LS1 boost setup advice
Thread Starter
Teching In
Joined: Jun 2018
Posts: 14
Likes: 0
From: Cambridgeshire, UK
LS1 boost setup advice To cut a long story short . We race a super comp dragster in the UK and have a few spare parts on hold as a backup .. so between us we've decided to build a bit of a fun track car out of my 2000 camaro to drive on race weekends when we arent using the dragster . It will be street/strip as the car will need to be driven to the track thats only 40 mins away from our house as the dragster takes up our lorry "truck" but as for street driveability that will be its only street use and if it ends up non street legal thats no problem either
We're going to use our 2000+hp rated powerglide and axle.. ect so we have all those bases covered that the car will be able to handle around he 700-800hp benchmark we're loosely aiming for no sweat and we're planning on using a B-W S475 for the turbo side of things
But my question is how much work will we have to do on the stock ls1 the camaro currently has for it to support the boost setup we're looking for ? And annoyingly living in the UK shipping over a 5.3 or any kind of long block just isnt a option due to the huge shipping bill and import duty "a freind of mine paid £700 on shipping over a truck wing"
so we have to ideally build our ls1 to the kind of spec we're aiming for "nearly every thread i look at jumps to changing the block"
i know the rest of the running gear is far too advanced hp rating for the engine but as i say this is just a car we're putting together for a bit of fun and one where we can be confident we wont break a lot of parts doing so
Cheers for any advice people can send my way
Paul
We're going to use our 2000+hp rated powerglide and axle.. ect so we have all those bases covered that the car will be able to handle around he 700-800hp benchmark we're loosely aiming for no sweat and we're planning on using a B-W S475 for the turbo side of things
But my question is how much work will we have to do on the stock ls1 the camaro currently has for it to support the boost setup we're looking for ? And annoyingly living in the UK shipping over a 5.3 or any kind of long block just isnt a option due to the huge shipping bill and import duty "a freind of mine paid £700 on shipping over a truck wing"
so we have to ideally build our ls1 to the kind of spec we're aiming for "nearly every thread i look at jumps to changing the block"
i know the rest of the running gear is far too advanced hp rating for the engine but as i say this is just a car we're putting together for a bit of fun and one where we can be confident we wont break a lot of parts doing so
Cheers for any advice people can send my way
Paul
With a decent size cam and good flowing heads, you won't need a lot of boost to hit your HP goal. With a decent (no need for great) valvetrain, you should be able to spin it up over 7k rpm. Given the strength of the 6 bolt main design, this adds up to a pretty straightforward build. While the original ls1 block is widely considered the weakest of the ls based series, it is by no means a weakling. The big issues I see are people who want big CR for off boost power and people who want to boost the hell out of baby cams for big power with smooth streetability. The big CR guys have a tiny tuning window and the baby cam guys need a lot of boost. If you are willing to use lower compression and a good size cam I see no reason for worry.
From my collection of readings and impressions...
That's all I can think of off the top of my head.
Good luck to you! Those BW 475's seem to really produce great power from what I've seen here in the forums.
- ARP or equivalent Chinese stud kit
- LS9 head gasket
- LS7 or better lifters
- BTR trunnion upgrade
- block deck cleaned and true for the best gasket sealing surface
- Heads with thickest decks and largest chambers (to drop Compression). If you can arrive at/about 9.0 or 9.5 to 1 static CR, you'll still have decent off boost torque yet something you can boost to 21 safely if the tune is right. Do you have E85 over there?
- If you have static compression that's a tad on the high side, some cam designs can bleed off some of that, but the tune, as GameTech said, becomes ever more important and treacherous.
- If its in your budget, forged pistons(I'm using Wiseco) and forged rods(mine are Compstars) and good rings gapped for for boost will give you (more) piece of mind.
- The tune. Will you be doing your own? Do you have HPTuners or will you be using MS (Mega Squirt) or one of the other more intuitive ECM's? I've been using HPTuners for my car and a friends 2011 Supercharged Camaro SS. It's nice to have that 'off the cuff' ability when you change your configuration(and another way to enjoy your car).
- Your cam. Did you have one in mind? I was told the stock LS9 cam was a good one(very inexpensive in contrast to the aftermarket too). I ended up going with the Isky Triple 12 because I street drive most of the time but it still has taken my 3650 lb car, off the street and onto the track 6.4 @ 112mph in the 8th mile.
That's all I can think of off the top of my head.
Good luck to you! Those BW 475's seem to really produce great power from what I've seen here in the forums.
TECH Enthusiast
Joined: Aug 2006
Posts: 531
Likes: 0
From: Land Of Enchantment
No doubt in my mind that a LS1 can make the type of power your trying to hit. If you do what the guy above is suggesting I'll put money on it you'll hit your goal. I know a car that's has some of those same parts on it and it's around that horse power level. It can be done with the LS1.
