01tahoegreenmachine

Hey yall i was always told there was no such thing as a stupid question so i need to ask what size motor is in my 2001 Z71 tahoe. my understanding is that its a 5.3L Vortec. But for some reason i have sen the cubic inches differ on these from 323 or 325. Im not a full blown mechanic and dont know everything about blocks. i plan on upgrading my heads and my cam and pushrods and rocker arms and springs this year to hopefully give me an extra 30RWHP. if im not making sense then please help me.

03sierraslt

iTrader: (22)

A 5.3 is 325ci / 5328cc

What's the 8th digit of your vin number.

01tahoegreenmachine

the 8th letter is T

53bowtie

iTrader: (6)

T is the basic LM7 non-flex fuel 5.3L engine. How you use the vehicle should determine what mods you perform and in what order. What are your plans?

01tahoegreenmachine

thank you for responding!

my goals

1- add atleast 30 or 50 HP to the Rear Wheels

2- want something that is not going to kill my gas mileage its already 14 miles street and 17miles highway

3- want it to sound good but not really choppy it will still be a daily driver but only on the weekends.

4- i want to install a new cam new heads ( Unles the heads i have now are good enough for the HP i want) new rockers springs pushrods ( not sure if i have to upgrade my lifters)

53bowtie

iTrader: (6)

If it where me the route I would take to get 30-50hp to the rear wheels would be headers, cam, street/dyno tune. This will easily get you to your goals. The type and size of cam will depend on how the truck will primarily be used. I would not go much higher than a 212/218 duration cam if you keep the stock stall converter, which I imagine you will want to do given your gas mileage statement......

01tahoegreenmachine

When you say headers you mean long tube headers?

53bowtie

iTrader: (6)

Yes I would do long tube headers if it were me. For a budget set look at Texas Speed, LPP, and Speed Engineering.....

A cam will benefit greatly from the exhaust being freed up.