I'm looking to swap a v8 into my camaro and I would love to do the ls1 swap unfortuantly the price for a used 5.7 ls1 is ridicoulous IMHO. So I've settled on a more pocket friendly route and decided to go the 5.3 route for about 50% of the price.. Retarded I know. My question is there are so many of the 5.3 blocks out there, wich one should I be looking for? What do I need to change besides the intake and accesories? My final goal is about 350 rwhp maybe 450 rwhp boosted. My budget to start this swap as of now is 1500.00 now I in no way see this bieng enough to finish it but it should get my foot in the door and a engine in my garage to build on. If you guys could point me in the right diercetion on this I'd appreciate it.

 

FYI I paid 800 for a COMPLETE intake to oil pan 6.0 were as i paid 500 for a 5.3l a year b4 hand. Just shop around and you can find them.

 

Diffrence is that extra 300 dollars could go into rebuilding the engine instead of sitting on a engine with only 40k left in it's life. I plan on completly rebuilding the engine I get I want atleast 150k miles out of this swap I do not want to pull the engine a yr later.

 

Plus I'm not trying to argue that good Deals don't exist but they are few and far between and I don't have 6 months to wait for one. I need this swap started asap before I get shipped of to go knows where and I don't see this car for 9 months. I just need info

 

Id rock what you've got until you can buy what you really want. Compromises make you not enjoy the car as much since this is a VERY intensive swap

Best bang for the buck with a deadline in mind is a 4th gen dropout