average cost for rebuild 5.3?

[77c102door]

hey guys, im planing on a 5.3 swap in my c10. i already have a complete 5.3 lm7 in my backyard but it needs to freshened up. I just got back from the machine shop and they quoted me $2700+ tax to get my 5.3 rebuild from top to bottom. this price included .050 bored over with forged pistons, 5 angle valve job on my heads. they going to reground my cam, a hopped up cam will cost extra. i just want to know what most of u guys spend on a rebuild 5.3 or any ls in particular

 

[smurfasaur]

hey guys, im planing on a 5.3 swap in my c10. i already have a complete 5.3 lm7 in my backyard but it needs to freshened up. I just got back from the machine shop and they quoted me $2700+ tax to get my 5.3 rebuild from top to bottom. this price included .050 bored over with forged pistons, 5 angle valve job on my heads. they going to reground my cam, a hopped up cam will cost extra. i just want to know what most of u guys spend on a rebuild 5.3 or any ls in particular

I rebuilt an LM7 a couple months ago for my K20 and damn, even doing it yourself it’s expensive. I had a shop clean and bore the block, remanufactured heads, LQ9 Cam, and stock rebuild kit and I believe it was right around $2k for everything (need to go back and add everything up to be sure, but I don’t want to make myself sick right now).

All things considered I’d say 2700+ tax seems about right considering my local shops time is $75/hr.

Now the real question is what is your goal for your truck? Because if I had to do it all over I certainly would’ve chucked my boat anchor LM7 and gone for a running pullout - or even better get a donor rig (if I had room for it). I would even consider buying a new block from Summit before I’d have a machine shop do work on a crappy one - they’re about $500 shipped I believe and I think my machine shop bill was $400-500 at least for just the block work.

All said and done I’ll feel good about my brand new engine but does it really make sense to drop $2k+ on a fully rebuilt LS when there are guys boosting 200k+ mile 4.8’s reliably without even doing head studs? Probably not.

If you haven’t found it already I would really recommend checking out the square body LS swap group on Facebook. Tons of helpful info on there and lots of help fast if you get stuck on your swap.


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[77c102door]

i already have the motor in my backyard. However its not even mine, its my buddys who is willing to trade his lm7 for my fitech fuel command center. another option is that my buddy works at the chevy dealership and i can get a complete stock ls3 for $5500. not including the computer, however i do have a fitech efi system already in my truck and i can use on any ls motor.

 

[smurfasaur]

i already have the motor in my backyard. However its not even mine, its my buddys who is willing to trade his lm7 for my fitech fuel command center. another option is that my buddy works at the chevy dealership and i can get a complete stock ls3 for $5500. not including the computer, however i do have a fitech efi system already in my truck and i can use on any ls motor.

IMHO it’s not worth it to drop a brand new motor in these old trucks when you can get an excellent running pullout motor for so cheap... But it all depends on what your goals for the truck are. The Gen3 and up engines are amazing and most don’t break a sweat running 300k miles even if you beat on them they’re tough as nails.

Knowing what I know now I would never drop the amount of money ($4k+ on my rebuilt engine/tranny) when I can get a 150-200k mile 5.3 with accessories for $400 and a 4l80e for another $400 from my local pick and pull. But like I say if your goal is a show/race truck maybe it does make sense for you, but I couldn’t justify it for a driver.


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