Hi, I'm Logan. I'm new here and new to trucks.

I've got a 2001 5.3L chevy silverado 1500 z71 standard cab with about 222k miles on it. Its my first truck and I bought it from a friend of mine. I changed the oil when I got it, it was barely touching the dipstick, black as coal, and had sludge in the bottom of the oil pan. I put a new filter in, 5 quarts mobil 1 5-30 full synthetic high mileage, and 1 quart Lucas Oil. After that it smoked like crazy and burnt a quart every 200 miles. It seemed to slowly lose a little acceleration every time i drove it and then it started to idle funny and stall out when it got warmed up. I cleaned the PCV valve, EGR valve, MAF, O2 sensors (blow torch), and when i started to clean the throttle body I noticed oil standing in the bottom of it and the intake; the throttle body and intake were COVERED in black oily carbon build up. So I got all that cleaned up and it seemed to run better until it got warmed up, it started acting up again. I finally replaced the old rattle type PCV valve with the straight through orifice type and it has been fine ever since. I have not yet checked to see if the oil in the throttle body has gone away but I'm waiting for everything to get burned out.

I drove it a little while, and it has since almost stopped smoking. It smokes a little white smoke when I crank it up and every now and then when i lay on it. I checked my fill tank for my radiator and it bubbles just a little while running and it has a VERY slow antifreeze leak so I'm guessing I have a head gasket leaking. I'm gonna replace the head gaskets, valve cover gaskets (they are leaking), do a cam swap, and some other things while I'm down that far. I can hear my lifters really loud when I crank it up and still some when it warms up; it sounds like a slapping sound and gets faster when u rev the engine, so I want to replace those and anything else I should while I have everything off.

Ha so after all that, here are my questions:

1. Idk if I have Castech heads yet but if I do, should I replace them with aftermarket heads/heads from a different vehicle or just go ahead and have them worked over and ported.

2. If I keep the Castech? heads, what all should I do to them? I know I want to replace lifters; what else? Valve guides, valve seals, rockers, push rods, etc?

3. What cam should I get? I want some more low to mid torque while keeping my MPG as much as possible.

4. At 222k, what are some safety measures I can take? What else should I replace while I'm down that far?

I'm going to have it dynotuned after all this so I'm not really worried about that, I just want to get everything decided so its not torn down for too long. I work on small engines (dirt bikes, 4 wheelers, etc) and I'm decent with car engines but I've never been this far into one of them. I'm doing all the work with the help of my dad so any other help is greatly appreciated.

 

I have some 5.3 heads that I just took off my truck to put on some 243 heads. They have about 10-12k miles on them.
I'd let them go for pretty cheap if you end up wanting to replace your heads.

 

I doubt it, but I'll keep you it in mind, thanks.

 

Same oil eating issue with the PCV replaced it with the straight through not a drop burned. Possibly the most stress relieved day this year ha

If you want low end to mid range power, you can't really beat the stock 5.3 heads and intake manifold. Smaller port = more velocity = more tq off idle to mid range. But you can get them 0.03 milled to bump compression up around 10:1 with stock height head gaskets.

I would go with the 210/218 .551/.551 on 116Lsa. I did and love it for daily driver. Much stronger through out the entire power band vs the stock cam. and getting 2-3 mpg better highway

Might be easier to buy a lower millage 5.3 build it on an engine stand then just do a motor swap if you have the tools of course.

 

Thanks for the response. Did you have a decent increase in lower end torque? Was there a difference in the idle? What else did you do to it when u put the cam in? I have thought about getting a lower mileage junker but I'm not sure yet.

 

I had a head crack (862) on me 1-2 years ago so I bought a low millage used set of 862s, had them milled 0.03 for 10:1 comp. This motor has a little over 100K so I left the stock lifters in b/c I put head studs on and do not want to remove them ever again on this motor. Definitely get some budget LS7 lifters and mill the heads if you remove them.

You will need shorter push rods if you mill the heads, with stock 0.051 head gaskets and 0.03 milled heads you will most likely need 7.375, but some motors are different and a comp cam $20 push rod checker is the safe way.

Yes once tq management was removed this truck will easily bust loose my 275/55/20's with crappy 3.42s. love them for the highway though ha

 

This is with my cutouts open, but the cam has a very nice smooth idle total sleeper and not obnoxious going through my 22" magnaflow. Vinci does not stock cams on a shelf like most companies, so all cams can be tweaked to suit your modifications/bolt ons.

CAM 5.3L Silverado 210/218 - YouTube
If you want more chop they have a 114 and 112lsa version

Here's a video showing the low end power pulling from 0-30 under 1500 rpms

dd baby cam 5.3L silverado - YouTube

And here is a WOT pull with no break launch and again crappy dig 3.42s

New tune for cam silverado - YouTube

Cam has a lot of top end if you notice the 4500 and up rpms