New to the LS Family - Houston, Texas
05-14-2014, 01:36 PM
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New to the LS Family - Houston, Texas Hello everyone!
As the title says, I am new to the LS1 community but not so new to the car community. I have been lurking on LS1tech for some time now so I figured I should give a brief introduction as to who I am and hopefully start making a contribution to the community. I just recently picked up a 5.3l LM7 motor (my first ever taste of the American Market) and learning what it takes to tear everything apart and rebuild it and boost it for roughly 600HP-700HP.
Background:
I began working on cars in High School, mostly imports, and started with minor things like suspension installations, maintenance, and other bolt on equipment. Then in college my High school friends and I got together and formed a car show teamed named "Opulence" and we were fortunate enough to win quite a few trophies in the import world. I have since graduate from college and work full time as a mechanical engineer. My passion for cars has grown over the years and now I want to get into more of the road racing and performance aspect of the car industry.
Here are some of the cars I’ve owned:
1990 Toyota Celica ST - first car ever
1997 Honda Accord LX - My first modified car (Rims, springs, struts)
2000 Acura Integra gsr - Bought this one stock and modified it as much as possible with my limited broke college kid funds. (Rims, Coilovers, Lip kit, custom pieced together turbo kit) Made 344WHP and 250TQ. This was my pride and joy and I actually won a few car shows in the Integra class, but I had to sell it to help support my future fiance through college and needed something more reliable.
2002 Civic Si with a K24a2 swap - Fun car but definitely gave me too many problems. The clutch master cylinder blew up on me 3 times, but at least I learned how to drive with no clutch lol.
2002 Lexus IS300 (Current) - This one already has a few mods (coilovers, Exhaust, Strut bars, JDM Rear Bumper, and Altezza Grill) but I am trying to keep the engine stock so it can be my reliable daily while I modify another car. One of my favorite cars as it makes me feel like more of an adult and looks great.
1992 Lexus SC400 (Race Car) - So this is possibly going to be my future track car. I got it for my fiance during college for daily purposes but now it is just sitting there collecting dust. So I decided to swap a 5.3l into it along homemade custom turbo setup. I am still debating on selling this as a rolling shell (motor was sold to fund the 5.3l) and picking up an E46 M3 or a FD RX7 instead and perform the swap but engine space will play a big issue on these two cars. This is an issue I will address once I have more money to play with.
So as you can see, all my experience has been with imports so I figured why not get the best of both worlds and just swap an LS into it like everyone else lol. I really couldnt believe how much cheaper it is to mod and replace an LS motor vs a 2JZ or a 1UZ. So with that, here are some of my plans for the 5.3.
5.3L LM7 plans
I picked up the engine from a local guy with roughly 100,000 miles on it for $550. This is actually the first time I have ever taken a motor apart so I was nervous and excited. This project was supposed to be a budget build so if I blew the motor road racing on the track then it would be cheap to fix. However, things have somewhat changed due to information I found on LS1Tech lol. Here is the list of what I have and the mods I am planning to install myself:
5.3l LM7 from 2003 Silverado
Fbody Water pump
Fbody Alternator
LS1 intake manifold
LM7 Throttle Body
Fbody Power Steering Pump
Mods:
Hot tank and power hone to deglaze cylinders (Installed at a shop)
Install all new bearings (installed at a shop)
New LS7 lifters
ARP Rod Bolts
Ebay Head Bolts
TSP Hardened 7.400” pushrods
LS6 Springs and retainers
LS6 Cam
DIY Ported and Polished 862 Heads (This is going to be fun!)
2.040” Intake Valve (from an LS1)
That is pretty much it for motor work. Many more supporting mods will follow including a DIY turbo kit but I will save that list for another time. My primary goal is 650HP which should be enough for the track and having fun during TX2k events.
I know that was a lot to read and sorry if I wasted your time! I just want to thank LS1tech and the community for providing noobs, like myself, with so much help and support! You guys rock! If you have any questions or suggestions please feel free to contact me!
