Turbo 5.3 build

[jaywill]

WHAT MANIFOLDS R U USING ?

 

[Stringbean]

There truck manifolds. I had to cut them off as short as possible to make them fit.


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[jaywill]

DO u have pics ?

 

[Chuck Leeper]

DO u have pics ?

Here's a couple possibilities.
The headers shown together are a pic I found. The single shots are mine.

 

[Stringbean]

Here's a couple possibilities.
The headers shown together are a pic I found. The single shots are mine.

The top manifold is very similar to how mine are cut il post some pics up of the entire hotside as soon as I get the motor together and everything finish welded.


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[1986TR]

Can A set of stock manifolds be modified to work like a GN set up? Something like this

 

[Stringbean]

Can A set of stock manifolds be modified to work like a GN set up? Something like this

I believe that could be done but you would probably run into hood clearance issues if you mounted the turbo with the exhaust flange vertically and the turbo hanging forward instead of up you might just get it to fit. If I was going to build a turbo setup for say a truck were I could do what I wanted that would be the way to go.


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[1986TR]

I believe that could be done but you would probably run into hood clearance issues if you mounted the turbo with the exhaust flange vertically and the turbo hanging forward instead of up you might just get it to fit. If I was going to build a turbo setup for say a truck were I could do what I wanted that would be the way to go.


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Check out the thread I just started with pics. . I think I would work

 

[Stringbean]

Short blocks together waiting on head gaskets to finish up the top end. I bought some nice 241 heads last night on the cheap to bump up the compression a bit. Here some better pics of the hotside and how I cut the exhaust manifolds. Excuse the mess I desperately need to clean up.


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[jaywill]

Short blocks together waiting on head gaskets to finish up the top end. I bought some nice 241 heads last night on the cheap to bump up the compression a bit. Here some better pics of the hotside and how I cut the exhaust manifolds. Excuse the mess I desperately need to clean up.


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ANY UPDATES ?

 

[2QUICK2B6]

I got a fast car intake brand new 800 ? im building a lil lsx

 

[Chuck Leeper]

Short blocks together waiting on head gaskets to finish up the top end. I bought some nice 241 heads last night on the cheap to bump up the compression a bit. Here some better pics of the hotside and how I cut the exhaust manifolds. Excuse the mess I desperately need to clean up.


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Just saw the pics.
Have a ?: What R U putting this in?

 

[Stringbean]

Unfortunately I haven't had much time lately to get anything done one the car, but I have ordered lots of parts. I have a about a week before il be dropping the car off to have the intercooler piping built so I should have some updates soon.


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[Stringbean]

Just saw the pics.
Have a ?: What R U putting this in?

It's going in a 87 Grand national. The one in my profile pic.


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[BLACK MAGIC RACING]

Man there is a ton of mis-information floating around in here!

2005+ rule does NOT only apply to the LQ4. All 2005 and up came with different hardware for the rotating assy., larger/stronger rods and floating pistons. A few 2004 model engines had these upgrades as well. The Alum L33 motors and a few escalade engines.

This is a 5.3 2005+ rod/piston on the right vs the 98-2004 rod/piston on the left.

Replacing the OEM rotating assy hardware with aftermarket hardware isn’t necessary… Massive waste of money IMO. The pistons/rods themselves will give out well before the hardware. Installing aftermarket hardware can egg the rods and cause all kinds of problems. Some get lucky….

The rod bolts are NOT the “weak point”. Don’t rev the motors over 6500rpm and the OEM hardware has been proven to 1000+crank HP range many times. I run a 2001 5.3 motor with the “weak” rods and all original hardware. The $220 motor ran 100+ low 9 second passes this year with a quite a few street miles and ended the year with an 8.93 @153 at 25.8lbs of boost. Next pass something finally gave out… can’t tell what that was at this point. I’ll bet money it wasn’t a rod bolt! My moneys on the thrust bearing. Since I launched this thing at 24lbs of boost.

I also cool my 5.3 engine very easily with a “smallish” $90 ebay fork lift radiator. I believe the core is 17x17x3.5. I use a single shrouded ford Taurus fan. Even on 100+ degree days coolant never went over 210* in traffic.

