Ok, I got the engine, a 5.3L from a 2011 truck with 111,000 miles on it. I thought a lot about that, and while they are supposed to be good for more miles, I wanted to delete the DOD/AFM on it, so,
IMG_1739 by
Robert Moorman, on Flickr
Yes, I started stripping it down.
IMG_1743 by
Robert Moorman, on Flickr
Yes, that is a 2011 5.3 with cast iron block and flat top pistons. The heads are the 243's with the cantedral port.
I'm sending the block out to be cleaned, checked out by some pros and then honed. They will rebuild the heads, as well.
I'm deleting the DOD, so I will need different lifters and pushrods, as well as a number of other parts. I've searched some YouTubes and scouted around what some of the folks around here are using, and I think I'm going with the Brian Tooley Racing kit. I am even planning on using their "Truck Norris" cam.
I didn't mention it, but I've been looking at parts to make it look like an old school small block. I've already picked up the old Mallory distributor to run the wires from the "hidden" coil packs up through the distributor and out to the plugs. I saw this on a YouTube where he used some Lokar parts, but some of them got a little pricy, but I think it'll be fun if I can camaflouge it so that people ask, "is that a small block Chevy"?
Next update I hope to have the frame painted with the Mastercoat stuff, but "the best laid plans" as we all know...