5.3 build ideas input please

[Trey Hardy]

I’m aiming towards 500+ hp with this build I’m wondering if the botttom end needs addressing while I have the motor out?
(Stroker kit?) (forged rods and pistons?)
It’s a 5.3 out a 07 avalanche with 160,000 on her.
I planned to dod delete it along with a stage 4 cam and built top end.
Planning to port polish deck and valve job the 243 heads that are on it

Another question is that I plan on doing a lsa supercharger down the road but it’ll probably be another year before I ever get to that… so should I be looking at supercharger cams vs the stage 4?

I’ll be putting a 3400-3600 stall in the trans when I swap the motor and I’ll build the 4l60 out the avalanche to have for when my stock one ***** the bed

Looking at cam motion and Texas speed stuff
If there is a fairly simple and cost efficient turbo kit that’s cheaper then a lsa swap I’ve looked into the speed engineering twin turbo kit…
I’m just spit balling ideas and getting game plan together before I start ordering parts
@randeez @Tonyrodz i know yall have boosted setups do yall have a build sheet on y’all’s motor setup on y’all’s build thread by chance? Are you guys happy with the setup? Randy you got a pro charger correct? And Tony’s got the Whipple?

 

[randeez]

to get 500hp out of a 5.3 NA isnt going to be great for boost later on down the road.
meaning compression will have to be 13:1 and youll have to spin it to 9k.
the money spent to get there would have already bought sc/turbo.

 

[Trey Hardy]

to get 500hp out of a 5.3 NA isnt going to be great for boost later on down the road.
meaning compression will have to be 13:1 and youll have to spin it to 9k.
the money spent to get there would have already bought sc/turbo.

I’ve got to tear it down for the dod delete anyways I just diddnt want to double work or spend twice as much having to change parts down the road to accommodate for boost
I have been looking at the chopacabra tsp cam and the bald eagle tsp cam but i get my build sheet in order id rather opt for a custom grind cam specifically for my setup/build
I had great gains with my previous build which was stock 5.3 bottom end with ported polished milled and valve job 243s with springs pushrods and all new seals matched with the Longtubes and ported throttle body the truck would really get down for how big it was

 

[strutaeng]

Umm...if forced induction is on the future plans, just gap the rings and probably new cam/rod/main bearings.

Or are you aiming for 500 HP NA, then forced induction after that? What levels are you thinking after the forced induction? If much higher than 500 HP, then maybe forged pistons are a good idea now? But I'm pretty sure plenty of guys run superchargers with stock bottom end w/o any issues.

If forced induction is ultimate goal, then no stroker kit. Stroker would be a good option is you are staying NA. Ay least that's what I do for those power goals.

IDK about cam selection though.

 

[randeez]

yea im def not trying to discourage you lol
just mean a lot of the money spent now you could prob boost it and get same results with more potential
i would do a compression and leak down test on the bottom end, if everything looks healthy i would just leave it.
heads, no doubt there are benefits to port/polish or cnc but cost to work them over, especially if going boosted when you can just turn it up another psi or two. good springs and trunion kit tho either way
definitely dod delete and cam swap, but at this point you need to decide which way to go. big NA cam, turbo/centrifugal, or positive displacement (lsa/whipple). boost cam in NA prob only going to give up 30-40hp. any of them is way better than stock

 

[Trey Hardy]

Umm...if forced induction is on the future plans, just gap the rings and probably new cam/rod/main bearings.

Or are you aiming for 500 HP NA, then forced induction after that? What levels are you thinking after the forced induction? If much higher than 500 HP, then maybe forged pistons are a good idea now? But I'm pretty plenty of guys run superchargers with stock bottom end w/o any issues.

If forced induction is ultimate goal, then no stroker kit. Stroker would be a good option is you are staying NA. Ay least that's what I do for those power goals.

IDK about cam selection though.

