Is 5.3 swap to much money and work?

[65blackfleetside]

As you can see from all the posts there are be pro's and cons for the old tech vs new 5.3-350 argument. Some guys love the old V-8 systems for their simplicity and retro feel.

When I came over from the dark blue side (Fo*D) to chevorlet 10 years ago I was really sold on the 350 being the greatest American V-8 ever made, especially for the money, power, and reliability that it produced. Chevy 350 parts are sold new and used Everywhere! I loved the 350 /700R4 set up in my 65 C10. Problem was I was getting about 12MPG around town. I was putting gas in it every other day.

At the time I also had a late model 1500 Silverado 5.3 that was 1500 pounds heavier that the C10. I drove 50% of the work week in the 5.3 silverado and was amazed at the fuel usage difference as well as the power that this LS motor produced bone stock!

So much so that i am sold on the LS technology- I never thought GM could build a better motor than the 350, I was wrong.

I know many on here will strongly disagree with me but if you are building a daily driver go with the LS, keep the fuel injection on it as the was the GM engineers designed it to run. 4.8,5.3 6.0 any of those motors will produce more than enough power for a daily driver while getting much better MPG and reliability over the older motors.

I still love the old big blocks and small blocks that the big three build for 50 years but for me it got old real fast paying at the pump.

My current build is a 1951 Chevy with LS 5.3 and 4L60E- Its almost ready for the road.
The bigger costs for an LS will be: your accessory brackets ($600) external fuel pump with plumbing ($350) and wiring harness and ECM reprogram for engine ($600)

you can save some money using factory Accessory brackets but i did not have enough room to go this route. check out ICT billet IF you need brackets? they had some of the best prices at the time i purchased them.

I also purchased a new harness (BP harness) rather than have someone rework the old one $300 vs $600. Had a great experience with those guys too.

It ends up being one of those " well if I do this .. I might as well spend the $ and do this too thing ...Lol be careful going down that trail it can get very $$$

Like anything else there is a learning curve with the new LS technology- thats why a lot of guys are scared of it, But you can figure it out with all of the help on these forums-

Good luck with whatever route you decide!!