I have the 6.0 in my sig and I blew a piston. Due to cash flow I decided to just swap to a 5.3 from craiqs list. I was going to put the same heads and 224/224 and call it a day and rebuild the 6.0 later.

Well I pulled the motor today ton do the swap. I pulled the heads and as I thought the #7 piston was chipped and the heads were a little scarred but they do not leak and the valves are not bent. I checked all 8 cylinders and they were as smooth as they were they day of the rebuild 4 months ago. There are no visible scratches on the walls.

So My question is do I just clean the heads up, swap them on the 5.3 which has 150k and go or do I replace the piston in the rebuilt motor. I have never done a piston swap and I know I need to clean the motor. I would take it to a machine shop and have them clean it and deck the heads. I am sure I can do it. I am only looking to rebuild what I have, not go bigger. am I just asking for problems if I dont do a complete rebuild. Oh the pistons are the original to the block so it was not a full rebuild. The cylinders were honed and new rings, new cam bearings. Ls6 oil pump and ls2 chain. The lower assembly is original just cleaned up.

Please remember Money is the main object but If I can save the 6.0 I would love it. You can see the walls, piston and head damage


I can always save the 5.3 for my trailblazer.