I was aiming around or close to 400 n/a and after the lsa supercharger or turbo it would probably be around the 500-600hp range I would imagine depending on how much boost I decide to run. Again the boost will be later on but I’d like to get whatever I need for the motor and have it setup to where I don’t have to tear back into it once I get it installed

 

[Trey Hardy]

Jesus lsa swaps have went out of sight! When I first looked into them you could do them for around 2500-3500$ now there almost double that! wtf?!
So these are my 3 options on boost within my budget

MAGNUSON TVS2300 HOT ROD SUPERCHARGER KIT W/ TRUCK / CAMARO DRIVE

MAGNUSON TVS2300 HOT ROD SUPERCHARGER KIT W/ TRUCK / CAMARO DRIVE 05-00-23-060-BL

www.texas-speed.com

TorqStorm 07-13 Silverado 4.8L-6.0L Supercharger - Tuner Kit

TorqStorm 07-13 Silverado 4.8L-6.0L Supercharger - Tuner Kit

www.texas-speed.com

Silverado & Sierra Twin Turbo Kit | 2007-2013 (4.8L, 5.3L, 6.0L, 6.2L)

(In Stock-Headers Out of Stock ETA 5/29) Speed Engineering turbo systems: Our goal with these kits was to make the most complete, best fitting, most versatile turbo system on the market at an affordable price. Most turbo kits on the market today are either extremely expensive, or really cheap...

speed-engineering.com

Last heads I had worked up ran me I think 400$ which is a lot cheaper then Texas speeds 1800$ for cnc work and cam kit
So hopefully with the required stuff for the dod delete cam bolts gaskets etc along with machine work on the heads I’m hoping to be around the 1500-2000$ range

God even thinking about the money I’ll be spending on this motor alone has me wondering if I’ve completely lost my cookies beings I only paid 5000$ for the thing 2-3 years ago…

 

[Geotrash]

Jesus lsa swaps have went out of sight! When I first looked into them you could do them for around 2500-3500$ now there almost double that! wtf?!
So these are my 3 options on boost within my budget

MAGNUSON TVS2300 HOT ROD SUPERCHARGER KIT W/ TRUCK / CAMARO DRIVE

MAGNUSON TVS2300 HOT ROD SUPERCHARGER KIT W/ TRUCK / CAMARO DRIVE 05-00-23-060-BL

www.texas-speed.com

TorqStorm 07-13 Silverado 4.8L-6.0L Supercharger - Tuner Kit

TorqStorm 07-13 Silverado 4.8L-6.0L Supercharger - Tuner Kit

www.texas-speed.com

Silverado & Sierra Twin Turbo Kit | 2007-2013 (4.8L, 5.3L, 6.0L, 6.2L)

(In Stock-Headers Out of Stock ETA 5/29) Speed Engineering turbo systems: Our goal with these kits was to make the most complete, best fitting, most versatile turbo system on the market at an affordable price. Most turbo kits on the market today are either extremely expensive, or really cheap...

speed-engineering.com

Last heads I had worked up ran me I think 400$ which is a lot cheaper then Texas speeds 1800$ for cnc work and cam kit
So hopefully with the required stuff for the dod delete cam bolts gaskets etc along with machine work on the heads I’m hoping to be around the 1500-2000$ range

God even thinking about the money I’ll be spending on this motor alone has me wondering if I’ve completely lost my cookies beings I only paid 5000$ for the thing 2-3 years ago…

If it were me, I'd lean toward the Maggie. Fewer trade-offs in terms of serviceability, and you won't be pulling in air over the exhaust manifold. Plus they have a good rep for reliability. The twin turbos look like a nightmare for serviceability later on.

 

[Trey Hardy]

If it were me, I'd lean toward the Maggie. Fewer trade-offs in terms of serviceability, and you won't be pulling in air over the exhaust manifold. Plus they have a good rep for reliability. The twin turbos look like a nightmare for serviceability later on.

That’s what I was thinking also I don’t want a lot of added maintenance or fabrication work to get it installed
So what would I need with the magnason kit I posted? Just the pully belt and supporting fuel system? Injectors and fuel pump?

 

[Geotrash]

That’s what I was thinking also I don’t want a lot of added maintenance or fabrication work to get it installed
So what would I need with the magnason kit I posted? Just the pully belt and supporting fuel system? Injector and pump?

I haven't run a supercharger yet on one of these so I don't know off the top of my head. But Magnuson will have all of that info for you. I'd give Texas Speed a call and see what they say.

