5.3L to 6.0L swap

[SchreinerM]

Gentlemen,

I dropped a 5.3L from a 2001 Silverado in my '68 C-10. It's all painted and installed with a 2WD NV4500 tranny (from a 2002 Silverado) with exhaust and all. While looking for an engine for another project ('74 Pontiac), I came across a steal of a 6.0L in a 2002 Silverado HD.

Now I'm questioning if the 6.0L will drop right in place of the 5.3L (meaning existing exhaust manifolds lining up, wiring being plug and play, no issues with trans, painted accessories swapping over). If so, I think I'll clean up the 6.0L and drop it in the C-10 with the 5.3L finding a home in the Pontiac.

Please tell me it's that easy!

[Aruba1]

I think you will need a 6.0 flywheel. Not sure about the PCM and tune but everything else should match. I personally wouldn't go through all that trouble to do the jump in power. It would be nice to have a 6.0 but I believe it's over rated. Last week I pulled 6500 lbs with my 5.3L and NV4500 and it barely felt it was back there.

[indymachinist]

Should not need a different flywheel. Everything should swap right over. The tune will need changed.

[The Pitt]

All you will need to do is have the PCM retuned for a 6.0L. It would probably run alright without but I would do it for the correct power and mpg. The older motor/trans (99-00, i think) may have given flexplate fitment issues but this is an 02 motor to an 02 trans. You should be good to go.

[Aruba1]

You are correct on the flywheel, he won't need it as he is using an NV4500 from an LS based truck.

[SchreinerM]

Good to know it's a direct swap. Thanks guys!

So, is it worth the effort? Just an FYI for the photo, I had everything wired and it ran after the flash. But I did just pull the harness apart to get it cleaned up (OCD!!!) and wires shortened.

[BR3W CITY]

Originally Posted by Aruba1

It would be nice to have a 6.0 but I believe it's over rated. Last week I pulled 6500 lbs with my 5.3L and NV4500 and it barely felt it was back there.

Over rated? Not in a figurative nor in a quantitative sense. As is often said in science; Correlation does not imply causation. While the 5.3l is great, and its awesome that it pulled your load that well, its not without saying that the 5.3l was working harder to do so than a larger displacement/higher tq motor would.

Originally Posted by SchreinerM

Good to know it's a direct swap. Thanks guys!

So, is it worth the effort?

Its worth the effort if your longterm goals/use is either for towing, or for high performance.

Aside from the built in bump in power from the cubes, you gain the ability to run 4" bore heads and internals, which opens up another large portion of the aftermarket which the small bores can't utilize. The Lq4's in particular are low compression and dished pistons, meaning that forced induction applications are lower risk...or you could bump the compression a few points and take advantage the potential power there with a more aggressive cam.

Put it this way; there isn't anything you can do with the 5.3 that you can't do virtually the same and make more power on a 6.0. I'd say the biggest reason not to would be if you had an aluminum 5.3 and really were focusing on a lightweight, higher rpm build.

[homemade87]

If it were me I would keep the 5.3 in the truck and do a cam change with a few supporting mods . Cold air intake , long tube header and a good dyno tune . You could see close to 300hp at the rear wheels ( depends on the cam choice ) . You being a manu trans you could get by with a little more cam . Don't by one off the shelf . Get one ground for your set up . Cost the same and makes a big difference .

Then I would put the 6.0 in the pontiac . It would make for a great and fun ride . You could go as far as you wanted with the 6.0 . I have a bone stock (stock 243 heads & custom cam) 6.0 with headers and cold air in my 82 that is 381 rwhp (dyno tuned) . Talk about fun to drive .