LQ9 - Good to Go, or In Need of Rebuild?

[Chevelle LT1]

(Disclaimer: This may be a rather stupid question, but I'd rather ask it than make the wrong assumption. That being said, all sarcastic responses are welcome, understood, and half-expected)

I recently picked up an LQ9, and am trying to get a complete plan together before I tear apart my running, driving vehicle to get this swap completed. The engine is an 03MY with approx. 65k miles on it. Based on others' experience, is this engine OK to swap on a new oil pan, L92 heads and simply start driving?

I am new to the Gen III/IV world, and don't know if it would be a good idea to tear the motor down or go ahead and drive as-is. I am not looking to cheap out in this case, simply want to make sure that I am not creating unnecessary expense and work for myself. FWIW, I do not plan to have any sort of forced induction, so no additional stresses to the motor in this case.

Thanks in advance.



~ Jason

[armourmark]

Do you know if it ran when you purchased it? In any case, if you are doing the swap yourself, the only thing it will cost you to run it with a new pan is the cost of the pan and time. I would not be afraid to change the oil pan and fire it up as is. Worst case scenario is you take it back out and fix it.

[dhutton]

You should be fine if it was running when pulled.

[Chevelle LT1]

Appreciate the responses. The engine was running when pulled, so at least I should have that going in my favor. At the same time, do people generally have good luck with higher-mileage assemblies for this engine family?

~ Jason

[UNmolestedTA]

I have two 100k+ 5.3's that I paid around $250 a piece. I do not know if they ran prior but I would say you have a good motor.

[LSXZ28]

65k is nowhere near high mileage on an LS engine! You'll be fine if it had no problems when you took it out of the donor vehicle... My truck has 114k on it and runs better than ever! I'm putting a 43k LS1 in my Z28 and consider it barely broken in lol!

[b-man]

I agree, with 65K miles it's just now getting fully broken-in.

No need to go into the bottom end on that one.

[Chevelle LT1]

Definitely liking those answers!!! I'll be pulling off the heads tonight to make sure everything is kosher, and provided it is, will be most likely leaving it at that.

Thanks again.

~ Jason