02sport4

Last year my engine crapped out so I purchased a used one with around 90k with the intention of rebuilding my old one. Well its a year later and im ready to start it up now. Im not really interested in building a street rod just a bulletproof reliable motor. Of course if I can squeeze a few more hp out of it without breaking the bank im all for it. Im not to interested in going fi but not totally against it.
My plan is to bring the block to get machined possibility bore it .30 and everything that goes with that. Maybe getting the heads reworked and cammed. My question is to others that have done this before what was the hp/tq gains and the final dollar amount.
Im open to suggestions so hit me up. Also try to convince me to go fi

Carcrazygts2

What year truck are we talking about 97/98 or 99-03? Personally the best bang for the buck is a stock engine with a Lightning charger added. You pretty much get around 100 or so HP and about 150ft/lbs of torque. The blocks can take a beating. THe stock cranks and rods are the first things to go. With a relatively light setup with around 10psi of boost it will last a good while and still be reliable.

ibd2328

iTrader: (2)

No need to go .030 over if you don't need it. You can't bore these modular enginges like a big block and get more power.

charliedyal

Yeah, I wouldn't go any more than .020 unless absolutely necessary. If you want a bullet proof bottom end, get a forged crank & h- beam rods, and arp stud everything. You can run either forged or hypereutectic pistons. Lightnings have hyper pistons oem and are known to hold up to +15#s of boost.

Most importantly, know which direction you want to go with the build. What fuel type, boosted, high compression, etc.. there are many factors involved. 97-98 motors are non PI engines and simply swapping on a set of 99-03 heads increases compression and gains of well over 50 hp with a tune. Give us more info please.

02sport4

Sorry its a 02. So .2 over. I know that I have to have it bored and sleeved because the cylinder walls were badly beaten because of oil starvation due to the timing guides breaking off and clogging the oil pickup. So with a stock crank and internals I could say go 9 lbs of boost safely? What would the gains be and cost.

ibd2328

iTrader: (2)

.020

02sport4

sorry .02. .2 would be massive

charliedyal

If it's scarred beyond boring you may want to get a junkyard block & start machining from there.

Some of the NA 5.4's came with forged cranks. I believe [MENTION=99584]ibd2328[/MENTION] has info on how determine which one you have. The Lightnings also have the same powdered metal rods as the a NA models. Going forged there is nothing but an improvement.

As far as the charger, you can expect to spend 2-3K by the time you assemble all the components. Maybe you get lucky & find a complete swap for less, but that's not probable. Take your time & look for deals & package deals.

I have a complete swap component list created by [MENTION=52877]4x4dave[/MENTION] that I'd be glad to forward to you if you send your email.

Edit: a stock eaton M112 with stock pullies makes 8#s of boost. You'd be perfectly fine. And you'll need a flash tuner with custom tunes.

charliedyal

Btw, it cost me around 4k to completely rebuild my 5.4 with me doing most of the assembly. But that also includes headers, cai, coils and all.

02sport4

I would be doing most of the work myself. I would just need to have the machine work and tune outsourced. I saved the page that tells how to chexk for a a forged crank. I just have to blow the dust off the motor and check it out. Its been sitting on a engine stand since april.