JUNKYARD 4.8L & 5.3L POWER UPGRADES! ADD 130+HP

FULL DYNO RESULTS! LS POWER RULES! 4.8L & 5.3L UPGRADES + BONUS TEST. THE JUNKYARD LS MOTORS are perfect for NA or turbo mods. We show you HOW TO add over 130 hp, by replacing the stock (LR4/LM7) heads, cam and intake. Just how much power can be had with the right components? We show you on a 4.8L AND 5.3L, with a bonus intake test in each!

[@Alexbuilt]

This dude giving out so much free info. Your awesome man

[@asb2106]

This would take engine masters an entire season to cover all this content. WHILE I LOVE THAT show, i get sooo much more from you here Richard! LOVE IT!

[@Turbogto_guy]

asb2106 I agree!

[@baby-sharkgto4902]

Richard's da man

[@richardholdener1727]

You might want to research that bias statement a little. I think the 5 books I wrote on Honda, B-segment and Focus testing show I test much more than V8s. Plenty of land speed record projects with Honda, VW and Hyundai-I test it all-this new channel will eventually have all engine families. One of my favorite Honda tests-Roots blower vs Centifugal vs Turbo on a B16A-same day-same boost, same Af and same timing.

[@P71ScrewHead]

@@richardholdener1727 Amen, 1st time watching your videos but you're def knowledgeable n work on all engines from what you said, where are you located?? I'd def let you work on my cars..lol

[@ysoofalhammadi7941]

Richard Holdener please try ls1 engines tests best heads cams intakes boosts

[@ChristnThms]

I love that you're using the smaller, more mundane LSs. Everyone lusts after the larger ones, but the smaller ones are plentiful and plenty stout. Glad to see them being shown off a bit.

[@ranger3318]

Hey, the 5.3 was built to replace the 350

[@ChristnThms]

@@ranger3318 math man... the 350 is a 5.7L. The first LS was a 5.7L. No, the 5.3 was not built to replace the 350. That would be the 347. There's a reason why the metric designation is the same.

[@kingperfection1868]

I agree with him about the replacing the 350.. now the displacement is less yes but the motor is commonly used like the 350 was for years and the 5.3 is still used but it's a new generation so I'd say the 5.3 is the new 350

[@ChristnThms]

@@kingperfection1868 so feelz over reelz, right? Ignore the facts, ignore the numbers. Whatever you feel is the truth. Gotcha. You should use that system to tune an engine. I'm sure it will serve you well.

[@grapesanyone6626]

@@ChristnThms the 5.3 is literally in everything. They started making them the standard v8 truck motor right after they stopped using the 350. The Impala SS, Monte Carlo SS, Buick LaCrosse Super, Pontiac Grand Prix GXP, and every truck has the 5.3 in it. The 350 was the common v8 at its time for GM. Today’s equivalent to the do all v8 GM motor is the 5.3. The other guy is correct. It has replaced the 350 in commonality. It is the do all v8 of this era

[@SloppyMechanics]

seems really difficult to improve on a design that GM spent millions developing, i love seeing the stock head and intake go so far with small work

[@jradish]

sloppy mechanics pogu

[@Broadpaw_Fox]

Gm definitely put in the research, it's obvious. The gains are simply from cleaning up the "cost effective" production requirement for mass production of these parts. Cost effectiveness always leaves room for improvement by putting more time in the details. ;) But with these it seems that there's only so much, and then you start getting into situation specific trade offs for better gains.

[@sapperROSS]

Especially with the ls3 intake manifold.

[@richardholdener1727]

they nailed that intake

[@sapperROSS]

@@richardholdener1727 almost, ported with the rod mod and its badass. Unless revving to the moon

[@prostar828]

I tend to describe to my clients, "Dollar per horsepower" upgrades. If you look at the Fast intake your only getting 1 horsepower per $100. Cam and heads estimated at 2500, thats $17 dollars per HP much better return of investment. I personally only tell people to change intake as the final piece for LS upgrades, as neccessary. I also have a 4.8 in my Silverado with the 454-11 comp with a manual trans on my 4x4 daily. The 4.8 is a dog down low until the velocity comes in at 4000 RPMs, very representative of your Dyno chart, which also the same place Boost comes in (by the seat of your pants) on these motors with a Turbo. 4.8l's respond well at high rpm, but if your talking daily driver, it's my personal recommendation to always up your cubic inches and you'll be much happier cruising around town. But if your a racer with a 4000-5000 stall converter the 4.8 can work pretty good with little to no mods under extreme boost. The only thing I didnt like about this video is the compression ratio was unknown. For a future video. I would love to see a 5.3 vs 6.0 vs 408 LS stroker, all at 11.5 compression (Easily capable with flattop pistons) the 454-11 Comp Cam, and Stock vs. Fast/HighRam intake. Also maybe just a thottlebody only episode looking at a 70 vs 92 vs 105 on respective intakes without a shoehorn adapter. As a tuner I firmly believe most people shy away from compression ratios over 10:1 because of the stigma of known drivability issues with Carburetors on the street. Most people dont realize how wild you can go with an engine using EFI and how well street manners are achievable with Factory and Standalone ECU technology. I also dont have the followers on my youtube channel to warrant the cost of putting this together, so if you were to do it I would be VERY delighted to see it. And FYI, your channel is often recommended by me to my clients as a tool to help bring them closer to reality. The internet has a way of putting beer goggles on real world capabilities. Many believe because X manufacturer and Y manufacturer say they offer 50 HP upgrades, and because Joe Popular in hot rod forum said he did it, That both X and Y together absolutely has to make 100 HP cause Joe Forum did it!.....Ugh! Anyways, A ton of great stuff here! Thank you for the hard work! Thank you for disclosing your results to the world and helping to bring harmony to the fight of Internet VS. Reality! Sincerely,