 

[Trey Hardy]

yea im def not trying to discourage you lol
just mean a lot of the money spent now you could prob boost it and get same results with more potential
i would do a compression and leak down test on the bottom end, if everything looks healthy i would just leave it.
heads, no doubt there are benefits to port/polish or cnc but cost to work them over, especially if going boosted when you can just turn it up another psi or two. good springs and trunion kit tho either way
definitely dod delete and cam swap, but at this point you need to decide which way to go. big NA cam, turbo/centrifugal, or positive displacement (lsa/whipple). boost cam in NA prob only going to give up 30-40hp. any of them is way better than stock

Do you have to gap the rings for running the magnasun? I’ve seen people just slap em on and send it many times in the past

 

[Tonyrodz]

I’m aiming towards 500+ hp with this build I’m wondering if the botttom end needs addressing while I have the motor out?
(Stroker kit?) (forged rods and pistons?)
It’s a 5.3 out a 07 avalanche with 160,000 on her.
I planned to dod delete it along with a stage 4 cam and built top end.
Planning to port polish deck and valve job the 243 heads that are on it

Another question is that I plan on doing a lsa supercharger down the road but it’ll probably be another year before I ever get to that… so should I be looking at supercharger cams vs the stage 4?

I’ll be putting a 3400-3600 stall in the trans when I swap the motor and I’ll build the 4l60 out the avalanche to have for when my stock one ***** the bed

Looking at cam motion and Texas speed stuff
If there is a fairly simple and cost efficient turbo kit that’s cheaper then a lsa swap I’ve looked into the speed engineering twin turbo kit…
I’m just spit balling ideas and getting game plan together before I start ordering parts
@randeez @Tonyrodz i know yall have boosted setups do yall have a build sheet on y’all’s motor setup on y’all’s build thread by chance? Are you guys happy with the setup? Randy you got a pro charger correct? And Tony’s got the Whipple?

I wish. Unfortunately I'm NA.

 

[Trey Hardy]

I wish. Unfortunately I'm NA.

Ah I’m thinking of @Rocket Man

 

[Charlie207]

 

[Charlie207]

You know what, that might not work for 5.3 pistons. What are the piston diameters?

 

[Trey Hardy]

You know what, that might not work for 5.3 pistons. What are the piston diameters?

I’m not sure off the top of my head
I’ve also seen people run 4.8 flat top pistons with boost for people on a budget and it’s held up good

 

[strutaeng]

5.3 bore is 3.780" (same as 4.8, but that one has shorter stroke.)

This PDF has pretty good instructions and specs based on bore diameter and application:

https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&opi=89978449&url=https://www.us.mahle.com/media/usa/motorsports/2022-ring-minimums-%26-instructions-2.pdf&ved=2ahUKEwiL6LnwqpqFAxVHLUQIHRZsAxUQFnoECBsQAQ&usg=AOvVaw1YBA1ITc-S5iSy6qr-r6Vw

Edit: Probably worth printing that PDF for future reference...or at least, I'm going to...

Edit 2: https://help.summitracing.com/knowledgebase/article/SR-04734/en-us

 

[fozzi58]

102k on my 5.3 with Whipple. (Granted is a Gen V LT but I digress). The motor is all stock. Havent even done a DOD/AFM delete on the motor. 40k on the motor since the whipple was installed and I drive it like I stole it. The only tick is the exhaust exiting the headers.

If you are pulling the motor with the intent to add a power-adder down the road, then your N/A numbers are going to be a little disappointing. You should be looking to lower the compression of the block so you can have various pulleys for changing boots levels if you are going with an S/C. If you plan on running 10lbs or more, then you will need a forged rotating assembly. In stock "specs" with forged internals, dished pistons, proper heads/port job, and a boost friendly cam, you should be able to push the S/C to 12~18 lbs of boost and have the same reliability as a stock motor. The Gen 4 & 5 5.3s can rev to 7000 safely if properly built.

That combined with 12+ lbs of boost should get those tires close to the 600hp range., More boost, more power if the motor is built properly. If you want more than that, you may want to consider swapping the 5.3 for something bigger. While there of plenty of built 5.3's out there putting down 1000hp or more, the cost to do that reliably will outway the cost of moving to a Dart or LSX block with more displacement.

Also, after 8lbs of boost, bad things happen to the driveline if also not beefed up.

If you are thinking about a turbo system, I would highly recommend the Armageddon TT system. Its expensive but anything good isn't cheap.

 

[Rocket Man]

I put my Whipple in my 02 at 150k without doing anything to the bottom end. If it had 250k I might have worried. BTW the only maintenance the blower needs is an oil change after 100k miles. Everything needed is included in the kits including intercooler and some include a tune.