@@melirishjr.4602 bull they break on their own anytime I've replaced over 1000 so far in my career since I've been doing 4.8 5.3 6.0 have to mig weld a nut onto most when they break flush
"Get big power gains on a low cost junkyard ls. All you need are these highly specialized machines that all cost 3 to 10 grand a piece and replace everything that makes getting a junkyard ls appealing"
Glad someone pointed that out. It may have been cheap for them, but add the prices of getting these things done, and the price skyrockets. I wouldn't mind seeing the price, after all the adds that got added as well, they probably made money building this engine. I shouldn't complain I suppose, it was pretty informative to someone who knows squat about this type of thing, which is me.
it's an LS.. they went overboard with all the cleaning and touch up and such. You have to realize that this is a show and have to make the engine presentable. When they took it apart, all they had to do was replace the worn out parts and slap the entire thing back together again. They didn't even need to repaint it.
@@markcahoon2534 every machine they used you could do the same work by hand, granted its alot of hours but just saying if you wanted to you could. As for the basic stuff like the ball hone anyone who you take on a job like this would have those basic tools.
I said the same thing... immediate flashback to myself changing coil packs on my hemi "this will be easy" hour later and blood leaking from 2 fingers later... it was done. Hardest part was disconnecting those plugs.
I put I'm a 5.3 out of the junk yard with about 153000 so i was told. Stabbed it in my truck with with only replacing water pump and thermostat and hoses plugs and it's been running strong for a year now.
I was thinking the same thing, but didn't know how to say it lol. The 5.3 in my jeep was pulled out of a silverado and put in my jeep in a single weekend.
I've built many junkyard found engines by hand using nothing but a well calibrated torque wrench, good quality bearings and piston rings, new pumps/gaskets, some Plastigage, and some common sense. You don't necessarily need all of these machine shop tools to rebuild a stock engine, you just need to know what you're doing. For instance, I built a B18B1 (1.8L DOHC non-VTEC Honda engine) and after break-in it put down 409 whp on an eBay GT3582R turbo.
i had 2001 suburban 4x4 with 236,000 miles that ran great. when i changed the plugs there were no electrodes left on them and i only had a slight flutter on cold start up, so i can attest to those strong coil packs! great engines for sure. unfortunately someone wanted my truck so it was stolen but, at least they got a smooth running truck!
Well in your cost rundown you forgot a few things that affected the outcome. # 1 Carb, # 2 headers, #3 Plug Wires, #4 Electric Water Pump, # 5 All the new sensors, # 6 Cost of Hot Tanking engine block twice, #7 MSD Ign. module. I see them doing this on all their builds.
Don’t forget every special tool that was required. Like an engine hoist, a shop to work in, a drill, the honing equipment, the property the shop was built on, the plumbing and electrical to operate the shop, land taxes, rent, 2 sets of hands, the budget required to get the engine out of the junkyard for example a truck or flatbed, etc. For someone that might own a car and/or lives in an apartment would be having to borrow a truck to haul an engine from the junkyard. In a normal situation they would also have to do all the engine work by there self. The title should read “If you already own a fully functional shop with every tool needed to clean journals and wash engine blocks at 150 degrees, with an engine hoist, a dyno, along with another ASE Master Certified Mechanic to help you, here’s how you can build a junkyard engine for $500”
An old machinist told me when you're wanting to get a flat surface with sandpaper like he was doing with the oil pump gear you want to do a figure eight and it makes pressure even on all the sides so it comes out flatter
I'm 35 now and you're correct ! I build motorcycles by hand and the only way to be precise by hand is to start out precise. And you rotate the part and a x pattern works. Yea these guys seem a little ameture to me too.
I have a LM4 version of this engine. ( All alumium) in my Envoy XL. The oil pump was going bad so I replaced it with a Melling unit. So far hitting 360,000 miles and still running.
i have a lm4 i pulled out of an envoy. It had 145000 miles on it and still had the crosshatch in the cylinders. All of the bearings were in great shape.
I know my Chevy motors. I’ve owned a 4.8, two 5.3s and a 6.0. Based on that plastic stock cover over the intake (it’s square and the 5.3 is more rounded ) and the fact that it has flat-top pistons, that is a 4.8, NOT a 5.3. The 5.3 did not have flat top pistons. They look absolutely identical on the outside and so does the 6.0. The junkyard could’ve easily made a mistake and told you it was a 5.3. That being said, that makes this video even more impressive to get that power out of a 4.8L 👏👏
They left out at least 50% of the cost. I’m pulling my 250k mileage 5.3 from my Silverado to put into my 67’ Biscayne. I’ll probably upgrade it to a 5.4 327 (as long as it’s not dead lol) but finding a budget build is hard. They’re all like this video. I’d like to see them do a true budget build without crazy tools. Just power wash it and change some fluids.
Umm not really. Most guys get a bad case of While-I'm-In-There-itis and replace/blueprint everything. They reused the rings, pistons, headbolts, only adding cam/springs/intake/carb/nitrous. EVERYTHING for my 67 Firebird swap has totaled $1600 inc fuel system ($200 engine). So far I'm at $700 for the complete turbo bits - turbo, v-bands, couplers, piping, wastegate, IC.
It already is a 326 ci/in engine. Find an used set of 5.7 pistons at a machine shop and bore that 5.3 out to 5.7 (350ci), that's all you need, the crank and rods are the same as the Corvette pieces.
No kidding. When you're half assing a ring job, you always want to push the ring way down low in the cylinder. That way your minimum gap is measured at the tightest point of the cylinder. For those that haven't done the math, every .001" of cylinder wear opens up the ring gap .00314" (3.14 thou"). so, if you're going to spray a junkyard engine with that crap, don't set your minimum gap up top where the wear is greatest.
Somewhat on the subject of ring gap. I was curious, I didn't see it being mentioned or maybe I missed it ? But was there a ring ridge at the top of the cylinders. I would think there would have to be a some kind of ridge at 100k plus mile ? Also, thank you for your math equating what cylinder Wear equates to piston ring gap. Interesting and good to know.
Idk what you guys are talking about, but they remind me of a couple guys I used to watch on Sunday mornings tearing engines down and rebuilding them and spending a shitload of money doing so, and not to mention advertising for Matco
I bought my Silverado new back in 09 she has the 5.3 in her , After brake in I switched to mobile 1 full synthetic or now and then Valvoline 5 30 and a good filter and swap out the oil when the sensor tells me to change oil that's about 6k to 7k miles , I've had a few things that needed repair over the years but I'm still driving her she has now 183K miles and some change on her , She was 13 years old last November , And I have her spray oiled every fall to control rust , I was told that 5.3 makes 315 HP , She still runs great , thanks .
This was a good episode to watch. I like what they had done with their engine. Of course there are many ways that we can all choose to build and run our engines based on our desires. With this in mind, we don't have to follow their every step, but we can pull some ideas from this episode to help us choose what we can do with our builds. I had bought a running 2001 Suburban 1500 with 226,000+ miles on the Odometer back in April for $1000.00 with the intention of using the engine and parts for my '68 C10, or for my '82 Monte Carlo. I drove the 'Burban 2 hours home with no issues. The Suburban had came with the 5.3 LM7 engine as well. All I had to do to it was tighten 3 of the 8 spark plugs, they were loose enough to remove by hand! Here it is 4 months later and I'm still daily driving my Suburban. Of course I eventually had to replace the fuel pump because the old noisy one had finally quit working. To add, 4wd still works too.
@pbear216 wow. Someone that takes time to go back and make something more clear? Is this even the internet? Lol thanks man I was wondering how the hell I got screwed out of 30 hp
Great show as usual. Love the LS series, probably the best engine that has ever come out of GM. I would keep the injection (I did!) The GM air/fuel algorithms are spot on even for big valvetrain or forced induction. A new set of injectors and a tune don't cost that much more than the carb setup. And bottles are for babies anyway!
I just yanked my 320K km 5.3 out of my Sierra - Other than VERY minor oil staining, the inside is totally clean. Bearings look like they almost just came out of the package. Bought from the original owner 5 years ago (so I know it's never been tampered with). DOD lifters were getting a bit janky, but still worked fine (large reason for my pulling it down was to do the delete). I've always done full synthetic changes at around 7000km. Point is, a well maintained engine like this CAN and WILL last!
I wish I’d seen some of this stuff when I did my DOD delete on my LC9 two+ years ago at 143k miles. Great stuff. I used Comp Cams pushrods, Summit upgraded rocker arms and non DOD GM cam. Cost me about $1500 with Texas Speed delete kit, Summit for cam, LS3 Melling oil pump, Sac City Corvette timing cover alignment tool, flywheel holding tool and a few other parts.
