Car blows smoke under WOT. Lots of it lol. It's burning about 1 quart of oil per month so I'm guessing the rings are done. It's been slowly getting worse and worse.

It's a cammed LS1 with pretty much stock heads (just minor porting).

Would I be better off getting an LS3 and throwing in a cam or should I rebuild this motor and get the heads ported etc.

Looking for 500+ hp at the motor with a nice lope.

 

LS3 all the way. Much easier to get 500+ out of LS3. In the dyno section, Lazerlamonte hit 470 HP and he's still on the stock cam.

 

What's the best place to source an LS3 from?

Also, any point in porting heads on an LS3 since you can easily pick up about 100 hp on the cam alone?

 

Sourcing, there are lots of places you can get them. I'd start by calling vendors from the list on the right. Lots of them have great reputations and it wouldn't be fair to single one out. you might find they have crate motors with enough cam in them already to hit your goals, so you wouldn't even need to screw around with the cam yourself either.

I don't have too much direct experience with LS3 heads.

From what I've seen, the LS3 heads do really well with RPM. I'd honestly cam it for some RPM, say 7200 shift points, and then if you're not happy with the power, look into porting the heads. But if you're looking at 500 as a target, the right bolt-ons and a decent cam would get you there and still not be too big a PITA to drive.

 

500 @ the Engine about 420-440 @ Wheels pretty easy with 347"
But I always recommend the largest Bore one can Afford/Justify
LOL!

 

Stock heads and PORT the intake or go FAST 102. With a 230 cam you will make 450 to the wheels.

 

MMS 223s, MAMOFIED FAST 102, 227/233 Cam 460 RWHP,
MMS220s, 475+ RWHP W 227/231.
Great Daily Driver, throttle response & drive ability.
The "Have your cake and eat it to" Scenario. LOL

 

I would personally do the LS3 as mentioned above if the budget is good for more cubes than that's the way I would go.

 

I totally missed 500 at the motor. I always assume rwhp. That said, my plan if I lose the bottom end is ls3 bottom end minimum

 

Hard to say. Might be rings or it might be the Valve seals.

Last month Norris Motorsports did a valve spring install on my TA because old springs were due for replacement after many miles with a fast ramp cam.

My TA was burning a lot of oil WOT before the BTR valve spring kit got installed. It still burns a little mostly because the top part of a valve guide is broken. My car went from half a quart every 1000-1500 miles to the oil level barley moved on the dip stick after 1500-1800 miles.

At WOT the car went from laying a smoke screen to a small puff of smoke at 5500-6000 rpm.

Most of my car's oil consumption was valve seal related it appears. The Valve spring kit was less than $250 and it took about 4-5 hours of labor.

That might be something to consider.

New motors are fun so replacement LS3 is also a good solution.

Best wishes

 

Thanks for the info. After researching a bit more I think my car has bad valve seals as well.