sschevellefan

New here and still learning about these engines. I`m picking up a 5.3 tonight for my 65 el camino. I seem to remember they are rated close to 300hp stock. What can I do to pump it up? I will definaly change cams and probably send the heads out to be ported but any suggestions? The car is pretty much planned to be a driver but if I could get it in the mid low 12`s I won`t complain. Also, whats the best/cheapest/easiest set up to convert it to carb? I know MSD has a set up as well as edelbrock. I still have alot of learning to do with these LSX engines. Thanks.

jsanford

iTrader: (4)

Just make sure when you buy a MSD box, you get the right crank tooth count. I learned the hard way.

GNCLONE

If you do all that you've said you should be beyond 300 hp

Getting the El Camino to hook is another story.....

Cronic_Moronic

Ls engines are still push rod v8s. Anything that you would do to any other v8 you can do to the same effect on an ls engine.

The biggest difference between the LS and other generations of chevy v8 is that the factory head castings are pretty good as opposed to being pretty bad.

sschevellefan

They actually hook pretty good with the right parts. I`ll do the lift bars and adjustable uppers. Their weight transfer is pretty good.

Yeah I know they are similar but I also know they espond differently to mods than the older sbc`s do. The heads are way better too. I just got back from picking it up so I got alot of looking around to do to find out whats the best route to go.

Paul57

I would recommend a custom cam spec from Patrick G or Predator Z to help get the most torque out of the 5.3, to help get the elky moving. I polished my own heads (ports, combustion chambers) and did not have them enlarged because of concerns about reducing velocity which tends to translate to torque. A machine shop did do some bowl blending for me though and my valves are only .02 larger. Also, you will want a 3000+ stall if you're using an auto. Most guys will tell you this is not enough but I wasn't brave enough to go much more on mine (3200).

https://ls1tech.com/forums/generatio...am-change.html

sschevellefan

Thats where a flow bench becomes handy. Then you can enlarge the ports as needed to get the airflow and monitor the velocity. I hada set of old GM camel humps done up years ago and I`ll tell the head porter this time the same thing I told the last guy, get as much cfm as you can untill it starts to lose velocity too much. I`ll be doing more research before picking a cam for sure but I got a couple in mind that i really like so far but i might have to look up Patrick G. I`ve seen his name pop up more than a few times today on my searches.

69cutlassrkt

I too think you should get a custom cam. One that will work well with a carb and a single plane intake.

bigchief52780

iTrader: (10)

69cutlassrkt what cam are you running? car sounds great.

Earl Filter

iTrader: (1)

Just curious, why the carb?