Should have gotten the 4.8 they don't have that garbage and only and more power my 4.8 from a 2011 chevy has 305 factory hp and can be had much cheaper then the 5.3
Its extremely important to keep your vehicle and engine clean, and keeping your fluids checked and changed is the main reason for the least amount of damage or issues
I got a 5.3 450xxx never changed the oil in the year I had it, the dude I got it from just did what I do...add a quart every 3 to 4 months and every time I drive it I'm balls to the wall, Every day, hour long trips. On top of all that doesn't smoke even when I'm bouncing it off the red line, just a slow rear main seal leak 5.3 don't need those kinds of things lol
You usually have to replace the valve springs and rockers with LS1. The 5.3 is a truck engine so the valve springs float at 5,500 RPM. It's designed that way. That's why the engines don't break or wear out. Well that's what Summit told me what I had to do for a cam change or it wouldn't work. That stuff is used so it's cheap as hell.
@@Mike383HK valve spring upgrade is necessary with about any ls engine. Rocker arms are same on ls1 ls6 ls2 5.3 4.8 6.0 ect... ls2,ls6, ls3 do have upgraded valve springs that can be used with some of the smaller aftermarket camshafts. Good budget upgrade on truck ls engines. Rocker arms are good to go as are. Trunion bearing upgrade is good idea for large cams & lots of rpms.
Corvette 327cid (5.3) was making 375 horses bone stock 50 years ago with very pedestrian double hump heads. These dufuses wimped out on the Cam. Simple valve springs and agressive cam would have gotten them into the middle 400's. .. No nitrous needed.
@@wannabeetiger will the vortec fast burn 350 5.7 work on a small block 400?....from Wyoming USA 🔫🤠🇺🇸p.s stay safe and healthy everybody GOD BLESS OUR COUNTRY AND stop this foolishness ❤
🙄 This episode was great till they said nitrous. Most guys, including me, aren't going to put NOS in their vehicle. Would've been better if they went turbo or supercharger.
This is why I love my 2001 Tahoe (LS). She is almost at 400,000. Once she hits that I want to rebuild her as you all did. I'm not going to run Nitro in her, but she as always taking care of me, so it will be time to take care of her. Yes I am a proud Chevy Man! I love my Chevy's. If there is anything other tips you can send, let me know. Again Thanks V/r Bob
Pulled a 5.3 out a suburban 317,*** yesterday getting brian tulley heads, cam lifters full rebuild going in a 65 ford fairlane wagon I'll keep y'all updated
I've never overhauled a 5.3. My expertise is on old small block chevys. I learned a lot on top of what I already learned by watching other 5.3 videos. And the Rock Auto commercial tells me these guys are for real. I'm almost ready to buy a salvage engine and take a shot.
If you can build an old small block you can do a LS easily, much simpler engine from the standpoint of gaskets and assembly procedures. Otherwise not much different.
Hey I'm an old BUICK Nailhead guy, I respect that color or something close to it. So what color goes on a LS engine? Black? Chevy Red - Orange has to be reserved for Gen I, IMO - Sandy
I don’t know much about performance building and tuning anymore,so I learned a lot from you guys, the dimples you drilled and finished to retain oil , really smart, so many common sense “ tricks “ well done
I find that low budget means different things to different people just having the machinery that they have to be able to do their own fixing of parts and polishing of crankshafts is huge. The know-how and ability to do the work yourself is priceless
Only 21 years old and for a long time I was always interested in cars and all these different shows, and wishing I could do that. Here I am 7/5/20 I'll be a certified auto tech in 5 days and I have a spare motor and trans that I'm building and swapping into my car.
This is all good stuff. When I went to Diesel/Auto school back in 1989 to '91 we were a select few who knew these sorts of things about engines. You are still missing some details but for the most part this makes much of what used to be a specialty and took a long time to learn more common knowledge. Plus you get tens of thousands of know it alls commenting on everything you do and say!
I have an lm7 with l59 flex fuel and lc9 oil pan in a Volvo 240 with 3.73 gears and spooled diff lol. Has a summit 8707 cam, pac 1219 springs, and Brian tooley pushrods and trunion kit, with 1" 7/8 headers, a trailblazer SS intake, and 92mm tb. She's a hoot!!
Hey man hit me up, would need some advice and follow your path am in a process of my rebuild LM7 5.3 to swap into my Volvo 245 1986. Could need you experience, aLOT!!!!
Don't see how you flirted with disaster seeing as everybody that builds these for boost from the junkyard knows the stock rods, crank and pistons will hold 1,200hp
1200 of smooth gradual power ala turbos, but they still don't handle large power spikes like a big shot of nitrous causes. it's a different type of stress. He was still exaggerating quite a bit though.
Ken Bennett this is a factory LM7 rotating assembly, not the same story as the L33 rods and following GenIV platforms. This is also on stock head studs and majority valve train. Not a recipe for longevity on some power
600 HP reliably. 800hp questionably with stock bearings. 1200 with a full buildup(rods, pistons, bearings, and a resleeved and reinforced block. These make 500hp with no issue all day long with bigger injectors and a little boost.
Remember old guys are stuck in the old days. Just like a 50 year old will tell you that 5k for a rust free 1969 z28 is too much. He’s thinking stock small block Chevy when he said that. Lol
@@chubbysumo2230 482 to the flywheel daily driver for 2 years now runs 1250s. No problem whatsoever. Cam injectors truck intake and the tune.. and stall converter that's it. But you're right more than that you need to do a lot more upgrades
Wow 30,000 on ring gaps is huge! Factory specs are 19,000! Im running twin turbos on my 04 lq4 6.0. I did same thing, new rings n bearings, hand honed cylinders, valve job, new cam, cam bearings and valve springs too. So I opened my ring gaps to 28,000 on top and 26,000 second ring for turbo motor. I ran it this way for a year naturally aspirated no problems. Now I added and run it with twin turbos 10lbs boost, e85, sloppy Stage II cam 228/230, 585/585 lift, 112 lobe separation, 100 lbs injectors, terminator x, TBSS intake, turbo 400 trans in 72 nova. Runs super, very strong, reliable and no issues!!! Great fast street/strip car, very good street manners too.
400-800 carb, 400-600 headers. "machine work" as you call it is not exactly true. they polished the crank with cork ribbon only.. you can do the same with shoe string and brasso.
Dam Mike!!!! Haven't seen y'all since horsepower tv. Good to see y'all still going!!!! I used to watch y'all every Saturday and Sunday on spike tv. Keep it going brotha!!!
Let's see.....get separate carb, intake, ignition system instead of reprogramming ECM....check. Eliminate port fuel injection....check. Add one useless valley cover....check. Have the nerve to be surprised what a healthy cam will do without matching it to the springs to prevent float....check. Play around with oil pump instead of upgrading it to a Melling brand....check. Have the nerve to be surprised what nitrous will do for an engine.....check. Shamelessly plug some products.....check. I hate car shows, now. Used to be good advice put in them. No longer. I pulled these numbers with an old inefficient small block chevy. The LS heads flow far better.
Hey so as someone getting into cars without a shop nearby or anything, is there a better way to learn than watching these guys? Edit: I'm trying to ask if you recommend any books, manuals, or other yt channels
Also no accessories and an electric water pump. Sooooooo it’s still stock output. A tremendous amount of time and effort with tools that most people don’t have (seriously, a crank polisher?).For essentially zero gain
I'm so tired of seeing videos or write ups like this. I've been trying to learn good ways to make power out of LS engines but ever time it's just some jackass slapping a carb on one and running it with no accessories. Hate to break it to you but most guys going the LS route either are building one that's already in a vehicle or keeping the fuel injection.
Until of course, all existing LSes get bought up and destroyed. Though at least there are exponentially more trucks/suvs to rip these engines from than there are lightweight rwd rice burners *clears throat*corollagts*coughs*240sx*wheezes*miata to put them in.
@@FinalLuigi I think it's cool that the import crowd is admitting that a American v8 engine is the best way to add huge power, keep it reliable and do it on a budget.
@@jamesearlcash7725 Only in a RWD vehicle, unless you want to invest way more effort into turning a FWD economy vehicle into RWD. And even if you happen to find a rare RWD japanese shitheap before they completely disappear at an alarming rate, you still need to get proper mounting kits, upgrade the suspension because the car was never designed to hold an engine that weighs more than half the car does above the front wheels (hell even the corvette has them behind the front wheels), you need to grab a working ECU, you need to find the proper transmission for the engine, upgrade the drivetrain to even support the engine, you're basically building a corvette with a Japanese emblem. At which point, why not just straight up buy a corvette?
