03 5.3 performance rebuild..

[yukon25008.1]

The 03 tahoe z71 5.3 4x4 we have is at 140,000..It still runs great, But id like to do an overhaul not just on the engine..

Its a beatiful truck and the rear is lettered/wrapped with her business stuff and she really loves the truck..my idea was to sell and upgrade to an 07-08 yukon slt or denali, But she wants to keep it, So im thinking do the tranny good With really good part/upgrades, It needs shocks,front wheel bearings/hubs, Complete brakes..rotors,calipers,stainless lines,etc..lots of misc stuff.. So what im getting at it i want to do the motor and have fun with it.. I know of two great local engine builders..So i figure go 30' over, decent pistons, What heads do you guys think Are good..Who has built a good 5.3? This will be my first time tearing into or building one,, Ive done 8.1,s 5.7,s 7.4,s etc.. So other than the bolt on stuff and tune Iwant to make some good power with a good set of heads and cam,

Please let me know what you guys think.. I guy i met showed me his tahoe that he put a 6.0 in...so that may be an option, I just didnt want to kill her mpg,s.. But on the other hand if the 5.3 is making around 400 HP the mileage will be lower then average anyway..

[SILVERADOSC540]

I bet you already know what I'd do

[Stephenspann27]

I have an '02 Z71 Tahoe with 152k on it. I would really like to build up my 5.3 also. However, I've run the oil for as much as 11k miles (mobil 1 synthentic) and not seen any movement on the dipstick. It's hard for me to justify a rebuild when the engine isn't using any oil. if you are in the same boat as me, in that the engine shows no sign of wear, I would just do heads/cam/headers. That will get you your 400hp and save you from having to pull the motor.

[yukon25008.1]

Your absoluetly right!! This truck has 140,000 now and im the second owner.. The first guy that had it was a million aire from jersey and took care of the truck amazingly.. That makes sense..New cam and top end..I know the intake mods,etc.. only adds pwr on the top end or high rpms..So im not sure if i should just clean up the intake a little or if anyone makes one to match good heads and cam.. I know edelbrock has packages.. Also i this one i think elec fans would be good..theres no major load on it..no towing, that would free up some pwr, A supercharger would be sweet, Who makes a decent charger for the 5.3?

[Stephenspann27]

Definitely some good supercharger kits out there. You can make great power naturally aspirated though. I'm no LS guru but there are tons of them out there. You might look into swapping some LS6 parks onto your engine? There is a wealth of information online regarding mods to LS motors.. youtube "supercharged 5.3"

 

 

[Stephenspann27]

This PDF is a great place to start:

 

https://www.dropbox.com/s/zswps1q3b2rtjii/www.enginebuildermag.com_Content_Site302_Articles_03_01_2012_986163348GMGENI_00000051561.pdf

[yukon25008.1]

Thanks man, I gonna call raylar where my 8.1 cam came from and see if they offer one for the 5.3,

Also stainless works make some of the best long tube headers out there, And i know they make small block sets,

[Chris]

A decent LQ9, and LS3/L92 heads and a decent cam. 400 to the wheels. I'm shooting for 450 to the wheels next.

 

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[KMGZ400]

the only way i would tear into a perfectly good high mileage engine is if it was burning oil or ticking or something along the lines of that. these engine will go for 250,000+ miles before any work needs to be done.. i drove a 5.3 until it had about 175k on it and the engine was still smooth as butter.

 

with that being said, i would much rather throw a supercharger on it and like others have said, do headers cam etc.

[uh6tdrvr]

blackbear sell magnachargers with a tune.....what else do you need?

[Chris]

Texas speed head and cam package, pro charger, or tvs1900, and a dyno tune

 

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