Im new to the site as you all can see. I recently parted out my DSM. It was a great car aside from spending 35k on it in just parts and not having it to the point that I was happy. Not to mention all I did was get it impounded and my driving record Fubered. And in all reality if I built a F body I would be in the same shoe's. So I have decided to put the cars aside and pick up wear I left off before the Talon. Literally! I now have a 69 chevrolet half ton already equiped with 1 ton drive train. Yes I already have a T400 trans, NP 205 transfer case, 14 bolt full floater rear axle and am currently replacing the Dana44 front axle with a dana60. It has a 8" lift on it and the driveshafts have been heavily modified. The previous owner had a built 454 in it. Held up just fine. I have been kicking idea's around in my head as to which HEART I want to go with but I think I have made up my mind. I just need some help, or a push in the right directions as I am not familiar with all the parts heads/block I would like to use.

I have a friend that has helped me decide on a 5.3 since I will be using a turbo for forced induction. I already have the turbo. It is very similair to a borg warner S488. I measured the intake side of the turbin and it is approx. 88mm. The Hot side is 100mm. So I should be able to make some good power as long as I have a long block that is setup correctly and enough cash to fund my fuel setup, tuning, blah blah blah. I owed a DSM so Im very familiar with what kind of cash that can take.

My friend Sam in Kansas has about 8 different Ls angines sitting waiting for a home. After we had some descussions we decided the cast iron 5.3 wopuld be my best bet. Sure it won't be easy to spool the turbo with just a 5.3 but I think I could get the job done. The hot side on the turbo is rather large but it can be changed if needed. It is a 1.40 AR.

First question. What is the engine name for the cast iron block 5.3 that everyone is telling me is bullet proof to 600-700hp assuming you have the tune spot on?

Next. Ill be wanting the lowest compression ratio possible so I can get away with having a pump gas tune. What heads should I use? I will not be spending very much money on the long block for now as I would like to get it all together and setup the way I want before I go buying a forged crank, GRP aluminum rods, and Weisco HD pistons But I want to have potential for when I do.

I have been lurking on here for the past couple of days and I shave not came up with answer to which I can use Different exhaust manifolds from other LS styles. I would like to modify some stock manifolds like stangkiler (I think that is his name) and weld some V bands on them for ease of removal and it's just a no brainer. I have also been contemplating building my own manifolds similair to the one Ron Shearer builds. Ray Litz has them on his car. Not sure if you guys are familiar with Ron's work but if not you should check him out. He has paithed the path for a lot of guys in the DSM/EVO scene and you guys would really like his work.
This is the setup he sells for F bodies. www.NOT-A-SPONSOR.com.org.net.gov.edu

I have many more questions but this should be a good start! Thanks Guys/Gals!

 

The iron 5.3 I think a lot of people use is the LM7. The aluminum version is the L33. I am sure a 5.3 would spool a 488 depending on the turbine wheel. If you want to drop compression, the 317 heads have a much larger chamber and will take compression down a good bit.

 

317 heads will drop the CR, as Sarg said.

Transbrake with a 2 step, and having a 3 step(rev limiter on footbrake) will allow you to build boost easily with a 5.3 and a S488. IIRC the S488 turbine size is 96mm which is easily spoolable. If you try to just sit on the transbrake though and spool the turbo it's going to take a while unless you have an aftermarket ecu that has a boost builder timing table like BS3 does seperate from the transbrake timing table and main(downtrack) timing table. Even then you don't need the BS3 to have your tune set-up to build boost on the footbrake.

Combining the 3 step, 2 step on the transbrake, and the right tune will make it no problem spooling a S488 on a 5.3. I'd be more worried about the heads lifting and dumping water on your front tires at 100+mph and the bottom end not handling the amount of power a S488 will put out.

 

don't really plan on driving the truck at 100mph however I'm sure it could do it when I'm done. so the turbo is very close to the 98mm bw s488 not sure if that helps. So the 317 heads must be the 4.8 heads? and that should take me down to what...? like 9.0:1? sounds about right for 91 octane and with a good tune and some exhaust restriction it should still give me some power off idle. As it is a big *** truck. So now who makes a really torqy turbo cam? And is the truck intake manifold the best route? I don't wanna destroy it once I turn it up and build the long block

btw I'm sure I have more room than like anyone has ever had in there. the 454 even looked small that was in it. the engine bays back then were huge!

 

I'd go with the same cam skinnies has in his. It's a Lingefelter GT2-3 IIRC. That thing makes INSANE torque on a 5.3 no less. Now your torque curves will look a lot different as he has a 7675 turbo and you a 88 with a bigger 96mm hotside, but it should still crack 800rwtq easily.

Just one question though....why are you wanting a big *** turbo on a 5.3 that won't ever go 100mph? Especially if you want torque you need a small set of twins or a smaller turbo IMO. I thought you were going to use this as a drag set-up.

 

Depends on the 5.3 block. I think on the common iron 5.3 the 317 heads take the compression down kinda low...like the 8.6-8.7 region.

 

Some people are not reading op. It is a 4wheel drive with a 8" lift. It will be a big *** poser truck with a ton of power and capable of busting out.

 

Thats a huge turbo for a 5.3, expect to spin it to 7K or beyond and run a decent size cam