Daily driven boosted 5.3
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From: Spartanburg S.C.
Daily driven boosted 5.3 Okay, I've finally decided on what I want to do with my Camaro, I want to boost a 5.3 have about 500 whp I've read where these 5.3s have held 1200 hp without exploding lol.My question to you guys is what would I have to do to the 5.3 to get it to be a reliable daily. I was thinking a cam, arp studs and rods and methonal injection.
For just 500hp you wouldn't have to do methanol injection imo......my brother made 920 on a l33 sbe on e85 and 22psi with a pt78.....so 500 will be pretty simple for you. That was my goal for my nova build, stock l33 with 7475 and shoot for 10-12 psi on 93 and make 5-600.....should be easy for you....just my .02 and I'm no LS boosted guru at all, fairly new but just sharing what I know already!
Thread Starter
Teching In
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From: Spartanburg S.C.
For just 500hp you wouldn't have to do methanol injection imo......my brother made 920 on a l33 sbe on e85 and 22psi with a pt78.....so 500 will be pretty simple for you. That was my goal for my nova build, stock l33 with 7475 and shoot for 10-12 psi on 93 and make 5-600.....should be easy for you....just my .02 and I'm no LS boosted guru at all, fairly new but just sharing what I know already!
Yep, made 920 with a 6spd and 780 thru the turbo 400.....it's got prc heads and on e85, other than that, it's a bone stock L33.....if we had easy access to e85 it would be driven a lot more but the closest station is about 100 miles......main reason I'm gonna run a flex fuel system in my nova build.......but his has 75-100 track/street passes and still doing fine! No issues at all....
Thread Starter
Teching In
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From: Spartanburg S.C.
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Thread Starter
Teching In
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From: Spartanburg S.C.
Wow seriously? So it's really not going to take much to make this a reality huh? I just wanted to make sure all my bases where covered before starting the project. And dude 24 psi? Tbh I think I have a limit and don't think I'd have the urge to ever push more than 600whp.
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Joined: Mar 2014
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From: Ohio
You don't have to push it far for the street. On 10 lbs, my MT ET street radials (255/60/15) won't hook in first gear on a good day. On 15 lbs, the car goes sideways from a 50 roll. 20+ lbs and I can leave stripes on the highway.
I took the heads off a month or so ago after running 30 PSI a few times. Pistons were perfect, rods were straight, head gaskets looked new.
I took the heads off a month or so ago after running 30 PSI a few times. Pistons were perfect, rods were straight, head gaskets looked new.
Thread Starter
Teching In
Joined: Jun 2015
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From: Spartanburg S.C.
You don't have to push it far for the street. On 10 lbs, my MT ET street radials (255/60/15) won't hook in first gear on a good day. On 15 lbs, the car goes sideways from a 50 roll. 20+ lbs and I can leave stripes on the highway.
I took the heads off a month or so ago after running 30 PSI a few times. Pistons were perfect, rods were straight, head gaskets looked new.
I took the heads off a month or so ago after running 30 PSI a few times. Pistons were perfect, rods were straight, head gaskets looked new.
Thread Starter
Teching In
Joined: Jun 2015
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From: Spartanburg S.C.
You don't have to push it far for the street. On 10 lbs, my MT ET street radials (255/60/15) won't hook in first gear on a good day. On 15 lbs, the car goes sideways from a 50 roll. 20+ lbs and I can leave stripes on the highway.
I took the heads off a month or so ago after running 30 PSI a few times. Pistons were perfect, rods were straight, head gaskets looked new.
I took the heads off a month or so ago after running 30 PSI a few times. Pistons were perfect, rods were straight, head gaskets looked new.
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From: Ohio
Stock aluminum 5.3 long block with a small cam, LS9 head gaskets and Chinese head studs. Truck intakes (have ran old and new styles). Stock ECU and stock 4L80e. Billet Borg Warner and eBay intercooler. Nothing special about the setup, just a well put together. The intake, turbo, and cam all start to build a lot of torque around 3000 RPM. On 20 lbs I made 650 ft-lbs at 3500ish RPM smoking the tires on the dyno.
Haven't been to the track with it as I still have a few suspension related thing to sort out. From a 50 roll, I've left a 9.90 car like a dot in the rear view on 24 lbs. Unfortunately, I've topped out my 80 lb injectors on pump gas, even though I have 70ish PSI of fuel pressure and dual pumps. I don't plan on turning it up... I like it right where it's at.
