How much is too much
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Teching In
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How much is too much Just picked up an 01 LM7 5.3 for a stupid good deal. Pulled the valve covers , pretty decent amount of sludge in the heads. Obviously none would be ideal but how much is too much? Lol. The engine does turn over freely so thats a plus. I plan to pull the heads and clean them, machine if needed, replace cam lifters and springs. Clean the block itself, pull the pan and check main bearings, probably replace main bearings regardless of what I find, reassemble with all new seals and gaskets.
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Teching In
Joined: Feb 2018
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Thread Starter
Teching In
Joined: Feb 2018
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I picked up the 5.3 and 4L60E for some time and labor helping a friend tow his el Camino and Harley from Louisiana to Tennessee since he has moved back other than the time and labor have maybe $100 actual cash tied up in it. So if at all possible Im hoping to be able to clean it up and ****** send it. Lol
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Teching In
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From: Michigan
I would get some the those cheap small diameter bristle brush made for cleaning oil passages and run ever passage you can find. If you find interference in any of them then it's time to get it professionally cleaned.
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Teching In
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Yeah I plan to clean every nook and cranny I can. Depending on what it looks like inside once I tear it apart, if it looks salvageable, I may just have it professionally cleaned regardless, as cheap as I got it I could spend a couple bucks getting it cleaned right.
If you're going to go thru all the trouble to disassemble the engine that far you might as well just do a complete rebuild.
Your already going to be replacing bearings/cam/lifters/springs/head-main cap bolts/main bearings and all gaskets.
Your also going to end up replacing lifter trays and timing set and oil pump. That's almost a complete refresh minus the important part....like rings and valve job.
If you do a complete rebuild them you can have the block cleaned and at least decked and new cam bearings.
Your already going to be replacing bearings/cam/lifters/springs/head-main cap bolts/main bearings and all gaskets.
Your also going to end up replacing lifter trays and timing set and oil pump. That's almost a complete refresh minus the important part....like rings and valve job.
If you do a complete rebuild them you can have the block cleaned and at least decked and new cam bearings.
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Yeah I do plan to do all of that but was hoping to get away with just replacing piston rings and reusing the current crank/rods/pistons. Getting the motor as cheap as I did leaves a little more money in the budget, but if I can get by without a bill at the machine shop, that would be even better. This is definitely gonna be a tight budget build so I would like to do as much, if not all of the work myself and put the budget towards parts instead of paying for labor.