well this isnt the shortest term project. I figure 760 for rods, pistons, and rings is what i'm going to go for. I dont have 1300 bucks to drop for a new forged crank so I'll be sticking with the stock one for that. i will spend what ever it is going to take to machine the block, i'm going to assume 500-ish though I really have no idea. I would like to spend less than 1500 for this build. I will be using all of my 5.3 accessories. heads I will deal with separately.

How much can this block be bored safely? I am looking for maximum displacement with the stock stroke at this point unless you more knowledgeable folks think that is crazy.

 

I personally wouldn't go more than .030. Not saying you can't, but if you keep it long enough to have to rebuild it, then that would leave you some meat to work with. Also, and this is just my opinion, since you're buying pistons already, as long as you don't think you will want to go F/I with the motor, go ahead and buy some 10.8:1 pistons, and skip milling the heads any more than it takes to flatten them out. Even not including the heads, if you go with quality parts, I would forsee it costing more than 1500 bucks. A few years ago I rebuilt the motor in my old truck, and leaving the stock rotating assembly alone save for the pistons, it cost me around 1600.

 

Sorry for going off topic and the newb question, but what do you mean by "flatten them out" ?

 

I'm assuming he means to have them cut just to take care of any warpage, as opposed to milling them extra to bump up compression...basically making the decks of the head "flat", so that if you used a straight edge and a feeler guage, it would be within factory specs as opposed to being concave and being able to fit a large feeler guage in there.

 

I think he means clean up the surface if I was buying used heads as per my sig.

Food for thought is that in about 6 months this will no longer be my daily driver.

What did you have to buy that you spent 1600 on?

Just as an idea, what is that maximum this block can be bored safely.

Yes, I would like to buy some high compression pistons, that would probably be easier. Good idea.

 

I just spoke with Richard@WCCH on the phone and he was telling me that it would probably be most beneficial to go with a a light hone to get rid of the imperfections in the cylinder bore and then buy some forged rods and pistons, mill the heads for compression and run a lumpy cam with high compression for decent power.

This is all assuming I dont come across the money to buy a new 4" crank to go 408. Damn the decisions.

 

Take the block to a reputable engine builder have them test it and they can tell what bore you can go too.
Personally I like the sound of an NA/nitrous motor 4.050 with a 3.622 stroke and some of the new H/I L92/L76 are setup for big bores. With that small stroke you could spin her too 7k reliably as long as the rest is setup for it. Id be shooting for 500RWHP NA.

You could get out of this cheap with the new l92 stuff, dont waste your time with the 317 heads

 

Damn, that would be crazy. What kind of H/C set up would I need for that? something in the 23x/24x I assume.

 

I added it too the post l92/l76 1500 bucks for heads, intake TB and injectors brand spankin new SDPC has em.
Im not at home to give the cam specs but they wouldnt be typical lsx stuff, Ive been pondering a motor like this for a while it can be done cheaply and make good power, very rev happy motor if setup right.

 

When you get home I am very interested to see what you had in mind for the cam. I will also check around for the l92/l76 part numbers for head, intake, TB, and injectors like you said.... this sounds like a viable option.