Great video with a bunch of good tips for the oil pump, etc. My only argument is, you guys already had every part needed to keep the original EFI, but chose to buy a MSD ignition box, Intake manifold and carburetor… why? This is a “junkyard build” where you guys wanted to keep costs low, and yet spent probably 1500$ on changing it to carbureted when you could have ran the efi for just the cost of credits to tune it, in the 100$ US range. It would be infinitely more tunable and infinitely better driving experience on the street in any climate, temperature or elevation. Otherwise, great video 🤘
I would have guessed it would make 400+hp NA with the stage 3 cam motion cam, long tubes, intake and tune. Most bone stock LM7s make 340+hp and ~370 torque on engine dynos. I think hot rod magazine did a test some factory cams and the 5.3L made over 400hp with a stock LS9 cam. I am guessing the tuning for AFRs or timing was off on this test
Dammit Man!! It's hard to beat these engines...especially for the price. We have trucks at work with over 150k miles, that still run strong. Granted they were just driven around the city and synthetic oil changed twice a year.
I watched another engine you started with 350ish hp and you put that nitrice on it and got that 650 hp. Now you showed another application and you sharing the Price's is really nice.
Lmao this. "After we reused everything" not including complete tear down, hone, tank, gasket, bearings, reassembly, new cam, aftermarket intake, carb, ignition controller, nitrous, etc. Silly ass video.
$500 for a junkyard ??? where , not all junkyard have that price . and in Illinois the junkyard engine is very expensive , And if you are lucky , they give you the electric harness , or they charge you extra for the electric harness ....
@@mcozpda3392 In my state they are all over the junkyard and not too many people pull them out. But I won't say what state i live in. And yes, they do go for around 500 bucks.
When I got into cars 20 years ago, if you could get 450hp out of a pump gas small block it wasn't unheard of, but you were definitely the man (No serious street culture in my area) now with LS engines it's like "I got 800hp out of my oil burning, rod knocking 5.3"
What a joke... Richard Holdener takes unopened junkyard 5.3L, runs them with electric water pump and headers with the factory EFI and consistently makes 350hp/380torque. These guys spent over $1500 on intake, carb, and controller (not to mention all the added work)... added a mild cam and made 330hp. Powerblock spends more on BS than some have in their entire engine.
Budget build but they use probably $100,000 worth of tools and equipment. You know, a simple build you can do in your garage. Just stick the block in your parts washer and run the crank on the polisher.
I'd honestly like to know how it made so little power with that cam, when as mentioned, Richard Holdener's numbers show pretty consistant 330-340-350hp with tubular headers and electric water pump, with the tiny stock cam...
@@patrickwelch620 probably would have made more, that stock long-runner intake is a really good intake considering its "just stock" and EFI is going to do a little bit better than carburation every time.
That would be stupid. If you run nitrous or boost on stock ring gaps, your engine won't last very long before you bust a piston. You have to open the ring gaps up.
Minor upgrades to a junkyard LS making crazy power.. Chapter one rebuild it. (somehow I was under the crazy impression we were just going to do some minor upgrades to it..)
Don't forget slapping nearly two grand worth of carb, intake, and ignition controller on it after tossing the complete fuel injection setup, then talking about how this is the cheapest way to get a junkyard LS running.
I regularly went 7k-15k on my oil changes (04 5.3 200k, mix of budget brand conventional and syns for every change) when we finally got the oil pan off at 190k my dad had to do a double take everything was fresh honey colored with no burning or sludge...
Lol nah not on a good old 5.3. Ring gap is the key, people are doing 8 and 9 second passes on these with stock bottom end. Chevy did something right with these engines.
@@Chevymonster203 THANK YOU. My man Richard Holdener put me wise to ring gap. Engines can take a lot more boost than folks think with the right ring gap.
I love ls haters building lc9 right now... Send it and laugh cause under 7000 and 800 hp its g2g ah no 250k lm7 (not the best) do it and last for years boost it to the 🌙
@@rhubarbpie2027 Very true, I know with the 5.3 and the 4.8 vortec engines they come with hypereutectic piston and too tight of a ring gap usually cause the ring lands to break. That's why you will hear guys looking for high mileage 5.3 because the rings are worn down and the gap has increased. Good for boost
I like to think that a good horsepower number for a street spec performance engine is 400-600 horses and maybe a little more in torque depending on the drive train and purpose. Past 600 is when you need to check and maintain your engine a lot more (in my opinion) unless if it’s something like a mustang that is already close to that point. I would say for performance cars the maintenance and check point is past 700-750 and for exotics you should always be in that stage because exotics are usually running close to the limit.
SAD PART ABOUT THIS IS THAT MOST BONE STOCK JUNKYARD 5.3 LM7'S, WITHOUT BEING TORN DOWN/REBUILT, MAKE 350ISH HP AND 380ISH LBS-FT OF TORQUE ON THE ENGINE DYNO. THAT IS WITH THE STOCK LOW LIFT TRUCK CAM... MAYBE B/C THIS WAS A CARB SETUP THAT CAUSED THE LOW NUMBERS BUT A LOW LIFT STAGE 1 "TRUCK CAM" MAKES 400ISH HP ON AN OTHERWISE STOCK LS 5.3 (ON ENGINE DYNO, RAN WITH DYNO HEADERS AND NO ACC.) CHECK OUT RICHARD HOLDNER'S RUclips CHANNEL, PROVEN OVER AND OVER AND OVER THAT STOCK 5.3 LM7 MAKES MORE POWER THAN THIS ONE DID.
@@582motorsports8 holley an edelbrock carbs can be found for 200$ or less .. hell i got 2 4 barrel edelbrocks sitting in my garage along with sets of heads , intake manifolds . performance parts aint rare or hard to find .. craigslist auto parts is a goldmine right now people are going broke due to this covid19 bullshit not being able to work they are selling engines , transmission , tools , welders ect for cheap
I fear for all the kids that watch this and get their hopes up about doing an ls swap, videos like this dont explain the real cost of building an engine and actually putting it in a car and having a drivable vehicle. It’s really expensive no matter what anyone tells you.
Yea, and not to mention all of the little "Dos and Donts" when turning bolts, torquing, cleaning, bearing handling, EVERYTHING. One small greenhorn mistake can ruin an entire engine the moment you turn the key.
@@usamadepride yea, because there is nothing better than spending hard earned money, and lots of time on an engine that "spins", only to have a head gasket blow, or rings to break, or lifters to fail weeks or maybe less after the "swap", just to do it all again.
@@johnwirk that is why you run it o. The engine stand when you get it from the junk yard and if it is crap take it back and get a different one. So you are saying a 4 to 5 hundred dollar engine is more expensive then 2500. I guess you just don't get it that these guys are sales men trying to buy this shit. Did you not realize when they were tearing down the engine they said the bearings looked new and then when they put it together they said we are putting new in because the old ones were junk.
I’m 17 just got one of these out of the junkyard I have 1500 dollars set aside am going to be building it fully forged internals and slapping a supercharger on it should get like 500 to the wheels very happy I chose the lm7 for my first real project
They put heat tabs on engines you by from the junyard for warranty purposes. You'd be supprised at how good aluminium heads clean up especially with something like oven cleaner. They have a decent parts washer too us mere mortals would have to scrub the crap out of them for ages to look like that
They always break down costs but leave out things like machining, ignition, random pieces, tools, hardware, etc... Yeah because every person has a jet washer sitting in their garage, all the measuring dials, every tool, an entire bin of ARP bolts, and a dyno. I realize you can do things at home or go to a machine shop, but it is still extra cost that seems to slip by the show. I would like to see one show do a true home build. Pressure washing, bolts from a hardware store, and going to a dyno.
Your nitpicking honestly. The idea of the show is to show you what you can do, and most people know it's a ball park figure cost wise. I have a engine washer though.. Garden hose and dish soap with some rags and brushes. And I bet I get mine allot cleaner then that vertical dish washer they have on the show.
Correct me if I'm wrong looks like a set of reman heads to me gray paint and heat tab on core plug. Someone is stretching the truth. Better add another 500 bucks
@@BuzzLOLOL Oreilly yeah, but you can get a pair of reman heads for $350-500 online. Sometimes cheaper than having a machine shop doing it depending on where you are and what your heads need done to them.
Love your show. Great details for the home DYI guys. REALLY enjoy your odd ball builds like the various 6 bangers from the past. Would enjoy to see you go further afield with the likes of a 4.3 vortec.
