Took my trans down to RPM Trans to have them go all through it just to avoid any issues there moving foward. Fingers crossed it doesnt end up costing me the full blown level 5 rebuild cost!

That said, I THINK I'm pretty settled on sticking with the ls1 rebuild. Assuming my crank can be saved Im just debating whether or not to upgrade rods/pistons at this point. Will be replacing at least the one rod and looks like a decent new set could be had for $400-500. Pretty set on NOT going the forged route considering my existing power and any potential future power plans would likely never exceed the 550whp # that the trans will be rated for. Would it even be worth while upgrading if I don't go forged? Ws6store/RPM quoted around $400 for their HD pistons and rings and said they were more durable than stock.

Thoughts/suggestions?

 

FWIW - There's nothing I hate more than spending $$$ on cars and not upgrading for a little more money

If your in for a set of rods & pistons, spend the extra $700 to $800 for the 4 inch stroker crank.

While a 383 LS1 is worth ~ 5whp over a 346 LS1 with the same typical heads & cam package normally used, picking up ~40+ WTQ goes a LONG way in making a 383 LS1 far more fun to drive on the street than the hp numbers suggest. At least that's been my experience with H&C vs Stroker motors.

In anycase that stock LS6 intake isn't doing any favors. If you skip the stroker crank, at least pick up a Fast 92.

Of course you should do what works best for you. I'm just sharing my opinion based on dealing with same sort of issues previously.

Best wishes with project.

 

There is always one of the Summit rotating assemblies.. The package price is pretty competitive, some where between a ATK and a TSP ish..

 

I'd re-build the LS1... no reason to spend money on new heads or a new camshaft as long as the TSP heads and cam have no damage. The CNC 2.5 243 heads have good flow numbers just a little less on the exhaust side than their popular aftermarket 225 as cast heads. I think your existing heads and cam choice is a great combo (myself) for a mild build.

With the money saved I'd go at least forged pistons and gap the rings for future ??? I read you might want to spray later on? Forged pistons will be more forgiving if the nitrous tune has a lean/rich issue that rears it's ugly head. Plus forged will allow more spray after the 100 shot thrill has worn off

I'd also think about buying HP Tuners and a wideband. This will allow you to work off your existing tune with little tweaks here and there. Your tuner can also e-mail you a new file after sending him a scanner log if needed. Buying HP Tuners was the best move I've made with my build. The learning curve is not that bad after you figure out 90% of the tables need no changing. You can tweak the transmission shift tables using the free "Bluecat" software getting the shift schedule (up down shifts lock up etc.) nailed down... the Bluecat software does 95% of the tables... copy/paste/flash... test drive!

HP Tuners also has a nifty tool called the "Gear/Tire Wizard" input the rear gear and tire size (you did mention your speedo is off)... bam speedo is dead on!

 

Great feedback, thanks!
Totally agree that there's nothing worse then spending a bunch of money to get back to neutral which is what's killing me on this one. Explored the stroker route a bit but don't think I can justify the $2k+ pricetag for the gains at this point. The extra torque would be great for driveability Im sure but at a pretty steap price. I had also considered jumping to a FAST 92 but wasn't sure even that would benefit me a whole lot with my current H/C setup compared to the ls6?? I could at least sell the ls6 and ported stock TB. The FASTs are just so dang expensive though!
Throwing some forged pistons in for (potential) future spray may be a smart move so will probably look into that one a little more. I'd planned on throwing an u/d pulley on since it was out as well. Maybe just doing that and bumping up to a FAST would provide a little extra performance to satisfy for now...
Just curious if anyone knows the best place to source a FAST 92/92? Don't suppose there are any Black Friday sales on the horizon from any vendors?

 

i would look into a fast 92 and underdrive pulley while your there. You could sale the Ls6 intake a recoup some of the cost of the fast 92. keep your injectors,rails,sensors they will swap right over to the 92. a Warr throttle body isn't that much either. that's what I'm running.

 

Was looking at the Warr TB, looks like there may have been some fitment issues in the past?? Looks like they run about $150-200 less than a FAST or NW. Pretty decent chunk but also don't really wanna have to mess with drilling new holes or bending the gas pedal at all. Any tunning advantages/disadvantages to them?
Ws6store appears to have thr best pricing on the FAST 92/combo right now. Would love to see something pop up for Black Friday though! (Probably not gonna happen in today's market though)

 

I bought mine last year and have had 0 issues with it. Everything fit and worked as should. if I run across a deal on a 102 I will be posting my 92 setup for sale.