Haven't been to the track with it as I still have a few suspension related thing to sort out. From a 50 roll, I've left a 9.90 car like a dot in the rear view on 24 lbs. Unfortunately, I've topped out my 80 lb injectors on pump gas, even though I have 70ish PSI of fuel pressure and dual pumps. I don't plan on turning it up... I like it right where it's at.
Thread Starter
Teching In
Joined: Jun 2015
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From: Spartanburg S.C.
Stock aluminum 5.3 long block with a small cam, LS9 head gaskets and Chinese head studs. Truck intakes (have ran old and new styles). Stock ECU and stock 4L80e. Billet Borg Warner and eBay intercooler. Nothing special about the setup, just a well put together. The intake, turbo, and cam all start to build a lot of torque around 3000 RPM. On 20 lbs I made 650 ft-lbs at 3500ish RPM smoking the tires on the dyno.
Haven't been to the track with it as I still have a few suspension related thing to sort out. From a 50 roll, I've left a 9.90 car like a dot in the rear view on 24 lbs. Unfortunately, I've topped out my 80 lb injectors on pump gas, even though I have 70ish PSI of fuel pressure and dual pumps. I don't plan on turning it up... I like it right where it's at.
Haven't been to the track with it as I still have a few suspension related thing to sort out. From a 50 roll, I've left a 9.90 car like a dot in the rear view on 24 lbs. Unfortunately, I've topped out my 80 lb injectors on pump gas, even though I have 70ish PSI of fuel pressure and dual pumps. I don't plan on turning it up... I like it right where it's at.
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Joined: Mar 2014
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From: Ohio
Aluminum was 100 lbs lighter, and the sleeves on the 5.3 block are extremely thick, the block is much stronger than the original LS1 block. I'm not worried about the block.
The car weighs 3100 with full interior, a full tank of gas, and my super heavy street wheels. 18" wheels up front, 15" steel wheels on the back with MT ET radials (heavy tire).
Remove passenger and back seat, run 3 gallons in the tank, and swap to lighter wheels and tires all around, and I drop 160 lbs. I can knock another 100 lbs off with fiberglass, just don't see the need. I went with the aluminum block so I don't feel the immediate urge to go with fiberglass trunk, bumpers, etc.
The car weighs 3100 with full interior, a full tank of gas, and my super heavy street wheels. 18" wheels up front, 15" steel wheels on the back with MT ET radials (heavy tire).
Remove passenger and back seat, run 3 gallons in the tank, and swap to lighter wheels and tires all around, and I drop 160 lbs. I can knock another 100 lbs off with fiberglass, just don't see the need. I went with the aluminum block so I don't feel the immediate urge to go with fiberglass trunk, bumpers, etc.
Thread Starter
Teching In
Joined: Jun 2015
Posts: 15
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From: Spartanburg S.C.
Aluminum was 100 lbs lighter, and the sleeves on the 5.3 block are extremely thick, the block is much stronger than the original LS1 block. I'm not worried about the block.
The car weighs 3100 with full interior, a full tank of gas, and my super heavy street wheels. 18" wheels up front, 15" steel wheels on the back with MT ET radials (heavy tire).
Remove passenger and back seat, run 3 gallons in the tank, and swap to lighter wheels and tires all around, and I drop 160 lbs. I can knock another 100 lbs off with fiberglass, just don't see the need. I went with the aluminum block so I don't feel the immediate urge to go with fiberglass trunk, bumpers, etc.
The car weighs 3100 with full interior, a full tank of gas, and my super heavy street wheels. 18" wheels up front, 15" steel wheels on the back with MT ET radials (heavy tire).
Remove passenger and back seat, run 3 gallons in the tank, and swap to lighter wheels and tires all around, and I drop 160 lbs. I can knock another 100 lbs off with fiberglass, just don't see the need. I went with the aluminum block so I don't feel the immediate urge to go with fiberglass trunk, bumpers, etc.
You'll most likely do more harm than good doing anything to the engine. If you only want 500hp, leave it alone! Buy a gt45 turbo for $200 and run it with meth inj. You wouldn't need a cam, studs, head gaskts... or even an intercooler.
Thread Starter
Teching In
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From: Spartanburg S.C.
The only reason I was thinking those few supporting mods was to have a little extra piece of mind especially if I get bored and end up wanting a tad more power.
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From: Ohio
Meth injection is NEVER a bad idea. Ever. I can't even explain how many times it has saved my engine. I pinched my wastegate diaphragm changing springs and pegged my 30 lb boost gauge and didn't notice it right away. No idea how much boost I actually hit. When you're 15:1 lean and running 30 PSI with 10:1 compression showing almost ZERO knock, something saved your ***. It wasn't the junk pump gas I was running, either.