Really Amy engine should get new bearings and gaskets no matter the build. For under $200 probably for nearly any motor you may as well since either of the two are what blows first normally
Eh, I think it depends on the application.. if you're just trying to slap something together, bearings may be more work than it's worth. If you have it that far apart though, I agree, give it the new stuff
@Pirate yeah I agree if it's all together and ya just about to slap It in then yeah if it ain't leaking like crazy don't bother haha. I'm it smoking a bit I'd always do head gaskets at least since they are typically easy to replace
My friend has a 3.5 Eco F 150. It puts my 454 Suburban to shame except on torque. 17 MPG puling uphill with a 3,500 pound trailer. Unreal. The most MPG I got out of my suburban was 12.
You miss the part where they tossed the entire fuel injection setup in the trash and replace it with nearly two grand worth of carb, intake, and standalone ignition controller?
Before the boost, it just made stock hp/tq. They did a lot of improvements that helped longevity, but you can see that the power didn't increase any. Any increase you saw can easily be attributed to not having accessories.
"All of the factory harnessclips are easy to remove" right as they show footage of his bloody knuckles 😂
Haha definitely
You aren't working on anything unless you bleed. That's where the saying blood and sweat went into it.
@@philthelawnman youre stupid if you think you have to bust your knuckles working on things
pshh, this is fake. not 1 exhaust manifold bolt broke during disassembly.
Took the words right out of my mouth.
They only break if you pull the manifolds in the car. Maximum P.I.T.A. results.
@@melirishjr.4602 bull they break on their own anytime I've replaced over 1000 so far in my career since I've been doing 4.8 5.3 6.0 have to mig weld a nut onto most when they break flush
@@rustedratchetgarage6788 that engine hasn't seen enough miles before they took them out, or it's not from the north where every bolt you touch breaks
@@user-cs3zs6jn1d, no way that's a "rust belt" engine with over 200k. Not one bolt broke
The most unrealistic part of this is none of those header bolts breaking when you took them off with an impact lol
Less chance of breaking a bolt using an impact. I never break bolts using an impact only using wrenches.
The impact factor can break them loose, I agree it's less likely to break. Doesn't mean you should full bore it
@@precisioncoatings5019 I always break loose by hand and if it feels good I'll zip it. But too many cast iron head fords to just send it w my impact.
I always tighten the bolts a tad before loosening them, less stripping snapping like that, idk why but it works lol
@@precisioncoatings5019 That's bs. Always break by hand
Do it again with a torque wrench, a toolbox, and some sandpaper.
Lol me current in an apartment complex parking lot
ahem emery cloth. it'll be FINE
And duct tape
sandpaper? That costs money, asphalt is free
@@jacobboyle1678 dude same. Ambitions of an ls swapped s10 with no garage in an apartment with only a little craftsman toolbox and a solder gun.
"Get big power gains on a low cost junkyard ls. All you need are these highly specialized machines that all cost 3 to 10 grand a piece and replace everything that makes getting a junkyard ls appealing"
Glad someone pointed that out. It may have been cheap for them, but add the prices of getting these things done, and the price skyrockets.
I wouldn't mind seeing the price, after all the adds that got added as well, they probably made money building this engine.
I shouldn't complain I suppose, it was pretty informative to someone who knows squat about this type of thing, which is me.
It’s still cool. Someone might buy a bunch of these for race engines and hand their friends a few.
it's an LS.. they went overboard with all the cleaning and touch up and such. You have to realize that this is a show and have to make the engine presentable. When they took it apart, all they had to do was replace the worn out parts and slap the entire thing back together again. They didn't even need to repaint it.
@@markcahoon2534 every machine they used you could do the same work by hand, granted its alot of hours but just saying if you wanted to you could. As for the basic stuff like the ball hone anyone who you take on a job like this would have those basic tools.
Sloppy mechanics does bigger power with stock internals and a cheap turbo. 500-800hp with less than $2k with engine.
Digging the colour choice, boys. I spent 3 solid years working on nothing but Detroits. Brings back a few memories and a few cuss words.
I was hoping someone else noticed. I love that color. And of course nothing beats the sound of a Detroit 😎
“The clips are easy to remove” notice his knuckles are busted and bleeding😂
I said the same thing... immediate flashback to myself changing coil packs on my hemi "this will be easy" hour later and blood leaking from 2 fingers later... it was done. Hardest part was disconnecting those plugs.
6
Lol
Thats why we call a monkey wrench a nuckle buster
I noticed they hired a new guy. Has any seen Mike Galley lately?
never open up a junkyard LS. You let out the magic.
nothingaboutme I see you a fellow fan of Sloppy Mechanics page and RUclips channel.
Ahh yes fellow slops
I put I'm a 5.3 out of the junk yard with about 153000 so i was told. Stabbed it in my truck with with only replacing water pump and thermostat and hoses plugs and it's been running strong for a year now.
I was thinking the same thing, but didn't know how to say it lol. The 5.3 in my jeep was pulled out of a silverado and put in my jeep in a single weekend.
ViceGripGarage?
I've built many junkyard found engines by hand using nothing but a well calibrated torque wrench, good quality bearings and piston rings, new pumps/gaskets, some Plastigage, and some common sense. You don't necessarily need all of these machine shop tools to rebuild a stock engine, you just need to know what you're doing. For instance, I built a B18B1 (1.8L DOHC non-VTEC Honda engine) and after break-in it put down 409 whp on an eBay GT3582R turbo.
Plus ignition system, plus carburetor, plus headers, plus cylinder head machining, plus fluids, plus gaskets, plus sensors,etc, etc,
Fr tho😂😔
Eh they are minor
Thank you.....
plus shipping for the parts, all the special tools they used.
Not to mention the machine shop to clean the gunk and put allllll the parts together…
i had 2001 suburban 4x4 with 236,000 miles that ran great. when i changed the plugs there were no electrodes left on them and i only had a slight flutter on cold start up, so i can attest to those strong coil packs! great engines for sure. unfortunately someone wanted my truck so it was stolen but, at least they got a smooth running truck!
Well in your cost rundown you forgot a few things that affected the outcome.
# 1 Carb, # 2 headers, #3 Plug Wires, #4 Electric Water Pump, # 5 All the new sensors, # 6 Cost of Hot Tanking engine block twice, #7 MSD Ign. module.
I see them doing this on all their builds.
Don’t forget every special tool that was required. Like an engine hoist, a shop to work in, a drill, the honing equipment, the property the shop was built on, the plumbing and electrical to operate the shop, land taxes, rent, 2 sets of hands, the budget required to get the engine out of the junkyard for example a truck or flatbed, etc.
For someone that might own a car and/or lives in an apartment would be having to borrow a truck to haul an engine from the junkyard. In a normal situation they would also have to do all the engine work by there self. The title should read “If you already own a fully functional shop with every tool needed to clean journals and wash engine blocks at 150 degrees, with an engine hoist, a dyno, along with another ASE Master Certified Mechanic to help you, here’s how you can build a junkyard engine for $500”
I think they were running down the long block cost. None of that would be including in a typical longblock price
Dam I forgot a few things then 😥
Most car guys have many of those tools in the garage
@@Crodgers88yeah no they don’t 😂
An old machinist told me when you're wanting to get a flat surface with sandpaper like he was doing with the oil pump gear you want to do a figure eight and it makes pressure even on all the sides so it comes out flatter
I was a Machinist and we also, always used a "Figure 8" motion.
I completely agree with the ol figure 8 ! Old feller taught me that way long time ago
I follow somewhat of a Pentagram Pattern and make it Hella-smooth !
I'm 35 now and you're correct ! I build motorcycles by hand and the only way to be precise by hand is to start out precise. And you rotate the part and a x pattern works. Yea these guys seem a little ameture to me too.
TIMEtoRIDE900 lmfao
I have a LM4 version of this engine. ( All alumium) in my Envoy XL. The oil pump was going bad so I replaced it with a Melling unit. So far hitting 360,000 miles and still running.
i have a lm4 i pulled out of an envoy. It had 145000 miles on it and still had the crosshatch in the cylinders. All of the bearings were in great shape.
If yours is 2wd ditch the envoy pan they have a starvation issue with oil when taking off fast
I know my Chevy motors. I’ve owned a 4.8, two 5.3s and a 6.0. Based on that plastic stock cover over the intake (it’s square and the 5.3 is more rounded ) and the fact that it has flat-top pistons, that is a 4.8, NOT a 5.3. The 5.3 did not have flat top pistons. They look absolutely identical on the outside and so does the 6.0. The junkyard could’ve easily made a mistake and told you it was a 5.3. That being said, that makes this video even more impressive to get that power out of a 4.8L 👏👏
"This is a low-buck, budget build" ***cuts to scenes using $100k of specialized engine rebuilding tools and machinery***
The dyno and the engine washer? Just use a butt dyno and a power washer... i just saved you $100k
Rebuild yours using duct tape and spit then post 📫 a video of how that went...
