First off Big thanks to this forum and my years of lurking, watching other build threads, and reading a lot. Secondly another huge thanks to SAM miller at AMP for tuning my car on such short notice
Deets on the car:
2001 C5 Corvette Vert
Texas speed longtube headers, Vararam CAI, Slp loudmouth, 3600 stall, relocated battery.

Parts going in:
LsR 231/239 cam on 113 lsa, Stock 243’s, Btr valve springs, ebay double row radiator, powerbond 25% ud Balancer, C5R timing chain, new gaskets (stock MLS), new ls7 lifters, melling Hv oil pump, Ebay headstuds (alpine Motorsports) Arp Crank bolt, etc. etc.
Now for some pictures:
Stock 243’s: I got these off ebay for 300$ shipped to my door a few years back, cleaned them up my self, had a good friend of mine who is a machinist look them over, I wish I had milled them, but I was unsure of my PTV with such a big cam, So I didn’t.

BTR valve springs with shims for max spring pressure (awesome customer service BTW):

Ggetting old stuff out: the c5 really doesn’t give you a lot of wiggle room, but with the help of a friend of mine we got the radiator out ( it’s really a two person job)


Nasty timing cover:

Intake off:

Head off:

Pulling the balancer; Thank god for Harbor freight three jaw puller


Pulling the cam; Not a bunch of room, I used bungee cords to hold the ac condenser forward to get enough room to pull the camshaft.

Cleaning those damn graphite gaskets: I did use a 3m roloc pad on my air grinder bc the whole ice scraper thing was bullshit and I honestly think a dumb monkey couldn’t mess up the deck using the yellow roloc pads.

Driver side after I cleaned the block up:

Cam bearings:

Soaking the lifters: When I pulled the old cam and old lifters they were damn near perfect, I have been running Castrol 20-w50 with Lucas oil additive, I honestly believe this has truly kept my cam and lifters in tip top shape.

New cam; I coated it with melling engine assembly lube, due to the fact I didn’t know when my first start up was going to be and I didn’t want t rush my PTV checking or my pushrod length checking time.

Making sure the timing gear is lined up: It took me a little while to get it dot to dot, but I figured it out.

This is my paperwork from my PTV testing, I used the clay method with a ls7 soild lifter and a mls headgasket:

Some clay: I’m sorry I forgot which one this was. I wrote E or I in sharpie at the top of the clay but didn’t get a picture of it.


Putting things back together:

Pinning the crank:

Test fitting the new bigger radiator, Yes its overkill:


Old Dyno sheet: This was from a dyno day and the dyno was cutting out, but pretty sad if you ask me.

New dyno sheet after Sam miller worked is vodo on my car;

And of course the first start up video:
Overall there were pictures I didn’t take, pulling the rack and all that fun stuff. The only thing I hated about this build was the stupid lines that go to the steering box. I do have a nitrous kit on the car that I’m planning to spray 150-175 shot with nano until I get the mod bug again. Then I will fab my own rear mount turbo system with FMIC (one of the reasons I went with this cam). Let me know what you guys think. I was really shooting for 400hp cam only but Im pretty happy with the results.
Old track time: 1/8: 8.214 @ 86.62 mph and 12.748 @107.54 Mph in the 1/4
Almost forgot new track time is 1/8: 7.75 @ 92 MPH, no new 1/4 times bc dallas doesnt have any 1/4 tracks within a hr drive. : (

 

Nice subscribed and keep us updated

 

Very cool. Your combo is very similar to mine.

 

Thank you sir. I think I remember your cam specs; Don’t you have the Texas speed 233/239 cam? That was the original cam I wanted but I caught the lsr cam at a steal, just sucked because not a lot of people have run this cam. Sorry i told you guys I lurked on this forum for a good minute researching cams and different setups, not trying to sound like a creeper. lol

 

Mine is a 230/238 113+2 EPS grind

 

lol reading fails me, its in your sig... lol Thanks man

 

Bolt on c5 z06s make this kind of power. Don't understand why your car is so low given the parts you have and your track times are supporting it. Was the valve job checked for sealing power? and how much millibar did the machinist pull on it? Try running a 30w or even a 40w oil. These motors weren't designed for such thick oil.

 

Maybe you missed the part about it being a auto car? So it will show less power.

 

Is that the radiator from Engineered Cooling Products? That one has been in my radar for a few months now.

How do you like it?

 

Yes sir it is, I think for the price it's great. However it's so big I now do not run a front sway bar lol and I had to grind two metal tabs off the bottom , for it to fit. But that took all of two second with a angle grinder. After that the fit is perfect and actually my power duct on my vararam fit better with the bigger radiator than before, it's crazy but true.

 

Jim is correct it loses more hp through the auto trans. I know what your saying about the thick oil but I've ran it I'm this car for years and beat the **** out of it and everything internally looks new, if it's not broke why fix it?