[@duckytruckg5059]

I honestly just started on my 5.3. I have a 2006 z71 Chevy Silverado cat eye or whatever they call it. I don’t want much extra power honestly as I do not gun it really ever. I want just enough so it doesn’t feel so sluggish. I recently added a s&b closed box cold air intake, and plan to just do and intake and tune then be done. Honestly just looking for about 50 extra rwhp and maybe 30 or 40 torque wise. Curious what your thoughts are on achieving that?

[@timweb1510]

@@duckytruckg5059wasted money on intake and tune. Should have just added a common cam

[@johnwayne3904]

@duckytruckg5059 A decent tune on a complete stock LS is not a waste at all. An aftermarket intake manifold on a complete stock LS, however, IS a waste of money bc it doesn't yield major results per dollar investment.. just as prostar stated. If you want to get 50-ish hp and 30-ish lb-ft then you would be best going with an NSR cam of some sort. A few different manufacturers offer decent "drop-in" or NSR (No Springs Required) cams that are almost perfect for a 'first step' into building a happy daily. Once the engine is reassembled and up and running, you'll need to get it tuned for optimized performance anyways so those two go hand- in- hand anyhow. But it's entirely possible to make a little extra almost "free" power just by simply getting it tuned in complete stock form. One more thing to research is: a guy I used to work with who was pretty slick on these engines swore up and down that throwing in a 2500-ish stall converter would transform a stock truck into a red light to red light and burnout champ. I've never tried the mod myself nor have I witnessed a 'converter-only' truck but the logic makes sense if a man thinks about it for a minute. I've only got manual trans trucks this day and time, so I can't vouch for that bit of trickery at the moment.

[@johnwayne3904]

​@@duckytruckg5059 o

[@TheProchargedmopar]

Love how you say to "open them bowls up yourself" and send it. Money savings tips. 👍👍

[@TheProchargedmopar]

Now get Dulcich to show us how it's done. ✅ 😆

[@richardholdener1727]

he is the porting master-though not a lot of LS stuff

[@nathanlodder1006]

Dude, port match the intake, take the flashing out of the bowls, keep it 60 grit on the intake and polish them exhaust ports..done deal

[@dalethomas9307]

Cut the throat/bowl to 89/91% of valve diameter ,cut and blend the swirl ramp on the intake ports, blend the short side radius into the throat/bowl, blend the rocker boss on the port roof into the port. No need to increase port cross section if you are aiming at less than 550hp.

[@HerrPoopschitz]

Dale Thomas Good advice, sir.

[@hardball107]

I've had great luck with the Texas Speed Stage 2 Truck cams, available in .550 and .600 lift. For an everyday driver you have great low end and it pulls really strong to 6200 gaining an average claimed 55hp with the LS1 blue springs (.550 lift ver.). I just picked up a set of 5.7 pistons for my next build, that's the test I'd like to see. Take that LM7 you just tested with it's dished pistons, bore it and install a set of the flat top 5.7's to see how much power is gained with a little more displacement and compression. I think I might also install one of the Crane or Comp grinds you often use, this engine will be going in a 48 Dodge street rod and I'll be looking for a little more grunt. Thanks for the video's.

[@1stamendmentsupporter]

Try Elgin .560/.575/.585 "sloppy" cams, with Pac 1218 springs. Decap and flow test the stock injectors. Build a hot side with stock exhaust manifolds, with a Chineseum 7875 eBay turbo and air to air intercooler. It will piss off some of the aftermarket speed part companies!

[@richardholdener1727]

I'm doing SS2 vs the world coming up

[@spamspam79]

Yay!

[@TheDrivewayEngineer]

I really do enjoy and appreciate your videos and builds, I reference them and your books often in my own videos. What drives me personally is budget. What can I do to maximize power per dollar spent. My current favorite combination is an Lq4 shortblock with 862 heads on top. I can take these from the junkyard for one price since "engine complete" price doesn't care how many engines you cobbled together. The cam, I base on whether or not I want a converter in the application, and the price of a converter. My truck I'm using the infamous SS2, no need for new pushrods, affordable springs allow it to run, but it really should have a converter. I'm using a 3400 rpm unit from Florida Torque Converters. My Olds Ninety Eight, same engine setup, Summit 8719 cam for even more affordable springs and the stock converter. I only use stock truck intakes because the cost of rails, crossovers, a separate regulator don't add up to the benefit of the power a TBSS would give me, in my opinion. I would very much like to see what an affordable, off the shelf cam with stock everything but the necessary springs does Vs a custom ground, high end cam with custom pushrods and everything else. I'm sure they're worth more power, but how much and at what cost?

