Just took truck in for its second engine in 2017.

[kc8adu]

a machine shop i have done repairs for over 30 years cringes anytime they see jasper green.
the guy has seen 6 different piston sizes and 3 different bearing sizes in the same engine.
made no sense to me either unless they were building from a stockpile of surplus parts.
lets say a cyl has damage that takes 60 over to fix.the whole block should be 60 over.
not jasper at least the older ones.
many jasper blocks that came in were scrap and would have been scrap had they landed in his shop first.but jasper patched them up.
i can see doing this to save a matching numbers block but on a common 350 chevy of which millions are available?
crazy.
among those that know machinists they have the "avoid like the plague" tag.

 

[Linctex]

Originally Posted By: Colt45ws
For a low dollar option with something as common as a GM 5.3, I would've gone to the junkyard. I trust the factory to turn out one correctly way more than these rebuilders.


Exactly, same here.

 

[Kuato]

Originally Posted By: kc8adu
a machine shop i have done repairs for over 30 years cringes anytime they see jasper green.
the guy has seen 6 different piston sizes and 3 different bearing sizes in the same engine.
made no sense to me either unless they were building from a stockpile of surplus parts.
lets say a cyl has damage that takes 60 over to fix.the whole block should be 60 over.
not jasper at least the older ones.
many jasper blocks that came in were scrap and would have been scrap had they landed in his shop first.but jasper patched them up.
i can see doing this to save a matching numbers block but on a common 350 chevy of which millions are available?
crazy.
among those that know machinists they have the "avoid like the plague" tag.


THAT would explain why my Jasper(never again!) engine in the early 90s backfired the first 2500 miles and ran rough the entire time I had it. I shake my head at different cylinder sizes.

When paying $3000-4000 for a rebuilt engine, you expect rebuilt, not just "bad parts replaced". They are making a mint, is Jasper(never again!)

 

[SwampSurvivor]

Originally Posted By: kc8adu
a machine shop i have done repairs for over 30 years cringes anytime they see jasper green.
the guy has seen 6 different piston sizes and 3 different bearing sizes in the same engine.
made no sense to me either unless they were building from a stockpile of surplus parts.
lets say a cyl has damage that takes 60 over to fix.the whole block should be 60 over.
not jasper at least the older ones.
many jasper blocks that came in were scrap and would have been scrap had they landed in his shop first.but jasper patched them up.
i can see doing this to save a matching numbers block but on a common 350 chevy of which millions are available?
crazy.
among those that know machinists they have the "avoid like the plague" tag.


There were a lot of Jeep 4.0 engines that left the factory with different sized pistons and bearings ...

 

[Kuato]

Originally Posted By: Miller88
Originally Posted By: kc8adu
a machine shop i have done repairs for over 30 years cringes anytime they see jasper green.
the guy has seen 6 different piston sizes and 3 different bearing sizes in the same engine.
made no sense to me either unless they were building from a stockpile of surplus parts.
lets say a cyl has damage that takes 60 over to fix.the whole block should be 60 over.
not jasper at least the older ones.
many jasper blocks that came in were scrap and would have been scrap had they landed in his shop first.but jasper patched them up.
i can see doing this to save a matching numbers block but on a common 350 chevy of which millions are available?
crazy.
among those that know machinists they have the "avoid like the plague" tag.


There were a lot of Jeep 4.0 engines that left the factory with different sized pistons and bearings ...


That's the first time I heard that....not to call you out but I'd be interested in where the info came from!

 

[mrsilv04]

Originally Posted By: Nick1994
After two engines failed, I'd have demanded my money back or seen them in court.

You're nicer than me for going for a 3rd.


No, this is #2 going in this week.

 

[The_Eric]

If you think you're going to get a better product and better shop labor reimbursement with ATK, think again. In my experience with multiple items, as well as other shop's experiences, I can honestly say NEVER ATK AGAIN!

I 've got more to add, but since I'm on a mobile, I'm going to stop there for now.

 

[nthach]

Originally Posted By: Colt45ws
For a low dollar option with something as common as a GM 5.3, I wouldve gone to the junkyard. There is at least one there thats shiny clean under the valve covers with like new compression.
I trust the factory to turn out one correctly way more than these rebuilders.
For money option where you want to keep the truck for a long time, and you really want a warranty, a GM rebuilt longblock comes with a 3 year/100k mile transferable warranty.
I had to look it up 'cause I know Ford has a similar 100k mile warranty on their longblocks as well.
https://www.chevrolet.com/content/dam/ch...rranty-card.pdf

If money was no object, I'd too get a GM reman - even though GM Powertrain doesn't do the reman process themselves, they vet that out to other firms that have a relationship with them.

There's so many of those LSx-based engines at junkyards, I'd trust an LKQ one over a Pick & Pull unit but also it could be an interesting rebuild project, they're certainly not as complex as a Honda/Toyota engine to take apart.

