5.3 "Poor Mans" vs Starting with a true LS1/3
03-16-2019, 02:05 PM
#21
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Some of the truck cranks do not have a deep enough relief to accept the t56 input shaft so be careful and check this fit up before torquing pieces together or you can crack your block. All LS same physical size btw, ALL. Once you have one swapped in dropping in any other variant is pretty straight forward aside from the LS7 and the front drive versions which are different. Sounds like your budget conscious so find the best low mile good running 5.3 or 6.0L and stuff a cheap flebay cam in there and some headers with LS7 clutch and go have some fun. When that gets boring build a real motor or go for boost. No need to go full effort from jump even a mild cam LS for a first timer is quite thrilling so enjoy the process and save bucks for later is my advice
im not on a “budget cheap on everything build”, but I am scared to go hog wild on the first and blow something up; so your right on all points! I think I am going to do just that;
i found a decent 5.3 out of a 2005 avalanche; I’ll go back to pull!
03-16-2019, 03:50 PM
#22
TECH Regular
If you're going to go boost in the end the 4.8/5.3 is the better option I've personally seen a couple different 4.8's hold over 1,000 hp on all stock internals and if you take a peek at engine masters they threw one on the dyno just to see what it could do and ended up cranking 1500hp out of it
04-07-2019, 07:25 PM
#23
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The long blocks are all 100% identical externally with a couple small exceptions. If the 4.8 fits, the 7.0 fits. Oil pans, exhaust manifolds, intake manifolds, accessories, water pumps, flex plates, heads, cams, etc are almost all 100% interchangeable (low mount LS1 alternators require 1 hole drilled into an iron block, rectangle port heads won't fit a block with less than 4" bore).
04-07-2019, 10:23 PM
#24
TECH Resident
You might consider buying a whole wreck and using what you need and sell the rest. That way you get all the harness ECM, sensors trans linkage, rear end ETC..