans, 4.10 gears, 31.9" tires, and this 5.3 I got out of a 2002 Yukon. I was thinking of having black bear tune it.

At this point I have the engine torn down and looking at options. I am planning on rebuild it and may as well make some upgrades while I am at it. I already bought a TSP 216/220 .600 cam for it (hope this is close!) with pushrods and springs. Looking at 1 3/4" long tube headers 3" dual exhaust, and building an intake that fits the truck. First, I was thinking of using 4.8L pistons to bump up compression a bit. Then, I ready that the block could be bored out to a 5.7 which sounds nice and shouldn't really cost any more than what I was originally doing.

What do you guys think? Should I just do the 4.8L pistons, or bore it out to a 5.7? Will I need better heads, or will rebuild 862 be ok? What else will I need for a BUDGET build?

Thanks for your help!

 

If you can score a set of 243/799 heads, you will gain some power. 799's came on most Gen IV 5.3's and should be easy to find in a junkyard. The TSP cam should give you a nice even power curve. Not sure you need 3' exhaust on a 5.3, but it can't hurt either. The truck intake manifold should actually work for you, so save it. It will help your low end torque.

 

 

From what I have read on these forums, that is close to stock stall.

 

If your budget allows you to bore it out and increase the cubes, I'd do that for sure.

 

Nice build, curious on what LS engine control system your planning on using?

 

 

I would put a turbo(s) on the 5.3L engine at some point. You have lots of room in the c10. Would be a fun truck without being too crazy. I wanted to do turbo on my 85 vette with a 2005 LQ9 6.0 iron block engine (all stock internally), but headers, aftermarket intake, Ls3 injectors.

 

What do you guys think? Should I just do the 4.8L pistons, or bore it out to a 5.7? Will I need better heads, or will rebuild 862 be ok? What else will I need for a BUDGET build?

IMO send the block to your engine machinist, have him clean it up and check it. I work at a small machine shop in central Texas. Have them check bore taper. I had a 5.3 from an 01 suburban my old man wrecked, that had 268k and had only .0005 wear in it. So I honed it true that half thousandth over. Checked deck trueness was .003 low on drivers front and passengers rear of block. Threw it on the machine cut the deck .005 to make it straight. Threw some 4.8's in it checked compression height and it was still .005 in the hole. We don't do a lot of ls motors so still kinda new to them but doing a lot of research and from a lot of what I've read keep your heads, assuming they're 706's, for compression, have a machine shop cut the seats out with a bowl hog and multiangle valve job and clean up the ports yourself with a little polish. Dont go cutting tons of material out just clean up the casting. That's gonna be your best bet for a budget build. I haven't had time to set my motor in my truck yet, been busy in off season working on pulling tractors, dirt cars, and a pro mod for various freinds so I cant give you numbers but I would guess that would be pretty close to 350 at the wheels.

 

my 5.3 with a baby ls1 cam and headers and a good tune put ~250 to the wheels.
don't bother with machine work. if the motor is a runner, do cam and springs and let it rip

 

Welcome - I am also new and have a 66 c10 that came with a running 5.3 but the block was cracked. I went with an LQ4 6.0 and just freshening it up to put it back in. Good luck.

 

Send those 862 heads to Texas Speed and let them do their Magic on them, just got mine back and they are beautiful!!

 

I like the way you think! Going to keep it simple for now.

Great info. Thanks. Did you check piston to valve clearance when you were done? I didn't check my piston to valve starting point clearance before I tore my motor down and trying to do some calculations on where I may be with 4.8 pistons, higher lift cam, and some machine work.

Did you make a baseline run before your mods?

Thanks. I would like to check out your truck / build if you have more info.

They seem to have reasonable pricing. Thanks for the tip.

 

Great info. Thanks. Did you check piston to valve clearance when you were done? I didn't check my piston to valve starting point clearance before I tore my motor down and trying to do some calculations on where I may be with 4.8 pistons, higher lift cam, and some machine work.

Tbh I didn't. I chose a 220 int/224 exh with a 112 LSA. I wasn't real comfortable re-using my rocker arms with the miles on them, so I decided to try some Comp Ultra Pro Mags, we run a few dirt track motors with them and they hold up well. Probably overkill for my motor but wanted to replace mine anyway. I got them in 1.8's so bumped my lift a little. I have some 706 heads my boss cut the bowl out a little with a good valve job and I hit the ports just a little and milled the heads .003 to just insure they were flat and try not to bump compression anymore. After degreeing cam and double checking cam specs I ended up advancing the cam 4 degrees, and measured the LSA 110.5 with lift at .561 int/.565 exh. After looking around at other builds I wasn't to worried about PTV saying my cam isn't very big. It may come to bite me but I rushed my free saturday to throw the motor together before we got swamped with off season refreshes, so I didn't take the time to measure PTV.

 

Lundy, the cam you used, curious on how well it works? I was thinking about running a cam similar to that. I have a set of GM cnc LS3 heads, but I'm thinking about using a set of PRC 237 64cc heads.

Cathedral ports make more torque/power below 4000 rpm than the LS3. I'm running stock converter and 2.73 gears in my 85 vette.

 

I haven't gotten it running yet. I have a few odds and ends to finish up in the truck, but it'll be a 5 speed, dual plane carbureted with 3.73 gear weighing a touch over 4,000lbs, so little different animal. I've always been a little conservative on cams. I have seen that bigger heads do respond well with smaller cams and if you do decide it's not enough down the road throw in a littler more cam. I'd be happy to update when the truck is running, but with as busy as the shop has been i have no idea when I'll have the time or extra motivation to set it in and get everything wired up. Still have to line out the fuel system.

 

Why not just slap a turbo on and let it eat?

 

 

Anyone have any feedback on summits 5.3 blocks? Only $460 delivered: https://www.summitracing.com/parts/sum-4853l. Cam bearings installed. This would be less expensive than having my machine shop freshen up my block and I could sell it for a few bucks.

 

Summit blocks:
https://ls1tech.com/forums/generatio...hine-shop.html

I would do 2.5" after the X pipe, if you do an x pipe. My old C5 ran Kooks 1 3/4" no cats 3" to the X 2.5 after. Most ran 3" all the way to the over axle pipe. Allan Futral comment the car made great torque when he tuned it a decade ago.

A friend had the same heads, cam, year short block, and the same guy port his TB, and tuned by Futral on the same day. He had 3" turn downs in the TA, the torque jump was substantial but peak rwhp was almost the same. I went 2.5" despite what most Corvette guy do as was a Chevelle guy and sold roller big block guys were surprised at how little they picked up on 3".

In a truck with a little 5.3 I would error on the side of torque and run the 2.5 any gain from 3" would be in an area of the power curve you don't spend much time in and you're likely to give up power where you are cruising.