[@trevman187]

Daily driver setup - tbss Intake, 90mm throttle body, 1.75" headers, stock heads with a 216/220 @.050 duration cam at .550 lift with a like lsa of 109. Enough low end torque you dont need a stall converter but still have a slightly choppy idle

[@xplorationxj5138]

This is my exact current build except 92mm tb lol.

[@gavinedmonson2600]

706 heads?

[@remingtonbuskill8410]

I know this is an old comment, but what kind of power are you making?

[@trevman187]

@@remingtonbuskill8410 it's a wore out ls1 made 330 to the tire through a 4l60e 4.10 gears and 31" tall tires

[@remingtonbuskill8410]

Wow, why so low, what were you making prior to the cam, intake, and headers?

[@rustyjunkgarage1418]

The person who disliked this video must have wasted his money on a Coyote swap

[@derrellbest1189]

🤣🤣🤣

[@mikedink5453]

Yeah. A real dog

[@thenegus5469]

Love ls and coyote both great engines

[@kennethpowers8995]

Don’t know who would dislike this video for sure, but I will say there is no comparison to a Coyote with either a 4.8 or 5.3. A bolt on Coyote makes at the wheels what a bolt on 5.3 makes at the flywheel.

[@artrivas5739]

Kenneth Powers yea but compare the price for the coyote vs 4.8/5.3. The money you spent on coyote engine minus the 4.8/5.3 price what ever the $ amount left spend that $ you can put more horses in the 4.8/5.3 engine.

[@tonyb7748]

I wish I had a tuning shop nearby with someone like yourself. Thank you very much for all this information. My 05 is getting some work soon and I needed it.

[@robertvivo815]

I like how you are right to the point. No blah blah. Much respect . Subscribed

[@richardholdener1727]

WELCOME AND THNX FOR THE SUB

[@JustAGuy781]

The little engine that could! I love the 4.8L and it being the LS underdog. Can handle good boost, can handle full bolt on parts well, etc... Now I just need a good used Gen4 4.8L to build to replace my stock shortblock with for more and reliable daily driven boost.

[@jessemccollum937]

man i have learned more from watching your videos in the past few weeks since i found your channel, than i have in years of being around the performance world. awesome content

[@richardholdener1727]

thx-more to come

[@noahtheviking1]

Stock 5.3l engine, TBSS intake, light porting and performance valve job on 706 heads by a professional, 10:1 compression 214 dur at .050 Intake 220 at .050 exhaust 111 lobe seperation with a little bit of advance. Great torque plenty of horsepower easy to live with but lots of fun.

[@projectinlinesix]

Awesome content, great host, great energy. Thank you! P.S. Boost them both!!

[@jamieK111]

Listened to your vids 6 hours straight on drive to Zip Tie Drags. Took out ear bud.... "I know LS kung fu..." :) Thank you! Great channel.

[@woodgrain18]

I love 4.8s! In 2017 when I swapped over to turbo from nitrous in my 99 Z28 I pulled the ported and milled factory 241's and a not to aggressive nitrous grind cam from lunati, vic jr intake and 750cfm double pumper, MSD controller SBE LS1 out and went directly to a SBE 2011 4.8 oil pan only came off to swap to the f body pan all I did was put valve springs in it, I have a Huron speed single t6 kit I started out with a cast wheel s475 1.15 t6 exhaust housing, air to water intercooler, the car has a 4.10 gear th400 PTC converter and around 3400 pounds it went a best of 6.41 @ 109mph 1/8 mile stock 4.8 with pac springs 210 pound injectors on e90 and Holley efi it was almost consistent enough to bracket race lol it was pretty amazing and super impressed the best it went with the nitrous setup was 6.17 @ 115. Over the winter pulled the 4.8 went over it replaced the rod and main bearings some arp rod bolts and nice oil pump, I sent the factory 799 heads to PRC to get there most aggressive CNC porting and milled, ARP headstuds, one of LJMS off the shelf turbo cams BTR springs and trunion upgrade comp pushrods, I won a summit gift card from a raffle at my local track so I ordered one of the summit brand aluminum fabricated 102mm intake, fuel rails and throttle body and a used NX plate and meziere electric water pump I reused my 210 injectors and upgraded to a 10" ptc converter. First time at the track it eventually ended up goin 5.93 boost only no body believed it was a sbe 4.8, I loved it the best boost only et was 5.85 @ 118mph and with a 75 shot 5.67 @ 121mph it lasted a whole season and lots of street miles and other activities on the street I finally ended up bending several rods throwing more nitrous at. By the hp calculators online it was around 800 boost only and a little over 900hp on the bottle. Iv already started Rebuilding it for another project it's just getting another set of gen 4 rods and bored to 3.80+ its goin in a 94 SN95 mustang so I'm getting it as close as I can to 302ci so I can keep the 5.0 badges lol

[@kthschsslr]

Can you demonstrate the at-home porting techniques you mention in this video?