 

Good to hear. Might be a solid way to go for the pricing to pair with a FAST and just stick with stock internals (assuming crank can be ground).
Summit's stroker kits look to be $1900 right now which also looks like pretty decent pricing considering bearings and rings are included. Probably the way to go if I may consider any spray/fi down the road. I do think that would be quite a ways off IF I ever did it though. Decisions decisions!

 

We think you'd be happy with our Pro LS line no matter what route you went. We're running a 10% off sale on a majority of the Pro LS line. The sale ends on Tuesday, November 30th. No matter which way you go we have you covered. You can buy just the pistons, pistons and rods, crank and rods, or a whole rotating assembly with bearings and rings. Check here for all of the options for a 5.7L LS1.

 

Vengeance Racing may have a FAST manifold on sale.

 

FWIW - WARR rocks IMHO







My 91 RS has a 92mm Nick Williams & 90mm TPIS snout LS6 intake manifold. My 02 Z28 has a 92mm WARR TB & 90mm TPIS snout LS6 intake manifold. My 99 T/A has the 102 NW.

Nick Williams 92mm TB some with the sensors installed for $389

The WARR 92 TB reused the sensors from the stock TB and cost ~$149.

Quality and driveability is identical from what I've experienced. Even the shop was happy with the WARR TB Quality. That's seldom true of most inexpensive TB's.

 

I was pleasantly surprised to learn WARR is located about 35 miles from where I live. A little rural shop outside of Fresno.

 

Doesnt look like Vengence is doing any online sales anymore??
Those WARRs do look really nice and I was eyeing the red! May end up going that route if I can find a FAST. Depending on the feedback I get on my transmission, the Summit stroker kit might be an option. Performance gains for the money spent is a tough one but the added stength/longevity of the internals is the most appealing part.
Anyone have any experience with the 383 kit?? Plan to do some additonal research/searching on it.

 

Vengence used to run Black Friday sales every year. That was where I picked up my FAST 102. Check the WS6 Store, I don't think they run sales but they do have good prices most of the time.

 

Well, ended up pulling the trigger in a Summit LS stroker rotating assembly during their sale. Just the added stength/reliabilty of the forged internals was worth it to me at this point in the game. May try and pick up a FAST 92/WARR TB setup as well for the rebuild and sell my ls6/ported tb setup.
Couple questions to run by everyone...

Anything else I need to change out on the bottom end to accommodate the stroker crank/clearance? Oil pan perhaps?

Plan to stick with my existing ls6 (62cc) and Tv2 setup, does my 3600 stall still sound like a good fit with the added torque of the stroker build? Trans is down being built by RPM right now and could potentially foward the stall down to FTI to re-stall if it made any sense at this point. I'm guessing it's still a good combo tho?

Went with the 5cc dish piston setup as I don't plan to run boost, think this will work ok with my 62cc heads??

Any other thoughts/suggestions/recommendations?

Thanks all!

 

The pan depends solely on what stroke you went with. I’m not too familiar with the Gen III block options since most of my experience in these motors centers around Gen IV.

I did a 4.125” stroke on an LS3, for my 98. Problems I encountered were:

Rod clearance - had to notch the block
pan clearance- had to run a moroso pan
Rack clearance- used bifilar spacers from a UH-60 Blackhawk after carefully slotting my steering rack with a grinder, to fit over a B&M tube K member. Dropped the rack about 3/4” to clear the pan, now has cool tungsten Blackhawk parts in the void space lol. The bolts are M16x2x4” iirc.
The k member itself if you are changing the pan out will be required.
The steering linkage itself also had to be extended, so I used a dodge extension bar a buddy gave me, added metal on both sides, welded an adapter piece together (solid) and bolted it in after drilling it out. Also with UH-60 bolts. I think they were AN4-14’s or -16’s. Can’t remember exactly.

Stroker problems in a nutshell… at least those are the problems I had to solve.

If you don’t need a new pan, I’d advise against ditching the good old “LS1 pan” if you can. It causes a world of trouble.

 

I forgot to comment on your other questions… for your stall - it really only depends on 2 factors:

- the cam
- output of the engine

I’m running a 3200 on my 427 LS3 stroker. It’s well over 500 WHP, but I haven’t been to a dyno lately and I’ve made significant changes to it since last time. It is probably closer to 600 if I had to guess based on logs and airflow. Cam was one of the changes, and I went up from a 235/239 .647/.647 to a 244/252 .632/.632. Both are @50 numbers. The first cam was a TSP stage 4… so I guess now I’m at like a stage 5 or some ****. 3200 stall is working fine with that combo though. I also decked the heads again another .015” (to the current .041”) and rebuilt my intake tract. So yeah, maybe 600 now, ish. The tune they did was trash too, so there have been a lot of improvements. Makes me want to find another dyno about now lol, except I want to change my intake tract again after I gut the nose and do a stand up radiator setup with ram air to fix the IAT’s.

