I have a buddy who I am trying to help put a good combo together. He has a 02 ecsb with a 5.3 thats on its last leg. He is thinking LQ4 now and from what ive heard, the stock 5.3 heads should be pretty good on it once ported. That leads to a cam, what is a good cam for that setup that is possible to use a stock stall? This is his DD and he doesnt want some big sloppy stall in it.
Also, what extra little odds and ends are needed to make it all fit together? Thanks alot.

 

Why is that? Was it not well maintained?

If you're gonna get an LQ4, use the LQ4 heads.

 

if the lq4 came with the 317 heads i would re-use those

 

Be sure that the 6.0 he gets is from an 01+ or will not be a direct swap to a 60E due to the longer crank flange that was originally only mated to an 80E. The 99-00 LQ4's are easily identified by their iron heads and aforementioned longer crank flange.

 

Its been well maintained from what I've seen, it just has 180K on the clock. Also, what is the benefit of the LQ4 heads?

 

They're already bolted to the engine lol.

But actually I believe that they have bigger valves than the 5.3's and flow better. IIRC, they've been described kinda like LS6 heads with bigger combustion chambers, but I'm not 100% sure so don't quote me on that. They're 317 castings, same for LQ4 and LQ9