chevstang421

okay ya'll new to the LS scene.. i recently bought a "5.3" short block out of an 09 silverado... so it turns out its a 4.8.. im gonna make it work... tore it down everything is beautiful..

just some questions..do the powdered rods hold up to 800hp? does anyone make an off the shelf rod? i hear people just use stock with good rod cap bolts.

i see that wiseco makes a piston for the stock 3.622 bore.. would be worth the money to spend?

and heads i see everyone has a difference of an opinion 706s? 243s? 862s?
with good valves and springs..would like to keep the compression from 9.0 to 9.5

lifters and cam? any suggestions i see people doing so many different things i dont know where to begin

i want to get close to the 700-800hp mark depending on turbo setup i would like to do some sort of twins on 93 octane with water meth..again yall tell me what turbos i should run i want some opinions ive done a lot of reading on here and a lot of yall have some knowledge id like to hear...

Thanks for any help would like to get steered into the right direction before making any sudden jumps..Thanks for any input

HRHohio

I'd say run the stock pistons and rods. The 09's have the floating pin rods that are stronger than the pressed pin rods. If you haven't checked out the "Big Bang Theory - Hot Rod Magazine" did, you should check it out.
http://www.hotrod.com/techarticles/h...g_bang_theory/

They got 1200hp out of theirs. Spoiler alert (5.3 was not a 5.3) Of course they were running 118-octane Rockett Brand race gas. If want to get close to that, you should consider E85 and a Methanol/Water inj system. If you're set on 93 and water, you should be able to reach the 700rwhp mark.

I'd say run the stock heads, but get them worked. Get them ported, new springs, and new larger valves. That should flow plenty.

If it's an 09, you should be ok with original lifters, if it's low miles.

In the article, they did a 228/230 comp cam.

As for turbos, they ran twin 76mm chinese turbos from CXRacing. Wicked69 on here has a 69 Chevelle and is running twin 70mm turbos from On3 Performance. His build thread is: https://ls1tech.com/forums/forced-in...on3-70mms.html


I just tore down a 2005 4.8 that's going into my 72 Camaro build. I'm basically following the recipe above. My cam is 228/234 .588 .598 on 114LSA. It will be months before the body and everything is done, but the engine is ready to drop in. Oh, I also went with LS9 Head Gaskets, Chinese Head Studs, new piston rings (because I broke one when gapping them to .028, like a dumbass).

That should get you started, and maybe some others will chime in on recommended changes to the above recipe. I'm sure there are differing opinions out there. lol

Good luck!

Twin turbo c5

I'd just the run the stock junk and boost the hell outta it. but you'll need meth or race gas to push it to 800. I've had good luck with those little truck motors with high boost and stock parts and others have too

chevstang421

Yes i have read the hot rod article many times... this is what i mostly planned on doing is going back with stock parts... i have the motor down im doing new bearings rings and gaskets.. planning a mild port on the factory heads with good springs and valves with a custom grind cam.... its hard talking to anyone about specific cam numbers with me working nights at the moment...

And yes i will be on fuel to get it to those numbers...

on the lifters i seen a few people drilling the lifter trays to let the oil flow in and out on high revving.. do i even need lifter trays??

The motor is gonna go in a fox body of some sort trying to find a roller at the moment...

thanks yall for the input i guess it is true... hard to beat a stock bottom boosted 4.8

HRHohio

Sounds like a good plan. I forgot to mention that I drilled my lifter trays too, just a small hole at the bottom of the tray in each lifter hole to drain. I didn't to the 1/2 inch hole. That seemed excessive to me.

I could be wrong, but I'm pretty sure you need the trays to keep the rollers aligned correctly.

Shoot Martin@Tick a Private Message. He can spec a cam for you. On another thread https://ls1tech.com/forums/forced-in...w-project.html he asked someone for the following info:

He's a very trusted resource here on Tech.

Sounds like you're on the right track.

Good luck and keep us posted.

chevstang421

sure will im making progress ordered all the bearings i need to go back together..

also i will be doing efi what efi does anyone suggest... holley? FAST?

HRHohio

I picked up a complete wiring harness and ECU from a 2001 Camaro for my 72 Camaro build. I got it locally. I'm not familiar with any other setups. Sorry, can't help you on that one.

schmendog

iTrader: (10)

HRHohio: What made you decide on your cam specs? I ask because I have one almost identical to that from my Maggie blower build, and if its good for a tt 5.3 I may keep it....because that's what Im doing next.

HRHohio

I have a cam guy local here who stocks some grinds. It was the closest he has in stock to some spec'd cams that I saw on here. Damn close in fact. I think it has a good balance of intake and exhaust duration without going too big. The lift is just under .600 which is where I wanted to be. (I would have been ok with up to .615 lift) and the LSA will give me just a little bit of overlap to help spool the turbos, but not so much that I'm bleeding off dynamic compression. It might be a tad big for a 4.8 (Would have been better for a 5.7), but I wanted to go a little bigger than a little smaller.

Hope that helps some.