Have multiple Suburbans' and one Silverado 1500, extended cab.
Most of my Burbs are the LM 7 cast iron block or the L 59 flex fuel engines.
Latest Project: (in conjunction with all the others)
My 2005 Silverado is the L 33 aluminum block. Is is a 310 horse power version of the 5.3
Pretty sporty, has 4:10 gears. Rust free, baked Utah truck. Bought it last year.
Have been putzing, mixing and matching and a general freshening. Robbed mirrors, outside handles, locks, door latch and ignition cylinder, and steering wheel from a couple of my parts Burbs.
Plus some interior trim pieces.
New headliner, front seat leathers, all led dash cluster, steering controls and added trans temp gauge to cluster.
Fresh GM lamps front and rear.
Stripped roof, hood, upper doors, fixed a bunch of dents, and freshened paint.
Added factory flares and refinished.
Nearing end of this project. Still have factory wheels to recondition. (they are not crusty)
YUP I am very committed to this truck! Have 0 interest in a new one (50K) plus. This body style style still has some metal in at and VERY comfortable seats.
264000 miles, low oil pressure, smokes at start up. Takes 10-20 seconds to build up enough for warning to go off.
Drives out very well, smooth, no scary noises, about 20 Lbs oil pressure at idle once running. about 35-40 when under load. (driving)
Used motors for this model are very scarce, soooooo, the rebuild question arises.
New oil pump may provide some relief to oil pressure problem, won't fix smoking on start up.
Has any one rebuilt an L-series with the aluminum block?
Heads are unique to the aluminum L-33 model, different than the cast iron LM-7 or L-59.
Just did heads on my 6.0 motor in another Burb, not cheap.
THOUGHTS??
Karl
Lost in the 60s said
May 16, 2021
I have the similar, all aluminum, LC9 5.3 in my 2011 and my concern with an eventual rebuild is, will the block need new sleeves, or are they thick enough to bore out for oversize pistons ? The rest is just rebuild, although you've already pointed out the heads are not cheap to go thru.
My 2011 just flipped to 112k, with the jaunt to TN and back, so no immediate worry about a rebuild, I hope.
more ambition than brains said
May 16, 2021
Thanks Mitch,
The good news also is that the 2005 L-33 motor does not have the AFM (Active Fuel Management) with the spendy lifters, prone to failure.
Plan on touching base with my engine shop tomorrow.
Karl
Chris S said
May 16, 2021
We rebuilt Jenny’s 2009 suburban in 2018 because the rings were so carboned that she was burning a lot of oil. That block is aluminum, and we had the cylinders bored. We deleted the DOD, installed a different cam for better low-end power, and had it tuned for optimum performance. Money well spent as it runs fantastic. You can’t buy a new truck for the price of a rebuild, even one as detailed as ours.
Derek69SS said
May 17, 2021
Is there any metal in the oil? If not, I'd probably just stick a new high volume/high pressure oil pump in it and run it.
67ss said
May 17, 2021
These motors are also very prone for cam bearing wear causing low oil pressure. Should be be able to be rebuilt with no problems though.
bowtie said
May 18, 2021
I believe Kevin put the L33 aluminum in his 65/66 skylark or whatever it was.
dashboard said
May 18, 2021
I did, and loved it, a spirited little engine in a 3200 pound car.
It’s my understanding the 5.3 and 5.7 be they iron or aluminum are the same blocks.
Derek69SS said
May 18, 2021
dashboard wrote:
I did, and loved it, a spirited little engine in a 3200 pound car.
It’s my understanding the 5.3 and 5.7 be they iron or aluminum are the same blocks.
5.3 and 4.8 share the same blocks, 5.7 is larger bore
more ambition than brains said
May 19, 2021
Thanks for your replies.
I have a great deal more comfort now.
Have multiple Suburbans' and one Silverado 1500, extended cab.
Most of my Burbs are the LM 7 cast iron block or the L 59 flex fuel engines.
Latest Project: (in conjunction with all the others)
My 2005 Silverado is the L 33 aluminum block. Is is a 310 horse power version of the 5.3
Pretty sporty, has 4:10 gears. Rust free, baked Utah truck. Bought it last year.
Have been putzing, mixing and matching and a general freshening. Robbed mirrors, outside handles, locks, door latch and ignition cylinder, and steering wheel from a couple of my parts Burbs.
Plus some interior trim pieces.
New headliner, front seat leathers, all led dash cluster, steering controls and added trans temp gauge to cluster.
Fresh GM lamps front and rear.
Stripped roof, hood, upper doors, fixed a bunch of dents, and freshened paint.
Added factory flares and refinished.
Nearing end of this project. Still have factory wheels to recondition. (they are not crusty)
YUP I am very committed to this truck! Have 0 interest in a new one (50K) plus. This body style style still has some metal in at and VERY comfortable seats.
264000 miles, low oil pressure, smokes at start up. Takes 10-20 seconds to build up enough for warning to go off.
Drives out very well, smooth, no scary noises, about 20 Lbs oil pressure at idle once running. about 35-40 when under load. (driving)
Used motors for this model are very scarce, soooooo, the rebuild question arises.
New oil pump may provide some relief to oil pressure problem, won't fix smoking on start up.
Has any one rebuilt an L-series with the aluminum block?
Heads are unique to the aluminum L-33 model, different than the cast iron LM-7 or L-59.
Just did heads on my 6.0 motor in another Burb, not cheap.
THOUGHTS??
Karl
My 2011 just flipped to 112k, with the jaunt to TN and back, so no immediate worry about a rebuild, I hope.
Thanks Mitch,
The good news also is that the 2005 L-33 motor does not have the AFM (Active Fuel Management) with the spendy lifters, prone to failure.
Plan on touching base with my engine shop tomorrow.
Karl
We rebuilt Jenny’s 2009 suburban in 2018 because the rings were so carboned that she was burning a lot of oil. That block is aluminum, and we had the cylinders bored. We deleted the DOD, installed a different cam for better low-end power, and had it tuned for optimum performance. Money well spent as it runs fantastic. You can’t buy a new truck for the price of a rebuild, even one as detailed as ours.
Is there any metal in the oil? If not, I'd probably just stick a new high volume/high pressure oil pump in it and run it.
These motors are also very prone for cam bearing wear causing low oil pressure. Should be be able to be rebuilt with no problems though.
I did, and loved it, a spirited little engine in a 3200 pound car.
It’s my understanding the 5.3 and 5.7 be they iron or aluminum are the same blocks.
5.3 and 4.8 share the same blocks, 5.7 is larger bore
I have a great deal more comfort now.
Karl