Send the block off to the machine shop. It doesn't cost that much to get the block checked and decked, or to get the crank journals polished.
Its a machine shop, and fyi its minimum new parts used...
He used square tubing as a flat edge to sand the cylinder head surface. You dont much more low buck than that!
They left out at least 50% of the cost. I’m pulling my 250k mileage 5.3 from my Silverado to put into my 67’ Biscayne. I’ll probably upgrade it to a 5.4 327 (as long as it’s not dead lol) but finding a budget build is hard. They’re all like this video. I’d like to see them do a true budget build without crazy tools. Just power wash it and change some fluids.
Fuzzy dice projects does that stuff with sbc and bbc
Umm not really. Most guys get a bad case of While-I'm-In-There-itis and replace/blueprint everything. They reused the rings, pistons, headbolts, only adding cam/springs/intake/carb/nitrous. EVERYTHING for my 67 Firebird swap has totaled $1600 inc fuel system ($200 engine). So far I'm at $700 for the complete turbo bits - turbo, v-bands, couplers, piping, wastegate, IC.
@@hydrocarbon82 where’d you get the turbo parts from?
you have to add this is way way way pre COVID prices was that cheap & that they have a million dollars worth of tools we don't have 😭😂🤔
It already is a 326 ci/in engine. Find an used set of 5.7 pistons at a machine shop and bore that 5.3 out to 5.7 (350ci), that's all you need, the crank and rods are the same as the Corvette pieces.
They forgot to say that you have to have 15 pens in your shirt pocket in order to do this build correctly
Ya he not even using a pocket protector. Did someone tell Pay that made him look more professional?
thats step 1
💀
😁
@@Hoggdoc1946 Damn right pal! A pocket protector is definitely on any real professional man's list of "must haves" and it can't be substituted.
If by "ring squaring tool" you meant "old bare piston" then yes I use one of those
right lol
I just Sharpied "ring squaring tool" on my old bare piston I use on 5.3's. I liked your comment, stole the joke!
Haha so true. I just use a square set to one inch.
No kidding. When you're half assing a ring job, you always want to push the ring way down low in the cylinder. That way your minimum gap is measured at the tightest point of the cylinder.
For those that haven't done the math, every .001" of cylinder wear opens up the ring gap .00314" (3.14 thou").
so, if you're going to spray a junkyard engine with that crap, don't set your minimum gap up top where the wear is greatest.
Somewhat on the subject of ring gap. I was curious, I didn't see it being mentioned or maybe I missed it ? But was there a ring ridge at the top of the cylinders. I would think there would have to be a some kind of ridge at 100k plus mile ?
Also, thank you for your math equating what cylinder Wear equates to piston ring gap. Interesting and good to know.
These guys remind me of the guy selling cookware in the back of Walmart.
I don't get it but it sounds funny. They remind me of the guys selling Baseball cards on home shopping channels, Gem Mint 10!!!!!
Idk what you guys are talking about, but they remind me of a couple guys I used to watch on Sunday mornings tearing engines down and rebuilding them and spending a shitload of money doing so, and not to mention advertising for Matco
Gotta make the finger tent with your hands when speaking.
I bought my Silverado new back in 09 she has the 5.3 in her , After brake in I switched to mobile 1 full synthetic or now and then Valvoline 5 30 and a good filter and swap out the oil when the sensor tells me to change oil that's about 6k to 7k miles , I've had a few things that needed repair over the years but I'm still driving her she has now 183K miles and some change on her , She was 13 years old last November , And I have her spray oiled every fall to control rust , I was told that 5.3 makes 315 HP , She still runs great , thanks .
This was a good episode to watch. I like what they had done with their engine. Of course there are many ways that we can all choose to build and run our engines based on our desires. With this in mind, we don't have to follow their every step, but we can pull some ideas from this episode to help us choose what we can do with our builds.
I had bought a running 2001 Suburban 1500 with 226,000+ miles on the Odometer back in April for $1000.00 with the intention of using the engine and parts for my '68 C10, or for my '82 Monte Carlo. I drove the 'Burban 2 hours home with no issues. The Suburban had came with the 5.3 LM7 engine as well. All I had to do to it was tighten 3 of the 8 spark plugs, they were loose enough to remove by hand! Here it is 4 months later and I'm still daily driving my Suburban. Of course I eventually had to replace the fuel pump because the old noisy one had finally quit working. To add, 4wd still works too.
Gonna dump an LM7 in a gen 4 v6 camaro
I'd like to see this retested with the fuel injection and a tune. I feel like not many people buying junkyard ls stuff are going to do a carb swap.
I agree. I see no reason they can't do both. Doesn't take that much time and they have the parts they took off.
Plus, what they are putting it into, a carb will be illegal
Old school guys with old school cars prefer cabs.
Squid Usn yeah but carbs are objectively worse than fuel injection
@@kam3l749 I can work on a carb on the side or the road, can't do that with FI unless its a fuse or something
Anyone one remember the old Hot Rod Tv show or The Old Horsepower show? Those were the good days.
Too bad you didn't get a baseline before tear-down. Would be interesting to know what the difference is.
@1:08
Stock 5.3L makes 330 hp
@@pbear216 depends on the year but if its 99 it makes around 275 then 00-03 285 and 04-06 295
@@SkilledAvalanche correct, and I should note that the 07-14 only made 330 when running on E85. Pump gas only made 300
@pbear216 wow. Someone that takes time to go back and make something more clear? Is this even the internet? Lol thanks man I was wondering how the hell I got screwed out of 30 hp
Great show as usual. Love the LS series, probably the best engine that has ever come out of GM. I would keep the injection (I did!) The GM air/fuel algorithms are spot on even for big valvetrain or forced induction. A new set of injectors and a tune don't cost that much more than the carb setup. And bottles are for babies anyway!
Sorry to bust your bubble but Ford engineer design the LS
@@ricktotz4078 That would explain why it's such a solid engine!
@@ricktotz4078 no they didn’t
I just yanked my 320K km 5.3 out of my Sierra - Other than VERY minor oil staining, the inside is totally clean. Bearings look like they almost just came out of the package. Bought from the original owner 5 years ago (so I know it's never been tampered with). DOD lifters were getting a bit janky, but still worked fine (large reason for my pulling it down was to do the delete). I've always done full synthetic changes at around 7000km. Point is, a well maintained engine like this CAN and WILL last!
I wish I’d seen some of this stuff when I did my DOD delete on my LC9 two+ years ago at 143k miles. Great stuff. I used Comp Cams pushrods, Summit upgraded rocker arms and non DOD GM cam. Cost me about $1500 with Texas Speed delete kit, Summit for cam, LS3 Melling oil pump, Sac City Corvette timing cover alignment tool, flywheel holding tool and a few other parts.
Should have gotten the 4.8 they don't have that garbage and only and more power my 4.8 from a 2011 chevy has 305 factory hp and can be had much cheaper then the 5.3
“When a junkyard en-“ *youtube ad* “gine makes big horse-“ *youtube ad* “power on the dy-“ *youtube ad* “nomometer, you know“ *youtube ad* “that...”
the internet is hard.
Get the Chrome Extension "AdBlock". I never see ads on RUclips.
AMEN BROTHER!!!!!!!
Use Brave browser my friend.
AdBlocker Ultimate
Its extremely important to keep your vehicle and engine clean, and keeping your fluids checked and changed is the main reason for the least amount of damage or issues
I got a 5.3 450xxx never changed the oil in the year I had it, the dude I got it from just did what I do...add a quart every 3 to 4 months and every time I drive it I'm balls to the wall, Every day, hour long trips. On top of all that doesn't smoke even when I'm bouncing it off the red line, just a slow rear main seal leak 5.3 don't need those kinds of things lol
@@garityaun1098 That's just stupidity... 🙄
Just shows how well that vortec engine breaths with the heads and port design
You usually have to replace the valve springs and rockers with LS1. The 5.3 is a truck engine so the valve springs float at 5,500 RPM. It's designed that way. That's why the engines don't break or wear out. Well that's what Summit told me what I had to do for a cam change or it wouldn't work. That stuff is used so it's cheap as hell.