[@richardholdener1727]

I might be doing that with Briann Tooley

[@bstgarage7803]

Headflowinc covers head porting across many different ls heads in great detail. I'd check out his channel if you havent yet. 👌

[@hillbillydeluxe08]

Never did dyno the engine but I put together a lq9 6.0 years ago with 243 heads. I opened up the exhaust some and did my best to make them even. Engine runs really good and I believe most ls cams favor the exhaust on duration so that also indicates the exhaust port restriction

[@tptrsn]

Amazing content Richard!! I would like to see the "Sloppy Stage" 1, 2, and 3 (Elgin E-1839-P, E-1840-P, and E1841-P) cams, run against the full lineup of Summit LS cams. Or at least one brand or the other, because that many cam changes would be a LOT of work. I'm running the "Sloppy Stage 3" cam in a 4.8 with a pair of china GT35s in the trunk, and it runs well. That cam seems good in Engine Analyzer also, but who really knows until Richard Holdener puts them to the test on the dyno! Haha

[@richardholdener1727]

SS2 vs the World (meaning other stage 2 turbo cams) coming up

[@tptrsn]

@@richardholdener1727 I would love it if you included that Elgin 1841. Nobody has really back-to-backed it that I know of, and it wins in engine analyzer. Seems like it works great in my car.

[@sanger440]

Seems like a lot of work to swap all those cams knowing there is not going to be much power difference (based on your previous cam swap results) but hey, the sloppy community is demanding it lol! So we'll take it.

[@stvmassacre]

I second that. 👍

[@knowbull5hit590]

Anthony Thomas funny you say that because SBE LS engines have been in the 7s... (insert Kermit sipping tea here)

[@michaelpohl1102]

I'd be interested to see some testing done with different compression on a "cheap" junkyard build, 4.8/5.3, tbss intake, with a healthy 230's/240's duration cam and milling some 706/862/243 heads that have been hand ported at home to see how the compression change effects power, then try the same setup on E85. Most people here are on a budget and cant afford a set of CNC heads. I would also like to see some testing done with the TSP Torquer V2 camshaft!

[@ronaldmjrfox5899]

First, Richard this an amazing wealth of information packed into a great video. Keep up the great work. This is my first LS engine swap that I am performing on a 2000 extended cab sonoma 4l60e combination. I'm currently going to run a tbss intake on a 5.3 gen 3 block. I'm on the fence about stock piston choice or running flat top pistons on gen 4 rods with my 24x crankshaft. Cam selection was going to be a 98 Corvette camshaft, but after watching one of your videos, it looks like it'll be a BTR STAGE 1 TRUCK CAM. What are your thoughts on this combination with a stock torque converter and 3.42 gears...

[@danthisguy8541]

@@ronaldmjrfox5899 I'd like to see how your build turns out. What cam did you end up using?

[@ronaldmjrfox5899]

@@danthisguy8541 I'm going with a Truck Norris. It's going in my 2000 Sonoma extended cab , stepside. I truly wish it was 5 speed but it's a 4l60e. It's a 1000lb lighter than a Silverado. I'm not sacrificing low end torque, which gets the vehicle moving for the occasional high end horsepower. The automatic transmission is still only going to allow me to stretch out the power so much. Unless I go into a crazy build and torque converter. Then the equation totally changes

[@thehotrodstation3313]

Love this channel! No BS ,straight to the point, precise, and energetic! Very informative, learning more everytime I hit that play button. Keep on keepin on...

[@richardholdener1727]

thnx-lots more coming

[@jamieknight9636]

Thx Richard, I'm finding my self trauling through you older vids which is great

[@rynev3392]

Every time I watch your videos, it makes me want to buy another LS car, then cam and tune it. Love the videos, keep them up

[@ReinersRigs]

Running the BTR truck stage 2 camshaft in my wifes 5.3 Envoy with TBSS intake and stock 862 heads with spring upgrade. I have to say it's the perfect daily driver cam as it picked up alot of mid range and low end power all while keeping fuel mileage on par with the factory camshaft.

[@HerrPoopschitz]

Good to hear. Planning similar.

[@wakjob961]

Dude...seriously. Your channel should have like, tens of thousands of views.

[@richardholdener1727]

its only been a month or so-if I test it-they will come!

[@GoatRopeGarage]

Keep up the quality content, brother! As a tuner I love seeing this information from an engine building stand point!

[@GAMRMNTS2]

Preciated balsa wood Gorgonzola cheese

[@chrisatanasio733]

You should start a podcast talking to manufacturers about the parts you guys use in testing I’d listen to that all day

[@qunicetoole7497]

Hey Richard I thought the 706 heads wasnt that good, cuz they're prone to cracking! But now when you say you can polish and Port them for better results I think I'll stick with my 706 heads on my 5.3 thanks for the knowledge bro!👍👍✌

[@edsonmoses21]

Man I love you. You literally have given me so many different set ups.

[@stvmassacre]

It's more amazing that the factory intake ran a smoother power curve than the fast intake on both engines. I would rather save the money and not buy the fast intake. Thanks for making this video.

