5.3 ls motor vs 5.7 lt1

patooyee · Jul 10, 2015

Re: Re: 5.3 ls motor vs 5.7 lt1

Ls1s are getting pretty cheap these days, put out similar power to the 5.3, will come with the compact intake and oil pan to begin with, and be 75 lbs lighter. I bet by the time you buy a 5.3, an oil pan and intake you could have just paid for an ls1. The accessories are mounted lower and wider though.

pholmann · Jul 10, 2015

The only issue I have with the ls1's are they are getting some age on them and most haven't had an easy mile put on them. They are usually ragged the **** out.

yankster · Jul 10, 2015

I recently pulled a ramjet 350 out of my buggy and put in an LS3. The chassis didn't need to be modified at all, only motor mounts and engine guard.

Neal3000 · Jul 10, 2015

Warewolf SD said:
Yes TBI 5.7 but has a TPI from a Camaro. Throttle body was gone when I got it. Thought it was going to be cost effective motor for me but getting it running the way I want may end up costing more than a takeout 5.3. or 6.0 for that matter.
Thanks again
Rob

So whats the big issue with converting to tpi? If you have a complete setup really all you need is to get your ecm tuned and get a different fuel pump, the harness is pretty easy to mod youelf. If your talking about getting extra hp out of it then i agree- go LS, but if you just want a good running stock engine i wouldn't go to the trouble of swapping engines. TPI350 was awesome for me, great throttle response and nice low end torque.

kmcminn · Jul 10, 2015

Neal3000 said:
So whats the big issue with converting to tpi? If you have a complete setup really all you need is to get your ecm tuned and get a different fuel pump, the harness is pretty easy to mod youelf. If your talking about getting extra hp out of it then i agree- go LS, but if you just want a good running stock engine i wouldn't go to the trouble of swapping engines. TPI350 was awesome for me, great throttle response and nice low end torque.

This is the problem I have with getting rid of my LT1. Plenty of power for me in stock configuration. Unfortunately it isn't the cool thing to have anymore.

patooyee · Jul 10, 2015

pholmann said:
The only issue I have with the ls1's are they are getting some age on them and most haven't had an easy mile put on them. They are usually ragged the **** out.

True. I kind of feel the same way about 5.3's though. Unless you just find a super low-mileage take-out I pretty much assume they have been ragged out. That goes for any engine that I don't personally know the history of. I've seen how some 5.3 owners drive. My wife's Tahoe you pretty much HAVE to give it 6000rpm for it to go anywhere.

pholmann · Jul 10, 2015

That's especially true of the 07+ motors. The majority of the engines I get are in the 90k range which is still safe. My buddy tore one down at 125k to build it just to set his shop up for tooling and he said there was little to no wear. He owns a race engine shop. That's the reason for the tooling. It's the new small block Chevy. Get on board or get out of the way kinda thing I suppose.