9 Second Club
Joined: Nov 2003
Posts: 13,616
Likes: 185
From: Norn Iron
To cut a long story short . We race a super comp dragster in the UK and have a few spare parts on hold as a backup .. so between us we've decided to build a bit of a fun track car out of my 2000 camaro to drive on race weekends when we arent using the dragster . It will be street/strip as the car will need to be driven to the track thats only 40 mins away from our house as the dragster takes up our lorry "truck" but as for street driveability that will be its only street use and if it ends up non street legal thats no problem either
We're going to use our 2000+hp rated powerglide and axle.. ect so we have all those bases covered that the car will be able to handle around he 700-800hp benchmark we're loosely aiming for no sweat and we're planning on using a B-W S475 for the turbo side of things
But my question is how much work will we have to do on the stock ls1 the camaro currently has for it to support the boost setup we're looking for ? And annoyingly living in the UK shipping over a 5.3 or any kind of long block just isnt a option due to the huge shipping bill and import duty "a freind of mine paid £700 on shipping over a truck wing"
so we have to ideally build our ls1 to the kind of spec we're aiming for "nearly every thread i look at jumps to changing the block"
i know the rest of the running gear is far too advanced hp rating for the engine but as i say this is just a car we're putting together for a bit of fun and one where we can be confident we wont break a lot of parts doing so
Cheers for any advice people can send my way
Paul
We're going to use our 2000+hp rated powerglide and axle.. ect so we have all those bases covered that the car will be able to handle around he 700-800hp benchmark we're loosely aiming for no sweat and we're planning on using a B-W S475 for the turbo side of things
But my question is how much work will we have to do on the stock ls1 the camaro currently has for it to support the boost setup we're looking for ? And annoyingly living in the UK shipping over a 5.3 or any kind of long block just isnt a option due to the huge shipping bill and import duty "a freind of mine paid £700 on shipping over a truck wing"
so we have to ideally build our ls1 to the kind of spec we're aiming for "nearly every thread i look at jumps to changing the block"
i know the rest of the running gear is far too advanced hp rating for the engine but as i say this is just a car we're putting together for a bit of fun and one where we can be confident we wont break a lot of parts doing so
Cheers for any advice people can send my way
Paul
Really...keep it simple. If your goals really are only 7-800hp it is easy.
buy a set of rods/pistons and throw them in. ARP head studs, LS9 gaskets ( although normal 5.7 LS MLS head gaskets will be fine too ) and suitable headwork would be a sensible option as well as a cam upgrade. But still not essential.
After that, just a simple turbo fab kit and you're done.
You could probably even forego the rods, but rods are just so damn cheap it doesnt make much sense not to, likewise with pistons. Whether Callies, Molnar, K1, all the cheap rods will be perfectly fine and moving to a 0.927 pin opens up more piston options anyway.
or if it is really on a tight budget I've a set of very good, little use standard bore 5.7 Mahle pistons that will drop the CR a little too I'd sell. I used them years ago for a while before upgrading to a bigger engine.
And usually lots of guys selling stuff here
https://www.facebook.com/groups/1375...?ref=bookmarks
BTN Performance have regular BW 475's in stock too for not too crazy money
But if you're considering other engines, Stefan Rossi has been advertising various long motors just recently from 5.3's to LS3's. Although also factor in what method of tuning/ecu you will be using.
Thread Starter
Teching In
Joined: Jun 2018
Posts: 14
Likes: 0
From: Cambridgeshire, UK
Really...keep it simple. If your goals really are only 7-800hp it is easy.
buy a set of rods/pistons and throw them in. ARP head studs, LS9 gaskets ( although normal 5.7 LS MLS head gaskets will be fine too ) and suitable headwork would be a sensible option as well as a cam upgrade. But still not essential.
After that, just a simple turbo fab kit and you're done.
You could probably even forego the rods, but rods are just so damn cheap it doesnt make much sense not to, likewise with pistons. Whether Callies, Molnar, K1, all the cheap rods will be perfectly fine and moving to a 0.927 pin opens up more piston options anyway.
or if it is really on a tight budget I've a set of very good, little use standard bore 5.7 Mahle pistons that will drop the CR a little too I'd sell. I used them years ago for a while before upgrading to a bigger engine.
And usually lots of guys selling stuff here
https://www.facebook.com/groups/1375...?ref=bookmarks
BTN Performance have regular BW 475's in stock too for not too crazy money
But if you're considering other engines, Stefan Rossi has been advertising various long motors just recently from 5.3's to LS3's. Although also factor in what method of tuning/ecu you will be using.
buy a set of rods/pistons and throw them in. ARP head studs, LS9 gaskets ( although normal 5.7 LS MLS head gaskets will be fine too ) and suitable headwork would be a sensible option as well as a cam upgrade. But still not essential.
After that, just a simple turbo fab kit and you're done.
You could probably even forego the rods, but rods are just so damn cheap it doesnt make much sense not to, likewise with pistons. Whether Callies, Molnar, K1, all the cheap rods will be perfectly fine and moving to a 0.927 pin opens up more piston options anyway.
or if it is really on a tight budget I've a set of very good, little use standard bore 5.7 Mahle pistons that will drop the CR a little too I'd sell. I used them years ago for a while before upgrading to a bigger engine.