Lastly if your hotside is 2.5", you may want to reconsider. 2.5" piping will support roughly 2400 crank hp with a typical V8 turbo build. Larger piping just slows exhaust gas velocity. It will make the car spool poorly compared to what it could. 2” piping is good to 1000ish crank hp. If you don’t plan on exceeding that, I’d suggest dropping your hotside size down. I ran 2.5" and wish I would have done a little research first. Plan to re-do it this winter.


Good luck, project looks fun!

How much timing were u running at 25 lbs boost? and what fuel? Thanks!

 

[Stringbean]

How much timing were u running at 25 lbs boost? and what fuel? Thanks!

E85 has just recently became locally available and I have been seeing alot of basically stock bottom end cars running these kind of boost numbers popping up and putting down so serious power. I cant speculate to timing though, I leave that up to my buddy James at shortuning.


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[Stringbean]

I haven't posted any updates latly so I figured it was about time for anyone that's been patient enough to keep up with my super slow build pace. (12hr night shift gives you lost of time to think about working on your car but not much to actually get anything done)

Anyways the motor is finally together and in the car along with the 6 speed trans. The wilwood clutch pedal and master are mounted. I had to get a new driveshaft made approximately 6 inches shorter than the original. Basically everything is done except wiring and finishing up things with the radiator, heater hoses ect. I have dyno time scheduled for the 16th of April so I can finally see the rewards of a long winter of work.

 

[trbo355]

Man there is a ton of mis-information floating around in here!

2005+ rule does NOT only apply to the LQ4. All 2005 and up came with different hardware for the rotating assy., larger/stronger rods and floating pistons. A few 2004 model engines had these upgrades as well. The Alum L33 motors and a few escalade engines.

This is a 5.3 2005+ rod/piston on the right vs the 98-2004 rod/piston on the left.

Replacing the OEM rotating assy hardware with aftermarket hardware isn’t necessary… Massive waste of money IMO. The pistons/rods themselves will give out well before the hardware. Installing aftermarket hardware can egg the rods and cause all kinds of problems. Some get lucky….

The rod bolts are NOT the “weak point”. Don’t rev the motors over 6500rpm and the OEM hardware has been proven to 1000+crank HP range many times. I run a 2001 5.3 motor with the “weak” rods and all original hardware. The $220 motor ran 100+ low 9 second passes this year with a quite a few street miles and ended the year with an 8.93 @153 at 25.8lbs of boost. Next pass something finally gave out… can’t tell what that was at this point. I’ll bet money it wasn’t a rod bolt! My moneys on the thrust bearing. Since I launched this thing at 24lbs of boost.

I also cool my 5.3 engine very easily with a “smallish” $90 ebay fork lift radiator. I believe the core is 17x17x3.5. I use a single shrouded ford Taurus fan. Even on 100+ degree days coolant never went over 210* in traffic.

Lastly if your hotside is 2.5", you may want to reconsider. 2.5" piping will support roughly 2400 crank hp with a typical V8 turbo build. Larger piping just slows exhaust gas velocity. It will make the car spool poorly compared to what it could. 2” piping is good to 1000ish crank hp. If you don’t plan on exceeding that, I’d suggest dropping your hotside size down. I ran 2.5" and wish I would have done a little research first. Plan to re-do it this winter.


Good luck, project looks fun!

Trust what this man says. He's right about all the misinformation posted here. Rod bolts in a turbo application have zero issues as the RPM isnt nearly as high as N/A and the compressive loads of huge turbo power dont affect the rod bolts at all. To add some info to the piston and rod differences in the 2005 and up motors, 2004 6.0 liter engines got the coated skirts like 05 up but did NOT have the better full floater rods. 05 and up all motors got the full floater rods and coated skirts and they changed the wrist pin dia about .002-.003 so you cant hang floater rods on an older piston. Most turbo LSX motors are pretty happy at 14 to 17 degrees WOT timing above 10 lbs boost. They dont need much due to the excellent cylinder head design. Keep the timing low and it will live a long life!

 

[jaywill]

nice !

 

[Stringbean]

The cars been done but untuned for about the last 2 months and I've put about 1000 miles on it. I have to say that the drivability and power are far beyond the v6 even with the somewhat crude tune that its running right now. I did end up going with a cx racing front mount a2a intercooler. I also picked up some new wheels and tires a couple weeks ago. No respectable track times yet but hoping for some later this month if I can get my hands on a set of slicks before then.

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