EgoKllr

I recently bought a bone stock '99 TA. It has 178k miles on the motor and overall the car has needed some TLC. It has the typical oil pan leak, and honestly the car just feels low on power. I am looking to make it reliable enough to dd with decent n/a power.

I have been looking into buying a Thompson Motorsports stage 1 5.3 or 6.0 long block (not much difference in price)to cut down on the cars down time and to get a fresh setup in it.

local rebuilders quotes have started around $3k with me bringing the motor to them to rebuild with stock components, and around $5k with minor head work and a few upgraded internal components.

Would you guys do anything different to get some reliability and power out of a motor with the mileage it has? I don't want to throw a heads/cam package on it and turn it into a ticking time bomb.

not looking to be cheap about it, also don't want to unnecessarily spend excess money.

AgFormula02

iTrader: (13)

Check compression. If good, keep it as is.

EgoKllr

You would be ok with throwing a h/c/I setup on a 178k LS1 so long as compression is good?
I'm asking, not to question you, but just out of curiosity. I just feel that may expose other weak points in the drive train and end up costing me more as I hunt down issues.

If that been done without issue repeatedly then I'm all for it and I'll just have a rainy day fund set aside.

HCI2000SS

iTrader: (2)

Between the 5.3 and 6.0 I guess it depends. You looking to stay n/a? I run a TMS 6.0 and am very happy with it

EgoKllr

yes, looking to stay n/a for now. What kind of power are you making with the 6.0? The stg 1 TMS 5.3 is a couple hundred cheaper, but also seems to have a little more work done to it when comparing it to the stg 1 TMS 6.0 so I'm really curious to know the power differences between the two.

HCI2000SS

iTrader: (2)

You have a link to them? I'm curious to see the difference. No numbers but I'm pretty sure I'm very close to 450 rwhp n/a, and 600 rwhp on the 150 shot

EgoKllr

stg 1 5.3
http://www.thompsonmotorsports.net/p...roducts_id=212

stg 1 6.0
http://www.thompsonmotorsports.net/p...roducts_id=222

I'm going to give them a call in the morning and see what they say about the power differences, I would expect the 6.0 to have more tq throughout, but not sure about overall hp #'s

HCI2000SS

iTrader: (2)

Just based on a quick glance they both will make aimilar peak power, since they both have the same basic top end, but the 6.0 will have much better low and mid range power with a lot better torque. I run the same 862 casting that they are offering but with their 236/242 cam.

EgoKllr

That being considered, if I do decide to go with a long block, I'll pick up the 6.0 over the 5.3.

The only question now: is it worth it to go ahead and get the new motor or would it be considered reasonably safe to start the modification process on a 178k mile motor.

HCI2000SS

iTrader: (2)

And that is a good question lol. My line of thinking says 178k is lot...on the other hand if everything checks out and is in good shape then it might be better to stay with that. The only reason I went with the TMS 6.0 was because my LS1 blew up. At the time it was the most reasonable and cheapest option to get what I wanted

EgoKllr

I appreciate your replies. I'm really torn. I could afford a nice H/C/I setup, stall, suspension work, and a couple other little things. I have headers and full exhaust sitting in the garage....but I hate to do all that and blow the motor and have no money to do anything with it for a few weeks/months. Hmmm. I already plan on calling TMS tomorrow, I'll see their opinion.

HCI2000SS

iTrader: (2)

Sounds good man. Keep us posted

farmington

iTrader: (14)

If it was mine..... I'd throw on the exhaust and invest in a good converter and play with it a while. If the original motor does break, with 178k on it there's really not a lot of value to it as a core anyway.

MuhThugga

Why put the added weight of iron over the nose for an NA setup? I'd roll with what you have if it isn't burning copious amounts of oil and the compression checks out.

Those rebuild quotes are insane for a stock rebuild. I had $2800 in my 404 shortblock's machine work, and that included new pistons, turning the crank, and bushing two lifter bores.

EgoKllr

I just feel like I need a little more power than that will offer. I'm coming from a 750whp car to this, and bought it to do a 5.3 turbo setup, now I'm wanting to just do a mid to high 400whp n/a build for a nice weekend/dd reliable setup.

It's not burning oil that I'm aware of, but it does have a leak around the oil pan.

The rebuild prices are insane! We have two performance shops around here that do LS specific motor work and they charge a real premium for them.....which is why I've just considered a whole new long block considering the price isn't much more

svslow

Sell the LS1, buy a 5.3 and turbo it.

EgoKllr

lol. That was the original plan. But I plan on going back to school next year for my masters. I'd like the car to remain reliable during that time, and a turbo build will not be reliable with me in control. I'll just keep turning it up. :/.
so, a nice n/a build is the right thing for me at this time.

HCI2000SS

iTrader: (2)

Did you talk to TMS yet?

EgoKllr

I did. The guy I talked to recommended just buying a motor, but in the same breath was trying to sell me on a 418 stroker long block for ~$7,400 that they had discounted.... So it's hard to take their recommendation seriously. No doubt they have great products or I wouldn't be set on using them, but this guy wasn't trying to listen as much as he was trying to sell.

I'm going to get a compression test this week if I can and go from there I guess.

HCI2000SS

iTrader: (2)

Gotcha. Ask for Kyle if you wanna try again. I dealt with him exclusively when buying mine. He really went out of his way to be extremely helpful, and did very well to keep me within my limited budget at the time. I probably called him 10-15 times during my whole process lol