Hello everyone newbie to ls. Picked up a 4.8 off of a 2004 Tahoe for dirty cheap. I know there are so many combos of what people use to build. My engine will be going into a bmw e46. I do want to either turbo or supercharge it. My question is should I just leave the engine how it is with stock heads cam and get like a ls1 intake. And then turbo or supercharger or should I swap the heads and cam we well. How good are the stock valve springs? I will do arp head bolts and headgasket. Is there any other weak points in the engine I should know about? I don't really want to touch the bottom end. This will be for a drift application so I would like to stay high in the rpms. Some people will say do the research and I have been there are so many builds but I can't get a clear answer. Thank you guys.

 

Welcome to LS1Tech. What’s the mileage of the engine? 4.8’s are great for boost!

 

Thank you. And Im not sure because there was no odometer to check or anything. But I would assume it's 150k plus maybe even closer to 200k. That's why I was thinking of cleaning everything up and redoing all the gaskets and everything.

How good are the stock heads? Maybe with upgraded valve springs?

 

A cam and spring change is a great idea, maybe even an oil pump while your in the engine. Heads are ok. What are your power goals?

 

I'm looking for around 400-450 to the wheels plus being reliable. What cam would you recommend off shelf with smooth idle ? I don't want anything to choppy or anything trying to keep the car quiet I'm in California. Only thing I been looking at with these heads everyone says do valve springs... What valve springs would be good for boosted application?

 

400-450 with boost is easy peasy japoneasy with a 4.8
As far as springs go, when you talk to a camshaft company, order your springs at the same time. Tell your salesman exactly what your looking to do, and they will make it happen. TSP or Cammotion are a couple of great companies to deal with.

 

Thank you so much for the information. So I should be good with everything stock? Just do cam and valve springs and intake? Stock heads should hold up fine?

 

Another question I forgot to ask what about as far as the fuel injectors and coils? Or any other fuel related upgrades?

 

A FI build will require an injector that’s capable of much more fuel, so you’ll need to upgrade injectors and pump, and depending on pump, possibly a regulator. Factory coils are fine.

 

Ok thank you.

 

Take a look at some of the builds over in our Forced Induction section of the forum. Pay attention to fuel demand specs, cam specs, etc. You’ll learn plenty about what direction you need to go in no time. Enjoy the journey my friend.

 

Just look up Sloppy Mechanics and the "Don't BS Me" build. Lots of info on their wiki page.

 

At 400-450hp boosted you’d really only need valve springs and injectors(and obviously enough fuel pump and a way to tune it), the rest of the stock parts will make that no problem, maybe do an oil pump if it’s low on oil psi or for piece of mind

 

https://sites.google.com/site/sloppy...nt-bs-me-build