If you really want to roll the dice, try a "30K" used engine from Japan. Except in Japan, cars aren't retired once they hit 30K over there, but they do progressively tax and inspect older cars until they fail inspection.

 

[CKN]

Originally Posted By: Ammofirst
I'm thinking about getting a Jasper 5.3. Yay or nay ?



Get a GM crate motor.

 

[Chris142]

Originally Posted By: Kuato
Originally Posted By: Miller88
Originally Posted By: kc8adu
a machine shop i have done repairs for over 30 years cringes anytime they see jasper green.
the guy has seen 6 different piston sizes and 3 different bearing sizes in the same engine.
made no sense to me either unless they were building from a stockpile of surplus parts.
lets say a cyl has damage that takes 60 over to fix.the whole block should be 60 over.
not jasper at least the older ones.
many jasper blocks that came in were scrap and would have been scrap had they landed in his shop first.but jasper patched them up.
i can see doing this to save a matching numbers block but on a common 350 chevy of which millions are available?
crazy.
among those that know machinists they have the "avoid like the plague" tag.


There were a lot of Jeep 4.0 engines that left the factory with different sized pistons and bearings ...


That's the first time I heard that....not to call you out but I'd be interested in where the info came from!
most new car manufacturers select fit bearings. Some may be .001 over or undersize.

 

[MarkM66]

Originally Posted By: CKN
Originally Posted By: Ammofirst
I'm thinking about getting a Jasper 5.3. Yay or nay ?



Get a GM crate motor.


I'm surprised at how expensive a 5.3L crate engine is:

http://www.jegs.com/p/Chevrolet-Performa...696860/10002/-1

 

[CKN]

Originally Posted By: MarkM66
Originally Posted By: CKN
Originally Posted By: Ammofirst
I'm thinking about getting a Jasper 5.3. Yay or nay ?



Get a GM crate motor.


I'm surprised at how expensive a 5.3L crate engine is:

http://www.jegs.com/p/Chevrolet-Performa...696860/10002/-1



Yep-but a new truck stickers at $50,000.

 

[SatinSilver]

Here's one on Summit Racing for $3900.

https://www.summitracing.com/parts/nal-19209698/overview/make/chevrolet

 

[CKN]

Originally Posted By: SatinSilver
Here's one on Summit Racing for $3900.

https://www.summitracing.com/parts/nal-19209698/overview/make/chevrolet



That's a good price if it's a solid rebuild.

 

[mrsilv04]

Originally Posted By: SatinSilver
Here's one on Summit Racing for $3900.

https://www.summitracing.com/parts/nal-19209698/overview/make/chevrolet


Ships on 10/10. That's nearly 5 weeks away.

 

[mrsilv04]

Originally Posted By: MarkM66

I'm surprised at how expensive a 5.3L crate engine is:

http://www.jegs.com/p/Chevrolet-Performa...696860/10002/-1


And those are shown as being re-manfactured as well. For that kind of money, it should be new.

 

[SatinSilver]

Originally Posted By: mrsilv04
Ships on 10/10. That's nearly 5 weeks away.


Only 4 weeks away as of this coming Sunday.

 

[jeepman3071]

Originally Posted By: mrsilv04
Originally Posted By: MarkM66

I'm surprised at how expensive a 5.3L crate engine is:

http://www.jegs.com/p/Chevrolet-Performa...696860/10002/-1


And those are shown as being re-manfactured as well. For that kind of money, it should be new.


Also be careful about where some vendors source their engines. It could easily be a Jasper engine that they sell through their catalog.

 

[Killer223]

can you not go to the GM dealership and buy a crate engine anymore?
i got a GM crate 350 for 1100 back in the day.. are those days gone?

 

[bdcardinal]

There are issues with any reman engine. Even Ford has some reman transmissions that won't go into reverse.

As far as select fit, whenever I look up pistons or main/conrod bearings, I have to look up the "grade" and refer to a chart of select fit to get the right ones. In 10+ years I think I have sold one set of bearings. It is a better deal for the customer to just drop in a black box engine than spend all the time rebuilding one.

I wish engines were still cheap. I just quoted a 5.4L to a shop for F150 and it was almost 6 grand.

One question OP, what was the reason for replacing the engine? Did the shop replace the intake manifold or at least clean out the old one? Ford is very picky and a lot of times wants intakes replaced for catastrophic failures. I have an intake off a 2011 5.0 Mustang in my garage waiting to be made into wall art. The engine threw a rod through the valley and dumped a few more into the oil pan, the owner downshifted at Laguna Seca instead of up-shifting. The engine had less than 2K miles on it so Ford covered it under warranty somehow. When I washed out the intake it looked like glitter coming out.