im going to do a cam and head swap what gaskets and seals and bolts do i NEED to replace i want to order everything in advance. my friend was telling me i could buy the gaskets for 99 silverado 1500 5.3 cause theyre cheaper and they fit. also dont know what bolts for the heads cause i need to find out if the engine was before or after may 2004. any help will be great
thanks in advance
charly

 

head bolts changed in 2004 to all short bolts

 

Check with our sponsors, SDPC and Texas speed come to mind. They sell complete head and cam swap kits that include gaskets and bolts

 

Your going to have to replace the head bolts (ES72220)Fel-pro kit. also your going to have to change the Harmonic balancer bolt too (i dont remember the # but lingfelter has it for 5.95$). the reason I know is because I just did the same thing. The bolts are known as torque to yield bolts,meaning they're a one shot deal. GM designers decided to use torque angle to get the critical fasteners in the engine to the proper clamping force,so your probably going to need a torque angle gauge(Snap-on # TA-360 or GM # is J36660). hope this helps. #7

 

order new head gaskets, head bolts and a crank bolt. everything else can be reused.

 

FWIW there is a date casting on the front pass side of the block above the Water pump. Would read something like A154- The Letter indicates the month code. In this case A= January. The next two Numbers are the day of the month the Block was cast. In this case 15 day of January. The last number indicates the year of production. In this case 2004.

Hope that helps so you can get the right parts!

 

Be careful about getting the "cheaper" gaskets. Some years had nice metal matrix (kind of like the cometic gaskets) gaskets and these are really nice (don't know if the factory metals are reusable like the cometics work). Other years had the "standard old fiber" gaskets. If you can run the metal gasket, do so!

You will need head gaskets, head bolts, and a crank bolt. All other bolts/gaskets can be reused.

IF you remove/change/etc the oil pump/mess with the oil pump o-ring, REPLACE IT! It's cheep insurance to prevent redoing everything again.

BUY HEAD STUDS! They cost about 50% more than bolts but are reusable, stronger, and actually make installing the heads easier (since they act as a guide). Believe me on this one, I have done numerous head/cam swaps on f-bodies (both mine and others) and studs are THE ONLY WAY TO GO!

BUY AN ARP CRANK BOLT! Again it is stronger and reusable.


Take your factory bolts (crank and a head bolt) and grind two sides "flat". This will turn it into a tap and allow you to chase the threads thereby removing the "lock tight" that is left inside the crank snout and head bolt holes.

 

From your question it sounds like you're trying to cut corners or save money. You can reuse everything except the head gaskets and the crank seal on the timing set cover. I would at least change those two. I would have all the gaskets and seals in the toolbox just in case you damage them during the tear down, but if you want to take short cuts go for it. Sounds like a plan during this recession.

 

i always reuse the timing cover gasket too.

 

better would be to say:
"Sounds like a plan for DISASTER"

DO NOT reuse the head bolts or crank bolt. You WILL break at least one head bolt and then we will have to answer your new post titled:

"HELP!!! I BROKE A BOLT OFF IN THE BLOCK!!! NOW WHAT???"