400hp on a 5.3? On motor, not the wheels

my 5.3/4l60e swap is nearing completion, and I happen to have a 5.3 sitting in my shed that is complete, along with an LS1. between these 2 motors, which is going to be cheaper to make 400hp and be strong enough to tow with? My truck is nothing more than a towing vehicle, but I want it to be able to tow anything I throw at it. I plan on rebuilding the motor with fresh bearings all around, new rings, and probably all the gaskets. Here is a run down of what it is:

1994 GMC 1500 ext cab long bed
2002 Silverado 5.3/4L60E put into it
stock 2002 intake, intake piping, radiator, aux trans cooler, p/s cooler
It will be getting a set of longtubes as well, in the future.

I am interested to hear about cams, and if I need a stall or not. Chances are that the most it will ever tow is 6000lbs total including the trailer. Obviously in a truck this size, it wont be spinning very high, so I would like to keep the cam to 6000rpm or less, but I want it to make a load of torque down low.

I know the LS1 makes more power initially, so maybe I can swap parts between the LS1 and the 5.3 to get closer to that 400hp mark? I know certain 5.3 heads have smaller combustion chambers, which would bump the compression up a bit.

I have HPT Pro, so the tune is no problem.

swap in a 6.0 with LTs, a NNBS intake, a spec'd cam, PRC stage II heads, CAI
411rwhp

ls1 would be closer,but that 5.3 can do it too

With both motors there. Id vote for ls1 bottom end and heads. truck intake cause it helps with down low torque. And a good cam. Full bolt ons Being you are looking for at the motor and not the ground... that could be decently close. If not mill the heads down a bit....

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Show&Go

With both motors there. Id vote for ls1 bottom end and heads. truck intake cause it helps with down low torque. And a good cam. Full bolt ons Being you are looking for at the motor and not the ground... that could be decently close. If not mill the heads down a bit....

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LS1 compression is ~9.75:1 correct? How about this combo:

98 LS1
LS1 heads milled, bump compression to 10:1, 10.25:1
NNBS intake
underdrive pulley
longtubes
P&P throttle body
P&P heads while they are off for milling
1.7 rockers
full synthetic fluids (oil, trans, rear end)
some sort of cam (I am not good with choosing cams, I may talk with my machine guy about that)

Unsure if it would be worth it, but what about skipping the NNBS intake and going with a Victor Jr and an elbow? We ran one on the 98 LQ4 Jimmy and had good results.

hmmm or a Pro-Flo ;) those are SEXAY AS HELL

g

Quote:

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Originally Posted by SpecV44

LS1 compression is ~9.75:1 correct? How about this combo:

98 LS1
LS1 heads milled, bump compression to 10:1, 10.25:1
NNBS intake
underdrive pulley
longtubes
P&P throttle body
P&P heads while they are off for milling
1.7 rockers
full synthetic fluids (oil, trans, rear end)
some sort of cam (I am not good with choosing cams, I may talk with my machine guy about that)

Unsure if it would be worth it, but what about skipping the NNBS intake and going with a Victor Jr and an elbow? We ran one on the 98 LQ4 Jimmy and had good results.

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save money dont port the throttle body, my pinion its a waste of money, go with the nnbs or tbss 90mm intake and full bolt ons with a TT3000 torque converter and youre good to go ;)

stay away from the vic and elbow it will rip all the tq from the lowend!! specially NA and on a small bore motor . for a cam i would look into a custom grind, talk to some cam specialist ;)

you can do a 220/224 113+4 cam to be a good DD plus track toy

Quote:

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Originally Posted by keniff

you can do a 220/224 113+4 cam to be a good DD plus track toy

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... but wanting to keep it under 6K and being a tower i would think more of a 212/218... :ugh2:

Yeah, a 212/218 would be better. If he is going with the LS1/heads/NNBS intake, he can cheat up a little...maybe to a 218/220 .551/.542 113+2 LSA.

+1 on the mill and p&P on the heads.
And +1 to skip the throttle body P&P. ON a NNBS truck intake they should have a 90mm TB anyway. With that combo on a LS1. running around 10.25ish CR Id just do a tr220 cam on a 114 LSA and do a tight 3000stall (no larger cause it could hurt towing abit) The cam is a proven performer. Pretty small for a 347. So it should work well. Id skip the rockers. Dont see them being on the list of things needed.
If you didnt hit 400 at the crank id be surprised

with that combo he should be about 400 at the wheels

the stock TB is 87mm on the truck intake, but will be able to use a 90mm TB. also its a dbw, he didnt mention what wiring harness he'll be going with unless i missed it.

my friend used that 220/224 113+4 cam with a TB stall(2000-2400 foot brake) an still pulled his travel trailor. i dunno what the mpg was but it never struggled, he's got 4:10s. dont be scared run that 218/220 cam ;)
oh also id use a set of Patriot Dual Gold(.600 might be wrong) or Extreme(.660) valve springs

throw a set of LTs an a magnaflow muffler on it.

good luck with the build man...im looking for low/mid 14s in my ECSB LSx swap.

It will have to remain DBC as I dont want to go back and redo my wiring, since my OBS truck is already setup for my 5.3 DBC. Right now I am running a completely stock 2002 5.3/4l60e with all stock 2002 components.

So here is an updated PROPOSED mod list:

1998 LS1
10.25:1 compression
milled, P&P LS1 heads
underdrive pulley
NNBS intake (I will buy a cable 90mm TB)
2800 stall converter
tr220 cam w/ 114 LSA
heat sinked 6.0L coils (proven wheel horsepower over LS1 coils)
probably go with some steeper gears, as I am sure what gear I am running right now
longtube conversion headers, true dual exhaust with an H

What year does the NNBS intakes start? Any chance you could provide me to a link on one?

Also, just to ensure I would order the correct cam, any chance of a link on the tr220 114lsa cam?

Should I go with ARP rod bolts? I know they are the weak link inside the engine. When we changed cranks in my brother's LQ4 he went with the ARP rod bolts since he was around 450hp on the engine. I think since I am rebuilding the engine to new, it would probably be good insurance.

As for the rod bolts Id look at it as a big why not. It wouldnt hurt anything. Maybe not a must have but would be nice. And the thunder racing web site will have the tr220 for sale on it.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by SpecV44

It will have to remain DBC as I dont want to go back and redo my wiring, since my OBS truck is already setup for my 5.3 DBC. Right now I am running a completely stock 2002 5.3/4l60e with all stock 2002 components.

So here is an updated PROPOSED mod list:

1998 LS1
10.25:1 compression
milled, P&P LS1 heads
underdrive pulley
NNBS intake (I will buy a cable 90mm TB)
2800 stall converter
tr220 cam w/ 114 LSA
heat sinked 6.0L coils (proven wheel horsepower over LS1 coils)
probably go with some steeper gears, as I am sure what gear I am running right now
longtube conversion headers, true dual exhaust with an H

What year does the NNBS intakes start? Any chance you could provide me to a link on one?

Also, just to ensure I would order the correct cam, any chance of a link on the tr220 114lsa cam?

Should I go with ARP rod bolts? I know they are the weak link inside the engine. When we changed cranks in my brother's LQ4 he went with the ARP rod bolts since he was around 450hp on the engine. I think since I am rebuilding the engine to new, it would probably be good insurance.

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all of that seems good to me...stick with single exhaust though. true dual moves the power band up. im running single exhaust and shifting 7k

cool, I will stick with single then, since my 2002 silverado y-pipe is 2.5" off each collector into a 3" y, I will just run 3" exhaust out the back then.