5.3 Truck LS Help
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Teching In
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5.3 Truck LS Help There's a junkyard near my house that has a running 5.3 long block out of a 2001 Chevrolet Silverado 1500 for 200 bucks, which I think is quite a steal. I'm a first time engine builder (I hesitate to even say that) and I'm looking to take said powerplant and get around 425-450 out of it. The eventual goal is to put it into a, you guessed it, 1972 Nova that I picked up also for pretty low dollar. What parts can I put on it for under $1,500.00 that will get me in that ballpark horsepower number? The car is intended to be a daily driver that just has some getup to it when I want to bury my foot in the loud pedal by the way. Any help is appreciated. Thanks in advance.
-Max
-Max
Flywheel HP you can easily get there without spending much on the engine, certainly no "building".
What does the $1500 have to buy? Have you considered the fuel and exhaust systems, wiring etc?
What does the $1500 have to buy? Have you considered the fuel and exhaust systems, wiring etc?
Thread Starter
Teching In
Joined: Feb 2014
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-Max
That IS a steal.
truth, I got my 5.3 with no wiring, acc, or injectors for 300... and THAT is cheap by most standards... I'd jump on it man. With that budget, that motor is a great starting point to get the power you're wanting.
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-Max
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I've seen a number of stock 5.3 dynos that were around 330 at the flywheel.
A simple tune puts them at ~350. From there a nice cam will get you another 50 HP. Doesn't have to be big. TSP 224r is a good sized cam for a very mild 5.3. Now you're at 400. Long-tubes and a nice exhaust could inch you up to that 425. That should put you under your $1500 budget.
500 for cam/springs, 500 for headers/exhaust, 500 for a tune. Each of those could sway $200 depending on the effort you put into them.
A simple tune puts them at ~350. From there a nice cam will get you another 50 HP. Doesn't have to be big. TSP 224r is a good sized cam for a very mild 5.3. Now you're at 400. Long-tubes and a nice exhaust could inch you up to that 425. That should put you under your $1500 budget.
500 for cam/springs, 500 for headers/exhaust, 500 for a tune. Each of those could sway $200 depending on the effort you put into them.
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Thread Starter
Teching In
Joined: Feb 2014
Posts: 4
Likes: 0
I've seen a number of stock 5.3 dynos that were around 330 at the flywheel.
A simple tune puts them at ~350. From there a nice cam will get you another 50 HP. Doesn't have to be big. TSP 224r is a good sized cam for a very mild 5.3. Now you're at 400. Long-tubes and a nice exhaust could inch you up to that 425. That should put you under your $1500 budget.
500 for cam/springs, 500 for headers/exhaust, 500 for a tune. Each of those could sway $200 depending on the effort you put into them.
A simple tune puts them at ~350. From there a nice cam will get you another 50 HP. Doesn't have to be big. TSP 224r is a good sized cam for a very mild 5.3. Now you're at 400. Long-tubes and a nice exhaust could inch you up to that 425. That should put you under your $1500 budget.
500 for cam/springs, 500 for headers/exhaust, 500 for a tune. Each of those could sway $200 depending on the effort you put into them.
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Brett Foote
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http://www.texas-speed.com/p-1146-te...-camshaft.aspx
Camshafts similar to these pop up on the for sale forums quite often. Nothing wrong with running a used cam if its still in good shape. This is where that $200 swing comes into play. Most new camshafts are going to be very simliar to this one in price. Its a very mild cam that performs very well. PAC 1218 springs can be found cheap and are a great bang for the buck for any cam below .600" lift.
New headers are going to be about $500. Exhaust will be another $200 unless you want true duals with mufflers out the back. Thats the $200 swing. There are also some cheap longtubes that fit Nova LS swaps and are about $250. A nice cheap short exhaust the dumps before the rear axle would be another $100 or so, so there's your $200 swing in the other direction.
A tune is the other. You can buy HPtuners yourself for $500 and tune it. Or you can find a shop that knows HP tuners and they'll probably charge you roughly the same. You could do it cheaper if you found someone local with some leftover credits on their HPtuners that would give you a quick tune for the cost of credits. You might be able to knock more than $200 of from the $500 if you do it that way.
