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5.3 yay or nay?

23K views 37 replies 11 participants last post by  Shogunator 
#1 ·
I have a bit of a line on an aluminum block 5.3 out of a Trailblazer. Desirable motor or not? Enough go factor or wait till I find a 6.0 motor? This will be going into a big and heavy wheeler that will likely be running 44" or possibly larger tires. Main love is snow wheeling.
 
#5 ·
I did a fair bit of reading on a few chev motor forums and pretty much what has been said here and what I have been hearing is that the 5.3 is a bit small and better go with the 6.0. My rig is such a fat bastard that I really liked the thought of aluminum motor.
 
#6 ·
It comes down to driving style I think. If you want to do the high RPM attacks on snow drifts Tom style then a little extra never hurts :*******

The 5.3 has great bang for the buck. Stock it's going to feel like twice the motor the 4.3 is and the iron block isn't a lot heavier. With a cam swap you can pickup 100HP pretty easily and if thats not enough you can stroke it etc.

The 6.0 weighs less than my TBI 350 did and with headers and a tune it will easily top 400HP. For the difference in cost I'd go 6.0. My thinking is that with stock internals you can put out as much HP as a 5.3 with a cam. With mods you can see 500HP easily. Weight is no different than the 5.3. With an iron block and aluminum heads, plastic intake, headers, etc the motor can't be more than 100lbs heavier than your 4.3 That extra 100lbs will double your power output and then some.
 
#7 ·
My thinking is that with stock internals you can put out as much HP as a 5.3 with a cam. With mods you can see 500HP easily.
that sold it for me! I'm pretty sure I will need 500HP down the road :) Geez I remember how happy I was when the 4.3 went in...damn you Tom!
 
#9 ·
Yeah I'd really like to make that work but between the damage to the motor and the fact that it's already stripped and on a pallet we just couldn't figure out how to make it work. Too hard to gather everything I needed. The LQ9 I'm interested in is complete in an '05 Escalade so I can pull everything at once and from the same truck.
 
#14 ·
After seeing some of the rigs at the mud drags I like the thought of it....only problem is big blocks are hard fits in Toys and I'm going to reduce the overall weight of the truck as well. Trying to run 46" Baja Claws....not sure if that is going to happen yet.
 
#15 ·
A bit of junkyard motor porn for everyones entertainment

5.3 aluminum block LM4



6.0 LQ9...I believe this one is spoken for by someone building a buggy on the board ;-)



This one is also in an Escalade pickup, but I think it's an 6.0 LQ4

 
#16 ·
6.0L, Curty actually likes the low end grunt of his iron block 6.0L over the LS1 even. I ran an LQ9 3/4 ton for a while. Even towed two buggies to Moab with it. You'll be surprised at the power that motor will make. Add a tune and a cam and you'll be very happy for years to come.

Are the heads screwed on that L92? They'd work perfect on my LS2.
 
#23 ·
Here are some pics of the LQ9 that belongs to someone in this thread :) Someone that should start another thread about their buggy project! :poke:












Driving an Escalade on bald ass tires...wonder if hydroplaning caused this wreck?

 
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