Case and point is - the stall should be big enough for the cam you have to keep it tame at idle. Whether you can actually hit the stall at a stop is up to your engine as well as the design of the stall itself.

For example, I’ve ran 3600 before, and I liked it a lot, but the engine started to bog before it could hit 3600. I could get 3200-3400 out of it on most days. That was a “stock” LS3 480 HP crate motor though, on a 4L60E trans.

Currently my 3200 is a “tight” stall (but now a 4L80E), and will get up to about 2900 before the wheels start moving. I’m still pretty happy with it though. I could easily go higher, or run a “looser” stall. I’m probably a bit small for my combo considering, but it’s also a street car, so it does it’s job when I ask it to.

Again, it’s all about how much the engine puts out. In my current configuration, the engine doesn’t bog at all. It will just start slipping the tires if I mash the throttle too hard. But when I do it right, that bitch takes off and I have no traction issues off the line. 2nd gear is another story though. 40 mph tail slips are pretty standard if I’m mashing the throttle hard through the shift.

As to your head question, I’ve decked mine at least .041” so I’m probably down in the same range as you on LS3 heads. 61cc ish chambers on .051” LS9 head gaskets net me about a 11.63:1 static compression ratio. What you can get away with on pump though depends on a few factors though:

1. The duration of your cam. This equates to your overall effective compression. You can’t compress **** until the valve closes. Delaying the event obviously reduces ECR. Word on the street is 93 octane pump gas can take up to about 8.63:1 ECR. Mines at roughly 8.42 and going strong with 19 degrees spark at WOT.

2. Quench. The distance between the piston and the chamber. Make sure whatever gasket you are running nets you about .040” quench for N/A. I actually have to revisit this one on my car, but at the time LS9 gaskets were just cheap enough to get away with for now. I’ll likely get more timing out of mine if I tighten up the quench. If not timing, I’ll get the compression bump to compensate. Regardless though, it lessens the potential for detonation (knock). Here’s a great link for that: https://help.summitracing.com/app/an.../engine-quench

3. Spark - obviously you will need to re-tune the engine. Oddly enough, I know there are at least a few people that do tutorials on this, and can help with getting this done. Yeah, I know I haven’t done a spark tuning video, but there’s a damn good reason I haven’t. It’s ******* dangerous and I don’t want average joes lifting heads because I gave them a number to use. What I did do though is provide a physics video and so forth for understanding, which helps you learn how to better pick that number initially. The two best ways of tuning spark are:
A. Dyno
B. Racetrack/lonely stretch of road aimed at MPH, NOT ET. Clearly you need to measure it. I did a video on acceleration rate too. Get creative.

Hopefully this helps you in deciding your options. A 3600 stall should work fine for your combo. Just don’t expect exactly 3600 rpm’s at the line. I’d guess with what you’re building you should get about 3300-3500 no problem. Just depends on how loose or tight the stall is. Tight stalls can’t even be noticed under normal driving conditions. You only know they’re there when you press both pedals at the same time.

 

Did I kill another thread? I was drunk last night when I posted that, but no responses has me intrigued lol. Maybe I was way off? I hope I wasn’t too much, or hopefully I had something to contribute of worth. It’s okay folks, you can berate me if I say some dumb **** from time to time. I’m not 100% on stroking out LS1’s, since I did a swap then a stroke on my particular f car, so I’m cool with not knowing things there. When my LS1 died I had Iraq money so I bought an LS3 to replace it lol. I rebuilt it before that only to have further issues, which is why it went away. I didn’t do a full rebuild like I should of, and I didn’t have the place or time for it when it died. The swap was a learning event, since basically no one was doing that in 2007 when I did it. At least if they were, they weren’t sharing on forums like they are now…

Anyway, with stroking, I think I mentioned the basics. With these f cars, the pan and k member can be an issue if the crank doesn’t clear for whatever reason. I know many cranks only need the pan to be clearanced a little bit. Sometimes you’ll need an entirely new pan. I’ve heard Cadillac LS2 pans (iirc) have additional room, and fit in f cars provided you use a new k member. I know I searched this topic for weeks, but a lot of those penguins have left the island since then. My apologies for that.

 

Haha...no, threads still going!
Appreciate the feedback. This is just a 4" crank though so I was thinking it should be a pretty straight-forward swap. Have seen where maybe the windage tray (think I originally said "oil pan" by mistake) may need shimmed but no major machine shop work, hopefully. Just trying to get some confirmation! I did sumbit a question to the Summit website so I'll see what they have to say.