TechCam97

So my 99 Z28 has a spun rod bearing and the crank is pretty messed up on it as well as the offending connecting rod. Right now a new rotating assembly is out of the question due to finanaces and I found a 5.3 longblock which I purchased last night locally for a good price. I was planning on just throwing the new cam I purchased in it along with getting the heads ported and polished, LS6 intake, 28# injectors, computer tune, and 4.10 gears to have just a nice weekend vehicle to toy with while I finish school and start a career. My cousin was speaking to me about it last night though and he said that the 5.3 and the 5.7 share the same crank and he believes the connecting rods are the same as well. Is this true? Because if it is can I just use the rotating assembly with the pistons swapped to get my LS1 back up and running?

TechCam97

Anyone? I'm tearing down the LS1 right now and I'll get some numbers off of the parts and compare them to the 5.3 when I start ripping into that. For now here are some pics of the damage to the LS1 crank, can anyone spot the portion with the spun bearing? haha!





The bearings....or what was left of them......

AL SS590 M6

GM recommends not reusing rods. They claim that pushing the piston pin out and back in will loosen it's fit causing it to fail. That's why when you ask for a rod for an LS1 it comes with a piston on it.
I haven't researched this but have had two shops say this.
The guy that I'm rebuilding the motor for got a new crank and a set of new take out piston/rod combos for me to install.