Economical rebuild ? Need a guide

[Bigstang1]

When i pull the tranny for the aod - t5 swap im thinking about pulling the motor too and freshen it up. It doesnt smoke to speak of but it does have 180k miles. Do i even need to rebuild the bottom end or should i just do the h/c/i? I would take the engine out myself and tear it down to the short block and bring that to a machine shop to have it rebuilt unless you guys think a home mechanic can assemble it after it gets hot tanked and bored. Heres what im thinking for a economical (high school student)setup.

-Bore block 30 over
-New hypertonic(sp?) pistons (can i skate with these or is forged the way to go? i dont plan on a sc but nitrous is a very slight possibilty but only a small shot)
-Rings
-bearings
-gt40p heads or possibly used aluminum heads if i can find them cheap
-Gear timing drive
-b303 or trickflow stage 1 cam
-intake....not sure what one yet.

Anything missing? anythign you can find wrong with this setup? This will be my first engine buildup so its all new to me. I def know how to spin a wrench tho. Thanks guys

 

[doggy6969]

i would refresh it for sure. you may not need to bore it teh 5.o cylinders are very strong just check with mic. and you may only need to rering and now bearings. good luck

 

[Chetly]

A home mechanic can do it. Ive dont it. WHile its out of the car replace bearings and rings at least. If piston rods and crank is in good shape reuse it. But when you tear into an engine there is no telling what suprises you will find. Remember too that 5.0's came stock with forged pistons. Change the oil pump while your in there too.Let me know if you have any questions. AIM is Powerburn1. When i did my first motor, you need someone to ask questions, because its harder than you think, but its not hard.

 

[chevyeater]

First thing to do is get a new set of rings and position one in the bore. Don't buy the whole set. check the end gap on all the cylinders. that will tell you if you need to bore the block. get everything cleaned and have the crank miked to see if its ok. get a set of windsor jr.s. they are cheap and they will kill the gt40's. the hyper pistons will be ok with some juice. I used a set with 300 shot fogger and never lost one.(mid 9's)but if you have some future plans to go faster someday get some better stuff if you can afford it. We built most of our engines this way.