So here will be a lengthy update on the colorado.

after pushing to over 1000whp with the SBE and the 6.0, and the billet 80, and the 210lb injectors and the holley efi, triple billet lockup converter.

i was certainly happy with my results, and with what i learned, but i am a budget performance guy at heart and it hurt my feelings to see all the money in the truck as is, and as i created a video "what to buy 2017" that highlighted what people should buy if they "don't care to research" or have a horrible time building their own success, they can just copy a list of my favorite parts and throw them together and make 500whp for ice cream and burnouts

meaning of course, a good ceiling and build point and capable parts 500whp through an automatic is alot for people that have never actually driven something with it...

anyway i digress, so i vowed to use the parts on my list and show you guys in a build how to do it, how easy it is, results out of it and share all the info, tunes and more!

"what turbo ls stuff to buy 2017 edition"

starting of the budget colorado build

plan was to obviously make something very accessable as i always preach, so i went with a 2002 4.8l complete, with wiring harness and accessories for 500$, i said i would use the 228/230 elgin grind cam shaft because it sounds badass and works great for motor and turbo, stock ecu, stock rewired harness, readily avaiable turbo kit from VS racing with my name attached to it of course, stock Decapped injectors, and all stock hardware otherwise, with the acception of my favorite in tank fuel pump....

and again i vowed to video and show how to do it, start to finish, how easy it is, no special ****, no frills, and here we are

here is the entire project affectionately labeled

"project dont bs me"
youtube playlist
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?lis...EliGdvmbu52vYq

entire budget spreadsheet
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets...it?usp=sharing


and here we are, i will try to summarize front to back

so i bought the 2002 4.8, sent the harness to andy bryant at lsx specialties and he rewired, i took the stock 25lb injectors and decapped them, sent them to eric derr to flow test so i could verify flow.
i got a billet 7875 turbo from viren at VSracing along with my intercooler and piping, a stock p01 ecu from the junkyard valued at 30$
installing the "sloppy stage 2" as its affectionately become known as for 240$ off ebay, and some pac1218 valvesprings both from ebay

after that i reinstalled my budget used PTC 3800 supercharged 80e converter i bought from a friend for use with this project for 400

installed all of it, rewired the car, kept flex sensor, uninstalled 2 of my 3 450 pumps so i could figure out the limits of the single pump and not BS anyone etc etc etc of course to go with the theme.

so after all was said and done i did manage to make 521whp @ 14psi 15deg at 98% injector @78% alcohol. pretty awesome

it looks like it might be showing a little bit of valvetrain instability at 6000ish more than likely because of the rowdy camshaft and single spring. but the purpose of the build was to have something that sounds rowdy, is reliable, drives nice, makes 500+whp unlocked auto, and can run flex etc

all the check boxes marked off here...

everything was documented and showed how, there is no smoke and mirrors.
i am super happy with this build and how it went, happy to show people you can stay in a budget and do this kind of thing, and happy to give people a list they can follow to build something with their kids or have fun with their friends etc.

i will be making some passes with it as is, also swapping to p59 ecu and writing a base tune for people to use with that also with narrow band 02 sensors working, then possibly doing even more testing on random things to learn of they are worth it or not etc.

 

Thank you!

 

http://sloppymechanics.com/tune-cabinet/

updated tune cabinet page to have 3.0 scanner layout and channels to load and use if you are starting with nothing thanks to Chris Ortiz for supplying me with them i just modded them, also put up colorado tune as is, as i will probably be touching it up a little but its good enough for you guys to get in trouble, moving to p59 ecu in a week or two to focus on that for people

 

+1 for sharing your wins and losses. It has been of great help, and entertainment.

 

You are the best man. Ive been rolling around on a P59 in my F-body for a few months now. I havent touched the E85 side yet, but with your help, Im sure ill be pushing my luck in no time.

 

i have the p01 tuneup available already, you could compare notes on it

 

Which "kit" did you like driving around more. Looks like they both put down some serious power for cheap. Thanks!

 

Digging the spring changer, looks like it could double as some kind of "home protection device".....


I'll be watching for when you change ecu's and take advantage of e85 tuning and the other benefits of the later model computers(witch I am totally clueless about)... not sure I would change over to one, but deff interested in learning their functions.

 

He's giving Hot Rodding back to the people! Good job Matt!
Cool build. It'll be fun to see this one hit the track.

 

Thanks for all the info as always dude.

Do you think that if I do a compare and segment swap from an 08 Express P59 (with 3 bar RTT) to my existing 03 Tahoe P59 it'll work? I'm down for just giving it a go, but I don't want to brick my ****.

 

yes you should be able to match and copy over similar OS or identical OS stuff easily

or you can wait a week and load my p59 tune with a write entire

 

i am already doing e85 tuning with the p01 its working great, there is just a delay for when the mix takes effect

 

I have only used Holley HP, wouldn't you need HP tuners to use the stock ECU?
How did the 4.8 feel down low, esp with the cam-the 6.0 prob is better for low end performance vs a 4.8, but curious since you had both how was the
"ice cream" (lol) driveability.
I never did find a phone # for VS Racing, but he seems to email pretty quick, but I have never been much of an email type when it comes to parts selection.
Really app. all you do for the LS bunch, prob have sent shock waves thru the expensive performance industry, lol

 

I watched all the videos as you did this latest version. Really enjoyed the info and your way of doing things.

How do you think the cast 7875 would work compared to the billet 7875 you used on this one? Is the billet worth the extra $155 if you just want a simple 500rwhp grocery getter? You made 521rwhp at 78%e, what do you think it would make on 91-93 octane gas (we don't have e85 local)?

 

When you're referring to using the stock feed for the return(mine is a 75 Dart Swinger, you mean basically drill and plumb a new feed 3/8's line for the 380 pump and route the return back through the factory hard line right? Mine was a carb'ed /6 car prior to 78/75 LS-T swap, and the fuel system seems to be a chunk of the money by going with a $500+ tank from tanks inc(via summit/ebay) already plumbed and setup for FI with a walbro 400 in tank already. Any cam recommendations for a 2008 5.3 that will work with the pac springs?

 

Anyway you could see how much RPM that spring/cam combo is capable of? I’d think 6k is way under revving it for that cam on a 4.8? Maybe drop the boost and rev it out to 7k to see if the springs will allow it? The gen3 rods may live longer if you don’t hammer them with tons of power/boost at lower RPM too.

We are doing some pump testing with multiple $23 044 clones at the moment. So far results are pretty awesome. 100+psi no problem. 2 of these inline (boost activated) with a 450 supply could bump your pressure up to 130+ range… making those 72lb injectors act like 125lb injectors for under $50. I'll send them to you after we are done with the tests if you want to play with them.

 

Anymore details on that valve spring tool? Love the handle that quickly compresses the spring instead of having to crank down on a nut forever to compress it. It seems like it would need to pivot around the stud somehow...

Love your videos, been watching for a few years now, i remember when you hooked up the horn of the rental Lincoln Town Car to a nitrous switch and sprayed the ***** off it

 

I really want to see the results, and I rarely look at the page here... Guess I'll have to start looking more frequently.

 

I just have to say what you are doing for the car community is awesome. This is hot rodding at its best.

Before I went turbo ls, I played with carbed stroker small blocks and the old guys treated the information like secret recipes... it was tough learning. With your information, I had the confidence to go forward alone.

 

yeah, i would replace with the 3/8 feed and return on the stock feed in your case yes