@@Mike383HK valve spring upgrade is necessary with about any ls engine. Rocker arms are same on ls1 ls6 ls2 5.3 4.8 6.0 ect... ls2,ls6, ls3 do have upgraded valve springs that can be used with some of the smaller aftermarket camshafts. Good budget upgrade on truck ls engines. Rocker arms are good to go as are. Trunion bearing upgrade is good idea for large cams & lots of rpms.
Corvette 327cid (5.3) was making 375 horses bone stock 50 years ago with very pedestrian double hump heads. These dufuses wimped out on the Cam. Simple valve springs and agressive cam would have gotten them into the middle 400's. .. No nitrous needed.
Vortec fast - burn heads are decent.
@@wannabeetiger will the vortec fast burn 350 5.7 work on a small block 400?....from Wyoming USA 🔫🤠🇺🇸p.s stay safe and healthy everybody GOD BLESS OUR COUNTRY AND stop this foolishness ❤
🙄 This episode was great till they said nitrous. Most guys, including me, aren't going to put NOS in their vehicle. Would've been better if they went turbo or supercharger.
Price was the main point of this episode. You'd probably see more people putting in nos before they spend money on supercharger or turbo.
tubo's and ANY supercharger will be 10X what NOS will run you for a power adder!
It's overkill but it's not a bad way to show the potential of what the engine can handle with minimal work and tuning
What do you expect from a guy with 40 somethings in his front pocket.🤣
This is why I love my 2001 Tahoe (LS). She is almost at 400,000. Once she hits that I want to rebuild her as you all did. I'm not going to run Nitro in her, but she as always taking care of me, so it will be time to take care of her. Yes I am a proud Chevy Man! I love my Chevy's. If there is anything other tips you can send, let me know. Again Thanks
V/r Bob
What a nice paintjob, please more teardown - junkyard videos love those...
Big fan of yours from Germany
Cool build, would rather see the build done with stock intake and FI setup tuned.
Morning coffee and engine build, good sunday so far.
Annnnd... now to the garage. Perfection.
Haha 10-4, doing the same thing until the wife starts her honey do list.
david crouch just got back inside from putting my star headliner back into my truck. What a PITA
Honey do list. The bane of d.i.y. hotrodders everywhere.
@@brettspaulding5855 Heck.. it's the bane of everyone alive!
Pulled a 5.3 out a suburban 317,*** yesterday getting brian tulley heads, cam lifters full rebuild going in a 65 ford fairlane wagon I'll keep y'all updated
Any updates?
Keep up with the receipts...let me know how "cheap" it is ...you're about to find out.
I've never overhauled a 5.3. My expertise is on old small block chevys. I learned a lot on top of what I already learned by watching other 5.3 videos. And the Rock Auto commercial tells me these guys are for real. I'm almost ready to buy a salvage engine and take a shot.
If you can build an old small block you can do a LS easily, much simpler engine from the standpoint of gaskets and assembly procedures. Otherwise not much different.
Only difference is the fuel injection and the camshaft timing advancement,the rest is self explanible
They are actually easier than a SBC
At least the paint was free. Nobody would have paid for that color.
That's Detroit green, if you ever hear a buzzin dozen pulling a load up a grade on the governor you will never make fun of their color.
@@josephkordinak1591 Have you seen screaming Jimmy Video? If not it's great.
Hey I'm an old BUICK Nailhead guy, I respect that color or something close to it. So what color goes on a LS engine? Black? Chevy Red - Orange has to be reserved for Gen I, IMO - Sandy
@@sandyshoremann7524 I initially thought it was a Buick color... Until they said it was Detroit.
Forget about the paint! I am going pink!!😂😂
I don’t know much about performance building and tuning anymore,so I learned a lot from you guys, the dimples you drilled and finished to retain oil , really smart, so many common sense “ tricks “ well done
I find that low budget means different things to different people just having the machinery that they have to be able to do their own fixing of parts and polishing of crankshafts is huge. The know-how and ability to do the work yourself is priceless
Only 21 years old and for a long time I was always interested in cars and all these different shows, and wishing I could do that. Here I am 7/5/20 I'll be a certified auto tech in 5 days and I have a spare motor and trans that I'm building and swapping into my car.
Good shit man, skys the limit
There is a hei retrofit front oil cover, with the edelbrock intake and msd ignition kit, you have a great 5.3
Congratulations : )
As soon as I saw the green paint, my mind went to the old 53 and 71 series two-strokes. 🔥 Beautiful color for any engine. ❤️
This is all good stuff. When I went to Diesel/Auto school back in 1989 to '91 we were a select few who knew these sorts of things about engines. You are still missing some details but for the most part this makes much of what used to be a specialty and took a long time to learn more common knowledge. Plus you get tens of thousands of know it alls commenting on everything you do and say!
You could get the exact same results by just a cam swap and intake upgrade on a bone yard engine most of the other stuff they did was unnessassary
They didn’t even do anything else besides cleaning which if you want a long lasting engine, is necessary . All parts were stock besides the mild cam
Only other mod was oil pump and I can see that being important engines won't run long with out oil pressure
Cleaning is pretty necessary
Yeah, they could’ve just upgraded the cam and intake but it wouldn’t be much of a show if it was over in 5 minutes.
and how about the dupli-color green enamel 2000 paint ? Gotcha :))))
I had a 5.3L with 4:10 rear end gears in my 2000 Suburban. Man that thing was beast when it came to towing.
I have an lm7 with l59 flex fuel and lc9 oil pan in a Volvo 240 with 3.73 gears and spooled diff lol. Has a summit 8707 cam, pac 1219 springs, and Brian tooley pushrods and trunion kit, with 1" 7/8 headers, a trailblazer SS intake, and 92mm tb. She's a hoot!!
Hey man hit me up, would need some advice and follow your path am in a process of my rebuild LM7 5.3 to swap into my Volvo 245 1986. Could need you experience, aLOT!!!!
Love the ring squaring tool. Never heard of one but is a must have. I’m a perfectionist when building anything and it would make it so much easier.
Do it by hand and use the back end of a caliper to see that it is square.
Use an upside down piston with the second ring on it.
Save your $$ and use one of the pistons you just pulled out of the engine.
Damn, 2:38 into the tear down and already bleeding. And 4:38 , that my friends is why all LS engines have a check engine light for the knock sensor
Don't see how you flirted with disaster seeing as everybody that builds these for boost from the junkyard knows the stock rods, crank and pistons will hold 1,200hp
1200 of smooth gradual power ala turbos, but they still don't handle large power spikes like a big shot of nitrous causes. it's a different type of stress. He was still exaggerating quite a bit though.
Ken Bennett this is a factory LM7 rotating assembly, not the same story as the L33 rods and following GenIV platforms. This is also on stock head studs and majority valve train. Not a recipe for longevity on some power
600 HP reliably. 800hp questionably with stock bearings. 1200 with a full buildup(rods, pistons, bearings, and a resleeved and reinforced block. These make 500hp with no issue all day long with bigger injectors and a little boost.
Remember old guys are stuck in the old days. Just like a 50 year old will tell you that 5k for a rust free 1969 z28 is too much. He’s thinking stock small block Chevy when he said that. Lol
@@chubbysumo2230 482 to the flywheel daily driver for 2 years now runs 1250s. No problem whatsoever. Cam injectors truck intake and the tune.. and stall converter that's it. But you're right more than that you need to do a lot more upgrades
Wow 30,000 on ring gaps is huge! Factory specs are 19,000! Im running twin turbos on my 04 lq4 6.0. I did same thing, new rings n bearings, hand honed cylinders, valve job, new cam, cam bearings and valve springs too. So I opened my ring gaps to 28,000 on top and 26,000 second ring for turbo motor. I ran it this way for a year naturally aspirated no problems. Now I added and run it with twin turbos 10lbs boost, e85, sloppy Stage II cam 228/230, 585/585 lift, 112 lobe separation, 100 lbs injectors, terminator x, TBSS intake, turbo 400 trans in 72 nova. Runs super, very strong, reliable and no issues!!! Great fast street/strip car, very good street manners too.
Just ignore all the brand new coil packs, wires & ceramic boots.
And $1,000 carb.
And headers
Umm and msd
New cam shaft
What about the carb? oh they must have forgot about it....5,6,700 dollars.. clowns :)
They didn’t include the machine work they did in house.
Exactly
And the carb
DontBe StupidAnymore good catch
and the headers
400-800 carb, 400-600 headers. "machine work" as you call it is not exactly true. they polished the crank with cork ribbon only.. you can do the same with shoe string and brasso.
