I'm buying my nephew's 1999 nbs Silverado 2500 with 6.0L and 4L80e, I believe this will be an LQ4 block with iron heads. Short story is it will be my tow truck for my boat, a farm and hunting truck. It will be lifted and regeared. I need to rebuild the engine because it has a lot of miles and is in pretty **** poor shape. Oil pressure issues have me wondering if a bearing is spun or just worn out and I'm pretty sure it has a leaky head gasket. It's time.
So I will be going through this thing top to bottom. I've got a cam picked out already from Vinci Hi Performance. It is advertised at DUR @ .004" 272*/280*
DUR @ .050" 210*/218* LIFT .551/.551 LSA 116*. I believe this will net me the added power I want lower in the RPM band.
As far as other parts, I'm thinking about find some aluminum heads but not sure if there is much benefit. My understanding is that the newer aluminum heads for the LQ4 are still cathedral port and flow the same as the older iron heads. Unless the heads are in bad shape should I just keep them?
During the build I will upgrade to some roller rockers, new lifters, pushrods, springs, LS2 timing set and upgraded oil pump. Any other suggestions? I do want to keep this build reasonable. I just want it to be reliable, not needing to shred tires and burn up ricers.
What are your suggestions?