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Awesome! I will follow this one, I thought I recognized the username from camaroz28...then I saw the saladshooter rims and 355 turbo setup and remembered! You actually sent me some of your tunes when i was tuning my 383 LT1 turbo! I then switched to a 370LS setup, then sold the car and I am now building a single turbo "stock" 5.3L on another 3rd gen.
Hahaha.. small world Excellent to hear. Maybe we can share discoveries, etc as we get these cars going.
What configuration are you going with regarding turbo(s)?
I don't know how knowledgeable you are about these motors. I'd been reading a lot about the 5.3 success stories over the past couple of years but didn't really retain it. I'd seen some guys seeming to run bone stock unopened JY 5.3's up to 1000 crank Hp. Then others started mentioning the ARP studs for safety. Those things are pricey! I had already ordered/paid for the ARP's when a bud told me you can get the chinese equivalents for like $65. Doh!!
So I assume by stock you're truly staying with the stock cam, etc?
I debated on that but since I'm working beau coup hours these days, I could afford to up tick the performance a little.
Keep my posted on your progress as well !
Originally Posted by jay_rich
Awesome! I will follow this one, I thought I recognized the username from camaroz28...then I saw the saladshooter rims and 355 turbo setup and remembered! You actually sent me some of your tunes when i was tuning my 383 LT1 turbo! I then switched to a 370LS setup, then sold the car and I am now building a single turbo "stock" 5.3L on another 3rd gen.
This is what im currenty working with on a budget due to the newborn!
2005 5.3L (beefier rods)
LS1 Intake
China Headstuds
LS6 cam
LS2 timing chain
Melling pump
BTR dual springs
4l80e Trans
Forward facing truck manifolds
Divided 2.25" 14 awg hotside
Twin 44mm Wastegates
50mm BOV
"ebay" GT45 Turbo for now (planning on a Borg S475 T4 in the future)
Was planning on megasquirt 3x but due to a budget I'm gonna just tune it on my buddies efilive.
Hoping to see mid 500whp. Just want something safe and fun for now. Maybe next winter I will upgrade stuff.
Don't be sad! I'm just running the 5.3 while I get the LT1 refreshed. I'm going to have the machinist check the bores, replace the rings and bearings. Freshen up the valve seals and timing chain. I'm not selling anything from the LT1 setup.
I'll be keeping the BMR tubular K member and plan on keeping everything so I can go back.
I'm not kidding when I say how much I enjoy lifting the hood after trouncing a GT500 and they see the ol' LT1 in there.
The air was cool tonight when I took my Turbo'd LT1 out for an evening drive. The car runs outstandingly right now, even after 6 years (soon to be 7) of hard running, thousands of miles , hundreds of races and long hauls from Houston to New York and the round trips of Albany to Rochester 52 times a year for the past 2 years.
I'm amazed how durable this motor is. I typically run the LT1 at 15 psi but I've ran it a few weeks at 21psi and accidentally at 24 psi. All on pump gas.
Originally Posted by Shownomercy
I'll be the first to say I am sad to see you ditch the LT1, one of the few last running setups around.
Sounds like you have a fun car, it's always fun to see the look on someone's face when a LT1 car isn't what they expected. We actually just finished a customer's turbo LT1 camaro that made 900hp+ on our dyno. If you have any tech or product questions feel free to give us a call or just shoot us an email at support@tickperformance.com.
Today, the UMI tubular K-Member arrived.
Hoping to hear from the machinist that the hot-tank, ring gapping and head freshening (lap valves and new valve seals) are done soon.
Something I'm reading but not absolutely sure of, is that the 5.3 truck manifold (out of a 2000 Silverado) won't fit under my stock 96 Z28 Hood. Anyone else know if that's true?
Well, I found out the truck manifold won't fit under the stock hood. I put a 'WTB: LS1 Manifold" and had a reply within minutes.
The LS1 manifold and the attendant fuel rails are on their way to me now.
I know the truck oil pan is too deep/tall for my Fbody so I went to Ebay and found a new GM oil pan with pickup tube, "O" ring and dipstick included. Should be here on Oct 21st.
Couple of fuel questions guys...
The new setup will be gasoline most of the time but I want the ability to go with E85. I have an extra pump assembly I can convert to -AN fittings. Will 10 -AN be enough to flow the E85 I'd need for say 900 hp? I've seen guys state they used 10 -AN for gasoline. The 'go to' fuel filter/regulator for ease of installation appears to be the Corvette composite filter/regulator. Looking at the 3/8" piping on that, I'm wondering if that would be inadequate for the E85.
Also, how many feet of braided line did you guys end up using to route from the gas tank up to the engine?
FWIW I ran -8 feed, and a the stock feed as my return. I wasn't making 900 rwhp but it did put down 727 rwhp before I sold it. It went 9's on 650 rwhp though. My buddy ran a -8 feed, -6 return and made 969 rwhp on E85.
I would honestly just pick up a cheap regulator. I used the Mallory 4305m with E85 and it worked great. I found out Advance Auto listed them on their site so I used a coupon code and got it for $90 or so.
FWIW I ran -8 feed, and a the stock feed as my return. I wasn't making 900 rwhp but it did put down 727 rwhp before I sold it. It went 9's on 650 rwhp though. My buddy ran a -8 feed, -6 return and made 969 rwhp on E85.
I would honestly just pick up a cheap regulator. I used the Mallory 4305m with E85 and it worked great. I found out Advance Auto listed them on their site so I used a coupon code and got it for $90 or so.
Just an update - Nothing of importance but just to let anyone following know it's still in progress.
The harness *just* got finished. Over a month but it's a one man shop, not his *main* job (Military?) so somewhat understandable. Just be aware if you order from him and his says '3 weeks' like he told me, double it....
The guy that's filing the ring gaps, degreeing the cam, etc, has had a family tragedy(Dad is passing away but is in the Intensive care Unit at the moment) and hasn't been in his shop for 3 weeks now. Once again, understandable and I hope that Anthonys father passes peacefully.
I'm surveying things online and trying to figure out what else I'm missing/needing.
Got the harness plus a plug n play 'pulse generator' for the TH350. Converts the manual cable signal to a pulse and feeds it to the stock harness for the speedometer...
The box..
Arrived today ...Harness, 0411 PCM bracket and TH350 pulse generator...
Harness with pulse generator in the middle. This is a complete plug n play harness that marries the 5.3 sensors of the engine to the cabin of the 96 Z28.
Out of the box...
The TH350 speedo pulse sensor for generating the correct pulse for the VSS (Vehicle Speed Sensor)
Thanks, Yes it looks great. The gent that did it, Bill Hillock(sp?) with BP Automotive. He's a one man shop and it's not his main occupation(Military I believe is his main job) and as such, he says "3 weeks to do it", better count on twice that. That was my experience and the guy that referred me to Bill said he had the same experience.
If you call him, he usually answers. He's better about communicating on the phone than email for some reason. He has all kinds of wiring kits for many swaps, not just mine.
10-08-2014, 11:44 AM
Excellent to hear. Maybe we can share discoveries, etc as we get these cars going.