Dam Mike!!!! Haven't seen y'all since horsepower tv. Good to see y'all still going!!!! I used to watch y'all every Saturday and Sunday on spike tv. Keep it going brotha!!!
Let's see.....get separate carb, intake, ignition system instead of reprogramming ECM....check. Eliminate port fuel injection....check. Add one useless valley cover....check. Have the nerve to be surprised what a healthy cam will do without matching it to the springs to prevent float....check. Play around with oil pump instead of upgrading it to a Melling brand....check. Have the nerve to be surprised what nitrous will do for an engine.....check. Shamelessly plug some products.....check.
I hate car shows, now. Used to be good advice put in them. No longer. I pulled these numbers with an old inefficient small block chevy. The LS heads flow far better.
Yeah agreed. I thought they would try to get more out of it without a power adder or something. 🤷🏻♂️
Hey so as someone getting into cars without a shop nearby or anything, is there a better way to learn than watching these guys? Edit: I'm trying to ask if you recommend any books, manuals, or other yt channels
Also no accessories and an electric water pump. Sooooooo it’s still stock output. A tremendous amount of time and effort with tools that most people don’t have (seriously, a crank polisher?).For essentially zero gain
@@zethyr8833 look at the channel The Driveway Engineer.
I'm so tired of seeing videos or write ups like this. I've been trying to learn good ways to make power out of LS engines but ever time it's just some jackass slapping a carb on one and running it with no accessories. Hate to break it to you but most guys going the LS route either are building one that's already in a vehicle or keeping the fuel injection.
This shows why the LS followed right along behind The SBC as the go to engine for everything. Stupid power to cost ratio.
Until of course, all existing LSes get bought up and destroyed. Though at least there are exponentially more trucks/suvs to rip these engines from than there are lightweight rwd rice burners *clears throat*corollagts*coughs*240sx*wheezes*miata to put them in.
@@FinalLuigi
I think it's cool that the import crowd is admitting that a American v8 engine is the best way to add huge power, keep it reliable and do it on a budget.
@@jamesearlcash7725 Only in a RWD vehicle, unless you want to invest way more effort into turning a FWD economy vehicle into RWD. And even if you happen to find a rare RWD japanese shitheap before they completely disappear at an alarming rate, you still need to get proper mounting kits, upgrade the suspension because the car was never designed to hold an engine that weighs more than half the car does above the front wheels (hell even the corvette has them behind the front wheels), you need to grab a working ECU, you need to find the proper transmission for the engine, upgrade the drivetrain to even support the engine, you're basically building a corvette with a Japanese emblem. At which point, why not just straight up buy a corvette?
@james avery also some impala ss I believe
@@FinalLuigi I suppose you dislike the Shelby Cobra too?
Great video with a bunch of good tips for the oil pump, etc.
My only argument is, you guys already had every part needed to keep the original EFI, but chose to buy a MSD ignition box, Intake manifold and carburetor… why?
This is a “junkyard build” where you guys wanted to keep costs low, and yet spent probably 1500$ on changing it to carbureted when you could have ran the efi for just the cost of credits to tune it, in the 100$ US range.
It would be infinitely more tunable and infinitely better driving experience on the street in any climate, temperature or elevation.
Otherwise, great video 🤘
I would have guessed it would make 400+hp NA with the stage 3 cam motion cam, long tubes, intake and tune. Most bone stock LM7s make 340+hp and ~370 torque on engine dynos. I think hot rod magazine did a test some factory cams and the 5.3L made over 400hp with a stock LS9 cam. I am guessing the tuning for AFRs or timing was off on this test
Dammit Man!! It's hard to beat these engines...especially for the price. We have trucks at work with over 150k miles, that still run strong. Granted they were just driven around the city and synthetic oil changed twice a year.
I change my oil 3 to 4 times a year but drive over 65 miles a day to work 07 silverado 191000 miles
Use very little silicone or it will squeeze out clog oil pump. Also put a little extra in corners
"I saw some big numbers dude." Did you see Pat's face.
The low build budget was busted on the cost of the all the pens and pencils in that guys shirt pocket.
I watched another engine you started with 350ish hp and you put that nitrice on it and got that 650 hp. Now you showed another application and you sharing the Price's is really nice.
For anyone else who was confused about the dimples, it's to act as oil reservoirs in the pump to improve lubrication inside the pump itself.
Thanks, I tried to look that up and came up empty.
If oil can get to the dimples it's already getting to that side of the pump.
@@hoov100 the point is to have reservoirs of oil there for improved lubrication, not to get oil there in the first place
@@hoov100 you completely missed the point lol.
He stated exactly that in the video...
How to turn a $500 junkyard engine into a $5,000 dyno dandy.
True dat!!!!😂
Lmao this. "After we reused everything" not including complete tear down, hone, tank, gasket, bearings, reassembly, new cam, aftermarket intake, carb, ignition controller, nitrous, etc. Silly ass video.
Don't forget the rebuilt heads!
$500 for a junkyard ??? where , not all junkyard have that price . and in Illinois the junkyard engine is very expensive , And if you are lucky , they give you the electric
harness , or they charge you extra for the electric harness ....
@@mcozpda3392 In my state they are all over the junkyard and not too many people pull them out. But I won't say what state i live in. And yes, they do go for around 500 bucks.
When I got into cars 20 years ago, if you could get 450hp out of a pump gas small block it wasn't unheard of, but you were definitely the man (No serious street culture in my area) now with LS engines it's like "I got 800hp out of my oil burning, rod knocking 5.3"
What a joke...
Richard Holdener takes unopened junkyard 5.3L, runs them with electric water pump and headers with the factory EFI and consistently makes 350hp/380torque.
These guys spent over $1500 on intake, carb, and controller (not to mention all the added work)... added a mild cam and made 330hp.
Powerblock spends more on BS than some have in their entire engine.
Budget build but they use probably $100,000 worth of tools and equipment. You know, a simple build you can do in your garage. Just stick the block in your parts washer and run the crank on the polisher.
I was thinking the same thing. They lost horsepower from stock. Even with bigger cam.
I'd honestly like to know how it made so little power with that cam, when as mentioned, Richard Holdener's numbers show pretty consistant 330-340-350hp with tubular headers and electric water pump, with the tiny stock cam...
Richards engine still has all the junkyard miles and dirt. This is a fresh engine, with essentially 0 miles.
@@michaelwintz1896 They lost the LS magic when they cleaned out the dirt that enriches gasoline and oil to make more power
Should have kept fuel injection
Great video guys, one of you looks old enough to remember when you didn’t have a badass sponsored machine shop when small block Chevy cost $1 per HP!
I’d like to see them pull the engine add nitrous, and put it straight to the dyno. Oil leaks and all with stock manifolds.
Probably would have been close.
@@patrickwelch620 probably would have made more, that stock long-runner intake is a really good intake considering its "just stock" and EFI is going to do a little bit better than carburation every time.
Stock with mild turbo and nitrous is around 950 at crank.
That wouldn’t pay the bills. They gotta sell parts
That would be stupid. If you run nitrous or boost on stock ring gaps, your engine won't last very long before you bust a piston. You have to open the ring gaps up.
Minor upgrades to a junkyard LS making crazy power.. Chapter one rebuild it. (somehow I was under the crazy impression we were just going to do some minor upgrades to it..)
Don't forget slapping nearly two grand worth of carb, intake, and ignition controller on it after tossing the complete fuel injection setup, then talking about how this is the cheapest way to get a junkyard LS running.
I regularly went 7k-15k on my oil changes (04 5.3 200k, mix of budget brand conventional and syns for every change) when we finally got the oil pan off at 190k my dad had to do a double take everything was fresh honey colored with no burning or sludge...
When you have to add 2 quarts a week that doesn't really suprize me. 😋
Cool story but its total BS.
2 more pulls like that and they get a free windowed block with that budget build🤙
Lol nah not on a good old 5.3. Ring gap is the key, people are doing 8 and 9 second passes on these with stock bottom end. Chevy did something right with these engines.
@@Chevymonster203 THANK YOU. My man Richard Holdener put me wise to ring gap. Engines can take a lot more boost than folks think with the right ring gap.
I love ls haters building lc9 right now... Send it and laugh cause under 7000 and 800 hp its g2g ah no 250k lm7 (not the best) do it and last for years boost it to the 🌙
@@rhubarbpie2027 Very true, I know with the 5.3 and the 4.8 vortec engines they come with hypereutectic piston and too tight of a ring gap usually cause the ring lands to break. That's why you will hear guys looking for high mileage 5.3 because the rings are worn down and the gap has increased. Good for boost
Are you blind
The one dudes pocket protector was fully stocked, that's how I knew he had proper experience.