[@dhornbeck]

it's just too much intake for a SBE 4.8 or 5.3

[@jrocha383ws6]

Love your channel Richard! This is the best channel on KZbin for LS facts on different combinations for most power on engine builds and can back it up!👍

[@kevinshiley9061]

The Richard LS Holdner Channel. No one else has the indepth info that Mr. Holdner has!! Great job, Richard, and keep on testing!! Thanks!

[@twiztid1fiddy]

Man I love going back and watching these vids. So much info

[@genuinegarage]

Can you test off the shelf turbo logs on several engines and see how they stack against tubular manifolds? Where do they choke out on backpressure etc. Keep up the good vids

[@buiItnotbought]

www.dragzine.com/tech-stories/dyno-testing/turbo-manifold-dyno-test-cast-manifolds-vs-tubular-race-headers/ Richard did already haha

[@nathanlodder1006]

I have a 2019 Sierra 5.3 that I seriously want to get in to. All of this gets my juices flowing lol

[@tonybrinson564]

1 for sure boost it ,, 2 this is great ,you are answering all my build questions and making me rethink my build . Was originally just wanting 500 hp and thinking low boost on a China turbo would get me there and still drive on the street . Wow

[@KIRKWOOD-qb1lg]

I'm running a 5.3 LM4 with flat top pistons, that has been balanced.BTR Stage 2 Truck cam, 862 heads that are decked .010, port matched, and had a valve job at a performance shop, and all BTR top end parts., its. At approximately 10.8:1 copression, and when dyno tuned before exhaust upgrades, running stock exhaust, stock truck intake, and throttle body,, it put 389hp 392lb/ft to the wheels through an automatic transmission. I was rather impressed with the power output of these engines with relatively little work, or even expensive heads or intake upgrades

[@bluecollarhotrods9781]

Did a Gen IV 5.3 in a 2013 Silverado... 224/232 .581"/.595" 113 LSA cam similar to the Crane - on Comp Lobes. Texas Speed PRC Stg 2.5 heads @ 58cc (706/862 cores), stock intake, TB, etc. Cheap Speed Engineering 1.75" headers and ORY. 3" cat back exhaust. 3200 converter, 4.10 gears, heavy 20" wheel/tire combo. It made 420 rwhp/398 rwtq on 93 octane swill. My truck is a 2001 Silverado... LQ4/80E swap, EPS 214/220 .598"/604" 111 LSA, TBSS intake, 92mm TB, 1.75" headers, 2.5" down pipes, dual in/single 3.5" out Magnaflow, 4.10 gears. Going to see what it does on the same dyno Wednesday. Previously did 349/384 on 87 octane - different dyno. Swapping to a set of AI rebuilt/milled 799s (no porting), FAST LSXRT, and a 3000 converter, + 93 octane. These tests have me rethinking... maybe I need a set of 862s pretty much untouched. Keep the TBSS intake, and do the converter + retune on 93. I use my truck as a daily/tow pig. Thought I had a plan, now - not so sure.

[@banemafia2125]

Thank you so much for sharing this info. I just recently picked up a 5.3 to go into my 2000 silverado 1500, so I'm definitely doing this with my engine

[@curtis4u2]

Love all of your awesome chevy LS content. In a way I wish I hadn't discovered your channel just yet though, I had things I needed to do this year.

[@vela505]

What I would like to see a test done on is 4.8 with higher compression tested. Full point or more.

[@sspeedguy100]

250k 5.3 flexfuel in 07 silverado: BTR Truck Norris cam, springs, slightly upped compression, NBSS intake, edge cts2 tuner, Pace setter shorty headers, cat back with Jones straight through muffler into twin pipes, Very good so far!

[@soundslikealot]

Personally I would never buy a FAST intake just because it costs the same price as the gen4 aluminum longblock 5.3! LM7 are even more cheaper. Aftermarket cam with valve springs can give you some REAL power upgrade but the FAST intake costs A LOT and you'll get just a little more power for it's money. Not to mention you can buy TBSS dirt cheap or LS2 Dorman for 1/3 of FAST intake's price if you can only use a car intake and still get more power than stock! 👏 --- Thanks for another great test! ✊

[@a3970010]

How about running a tall single plane intake and ACES TBI fuel injection? Use either trick flow heads or air flow research.

[@choppps5858]

Like to see 4.8L with various cams. Especially trying to make more torque

[@Ezstrt70]

Do more of these N/A videos on 5.3/5.7/6.0 stuff!!! Have you ever dynoed a TSP ms3 or ms4 cam?

[@richardholdener1727]

I have not but would like to work with TS-someone go tell Cletus to hook me up-and send some of his viewers

[@mlwakat]

@@richardholdener1727 that's what I'm talking about!!

[@dogdue4588]

Hey Richard! Always a pleasure. What lifters and rockers did you use in the 5.3? Did you add the flat top pistons?

[@richardholdener1727]

the L33 alum junkyard motor already had flat top pistons. We also used the stock (high mileage) factory lifters in the L33

[@luismandujano3977]

Is 4:30am and still binge watching 🤯🤯

[@jord9308]

My 5.3 LH6 has 243 heads, DOD delete, flat top pistons(10.5:1), Howard’s ASA cam, LS6 springs and made 325 whp ,about 375 at the motor. Nice chop at idle, but has a nice fat torque curve in the mid range. With a T56 it is fun in my 2900 lb. Volvo 240!

