Bought a new toy, first LS engine experience. Advice for first mods?

[VTJUNK]

Got a killer deal on this one owner 2004 Silverado. The guy ordered it the way I would have liked to. 5.3, auto, posi. It was babied its whole life with no winters, synthetic oil changes, and is bone stock except the lowered suspension, SS bumper and a shaved gate and roll pan. It has the stock wheels on it, but also came with a set of 22x10 wheels. Not my style, but he threw them in. I'm thinking something along the lines of a set of Welds.



I know these engines have huge potential, but what should I do first, as in bang for the buck, and what maintenance should I perform beyond the normal oil changes? It turned 100K on the way home tonight, but drives like new and runs incredibly strong.

[BOOOGHAR]

Re: Bought a new toy, first LS engine experience. Advice for first mods?

are you looking to do the simple stuff like intake exhaust or jump right into it with a cam ?

[VTJUNK]

Re: Bought a new toy, first LS engine experience. Advice for first mods?

are you looking to do the simple stuff like intake exhaust or jump right into it with a cam ?

intake and exhaust first i guess. Also I'd to find out the gear ratio. Probably has a tag on the rearend, or I'll call the dealer and ask them to run the vin.

Ran the vin online, has 3.42 posi.

[88 Dippy]

Re: Bought a new toy, first LS engine experience. Advice for first mods?

from what i have read and heard the 5.3 loves the stock 6.0L cam from the GTO and 'vette

[purplecobra]

Re: Bought a new toy, first LS engine experience. Advice for first mods?

If it were my truck I would get a cold air intake, a decent exhaust and a good tune. The stock tune has a lot of things that can be improved on. GM's torque management is soft to say the least. Nice truck!

[kyhunter89]

Re: Bought a new toy, first LS engine experience. Advice for first mods?

Got to ls1truck.com and start reading... nice truck

Speed daddy long tubes and y
Nelson tune
Ebay cai
4.10 and a tru-trac
Vette servo

[Tommygun]

Re: Bought a new toy, first LS engine experience. Advice for first mods?

small comp cam. I have done installs that have gained 70rwhp

headers/y pipe help
cai helps
tune for sure helps a great deal
4.10s if you want to spin lots of tire
ebay turbo kit

lots of options for the little 5.3

[BetterWithBoost]

Re: Bought a new toy, first LS engine experience. Advice for first mods?

x2 on the aforementioned upgrades...

An LS6 intake, cheap set of LT's and a tune
got me almost 400whp through a T56, so a
cam, intake and LT's should get you there or
more through an auto. I wouldn't screw with
the gear ratio, unless you plan on driving the
thing on weekends only. These engine are so
easy to get huge power and still get great MPG.
Just my .02

[kyhunter89]

Re: Bought a new toy, first LS engine experience. Advice for first mods?

a trailblazer stall can be had at any dealer for around $250 and stalls around 2800, along with a tr220 cam (112 if staying na, 114lsa on spray or boost), some patriot gold springs, along with what I stated earlier be a great DD with good mpg. or step up to a TR224 and bigger circle d verter or some twin hairdryers, or pull the pan and put some arp rodbolts in and hit it with a 200 shot.

[milkovich]

Re: Bought a new toy, first LS engine experience. Advice for first mods?

I'd do the z06 cam and springs first, then put a decent $900-$1200 turbo on it. Chinese turbos are about as reliable as the rythm method.

Save your money on headers and gears with your eye on a rear mount turbo later on like this guy and his 4.8 (http://www.theturboforums.com/smf/in...topic=142130.0)

[kyhunter89]

Re: Bought a new toy, first LS engine experience. Advice for first mods?

http://www.ls1truck.com/forums/front-page-news/12377-silverado-100-horsepower-performance-gain-budget.html

[SpiderGearsMan]

Re: Bought a new toy, first LS engine experience. Advice for first mods?

melt down the dub wheels

[nosnerd]

Re: Bought a new toy, first LS engine experience. Advice for first mods?

diablosport and a cold air intake from volant


nice truck andy!!! how have ya been??ever find the glass for your ford??

[1988montecarloss]

Re: Bought a new toy, first LS engine experience. Advice for first mods?

melt down the dub wheels

hahahahaha, yes! :D

car craft put a cam (comp thumpr cam) in a stock (other than headers) 5.3 and gained 96hp, it brought the power up to 433hp with just a cam and header swap :o

heres the article

http://www.carcraft.com/techarticles/ccrp_0804_325_chevy_small_block_engine/gm_performance_parts_intake_manifold.html

sweet truck btw ;)

[TC]

Re: Bought a new toy, first LS engine experience. Advice for first mods?

Cold air intake, long tube headers, high flow cats and a cat back system, and a DiabloSport Predator tuner and you should see an easy 30+hp gain........