As the title says, I am new to the LS1 community but not so new to the car community. I have been lurking on LS1tech for some time now so I figured I should give a brief introduction as to who I am and hopefully start making a contribution to the community. I just recently picked up a 5.3l LM7 motor (my first ever taste of the American Market) and learning what it takes to tear everything apart and rebuild it and boost it for roughly 600HP-700HP.
Background:
I began working on cars in High School, mostly imports, and started with minor things like suspension installations, maintenance, and other bolt on equipment. Then in college my High school friends and I got together and formed a car show teamed named "Opulence" and we were fortunate enough to win quite a few trophies in the import world. I have since graduate from college and work full time as a mechanical engineer. My passion for cars has grown over the years and now I want to get into more of the road racing and performance aspect of the car industry.
Here are some of the cars I’ve owned:
1990 Toyota Celica ST - first car ever
1997 Honda Accord LX - My first modified car (Rims, springs, struts)
2000 Acura Integra gsr - Bought this one stock and modified it as much as possible with my limited broke college kid funds. (Rims, Coilovers, Lip kit, custom pieced together turbo kit) Made 344WHP and 250TQ. This was my pride and joy and I actually won a few car shows in the Integra class, but I had to sell it to help support my future fiance through college and needed something more reliable.
2002 Civic Si with a K24a2 swap - Fun car but definitely gave me too many problems. The clutch master cylinder blew up on me 3 times, but at least I learned how to drive with no clutch lol.
2002 Lexus IS300 (Current) - This one already has a few mods (coilovers, Exhaust, Strut bars, JDM Rear Bumper, and Altezza Grill) but I am trying to keep the engine stock so it can be my reliable daily while I modify another car. One of my favorite cars as it makes me feel like more of an adult and looks great.
1992 Lexus SC400 (Race Car) - So this is possibly going to be my future track car. I got it for my fiance during college for daily purposes but now it is just sitting there collecting dust. So I decided to swap a 5.3l into it along homemade custom turbo setup. I am still debating on selling this as a rolling shell (motor was sold to fund the 5.3l) and picking up an E46 M3 or a FD RX7 instead and perform the swap but engine space will play a big issue on these two cars. This is an issue I will address once I have more money to play with.
So as you can see, all my experience has been with imports so I figured why not get the best of both worlds and just swap an LS into it like everyone else lol. I really couldnt believe how much cheaper it is to mod and replace an LS motor vs a 2JZ or a 1UZ. So with that, here are some of my plans for the 5.3.
5.3L LM7 plans
I picked up the engine from a local guy with roughly 100,000 miles on it for $550. This is actually the first time I have ever taken a motor apart so I was nervous and excited. This project was supposed to be a budget build so if I blew the motor road racing on the track then it would be cheap to fix. However, things have somewhat changed due to information I found on LS1Tech lol. Here is the list of what I have and the mods I am planning to install myself:
5.3l LM7 from 2003 Silverado
Fbody Water pump
Fbody Alternator
LS1 intake manifold
LM7 Throttle Body
Fbody Power Steering Pump
Mods:
Hot tank and power hone to deglaze cylinders (Installed at a shop)
Install all new bearings (installed at a shop)
New LS7 lifters
ARP Rod Bolts
Ebay Head Bolts
TSP Hardened 7.400” pushrods
LS6 Springs and retainers
LS6 Cam
DIY Ported and Polished 862 Heads (This is going to be fun!)
2.040” Intake Valve (from an LS1)
That is pretty much it for motor work. Many more supporting mods will follow including a DIY turbo kit but I will save that list for another time. My primary goal is 650HP which should be enough for the track and having fun during TX2k events.
I know that was a lot to read and sorry if I wasted your time! I just want to thank LS1tech and the community for providing noobs, like myself, with so much help and support! You guys rock! If you have any questions or suggestions please feel free to contact me!
