I Hey guys,
I'm looking for some help, thinking of trying dump little more money into my 383 ls1 to pull the most power out of it. I'm looking for your advices. I'm trying keep myself getting caught up in chasing the rabbit the hole for a dyno number. At the same time would like to maximize my build. Going give you a full build break down and want see whats your thoughts are. Some most common questions I see is "how dose it drive?" "dose it respond well?" well it drives amazing for street use and autoX, the torque gets the 3360lb Camaro moving (+195lbs for race weight). Throws you back and absolute bullet best part is at 25mph you can lay on the throttle the car hooks and moves. Done very well on 25-130mph highway pulls. Great set up for long driving traffic jams little bit of a pain but not to bad, more so the clutch gets to hot. I do street this car a lot I usally do a average of a 150mile trip if not more on the weekend though summer. Treat the car as a grand tourer and also do AutoX as much as I can and get suck into highway pulls with friends too often.

Trying see if I should do a bigger cam but must be street friendly and torque to keep my corner exit very responsive. Its a Liberty Gears T56 manual car with Ram 10.5 twin-disc, built 10 bolt with true-trak moser axles 3.90 gears. The motor and full break down with dyno sheet will be posted below. Don't be shy to responding looking to either leave it alone or see if I can pull more power. Be nice to see closer to 500whp but reality be great to see 470-480whp with keeping my torque around same number as now or higher. Also would love to keep my cam and see 470whp with other bolt ons.

Mods I'm considering doing are: bigger intake like fast 102 or MSD intake, ATI super damp, maybe do bigger valves 2.04 1.57, and bumping up compression with tighter head gasket, also open to suggestions.

LS1/383
Bullet Racing Cam 226/234 .601/.601 112+4
243 heads ported n polish with stock valves milled .020
LS6 Intake
Diamond Racing Pistons 3.905 -7.05
felpro .057
Molnar crank and rods
I should be around 10.5:1cr
TSP Longtube with True Duel over axle
444whp/445wtq on dyno dynamic

 

Nothing at all?

 

I would leave the cam in there since you're happy with the drivability. You should be able to pick up some pretty good power with a well ported FAST intake and an underdrive pulley, I don't know how well the heads were ported, but I would worry about that after seeing what the bolts-ons do. If you go with a 102mm or even 92mm FAST, you will want to upgrade to a larger MAF housing, couplers, and probably lid too.

 

You need another point of compression. And a FAST setup. Combined they're probably worth another 30-40whp....and would only increase the drivability without a cam swap.

 

I have a truck maf with SLP lid with a cris1313 no a/c ram air. Heads were done through recommended machine shop for LS.

 

So LS6 intake is choking up air flow. That be nice to pick up extra 30-40whp. What would be ideal compression? Was looking at getting .040 gasket bump me to 11.1:1cr. Do you think doing bigger valves are worth it?

 

You could shoot for 11.5. I wouldn't go dumping a bunch of money into bigger valves on 243's. If you were going to do that you might as well look at an aftermarket casting that gives you everything you want including the compression bump.

 

Thats a good point, I was looking prc227 heads with there ms4 I’ve read that it’s a great combo for head and cam. What would be considered a good head with the cam in it now?

 

All depends on goals and what you want to spend. If you want to pickup another 30-40, you don't need to go through the hassle of a cam swap, but your call. It drives nice now so I would be hesitant to change that.

 

I agree ideally rather keep my cam for sure. Maybe just do intake pulley see if picks up little more power.

 

The truck MAF housing is 85mm, right? I would do a FTP 104mm lid and a 100mm MAF housing, or just say eff it and get rid of the MAF sensor and go speed density.

 

I figured I might just go speed density I hade to have my maf recalibrated three times now between last year and this summer. Fun story I used to have a FTP 104mm clear lid… Then the lid decided to heat warp and crack on July 4th. It was horrible, luckily I was at the dragstrip and my buddy of mine had duct tape so I could get home. So I’ll probably stay with the SLP lid go speed density and do a fast102 ported shorter run with NW 102 tb.

 

Better set off heads, 11.5 for compression and a fast intake will put a smile on your face. Don’t change your cam for a ms4 cam especially if you like the way your car drives now. You will not be as happy with the drivability with the ms4 compared to your cam. Ms4 is more of an all out high rpm cam not great for your type of driving. Let the engine breathe

 

What you think for heads prc227?

 

At this point the intake is going to give you the biggest gain for the money. Swapping the cam is a ton of work and money for not much gain, yes you could go bigger but you like the way it drives.

Put a MSD or FAST on it, get it tuned, and see how you like it.

If you still wanna rip the motor apart at that point go ahead, but the intake will make a large difference. If the motor was stock you'd be choking up near 20 hp, but you're FAR from stock so the effect will be a lot larger especially in the upper rpm range



While I agree everything adds up and adding compression with a head gasket and swapping heads will make more power it becomes a is it worth the money question. 243 heads do damn well in stock form. Ported they are real good. You could spend 2k on heads and maybe gain 20. Head gaskets.. few hundred dollars by the time they are done and gain maybe 10, but have to tear open the motor. Intake and good induction from a bigger maf or big tube to big lid and going speed density, I bet you'll see at least 30 hp and spend about 1200. It's really a no brainer.

 

@SoFla01SSLookinstok What heads are on your 383?

 

Hey ddnspider. Was just looking at this thread when you tagged me. Lol.

I have the PRC 215 heads & love them. Now all they have is the 227 which is pretty much the same. Love seeing other 383 combos. As you could up your compression, & put bugger cam, I'm also with the guys on starting with changing your whole intake setup. You will be pretty happy with just that I would believe.

Lot's of people go with the Fast 102 but I wanted the 92mm. No need to get new fuel rails as stock ones work on the 92. Also about people having to start grinding a bit under the TB. I also had my Fast 92 Mamo ported which was not cheap but if you want the best you gotta pay.

Just to let you know the cam in my 383 is 235/239 116+2. I also love the way mine drives & would not want anything bigger for the street. But we're all different.

So like others I would get that LS6 intake & 76mm TB off that thing & make it happy with at least a Fast 92/92 setup. And if you don't rev that thing past 7k rpm there is no reason to get a MSD.

Edit: Oh and ATI super damper is yes. Even if not the underdrive like mine lol

 

^good stuff.

 

If you’re going to swap the cam, which I’d recommend if you upgraded the intake, I’d get a custom cam specifically for your setup. It’s usually just $50 more for a custom cam and well worth it. Keep in mind you are running auto x and not drag racing so you want a cam that has a broad power range unlike the ms4.

Also, I’d recommend a fast intake over an msd for your application.

 

I’m with you guys I’m going do a fast intake I rev out at 6500rpm so no point for msd intake. Will see what I can make out of it. Also do ati superdamp, switch to speed density, and maybe do bigger lid. See if I can unchoke this motor make most out of the set up. I’ll be extremely happy hit around 470whp with this cam.

Will see what this set up will make if I’m still itching for more then I might look into doing different heads.

I knew going the 383 route wasn’t going be the easiest way to make big power, like most the 400+ ci. I do love having a motor that’s period correct to 4th gen fbody.