[@richardholdener1727]

good news-325 wheel is more than 375 flywheel hp-a stock 5.3L makes 355 hp the way we test it

[@jord9308]

And I use LS1 intake due to hood clearance.

[@allanb3222]

@@jord9308 Try an ls2 intake, it'll give you a bit more power.

[@mrmidnight32]

Since you work so much with LS motors. Can you show us how to get rust out of the cooling system? I keep getting blocked radiators and having rusty coolant from my dam iron block. Idk how to clean out this rust safety with out hurting the structural integrity of the block and cooling ports.

[@spfadden082711]

This is amazing. I have the 4.8 in a beat up 08 Sierra. It runs well but I don’t think the truck would hold up to this kind of power!

[@Realest1979]

@shanefadden you’d be surprised. The little packages pack a punch, you just have to bring it out if them

[@Ls7jeff]

Hey Richard how about 243 head's on the 4.8 and the Elgin sloppy stage 2 cam along with the tbss intake what you think about that combo

[@richardholdener1727]

CAM IS TOO BIG IN MY OPINION-UNLESS RACE

[@Ls7jeff]

@@richardholdener1727 What cam in your opinion would be a good streetable cam for that combination that I'm eventually going to turbo the motor which I have a Billet s475 Thanks for the help

[@chesspiece81]

What if you did the same test with a 5.3 and then bored it to 5.7 with the same heads, cam, and intake just to see how much the extra CI impacts the power production across the rev range.

[@chesspiece81]

@@Future-Preps35 I am mainly curious how the bigger bore would behave with those heads and the added displacement would change the characteristics of the cam in 347 ci. I have a 5.3 that I want to bore to 5.7 with some 317 heads I have PnP and a Hi Ram with 417 or Shearer A2W IC and turbo it. My 2001 regular cab stepside bed has a stock head and bottom end 5.3 with a cam ground for the D1-SC at 12 psi, Fast LSXRT, 4L80E, Vig 3600, 4.11 and diff in the stock rear that I figure made 550-600. I sold the D1-SC because it was 6 rib and had their horizontal intercooler. I want to build a forged 5.3 or 5.7 with a nice turbo setup and would like to see 850-950whp for with a better converter and a 14 bolt 6 lug with the 3.42s and all new Vikings, spindles, Caltracs and Bogart or Weld drag pack.

[@michaelprochaska9755]

I have that in my truck The increase in compression is 👌🏼 and it run very hard for a daily

[@chesspiece81]

@@michaelprochaska9755 Have what in your truck? I've got a semi max effort 416 LS3 in my Trailblazer and have a LQ9 I'm putting some CNC 243 heads on with the Fast intake from my Silverado that I'll have ported, and the headers off it and the gears and diff in my Yukon. So I want a FI build.

[@dalethomas9307]

For a forced induction setup you wont see a big difference between the 2 bore sizes especially when its much cheaper to turn it up a pound of boost.

[@knowbull5hit590]

Dale Thomas i like the way you think, the cubes would mostly just help with spool time of a turbo. Might help with revving it out a bit farther because of the extra bore but probably not enough to matter

[@82brummy]

Home porting stock 5.3 heads ls6 cam and Tbss intake and a good tune great for daily driver worked great for me.

[@sseibonnevilleman]

I really like that cam selection, seems like you could run that in a car/truck and not effect drivability at all.

[@zx6rkawi09]

I like that they run the test and hold aftermarket company’s to be honest on what there product really does on every kind of combo, and if the stock stuff is better, and if it’s not worth the money they put it out there. Really makes the top company’s stand out! Like this test anything under 6k rpm the stock truck intake is the way to go and not worth the coin to upgrade, and even up top is it worth it depending on the combo to upgrade to say a fast intake. Thank you on the info you put out! Would love to see a test pushing the aluminum block and cast iron block to its limits. And to also see if or at what power level should you use cast iron over aluminum or does it matter? And at what power level should you upgrade to aftermarket or say a lsx block! Run them hard and tear them down and look for wear to see at what power level each block start to fail and wear out parts.

[@drivinwithdrew7676]

My buddy has an aluminum 5.3 with 243heads in a c1500, running btr stage 3 truck cam, long tubes, and ls6 intake, we will be testing it out any day now

[@dhornbeck]

Great videos. I appreciate all the testing you post. I would love to see upgrades shown individually. It would be cool to see how the cam works with stock heads and then the difference with ported heads.

[@lancelanphier9509]

Yes!!!

[@BEANS-O-MATICtransmissions]

Richard, this kinda leads into a best off the shelf cam for a NA 5.3 test, watcha think? With some 863/706 milled and some hand clean up and a dorman LS2 for car apps and a TBSS for trucks test. It'd be a great inexpensive 500+ HP street engine for sure !

