Yeah I have been watching ebay to see what comes up because I know that is where you said you got yours Ed (
@cruiser enthuiser). There are a couple that are right around $1k but with shipping or if they are below $1k the have close to 200k on them. Locally I have a truck that has engine and tranny still attached (confirming) that is a 94 TBI 5.7 with 130k on it and good compression (according to them) for $675 for the engine. If I did that and bought a used/reman'd 4l60E from somewhere then I would be into the engine/tranny for a little over a grand. That's kind of a hard deal to beat if everything is true about the engine. And since it is local I would rather take that chance giving me the ability to go after them locally if something bad where to happen and they lied or whatever.
I know people on this forum love the TBI but for me, it is my least favorite v8. I got two of them in work trucks, both 94's. The TBI is a total dog compared to even a 5.7L vortec. It is one of the lowest hp v8s Chevy ever made, the 305 being worse than the 350. I would say they are reliable, got 200k on one in one of the 94's and we have treated it like s*** the last 17yrs but the other one developed a bad knock at 135k. I swapped in a 5.7L vortec in that truck and the truck has way way more balls balls now. It gets up and moves almost as good as a 5.3L, granted it has an NV4500 behind it which is a lot different than the 4l60e. TBI is reliable and simple but also way crude and iirc Chevy smogged the thing heavily which contributed to the low hp #'s. You can build up a TBI a lot but why mess with that when newer gen v8's are fairly cheap these days. A lot of people seem to shy away from the newer gen v8's because they are more complex but really once you understand them and how they work plus use a scan gauge, there are super easy to trouble shoot. And most sensors are dirt cheap to replace not to mention available everywhere.
Get on
www.car-parts.com and search for the engine you want. Search by year and model of the donor truck. For example, 2012 GMC Denali, engine. Tons come up from expensive low mile engine to high mile or damaged engines for dirt cheap. car-parts.com is like and ebay or craigslist for junk yard/wreckers all over the country. I was inquiring about a 6.2L from a Denali in Texas back in July. The seller sent me a video of it running, showing mileage, ect ect ect. Engine was a 2012 with only 22,000 on it. $5k to my door with all wiring, ECU, pedal and all accessories. 6L80e trans would have run me another $1500 roughly. Now I am sure $6500 is out of most peoples budget but the 6.2L is the cream of the crop. If you search 6L you will find many on there with trans attached for the $3k neighborhood. Even cheaper for a 5.3L.
From my experience the 5.3L is a great motor but the older ones with the 4L60e, under load like towing, on a grade on the HWY it will downshift to 2nd and hold 5k rpms for many miles to maintain speed. My 6Lin a 2001 2500HD will do the same thing but only if towing a big 6,000+lbs load. I don't think it is bad for the motor but I would rather not have to deal with a truck running in 2nd at 5k rpms for many miles as it climbs grades. So to me, more power the better and the more gears in the trans the better. 5.3L now come with the 6L80e as well as 6L and most all of the 6.2L have the 6spd trans.
Last bit, keep in mind any of the new gen v8's respond very well to a cam and a tune. Camming a 6L will easily boost you close to 400hp, even more if that is what you want, of course the tune comes into play too. Dude I work with for wiring and tuning says he can and has easily got 415hp out of an LQ4 and one he got 465 out of it simply from a cam and a tune. Shouldn't be a problem to get high 300's from a 5.3L with the right cam and tune.
Food for thought.
Cheers
