buddy of mine bought a '01 tahoe with a non-intercooled whipple setup 5.3L with a blown engine. either the headgaskets are gone or the heads are warped/cracked... havent torn it down yet. either way we are wanting to know what the best head gasket setup would be and what brand spark plugs and at what gap should he run? he was thinking of going with cometic gaskets and maybe some arp studs just to make sure this doesnt happen again... any suggestions?

 

go with a set of stock LS9 gaskets, ARP studs or bolts, preferably studs and depending on how much boost either BR6EF or BR7EF NGK plugs. Hopefully its just a gasket. Good Luck and post pics!

 

Head gasket selection will depend on which heads you have on that 5.3. It's very possible that your heads have a "notch" in them, and if they do you will not be able to use any MLS gasket. You'll have to use the composite gaskets, or else you'll have a coolant leak. Here's a pic of the "notch" to look for.



Either way, stock head gaskets should be just fine for a non-intercooled Whippled 5.3 liter. Most of the time those are 5-8 psi/mild tuned setups. For spark plugs, I'd say TR6's at .035" should be just fine.

If you could give us more info about your setup, that would help.

 

What other info do you need? I will see about getting info on the heads soon. Otherwise its a 2001 hoe with whipple, shorty headers, some led wires, k&n filter, aftermarket maf... So if it does have the notch heads, what is a good stock head to run that can be found at a reasonable price?

 

*msd wires. Stupid smart phone.

 

Factory gaskets, get them at your local dealer.

 

NGK BR6EF plugs ( non projected TR-6)
Factory Headgaskets.

 

He called back and said the heads have "862" on them if that tells anyone anything?

 

862's might have the notch. Some do & some don't.

 

I have a set of 706 heads for a 5.3 and 317 heads off a 6.0L if you need em let me know. I can give you a good deal on them.