[@deankay4434]

Richard, Great job here in the combination test video. I too, will be reading results from the warriors out there, especially for the daily driver 5.3L as retirement does not include 1K intakes or CNC heads. After 35 years of fixing as a dealer tech, I like the longevity stories with good fuel economy using home skills, headers and maybe a cam. Just want to be able to afford to buy new britches from time to time, while still feeling the seat move under them. Plus, few weekends under the hood with the feeling I went too far. Thanks again. ASE Master Tech - Retired

[@8wireracing694]

Such good info.....enjoying the long vids and tech thanks for sharing.

[@bmasontv]

I would appreciate a test of full FEAD vs. Dyno prepped (electric water pump, no alternator, no fan, ect..)

[@richardholdener1727]

I ran a 5.3L with all the factory stuff then pulled it off 1 at a time-might be time to convert that story to a video

[@TheConsumerrights]

On my daily truck I have long tube tsp and catless y pipe , cam tsp in & ex 220 lobe lift .353 Lift .600 separation 112 intake center 110 , stock bottom end , Apr head bolts 243 heads ported and tsp valve springs ,fast lsxrt intake, k&n cool air intake , stock fuel pump & injectors & throttle body. I'm maxed out on my fuel system after injectors and fuel pump is upgraded a 102mm throttle body will be put on . plan to procharged after drag car is done 👍👍👍🏎🏎🏎

[@Killerpie4578]

The Texas speed cams are great! I DD a firehawk with a ls2 and a 228r cam. Made 420hp through a 4l60 and a stock 10 bolt

[@travispardue2030]

I used a stage 3 Texas speed low lift cam with 799 heads milled 0.40 with trunion kit ls7 timing chain set up ls7 lifters and high pressure oil pump 2011 Chevy Tahoe daily driver

[@durrandsummers8571]

Stock torque converter???

[@I5ZQ8]

Subbed. Always on the lookout for what could be the possible elusive "best NA 5.3/6.0" setup.

[@peispudly]

Wow.glad I found your channel.So much great info and so much different info.Keep up the awesome work.👍👍

[@nathanielbolden5053]

He says he's not a CHEVY guy, yet most of his vids are about LS engines and other SBC's!...Richard you ARE a Chevy man!....BOWTIES RULES!!!

[@mikeyfourbarrel8473]

Even as a Mopar nut, I love the hell out of this Channel. Richard is awesome.

[@mrsmokeright]

Thanks for this video I am getting my 4.8 05 Chevy Tahoe fixed and I wanted to add some hp too it. This really will help out with my decision!!

[@Jimmy25camaro]

Can you put a 5.3 piston into a 4.8 block to drop compression with the purpose of allowing more room for turbo boost? Or will that drop the compression too low? I imagine lower compression, more room for air and fuel/boost but how low can you go without losing too much power?

[@martygrajeda3457]

Richard - hope you are doing well. A quick for you or maybe some advice. Running a 5.3 with TSP 223/226 600/600 with a 111 LSA and TSP stage 2 headwork on my 243’s a FAST LSXR and FAST billet rails a Nick Williams 102 throttle body. Going to run E85 and nitrous. What injectors would be a good fit? I really like your input. The 5.3 has a stock bottom end with ring gap.

[@richardholdener1727]

I would just get 80s

[@miarviwi]

I've always liked watching you. Thanks for sharing your combos.

[@ralexander9495]

Quickly becoming one of my favorite car series. Love it

[@javilsx363]

Hey richard i think you should keep the heads install the bigger cam and just run a ls6 intake with a ported throttle body

[@devonv2455]

I’m surprised the truck intakes are right up there the FAST intake after the cams and porting. I got a express work truck with a 6.0L I plan on stealing the motor from when the body finishes rusting away. Great info!

[@davidpreston1860]

Very Nice compare! I'm building 6.0 with #823's trying to decide if stage 2 or stage 3 BTR cam best for street/strip weekend car. Rec port guy also curious about the intake differences. Keep up the great work!! Big Fan your the man!!

[@SOLDOZER]

Do you like Holly EFI computer over factory for some reason?

[@joshvanderwal6718]

I have a 4.8 it’s got 882 heads, mild comp cam can’t remember the lift, 6l intake manifold and a 80mm precision turbo it’s an absolute blast for a cheap build

[@bryangonzalez7179]

Would you still recommend these upgrades for a L20 4.8? Any big difference upgrade-wise between the LR4 and L20?

[@richardholdener1727]

same

[@landstuhltaylor]

Thanks Richard! I'm in the research phase for a possible 5.1 build for an autocross motor. There is a 300lb weight break at that size so it's very interesting to see real world numbers. Trying to imagine what a slightly offset ground 4.8 crank in an LS1 would make with some head work and a cam along with my existing FAST parts. Really want to see 450whp and ideally ~330wtq by 3000rpm. This video makes me think it will work with the extra 0.3L, more compression, and E85.

[@johnbehneman1546]

GREAT VIDEO RICHARD!!! I AGREE WITH YOU 100%. BOTH ARE GREAT MOTORS FOR ANY LS BUILD.