And usually lots of guys selling stuff here
https://www.facebook.com/groups/1375...?ref=bookmarks
BTN Performance have regular BW 475's in stock too for not too crazy money
But if you're considering other engines, Stefan Rossi has been advertising various long motors just recently from 5.3's to LS3's. Although also factor in what method of tuning/ecu you will be using.
cheers stevie ! That actually helps me out loads do you race in the uk yourself then if you know stefan and the uk LS page ? ive never seen those guys on facebook i usually keep my eye open on that uk drag racing parts for sale page but hardly anything ever comes up
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Thread Starter
Teching In
Joined: Jun 2018
Posts: 14
Likes: 0
From: Cambridgeshire, UK
From my collection of readings and impressions...
That's all I can think of off the top of my head.
Good luck to you! Those BW 475's seem to really produce great power from what I've seen here in the forums.
- ARP or equivalent Chinese stud kit
- LS9 head gasket
- LS7 or better lifters
- BTR trunnion upgrade
- block deck cleaned and true for the best gasket sealing surface
- Heads with thickest decks and largest chambers (to drop Compression). If you can arrive at/about 9.0 or 9.5 to 1 static CR, you'll still have decent off boost torque yet something you can boost to 21 safely if the tune is right. Do you have E85 over there?
- If you have static compression that's a tad on the high side, some cam designs can bleed off some of that, but the tune, as GameTech said, becomes ever more important and treacherous.
- If its in your budget, forged pistons(I'm using Wiseco) and forged rods(mine are Compstars) and good rings gapped for for boost will give you (more) piece of mind.
- The tune. Will you be doing your own? Do you have HPTuners or will you be using MS (Mega Squirt) or one of the other more intuitive ECM's? I've been using HPTuners for my car and a friends 2011 Supercharged Camaro SS. It's nice to have that 'off the cuff' ability when you change your configuration(and another way to enjoy your car).
- Your cam. Did you have one in mind? I was told the stock LS9 cam was a good one(very inexpensive in contrast to the aftermarket too). I ended up going with the Isky Triple 12 because I street drive most of the time but it still has taken my 3650 lb car, off the street and onto the track 6.4 @ 112mph in the 8th mile.
That's all I can think of off the top of my head.
Good luck to you! Those BW 475's seem to really produce great power from what I've seen here in the forums.
and also we're planning on chanhing all the ecm and things like that but we're still open to options on what one and thats the same with the cam too we dont have a exact one in mind yet but we know we're going to need to change it before we build the engine
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9 Second Club
Joined: Nov 2003
Posts: 13,616
Likes: 185
From: Norn Iron
I've only chatted to Stefan briefly via FB, but it was a couple of the aircooled guys who first had me in contact with him ( as I had some parts for sale he was interested in ). I dont think I've actually met him, although I was at VW Action the last couple of years so may well have done without knowing at the time ( didnt make it this year though )
Sadly I just dont get across as much as I'd like to race, it's just so expensive ( I'm in Northern Ireland ). So I've only been to pod myself once in the last 10 years or so, although have been over a few times with a friends car. Although prior to that I was over quite often. But goals etc and finances changed so just sort of lost interest. Especially when all too often I travel all that way to sit either in the fire up lane queuing for hours and going nowhere, or watching their tractors drive up and down the track. You tend to lose motivation.
Hopefully 2019 will see that change though and would love to get to the Doorslammers in May. But will see how it goes. Even if I dont enter, I'll defo be over to watch. Really gutted I missed it this year, as even watching on the net it was superb.
But the FB page will see more LS stuff for sale than the UK Drag racing page so always worth keeping an eye out.
Even some of the books on Amazon are still worth a nosey at, but you dont need to go crazy with it if it's just for a bit of fun.
etc etc etc.
No doubt most of their content is available online too, but it's handy with it in one place even to read on paper whilst having a **** lol
Sadly I just dont get across as much as I'd like to race, it's just so expensive ( I'm in Northern Ireland ). So I've only been to pod myself once in the last 10 years or so, although have been over a few times with a friends car. Although prior to that I was over quite often. But goals etc and finances changed so just sort of lost interest. Especially when all too often I travel all that way to sit either in the fire up lane queuing for hours and going nowhere, or watching their tractors drive up and down the track. You tend to lose motivation.
Hopefully 2019 will see that change though and would love to get to the Doorslammers in May. But will see how it goes. Even if I dont enter, I'll defo be over to watch. Really gutted I missed it this year, as even watching on the net it was superb.
But the FB page will see more LS stuff for sale than the UK Drag racing page so always worth keeping an eye out.
Even some of the books on Amazon are still worth a nosey at, but you dont need to go crazy with it if it's just for a bit of fun.
etc etc etc.
No doubt most of their content is available online too, but it's handy with it in one place even to read on paper whilst having a **** lol