Sleeve 5.3
Thread Starter
Teching In
Joined: Dec 2018
Posts: 31
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Sleeve 5.3 Hey y'all, I am thinking about sleeveing a gen 3 aluminum 5.3 block I have. My goal is to build a BUDGET back up motor to my decent 417" LS3. I was considering just going with 3.905" bore and having a set of pistons made, then using either a set of 243's, or a set of 706's I have. But I was also considering sleeving this block and selling the Cathedral stuff and going with square port heads, so the intake and carb would swap from motor to motor. Obviously Darton is among the high end, and Melling falls closer to the price point I was hoping for. The application is an N/A drag car. I'm just bracket racing, no silly sauce or turbskies. Thoughts on the Melling sleeves?
Thread Starter
Teching In
Joined: Dec 2018
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You are correct. My options are, no sleeve, bore to 3.905, use the cathedral heads I have. OR... Sleeve the block, go to 4.075 bore, which is where my 417" engine is, sell the cathedral stuff and get a set of LQ9 heads as I did with my other engine. If I sleeve the block, and go square port heads, I can swap my intake from motor to motor. My basic question is, pros vs cons, of the Melling sleeve. I am not really interested in spending a lot of money on Darton Sleeves if the Melling parts aren't worth the money.
Thread Starter
Teching In
Joined: Dec 2018
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I could go the 6.0 route I guess. I already have the 5.3 block and thought it might be a fun build. As of right now, I'm lacking a rotating assembly, cam, and intake. As far as the need... No need. Im sure you know what its like having parts lying around, "ghosh, I could have a whole 'nother motor!". I just thought someone might have some insight on those cheap O' Melling sleeves.
I’ve done a few sleeved blocks and I’d have to say that the purchase of the sleeves is the easy part. It’s using a shop that has experience and the machining to properly do the installs that’s the expensive part. Don’t trust just anyone to sleeve your block.
Launching!
Joined: Nov 2014
Posts: 234
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From: South dakota
I agree with che70velle , the ls1 block i was going to use needed 2 sleeve (cylinders egg shaped). Curious about it so I asked the machine shop owner and he said with the cost of the machining that i would be better off finding another block.. which is the route I went...6.0
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Thread Starter
Teching In
Joined: Dec 2018
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I have a really good machine shop near me that I use. I know that a set of Darton sleeves will run me 8-900. But I ran across these Melling sleeves from summit and they are in the $25 range each. I understand the quality wont be as good as the high end sleeves, I would assume they would be on par with OE sleeves. I also hate calling my machine shop to ask these hypothetical questions, maybe the LS community could help me hash this out before I make the phone call.
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Verdad Gallardo Darton stuff is basically a bill a piece. They are ductile iron, whereas the Melling sleeves are cast iron. $25 a sleeve?...wow. Had no idea. I’ve paid way more for a set of bearings than that.
I could go the 6.0 route I guess. I already have the 5.3 block and thought it might be a fun build. As of right now, I'm lacking a rotating assembly, cam, and intake. As far as the need... No need. Im sure you know what its like having parts lying around, "ghosh, I could have a whole 'nother motor!". I just thought someone might have some insight on those cheap O' Melling sleeves.
I agree with 99BB. Not saying your machine shop is incapable of doing the job, but to do it correctly, a CNC is required. I use RED to sleeve my blocks, but you can go to Texas Speed On the web, and see pics of said machine stations. They run about a million bucks a piece. It’s the only way to ensure the block is done correctly. Honestly there’s nothing budget about sleeving a block.
Thread Starter
Teching In
Joined: Dec 2018
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Fantastic information here. Racers Edge here in Tucson has all the equipment to do the job, and Bret is as good as anyone I've ever spoken with. From LS to BBC, 2JZ, I believe they held the N/A Coyote world record for the quickest and fastest ET for a while. They also builds all kinds of nasty CR, YZ, KTM, KX, 450's motors for customers all over the world. The machine work/equipment or knowledge isn't lacking within that shop for sure. My basic premise of this discussion is if anyone has had any experience with those cheap O' sleeves from Melling. As far as my definition of budget, I spent $18k on my LS3, not too many expenses spared. Here is the thread: https://ls1tech.com/forums/drag-raci...-dragster.html
I was thinking maybe it would be fun to see if I could come close to duplicating what I already have, only do it as cheap as possible.
I was thinking maybe it would be fun to see if I could come close to duplicating what I already have, only do it as cheap as possible.
TECH Fanatic
Joined: Feb 2015
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I'd recommend call up Racers Edge and get the cost to sleeve, bore, hone and check/machine/prep the rest of the block and let us know the cost. I sense that you'll come to the conclusion that using a $25 sleeve likely doesn't make sense.