ok guys, i have a 99 Z28 A4 B4C car...just bolt ons n a tune, best pass of 11.95 all stock internals...car wieghs about 3300 with me in it...

long story short i blew the head gasket on my 5.7 and i had to go out of town so i didnt have time to drain the water/oil, and now its hydrolocked, it was running but knocking horribly lol...

so i picked up a 5.3 lm7 out of a 00 silverado for less than $400(complete motor) and i plan on putting it in with a ms3 cam kit(springs, pushrods) ls7 lifters, ls6 intake and a BIG wet kit

but i know the 5.3 is about 60lbs heavier and makes less hp

has anybody on here done this? Thoughts? good idea? bad idea? etc

 

Its not a bad idea, it will just me more lazy down low with that cam in that motor...you'll be fine once you hit the spray though...

Lots for 5.3 turbo motors on the performancetruck website at the top of the page, they make great power wit ha 76mm..


Another option, if you have time, is to look for a 6.0 . You should be able to find a good deal on those as well..6.0's love ms3 cams

 

yea id love to go turbo with the 5.3 but i just cant afford it right now, thats the whole reason i went with the 5.3....ive had a cammed 6.0 car before and this car has seen faster times with a bolt on 5.7

im hoping it will at least break 11s with a cammed 5.3

 

It's been done many times, and if your on a tight budget and just want to get the car back together for some fun it's not a bad idea. MS3 is definitely going to be soft down low in the small cube motor though. With all that said for a few hundred bucks why not just slap it in and see what it will do on a big shot.

 

^Aaron hit the nail on the head. I blew my HCI LS1 up and threw a 5.3 together. (picked mine up for 120$ off a friend) i can still take it out and have fun with it but I'm not gonna lie without nitrous or a charger it's a piece of ****. Doesn't run anywhere near what my ls was like. I haven't dynod/made a pass in it since I put the ported ls6 intake on it but cam only with a stock ls1 intake and a half *** tune by me ( still learning the tuning game) it went 12.97@104. The only thing it's good for is going sideways around some turns and taking a **** on some srt4s.

 

yea i already have the motor, i already had the cam kit, and i already have a nitrous kit, and i know a good tuner....i figured what the hell ill give it a shot, after all i still have the damaged 5.7 and tax time is right around the corner and maybe i can pick up a 6.0 block

 

I had a 5.3l with a 233/239 tsp cam and it felt pretty strong. Never had it at the track before it spun a rod though. Im sure it would have hit 11s and probably made more power than the cammed lt1 it had.

 

im throwing a 99 5.3 in my 98 camaro. i got it with a bad block, but it had a bunch of other goodies so im taking the 5.3 (already had it) and throwing it in there. going to cam and spray it for a little bit then add a turbo down the road! although i may remove the crash bar and go with a tubular k member for more turbo clearance/save some weight because of the iron block.

 

my heads also had ls1 intake valves and the loathed 85mm bbk intake. I say if you dont mind the labor of putting it all back together then tearing it apart again do it, just so we can see some more 5.3l n/a and nitrous documentation on here, because all i see are boosted 5.3ls. oh, and i believe if your talking about an iron 5.3l, theyre about 110 pounds heavier than an ls1

 

oh wow i didnt realize it was that much heavier, i did some research on here and i gathered that they weigh about 60lbs more, me and buddy are doing it in our free time over the next few months(which i dont have much) if in fact my cammed 5.3 is slower than my bolt on ls1 it will be coming out pretty fast

 

if i cant go at least a 10.99 with the 5.3, ms3 cam, bolt ons, 150 wet shot........im not gonna be a happy person....i mean is that out of reach with the 5.3? bc like somebody mentioned all u ever see is 5.3/turbo combos, not 5.3/nitrous setups

my car has seen 11.20s with a 100 shot dry with just lid, headers, exhaust, ported tb, egr delete, dyno tune....with a built A4 and 3800stall and factory 10bolt with 3:42 gears

i believe shooting it for so long with the dry shot it was blew the head gasket, but oh well

 

Im sure 10.99 on spray is very plausible. Some 3.73s or 3.90s would shave some time off if you can hook.

How was your cammed 6.0l slower than your bolt on ls1? The obvious assumptions would be the extra 100lbs and a poor tune lol but im just curious

 

The car was a bolt on lq4 car with a 232/234 595/598 comp cam...tuned by rpm...best pass I made on motor with it was a 12.0, I might have made a 11.90 with it before but iim not sure....it did run a 11.0 with the same dry shot in the middle of july...it dynoed 420 on motor

And then my car now is a bolt on 5.7 and dynoed 310 lol and it has seen consistant 12.0 and d 11.90s....

 

Hmm interesting. Well im in for the 5.3l results

 

yea ill update this thread, i havent even started pulling the 5.7 out yet

 

I want to know myself. I have a 98 camaro and my ls1 is starting to read low oil pressure I thought about doing the same thing just to play with it while I build a motor for it.

 

Pretty easy swap, just drill & tap drivers ear for alternator bolt.

 

Aluminum 5.3 is the way to go, but they are a little harder to find...

 

josh....just do it......make it happen....i know u are not scared of spraying the **** out of it....and with the big stall...you will not notice the small cubic inch...

 

I have a carbed 5.3 going into my 01 camaro as well.....

Was a turbo car but for some reason i decided to go back to nitrous!

You should have NO issues going 10's on the little 5.3, im HOPING for 9.90's with my setup on a 200 hit.....