DirtMcGirt

Hi folks. New here. I've spent the last few weeks scouring the web for info, and for the last 2 days reading about 30,000 pages here haha! Excellent resource and a seemingly helpful, friendly group you all have here. Nice to see!
Anyway, a few years ago I scored a 2003 5.3 truck engine with 80kms on it for a swap into an 85 CUCV but recently decided to put it in a 79 Malibu instead. I was going to leave it totally stock for the truck swap but now that it's going into a toy, I may as well "pump it up" a little while it's on the stand. It has 706 heads which I'm replacing with either 799 or 243 heads. I'm just going to have a stock rebuild done in the heads. My question first off is, will a used Z06 can from a 2013 vette work with this engine? If so, would it be worth it to use better springs, and would I need to swap out the lifters/pushrods etc? Or would it just be wiser to buy a whole new cam kit from someone?
My plan for this car/build is to have a rock solid reliable 375-400 hp power plant that I can take on the occasional road trip and have fun with around town. Occasional race track once in a while for fun. I don't care about having some gnarly lumpety lump cam, nor does it have to idle totally smooth. Again- reliable and low RPM useable power is what I'm after. Screaming up high in the RPM's is fun but totally unnecessary for what I want from this car. I'm likely going to keep the truck intake, but I don't mind upgrading injectors etc if needed. If this seems like a reasonable goal, I'd love to hear some ideas from you all about how I can build a good combination of parts to get there. I've read some great things about beehive springs and such, so any and all ideas are welcome. Oh, the ecm donor and intake are DBW. I have the pedal, tac module as well from the donor.
Sorry for the novel, thanks in advance!

moekluse

iTrader: (2)

As long as the cam attaches with 3 bolts on the sprocket you can use it

You can definatly make that kind of power, just need good heads, cam, and intake. You can use a stock truck intake, it will result in the same hp compared to ls1 intake but more torque due to longer runners.

KCS

iTrader: (20)

Making that cam work isn't really worth it IMO. It's been discussed over and over already, but it's basically because the 5.3l is a Gen III engine with the cam sensor in the back of the block, and that cam is a from a Gen IV engine with cam sensor in the front of the block. By the time you buy the supplemental parts to make it work, you could have gotten a better aftermarket cam.

DirtMcGirt

This is exactly what I needed to hear. Thanks KCS! Getting a cheap used camset isn't worth it if in have to buy a bunch of parts to band aid it in.

MaroonMonsterLS1

If you don't plan to spin it really high like some guys here, I'd look into reverse split cams. A tr227 or tr230 are old popular grinds. With 799's and headers, the intake side is going to be the choke point and these cams help crutch that while still delivering kick *** drivability. If you search my username, you'll find a thread discussing my idea for my 5.7

With those heads (and even some guys with stock 241 heads!!!), the right (reverse split) cam, and some standard "bolt ons" multiple cars have been in the 400-425 range na with reverse split cams, and usually all hit that number under 6500 rpm

It might not end up being what you like or what you go with, but it's definitely worth reading into in my opinion.

DirtMcGirt

Yah this kinda sounds like what I'm after. I've never heard of that type of cam set up. Is it worth beefing up the trunions, valves or springs? I read a thread about comp's beehive springs being the cats ***. Neccesary for this? Maybe I'll answer that question after I spend some time in the search bar here :-P
Thanks!

MaroonMonsterLS1

Springs and pushrods are typically a must with an aftermarket cam. Comp 918 or pac 1218 are popular choices for springs. I wouldn't bother with trunions, especially since you don't want to run crazy rpm. Valves in 799 heads shouldn't need anything changed. A valve job, or at least lapping them, is always a good idea when buying used heads.
For pushrods, be sure to measure for length. There's write-ups on how to do it. It's better to spend an extra $25 on a tool and get the right ones than to guess based on what other people have done and have the wrong length.