Great 5.3 tech article in Super Chevy

[Olddog]

Hey guys,

I received my latest Super Chevy Magazine in the mail yesterday and thumbed through it to find a great tech article on the 5.3 truck motor.

I am new to this forum but am on several others. I bought a 2001 short cab step side about 4 months ago with the 5.3 and I love it.

The article impressed me!! They took a junkyard 5.3 they bought for $800.00 and put it on a dyno to get base numbers. Completely stock with long tube headers and factory tune (no accessories on the front), they got 345 horsepower!!

With a tune, they got 357 HP. They did a mild cam swap and added a set of Edelbrodk heads and got around 440 HP!!

They spoke very highly of the little LS and acted surprised themselves.

There was a comment in the article I want to confirm with you guys. They said an iron block 5.3 could be bored to a 5.7. Is this true??

Anyway, worth reading.

PS: I have a big block Camaro......I think I've been hotrodding the wrong vehicle!!

[RedHeartbeat]

Yes, it can be bored to a 5.7 without any problems. BTW, the numbers they're quoting are hypothetical engine HP numbers with correction factors. Almost all the numbers you'll see posted on here are rear wheel HP numbers. Go to the front page of the website and check out the article where Nelson Performance did a cam, headers and tune and gained 100 RWHP on a 5.3L engine.

http://www.ls1truck.com/forums/front...html#post99130

Pacesetter headers and ypipe: $400

Custom cam kit: $690

Performance tune: $375

Flowmaster muffler: $50

[Olddog]

Yes, I understand the dyno differences.

However, the exact same engine can net different results at the wheels in different vehicles. HP at the wheels is a more "real world" number I'll give you that. (I've also seen ~100 HP deltas in different chassis dynos on the same vehicle).

I read the entire Nelson write-up on this site regarding the 100 HP increase and thought it was extremely informative.

Anyway, I was just pointing out the small gain in respect for the little 5.3 LS motor the article in Super Chevy might garner. These motors are very common and relatively cheap when compared to an LS1. If they will go to 5.7 as you indicated, it would make a good base for a cheap hotrod engine.

The only hang-up I'm having on modding my truck is the weight.

[RedHeartbeat]

Weight is truly our nemisis and we have to learn to deal with it otherwise we'd all be doing RX7/LS1 conversions.

To make a truck run in the 10s in the 1/4mile takes us a whole lot more TQ/HP than say a Mustang. It does my heart good to see a 5000 lb truck wasting a lightweight vehicle like a Mustang with mods.

[SCIV]

Weight is truly our nemisis and we have to learn to deal with it otherwise we'd all be doing RX7/LS1 conversions.

To make a truck run in the 10s in the 1/4mile takes us a whole lot more TQ/HP than say a Mustang. It does my heart good to see a 5000 lb truck wasting a lightweight vehicle like a Mustang with mods.

Amen sister.

[Olddog]

That's why I like this site. Making a truck fast is interesting. I like to see what you guys will come up with next. Some of you are pretty innovative.

Rather than waste a lightweight car, I think it would be pretty cool to outrun a Ford Lightning every once in a while. Some (not all) of those guys are so arrogant.

Anyway, Y'all got me fired up to do a few bolt-on mods to my truck.

[-HIC-]

Yes, I understand the dyno differences.

However, the exact same engine can net different results at the wheels in different vehicles. HP at the wheels is a more "real world" number I'll give you that. (I've also seen ~100 HP deltas in different chassis dynos on the same vehicle).

I read the entire Nelson write-up on this site regarding the 100 HP increase and thought it was extremely informative.

Anyway, I was just pointing out the small gain in respect for the little 5.3 LS motor the article in Super Chevy might garner. These motors are very common and relatively cheap when compared to an LS1. If they will go to 5.7 as you indicated, it would make a good base for a cheap hotrod engine.

The only hang-up I'm having on modding my truck is the weight.

We have several 5.3's on this site running very good numbers.. I would go so far as to say we have a few standard bore 5.3's that any hotrodder would be proud to drop in their machine.

[Olddog]

Sorry, didn't mean that the way it came out. I agree the 5.3 would make a good hotrod motor with a standard bore. In fact, I would go so far to say it would probably make an even better forced induction motor because of the increased deck area for cylinder head sealing purposes.

It seems now, to a lot of hotrodders, more cubes are better. Even the LS1 is too small to mess with for some of those guys. The L92 and similar square port heads are all the rage now and they will only bolt up to 4 inch bores and bigger. The smaller bore motors are kinda getting dissed.

[RedHeartbeat]

The older rodders will remember the 283s the were a mainstay in racing. That was the small engine that could. It could put out some serious HP numbers though it lacked displacement.

[Olddog]

I'm one of those guys that remembers..... I rember a friend with one of those 283s that launched at 7000 RPM and shifted at 9800 (with Chevy rods!!).

I've always run big blocks. This LS series of small blocks has really peaked my interest. An LS of some sort WILL be in my next project. Who knows, it might even be this 2001 truck I bought to tow my Camaro.

My wife's gonna kill me!!