5.3 ssr motor

[MuscleRodz]

I know where a 5.3 aluminum ssr bare long block is for $800. Has 2K miles on it. How different is the block to a ls1 or ls2 block? How much could it be stroked? How good are the heads? Not to familiar with this motor but I think the price is right. he has another person looking so I need to move quick on this if it will work. Thanks



Mike

[WS6]

get it and put a magnacharger on it with a small cam and you can have a heck of a lot of power. as for your specific block questions i dont know. the heads are great but the engine in stock form cant use a "better" cylinder head. you can do pocket port work to help them out but i wouldnt enlarge the ports.

honestly since the SSr used an all aluminum version of the 5.3 i would use it as is because its unique. thats just me though

[Kenova]

The 5.3 shares the same stroke as the LS1 5.7 but has a smaller bore. I guess it comes down to how much power you would like to eventually make. The all-aluminum 5.3s ( L33 ) are also being used in the Envoy / Trailblazer line and some full size pickups.
Ken

[Damn True]

Sounds like a good candidate for a rev-happy modern version of the old Z-28's 302.

[WS6]

ok well im wrong appearently. i thought only the impala SS had an aluminum 5.3, but it uses different heads than the 5.3 SSr motor. all others are cast block with aluminum heads.

yes the 5.3 revs just as high as the LS engines. you just have to change the truck intake to make any power. an LS1/6 should work well and considering most people are giving the LS1 intake away. cheap swap that'll make it breath.

[Fuelie Fan]

I thought when Hot Rod did a back-to-back comparison a while back, the truck intake was one of the best. "Big ugly" I think they called it. It outperformed the LS1, but not quite as strong as the LS6, or somethin like that.

[WS6]

not possible for the truck intake to out perform the LS1/6 intakes on the top end. the truck intake has very long runners. thats great for low end and midrange torque, think TPI. it, however, sucks for breathing on the top end. why limit an engine capable of 6500 rpms stock to only 5500 rpms?

[MuscleRodz]

I have that article somewhere. It did out flow the LS1 manifold but not by much.

Mike

[WS6]

if you can post numbers that would be great. i can see it maybe doing as good as an LS1 on the low end and midrange, but the top end even the LS1 should do better. but hey i don't know everything.