best bang 4 buck 5.3
09-19-2010, 08:14 PM
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best bang 4 buck 5.3 I guess this is the right place to post this. I am doing a 5.3 swap into a 89 iroc because the l98 is starting to get tired. TPI is junk and i can have a stock 5.3 INSTALLED for the cost of a stealth ram. Id like to get somewhere around thr 400 rwhp range and have a nasty cam in it. (one that deflowers virgins on lope alone). Gas milage and what not are not very important as this is a weekend car. (cant understand why anybody would daily a camaro anyways) My budget for this is around 3-4 thousand, i will be doing all the labor except for a tune. Ive built a few very nasty gen 1 sbcs but a lsx is a whole nother ball game.
If you were going to put a cam and heads on a 99 vortec 5.3, what would you go with?
Obviously a ls6 top end with cam would be awesome, but what about the compression loss?
Has anybody had good results with port and polish stock 5.3 heads?
What kind of valve springs, rockers, lifters are good? timing set?
On the bottom end, is the stock stuff going to hold up? arp rod bolts are must, but what else?
If you were going to put a cam and heads on a 99 vortec 5.3, what would you go with?
Obviously a ls6 top end with cam would be awesome, but what about the compression loss?
Has anybody had good results with port and polish stock 5.3 heads?
What kind of valve springs, rockers, lifters are good? timing set?
On the bottom end, is the stock stuff going to hold up? arp rod bolts are must, but what else?
09-19-2010, 10:14 PM
#4
The stock 5.3 is pretty stout. It can handle a little more lift than a stock LS1 given that it has dished pistons. I would probably give TSP a ring, they can set you up with a nice setup for a reasonable price. If you're looking at 400rwhp and a cam, you will need a stall/clutch as well. Personally I would be looking at a set of AFR 205's or something similar, a nice lopey cam, and a good tune. You should meet or exceed your goal pretty easily.
Or you can do like me and put a hairdryer in front of your 5.3
Or you can do like me and put a hairdryer in front of your 5.3
09-19-2010, 10:38 PM
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yup, that i did
afrs you say? those are susposed to be the best heads for all motors right? lol
with the dished pistons would i be better off to go with hyper flat tops?
who is tsp?
The stock 5.3 is pretty stout. It can handle a little more lift than a stock LS1 given that it has dished pistons. I would probably give TSP a ring, they can set you up with a nice setup for a reasonable price. If you're looking at 400rwhp and a cam, you will need a stall/clutch as well. Personally I would be looking at a set of AFR 205's or something similar, a nice lopey cam, and a good tune. You should meet or exceed your goal pretty easily.
Or you can do like me and put a hairdryer in front of your 5.3
Or you can do like me and put a hairdryer in front of your 5.3
with the dished pistons would i be better off to go with hyper flat tops?
who is tsp?
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09-19-2010, 10:41 PM
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Texas Speed over on the right side in the vendors. AFR are good, more expensive than a ported stock casting but you get what you pay for. If you want to get into the motor are rebuild it I guess you could go with flat tops, but if you're wanting a cam make sure you know what your PTV will be so you can get pistons with valve reliefs.
09-20-2010, 01:00 AM
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not only that, but theres no sense buying heads that flow a **** load. this is a tiny motor with a small bore, it doesnt need a bunch cyl head flow. you might pick up 20whp with a set of ported heads. you're gonna need ALOT of compression to get 380+whp.
09-20-2010, 05:44 AM
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we put a baby cam in a bone stock high mileage 5.3. Dont remember specs on cam but with was low 22x/22x on a 113 LSA and a good tune and it made 377whp threw a stock 4l60e. I dont see why a decent port and polish job and a cam spec'd for the motor wouldnt make 400whp if not a tad more. 5.3's are really good FI motors and can take a **** load of abuse. My buddies mustang has seen 15#'s on 93 octane a bunch. Still runs like a champ.
09-20-2010, 09:41 AM
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I think I'd just do a 6.0 instead of an AFR headed 5.3. Cheaper, easier, and way more low rpm torque. 400RWHP out of an LQ9 basically involves a cam and headers.
09-21-2010, 10:20 AM
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I know that a fully built 5.3L Vortec truck motor and a fully built 5.7L LS1 with the same LS6 intake manifold, TSP ported heads, a healthy cam in the mid 220s and the same 11:1 compression ratio make within 20-30 rwhp of each other. Seen it somewhere on the performancetrucks.net aka the sister site of LS1tech. I can't find the link but I remember the LS1 making 410 rwhp and the 5.3L version making 380ish rwhp, both thru automatics. I'd say go for it!!!
10-14-2017, 10:37 PM
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wrong. look up the cam only/full bolt on 5.3's. 33xwhp
not only that, but theres no sense buying heads that flow a **** load. this is a tiny motor with a small bore, it doesnt need a bunch cyl head flow. you might pick up 20whp with a set of ported heads. you're gonna need ALOT of compression to get 380+whp.
not only that, but theres no sense buying heads that flow a **** load. this is a tiny motor with a small bore, it doesnt need a bunch cyl head flow. you might pick up 20whp with a set of ported heads. you're gonna need ALOT of compression to get 380+whp.