B Gordon

Let me preface this by saying that I am not looking for more performance.

What I am wanting is to figure out if it is workable to increase the red line on my engine from 6000 rpm to 7000 (or higher) without costing a large amount of cash.

Back ground;
The engine is stock and out of a 2000 Z28 SS and is in great condition.
Reason I want to up the red line is that the engine is installed in a Miata and I really like the sports car sound of the engine revving higher when running thru the gears.
I understand that it will probably not increase performance without a camshaft swap but I am fine with that.

First, I have no idea if the 5.7 version of the LS1 engine can even be safely be revved that high with (hopefully) one or two inexpensive changes.
Second, if it can be done, what all needs to be upgraded to make it happen and keep the engine happy?
Valve springs & tune are what I am hoping would let it happen.

Thanks for any guidance.

Bruce

ss.slp.ls1

iTrader: (36)

Things that come to mind:
-tune
-arp rod bolts (hone rod ends and balance assembly if possible)
-new springs w/ titanium valve train
-Kaytech C5R chain upgrade or at least a LS2 timing set
-trunnion roller rocker upgrade

Not sure about:
-ported/high pressure oil pump, could be done for peace of mind

Good luck with the build, hopefully one day you can get a cam in there w/ a LS6 or FAST on top to take advantage of the rpm's and air. But I know just how budgets can go...

pdxmotorhead

See if you can find a set of 180 degree headers, and/or put some boom tubes on it if you can fit it..
They get a growl thats impressive.. With teh180 headers you'll not be dropping a oil pan ever without major work though..

B Gordon

Thanks for the comments & information.

Headers are shorty style and are not going to change as it is part of the Flyin Miata exhaust system.

Darth_V8r

iTrader: (4)

Install a set of PSI 1511 springs and Titanium retainers, and you can push to 7K as long as the rest of the package will support it. LS2 timing chain is a good measure -- $38 from cloyes. Upgrade the pushrods to 5/16 x .080 at a minimum. Honestly, I prefer 11/32 or 3/8, but PSI1511 are not crazy high spring rates. That will get you to 7K safely with no other changes required - other than changes to actually continue to make power at higher RPM, such as intake, exhaust, etc

01CamaroSSTx

iTrader: (3)

Turning to 7,000 on stock is a roll of the dice! When a rod goes its not going to be good for you and if one does let go or in my case break in half you can say goodbye to your block!

wannafbody

iTrader: (2)

What's the point with a stock cam? A stock cam should lose power after about 6200 rpm.

HCI2000SS

iTrader: (2)

Like mentioned above, there is no point in revving that high with the stock cam. The stock cam is done by 6k

G Atsma

And revving that high just to impress the troops with a "sports car sound" is tempting fate, especially if the engine is not built to handle that kind of revving.
I thought the whole point of a nice big LS is that you DON'T need to rev it to make power. Heck, an LS beats a Miata engine just off idle...

NSFW

Oh come on... the entire point of this thread was to learn what's needed "to handle that kind of revving."

Darth_V8r

iTrader: (4)

I kind of disagree its time to shift once power peaks. Power past peak is quite useful. If you shift right at peak power you lose tremendous torque on the upshift due to gear multiplication. Especially on a manual. On a stock cam with bolt ons I typically see 6700 being close to the optimal shift point where you are not losing RW tq on the upshift. On cammed engines that peak around 6500, I tend to see 7300 as being optimal.

NSFW

Great pics, Darth.

B Gordon

I didn't mean to open a big can of worms but it does seem the whole shift point question has more aspects than I have ever considered.
The two pictures that Darth seem to do a good comparison of how shift RPM can effect overall performance with the upper chart seeming to keep the engine in the power band better.

Since there were a couple of valid posts mentioning that 7000 rpm is potentially higher than the bottom end can handle, would 6500 RPM be a safe red line for that portion of the engine or is 6000 RPM simply the upper end of what the stock LS1 can handle without tearing into the engine and changing out bottom end components?

At some point it is my intention to change out top end to get another 100 HP but that is probably a year or two down the road.
Gotta enjoy all of the $ spent to this point by driving the car for a year or two before doing another round of upgrades.
Was hoping that simply changing out the valve springs might let me bump up the red line for the time being since that can be done in a few hours and not needing to remove all the stuff that a top end upgrade would require.

Darth_V8r

iTrader: (4)

Nothing to apologize for. It's a cool discussion. And actually on the pics I did below, if the dyno had gone out further, and it were my engine, I'd have revved it further. I personally feel that your stock bottom end is OK to 7000, but that's where I'd set the limiter. The first weakness is the rod bolts, but changing rod bolts will require resizing the pistons. Katech used to have a stock replacement bolt that was stronger and did not require resizing, but I think that's no longer on the market.

That said, I took my stock bottom end VERY far, and it saw 7500 RPM on occasion, but not every day

ddnspider

iTrader: (26)

Used LS6 cam and LS6/2 springs, couple hundred bucks and then you can really benefit from revving to 6500+ for minimal money.

farmington

iTrader: (14)

B Gordon

That is just wrong on so many levels.

G Atsma

And yet it feels so right....

wannafbody

iTrader: (2)

Put a flowmaster on it so it sounds like a Ford

dreadpirateroberts

iTrader: (1)

most people just slap an x-pipe on an LS when they want an "exotic" sound.