I am looking at getting a 5.3L from a 2001 Silverado, that has about 150k on the clock. My plan is to mate it to the current T5 that I have, so I know I'll need to do more research to mate them. I don't plan on going high on power, so not too worried about overall strength of the tranny.

What I am wondering is how far should I plan to go on the tear down first? My thoughts are replace all the seals and gaskets (especially the one at the oil pickup tube), timing chain and gears, freeze plugs, piston rings, and check the bearings, leaving them alone if they look okay. I plan on a slightly taller cam, with new lifters and roller rockers, so also valve springs. Honing the bores to get a good cross hatch would be wise, but is there anything else I'm missing? I don't really want to go to the expense of the machine shop for extensive work, if possible. I'm in the early planning stages and just trying to figure out what I need to budget for. Replace oil pump with a high volume pump? Go ahead and do a new water pump?

I'm sure this has been discussed many times over and I'm sure I'll dig in later for all of the "how to swap" threads later on.

Thanks!
David

 

pull it all down, drop the block and heads off at the machine shop.

have them clean, hone for new rings and install new cam baerings.. thats it for the block
Heads clean, inspect and install new seals and springs for the new cam. Thats it for the heads.

-now you could bore/hone for new pistons if the cylinders are worn that bad. Its not much more, but, many of out there with zero issues doing what i said above. -its your money

honestly, if there are nothing wrong with the cam/lifters id reuse the lifters, dont waste money on roller rockers, your stockers are more then fine, no need to waste money on trunion upgrades either.

pull part the oil pump and inspect for any bad scarring, if there is none, reassemble and use it. No need for a new one, or a hihg volume one.

new gears and timing chain

really thats about it.

-enjoy

 

I planned on putting a slightly mild cam in, hence the thought for new lifters and therefore likely stiffer valve springs. But I could be overthinking that!
Of course there would be regional differences, but what range of costs for machine shop work could one expect? Of course it depends on what all you want done, but just for freeze plugs, cam bearings, cleaning, but not boring the cylinders. Just a range would be good to know.
I would prefer to avoid extra costs if possible, but also don't want a dead engine in 50k.

Thanks!

 

a few phone calls and youll know those prices first hand for your area..

 

There is no need to rebuild the bottom end if it's in good working order. Just cam it and swap it. If you're going to rebuild, spend the extra on a 6.0 core and you'll get more bang for your buck.

 

and how does one know such a thing?
not sure about you, but i, like to know things, and a used unknown engine gets torn apart and sent to the machine shop so i know what i have.

 

It's pretty simple. Turn it over and look at the bottom end. You can tell how well it was cared for (oil changes) and look for cross hatch. You can pull a main and rod cap to inspect bearing life as well. A compression and leak down test will also give you a health check on the engine. 150k on a Gen III 5.3 is nothing, especially if it's been cared for. If your power goals are low there is no reason to spend thousands on a rebuild for under 400hp.

 

i agree on this, but cleaning the block, hone for new rings and install cam bearings is about $350, no where near 'thousands' of dollars.
I was giving advice to the OP, he can make his own decisions.
Me, i dont like using 'used' engines i install into customers cars. I will always send them out and do what i suggested.

 

To be honest, I'd do the same if it cost $350 here and I had customers. Block prep, even on a new Block is at least $1k around me. I there is already decent cross hatch without a cylinder lip, a ball hone goes a long way.

 

That's exactly what I was thinking and why I asked about prices. There aren't any machine shops really near me (all I've found are over an hour away) and so if it's $350 then it's worth it, but if it's $3500 then it's not. And this is not a daily driver that can't have any issues whatsoever, so that's also part of the calculus. If money were no object, I'd go with a crate motor installed at a performance shop. But that's some big $$$$!

 

...and takes away the fun of doing it yourself

 

And takes away from time for me and my kids to work on these things together. These experiences with them are priceless