I like to think that a good horsepower number for a street spec performance engine is 400-600 horses and maybe a little more in torque depending on the drive train and purpose. Past 600 is when you need to check and maintain your engine a lot more (in my opinion) unless if it’s something like a mustang that is already close to that point. I would say for performance cars the maintenance and check point is past 700-750 and for exotics you should always be in that stage because exotics are usually running close to the limit.
Just imagine: port and polished heads, ls6 cam and springs, and some flat tops pistons and that this would make a good amount of power.
and a nice tune by somebody who knows what they're doing, that's how you make good power for actual low bucks. probably make close to 400 with path
Polishing heads is a waste of time, ya want rougher metal on the intake side for air/ fuel to lift and flow, like dimples on a golf ball
@@christianmotley262 Whaaaaaatttttttttttt!!!!!!!????????? lol
SAD PART ABOUT THIS IS THAT MOST BONE STOCK JUNKYARD 5.3 LM7'S, WITHOUT BEING TORN DOWN/REBUILT, MAKE 350ISH HP AND 380ISH LBS-FT OF TORQUE ON THE ENGINE DYNO. THAT IS WITH THE STOCK LOW LIFT TRUCK CAM... MAYBE B/C THIS WAS A CARB SETUP THAT CAUSED THE LOW NUMBERS BUT A LOW LIFT STAGE 1 "TRUCK CAM" MAKES 400ISH HP ON AN OTHERWISE STOCK LS 5.3 (ON ENGINE DYNO, RAN WITH DYNO HEADERS AND NO ACC.) CHECK OUT RICHARD HOLDNER'S RUclips CHANNEL, PROVEN OVER AND OVER AND OVER THAT STOCK 5.3 LM7 MAKES MORE POWER THAN THIS ONE DID.
WHAT GETS ME TOO IS THAT CAM MOTION LS1 CAM THEY ARE USING IS A GOOD 430ISH-440ISH HP CAM IN A 5.3 ON AN ENGINE DYNO.
Thanks for the video on this build. I'm planning a putting a 5.3 in a 3rd gen f-body
That paint job in Detroit Diesel Alpine Green is frikken perfect!
The stance the dude took before he hits the nitrous. 😂
Getting The Grip Just Right!!.......Big Button!!
best on a budget 5.3 rebuild video on youtube 👍🏻
That's about 9 HP less than Richard Holdener gets out of one straight from the junkyard with stock cam and manifolds.
Remember he runs them with no accessories and an optimized tune via Holley EFI.
@@rcairforceone I dont see any accessories on this Powernation dyno pull.
That Ol' boys right shirt pocket had its work cut out for it.
Yea I have a 2011 GMC Yukon with a LMG Gen4 5.3L Small (Iron) block, came with her. Worth every penny!!!
What about the price of the ignition system not everyone has one of them laying around
That's at least $350 for a MSD 6LS box, add a few wiring adaptors and tax = $400 extra.
That was my thoughts
And the price for the carby
@@582motorsports8 bruh u can get a holley carb on offerup for cheap im talkin 50 bucks
@@582motorsports8 holley an edelbrock carbs can be found for 200$ or less .. hell i got 2 4 barrel edelbrocks sitting in my garage along with sets of heads , intake manifolds . performance parts aint rare or hard to find .. craigslist auto parts is a goldmine right now people are going broke due to this covid19 bullshit not being able to work they are selling engines , transmission , tools , welders ect for cheap
I fear for all the kids that watch this and get their hopes up about doing an ls swap, videos like this dont explain the real cost of building an engine and actually putting it in a car and having a drivable vehicle. It’s really expensive no matter what anyone tells you.
Yea, and not to mention all of the little "Dos and Donts" when turning bolts, torquing, cleaning, bearing handling, EVERYTHING. One small greenhorn mistake can ruin an entire engine the moment you turn the key.
No need to build the motor if it spins it wins
@@johnwirk plus the electrical work they'll need to do for a good swap.
@@usamadepride yea, because there is nothing better than spending hard earned money, and lots of time on an engine that "spins", only to have a head gasket blow, or rings to break, or lifters to fail weeks or maybe less after the "swap", just to do it all again.
@@johnwirk that is why you run it o. The engine stand when you get it from the junk yard and if it is crap take it back and get a different one. So you are saying a 4 to 5 hundred dollar engine is more expensive then 2500. I guess you just don't get it that these guys are sales men trying to buy this shit. Did you not realize when they were tearing down the engine they said the bearings looked new and then when they put it together they said we are putting new in because the old ones were junk.
I’m 17 just got one of these out of the junkyard I have 1500 dollars set aside am going to be building it fully forged internals and slapping a supercharger on it should get like 500 to the wheels very happy I chose the lm7 for my first real project
Looks like it has reman heads by the temp heat tabs on the freeze plugs in the end of the heads .
They put heat tabs on engines you by from the junyard for warranty purposes. You'd be supprised at how good aluminium heads clean up especially with something like oven cleaner. They have a decent parts washer too us mere mortals would have to scrub the crap out of them for ages to look like that
I need ALL the parts you are Throwing Away.
That's awesome I work on detroit diesels for a living! I rebuild them with central power! Beautiful color indeed
They always break down costs but leave out things like machining, ignition, random pieces, tools, hardware, etc... Yeah because every person has a jet washer sitting in their garage, all the measuring dials, every tool, an entire bin of ARP bolts, and a dyno. I realize you can do things at home or go to a machine shop, but it is still extra cost that seems to slip by the show. I would like to see one show do a true home build. Pressure washing, bolts from a hardware store, and going to a dyno.
Vise Grip Garage on RUclips!!! 👍🔧🚖
The price would go from like 2500 to 7000 lol
Free Carb? just steal one from another project
Your nitpicking honestly. The idea of the show is to show you what you can do, and most people know it's a ball park figure cost wise. I have a engine washer though.. Garden hose and dish soap with some rags and brushes. And I bet I get mine allot cleaner then that vertical dish washer they have on the show.
Correct me if I'm wrong looks like a set of reman heads to me gray paint and heat tab on core plug. Someone is stretching the truth. Better add another 500 bucks
good job spotting the heat tab.
$700?
@@BuzzLOLOL Oreilly yeah, but you can get a pair of reman heads for $350-500 online. Sometimes cheaper than having a machine shop doing it depending on where you are and what your heads need done to them.
anybody notice they used stock beehive spring,must not be much of a stage 3 camshaft
Also that quick fuel 750 carb is another 800 bucks
That paint job is something special. Love the color.
Love your show. Great details for the home DYI guys.
REALLY enjoy your odd ball builds like the various 6 bangers from the past.
Would enjoy to see you go further afield with the likes of a 4.3 vortec.
I want an episode where Pat unloads his shirt pockets and does a run down of all the gear in them.
Imagine if engine builders had tool bels
Pat Topper! He’s amazing! What an incredible resource!
Really Amy engine should get new bearings and gaskets no matter the build. For under $200 probably for nearly any motor you may as well since either of the two are what blows first normally
Eh, I think it depends on the application.. if you're just trying to slap something together, bearings may be more work than it's worth. If you have it that far apart though, I agree, give it the new stuff
@Pirate yeah I agree if it's all together and ya just about to slap It in then yeah if it ain't leaking like crazy don't bother haha. I'm it smoking a bit I'd always do head gaskets at least since they are typically easy to replace
Great job guys. But we would love to see some Coyote builds and some 3.5 eco builds thanks
Does someone make a carburetor intake for the coyote engine?
My friend has a 3.5 Eco F 150. It puts my 454 Suburban to shame except on torque. 17 MPG puling uphill with a 3,500 pound trailer. Unreal. The most MPG I got out of my suburban was 12.
Mike383HK Bet that EcoBoost still builds more torque than the 454. I had a low mile 460 in my last truck, and it was a dog.
Whose this we? I don't want to see that shit
You mean you don’t just toss everything in the trash and get all new stuff! Love it, reminds me of my dad.
You miss the part where they tossed the entire fuel injection setup in the trash and replace it with nearly two grand worth of carb, intake, and standalone ignition controller?
Before the boost, it just made stock hp/tq. They did a lot of improvements that helped longevity, but you can see that the power didn't increase any. Any increase you saw can easily be attributed to not having accessories.
Yep a stage 3 cam helps longevity but not power…… 🤦🏻♂️🤦🏻♂️🤦🏻♂️
@@boost1728 Not sure what you mean, I'm talking about before that.
Thank God my new house came with a power wash booth, media blaster station and crank polisher in the garage! Oh, wait....