So finally picked up my 5.3 motor... has bearing wear bad (reason for being pulled) im just going to get the crank polished and new bearings.. but i can get a deal on some ls1 heads and a stock cam i just havent seen much information on if they will swap right onto the top of my 5.3(unless ive been looking/ searching the wrong things) could someone with alot more knowledge please chime in and let me know about this or should i just be looking at a truck cam?

the motor is going in a drift car so i need it to rev alot higher than the stock truck motor does stock and ive heard ls1 heads will allow that i just wanna make sure they are a direct replacement.

Brendon

 

I'm not by any means "highly knowledgeable" in the lsx world yet but I'm pretty sure everything is compatible. If I'm not mistaken ls1 heads are 317s? If that is correct they will lower compression in your case, remember I could be wrong. As far as the ls1 cam goes I'm not sure if that will give you any gains or not, I'd say at LEAST go with an ls6 zo6 cam. Aftermarket would be your best bet though. Just my .02 cents, hopefully someone more experienced in these engines will chime in and correct me if I'm wrong and be able to help you more than I can.

 

i mean i can get these heads for 150$ and im picking my motor up for another 150$ before any machine work cost so i just wanna make sure im spending my money in the right spots ya know


Brendon

 

Yeah I understand. Research what the number on ls1 heads are and what they will do to your compression first before buying. I'm assuming drifting you'd want a hi compression motor that screamed ? Not a low compression motor

 

yeah I need high rpms all the time and since this build is a NA build during stage 1 and there will be much more motor build coming once I get expenses of the swap done.

Brendon

 

No ls1 heads aren't 317s, they're either 806, 853, or 241s.

 

Yeah the ones I have the opportunity to grab are 241s

 

Are you planning on keeping it sbe? Porting the 241s or keeping them stock?

 

Id get the heads then have them ported.

 

sbe? im new to the v8 lingo ive been around the nissan import lingo so im not sure what you mean by sbe? but the motors going to have to handle some abuse i mean while sliding side to side drifting it will see oil starvation and constant rev limiter bounces and ive heard bang for the buck ls motors can handle that all day with the right set up which explains me making the leap.

Brendon

 

why not have the heads ported and freshened up by TSP/PRC for cheap? Correct me if I'm wrong but wouldn't moving to the larger 241's drop the compression by a fairly large margin?

 

If you plan on setting the rev limiter any higher than stock, you should replace the rod bolts. IIRC, the stock rod bolts should be good up to about 6600 to 6700 though

The stock cam quits making power at about 5700 rpm, so you should look into a cam that will make the power you need, in the RPM range you need it. Contact martin at Tick Performance about that.

If you get a cam, you will need new valve springs, and hardened push rods.
Stock springs will cause valve float at 6500-ish rpms, and can't handle much more lift than the factory cam. The increased pressure of the new springs will cause stock push rods to deflect, so you'll need hardened PR.

If you get all of that, and you find/need your peak power in the upper RPMs, you'll definitely want to upgrade the rod bolts.

I've heard Katech makes good rod bolts.

You might also need some new lifters too.

 

with a cam i was looking at getting new push rods and why cheap out and not get the hardend ones at that point but ive heard the heads and intake are whats most limiting to my power band (IIRC) id like to set my rev limit to 7k but ill be there most of the time while sliding.

just trying to get my ducks in a row before i spend money in the wrong spot

Brendon

everyone just keeps telling me to get the 383 stroker kit for it which i would love but i need to get this car back on the track. most times its a way of some extra money

 

For 7k work, you'll need the cam, push rods, dual valve springs (I'd get Ti retainers), high rev lifters, rod bolts, LS6 intake, or a FAST 102 if you can afford it, a set of ported 706 (5.3) heads, and a rocker trunion kit.

Seriously though, contact Martin. He will talk to you for as long as you need, and he will definitely help you make your car do, what you need it to do. I'd call him for a quicker response.

I'm sure there are different opinions out there though.

 

will ls6 intake work on the 5.3 and what are some of the other parts interchangable on the 5.3 and other style ls motors?

 

Everything between the 5.3 and ls1 interchanges, the iron blocks (4.8, 5.3, 6.0) have all the same bolt holes as the ls1 except for the 1 alternator bolt hole missing on the iron block..

 

will simply getting cam and ls1 heads and intake allow my motor to rev higher ive got hp tuner to retune my setup

 

I would do some rocker arm bearings .the 853 -806 truck heads ,have smaller chambers then the 241 head ,they share the same ports.some 243/799 heads will gain you 10 rwhp.get good rod bolts and resize the big end of the connecting rod.check Texas Speed for cams and kits .

 

ok so my crank isnt worth saving the spun bearing was that bad is there a crank that is a direct swap other than a 5.3

im also planning on roller rockers hardend push rods when doing cam im going to send the heads out to a shop to have all this done while im there i might just have them take care of the rest of the block arp bolts all over kinda deal and reassemble everything

 

Well, sounds like you should just find another engine. The L33 is an alum 5.3 that has much better heads, better rods. Add a cam, pushrods and springs.

Yes, ls1 or ls6 intake etc bolts on.

I think I'd lower my expectations of buzzing it to 7k all the time though. 6k would be much more reasonable.

Ron