[@littlemotor414]

SUPER happy with my Brute Speed blower cam for a bolt on LS1. Even without the D1SC; it’s super drivable, great idle, and the springs last. All this while making killer peak power, while producing great numbers and response UNDER the curve. Bob Beam ftw! Honestly want to use it in a 4-point-great, with TBSS intake, and s400 in my next s10/LS build…

[@mathewmickle3116]

What are the specs on the cam. I have a 4.8 in my 02 Sierra 1500. Looking to make a fun reliable driver. Looking to do headers CAI but have decided on cam would like about 700 with boost later.

[@ZackNakazora1]

I'm working on my own little hot rod of a motor. 00 LR4. Tbss intake, 92 sniper throttle body, 1 3/4 headers, and the big question is what cam. Part of my Keep It Simple Stupid mantra says just throw in a SS2 cam for my NA build. But I almost want to see a tsp 228R. Though your 45-454-11 might be nice too as it was seen. Head wise. I'm torn between stock milled 243 heads or a hand ported milled 862 head and run compression up to 10:1 would make a little ripper for under 2 grand

[@vmoutsop]

This is great. My project is to build a JY motor for a weekend racer with a stock manual transmission but with good HP & higher RPM's that doesn't create too much torque to blow the stock trans. Like my BMW except I want to build it with a GM LS. I think that is going to be awesome to show up with something like that.

[@iliketacos2763]

The truck intake did better than I thought it would

[@boost1728]

Absolutely love the show and the amount of content! Just wish we could hear the dyno pulls 😭

[@richardholdener1727]

some of the older tests don't have video for the dyno-they were done for print/web articles-lots do though! All going forward obviously will

[@ranger3318]

I second that. I would love to see the Dyno run

[@martygrajeda3457]

Thank you, Richard, you have been an inspiration to me. Is there a specific brand that you can recommend?

[@richardholdener1727]

brand of what

[@martygrajeda3457]

Injectors - sorry about that.

[@ducky7864]

Ly2 with hand ported and milled 243/799's with ms4 cam. Crank it till the rod bolts give!

[@richardholdener1727]

It will stop making power well before the rod bolts give up

[@JohnnyAnderson1]

And some people still wonder why most people prefer an LS swap....

[@shadowopsairman1583]

I just want a mild boost with cam only for my LR4. (Rated for 285/295) short or medium headers. I may grab another and bore out to 5.7, LR4 or LY2 precision ported 862s with a stock truck intake, larger FIs. If I find a LM7 or the Gen 4 variant AFM will be removed totally.

[@thenegus5469]

No one wonders

[@crank1422]

I’m really curious to know what some compression would do. These old 5.3’s have an anemic 9.5:1 ratio. Not sure what the 4.8 had. I’d really like to see a 10:1 or greater ratio on an LM7 along with a head/cam job.

[@natricjol]

9.5 also but if you use 4.8 possible in a 5.3, you get to 10.0 because the 4 8 has flat top pistons while the 5.3 had dished pistons. Crank, con rods and pistons are the difference between the two engines. 4.8 and LS7 are the only factory LS engines with dedicated crankshafts.

[@projectgattago]

For daily driver cam, I really like the Summit Racing "Ghost" cam. I replaced the ASA cam that I had in my Cougar with the "Ghost" cam and it picked up both torque and HP. This is also a good cam if you plan to go with a turbo later. Summit Racing used to call the "Ghost" cam their Stage 1 turbo cam.

[@erikschnell6225]

still amazes me how well these engines perform stock with just a freshen up.

[@corvetteservo]

richard nice hard work thanks for the videos keep uploading more videos very educational

[@ericflower9855]

My 4.8 has 862 heads that I P&P the hell out of both intake and exhaust.I also cleaned the chamber and polished it. My intake is a Dormen 3 piece that I had to reseal....The TB is factory all in sync using an LS9 cam. All feeding a GT45 with an intercooler all stuffed into a Foxbody

[@buiItnotbought]

Almost done pnp a set of performer rpms. About 3 weeks in. I polished exhaust and chambers. What finish did you leave the intake runner with? I have mine in 80 then 120 did you polish that too?

[@richardholdener1727]

hey FYI-the finish is only for looks-it plays no part in power-but I do so like the shiny!

[@buiItnotbought]

Isn't there some anti carbon buildup and resist detonation or something? If not i wasted a lot of time lol

[@allanb3222]

@@buiItnotbought yeah you should have just stayed with 80 grit and left it at that lol. But I'm sure it's shiny as heck!!😁

[@buiItnotbought]

@@allanb3222 I remember reading some articles that polished chambers reduced hot spots during combustion because how the heat is spread. Either way im 80% done. This is for my friends 416 sb chrysler that im putting twin 7675 precisions

[@rogergm92]

PLEASE! Sloppy cams (in any brand) vs Summit cams (at least for turbo). SS2 vs. Summit LS pro cam stage 2 vs. Summit stage 3 on stock turbo 5.3 with factory manifolds and cheap ebay turbo

[@richardholdener1727]

the SS2 vs the world is coming up

[@rogergm92]

@@richardholdener1727 OMG this made my day

[@woog74]

Richard were they both using stock injectors? I am assuming yes as you did not mention changing them but just wanted to be sure.

[@richardholdener1727]

no-you can't add 130 hp using stock injectors