All motor 383 L83?

peejaykay · March 26, 2015

Has anyone completed any headwork and mild cam on their 5.3 yet? Trying to get to 500rwhp/500rwtq+ with a fat midrange. I suspect that a mild cam/tune is all I'd need for 400whp/450tq. To get to the magic 500 number, a 383 stroker build might be in my future. Thoughts?

And if you have some real world experience with a 400whp/450tq n/a motor with a fat midrange for towing application, I'd love to hear it. No speculation...real world.

thetruck454 · March 26, 2015

It will be very hard to hit 400/450 and keep any midrange with even a 6.2 without going forced induction. If you want power for towing look at a magnacharger, Eforce, or Whipple.

Jon A · March 26, 2015

Nah, a 6.2 will be able to hit that with bolt-ons and far exceed it with a cam without losing any mid-range. Just give me a few months.....

peejaykay · March 26, 2015

If the old 5.3 could do 400whp/low 400s tq with cam, headwork, tune and exhaust then this engine must be able to hit that no problem. With a 383 stroker, I believe they were in the upper 400s rwhp.

patriot · March 26, 2015

I'm thinking 470+ RWHP out of a cammed L83 stroker with some bolt ons and a tune. It should have gobs of low end torque too.

thetruck454 · March 26, 2015

If the old 5.3 could do 400whp/low 400s tq with cam, headwork, tune and exhaust then this engine must be able to hit that no problem. With a 383 stroker, I believe they were in the upper 400s rwhp.

Wanting mid range power for towing is what will make those numbers hard to get. Headers sized correctly can help with low/mid range and so can a tune. A cam may maintain stock levels while increasing power up top and headwork will 100% hurt low/mid range. 400rwhp is about 500 at the flywheel so you are saying you can add 150 hp at the crank with no loss where you want it for towing? I'm willing to bet the gen IV 5.3 that hit 400/400 required a stall conveter to make it driveable or wasn't very punchy at all where you would want it for towing.

Jon A · March 26, 2015

The stock cam has relatively low lift because that's all the AFM lifters can handle. If you get a cam that retains the AFM lifters, yes, most of the gains will come at the top end from increased duration and with the "biggest" ones low RPM torque will suffer.

However, if you ditch the AFM lifters you can use a cam with much greater lift. If the duration is kept relatively close to stock, this will result in a increase of torque across the board. It won't have the huge HP gains up top that a larger duration cam (that you'd chose for racing) will, but such a cam could offer substantial gains in the mid-range without losing anything noticeable at low RPM. I don't know if a 5.3 could make it to 400 RWHP with such a cam, but if built to larger displacement it surely could.

I don't know of anybody offering such an off the shelf "towing cam" at the moment, but many companies will do a custom cam to give you exactly what you want.

peejaykay · March 27, 2015

I'm just looking for advice. Although experienced with converting n/a to boosted setups, I don't want to boost it. I'm not familiar with n/a motor builds, I suppose I will need to research and learn up on matching up cam profiles with horsepower and torque goals.

Cold Air Inductions · April 3, 2015

I think a lot of what you re wanting to accomplish will be done through the cam and the tune. That being said. I'd call some tuners / cam manufacturers and discuss your goals and see what they have to say and offer. Until you get a specific set-up and tune on the dyno and start looking at the power curve its just guesswork to a point, they may have some current examples that they can go off of to point you in the correct direction. Good luck, and if you go 383 I'll definitely be subscribing!

Spurshot · April 4, 2015

Seems like if you took all the money you're going to pour into a little 1500 5.3L and just jacked up the truck and slid a 2500 Duramax under it with a tune, you'd get where you're going and then some.

redwngr · April 4, 2015

Or drop in on of the 6.2's fromcamaro/corvette.

LSA  Camaro ZL1 (Cpe., Conv.) 6.2 LSA - 6.2L V-8 SC OHV SFI 103.25 x 92 9.1 580 hp (432 kW) @ 6100* 556 lb-ft (754 Nm) @ 3800*

CTS V (Cpe.,Sed.,Wag) 556 hp (415 kW) @ 6100* 551 lb-ft (747 Nm) @ 3800*

LS3  Camaro SS (Cpe. Conv.) 6.2 LS3 - 6.2L V-8 OHV SFI 103.25 x 92 10.7 426 hp (318 kW) @ 5900* 420 lb-ft (569 Nm) @ 4600*

SS Performance Sedan 415 hp (309 kW) @ 5900* 415 lb-ft (563 Nm) @ 4600*

L99  Camaro SS (Cpe., Conv.) 6.2 L99 - 6.2L V-8 VVT OHV SFI 103.25 x 92 10.4 400 hp (298 kW) @ 5900* 410 lb-ft (556 Nm) @ 4300*

LS7  Camaro Z/28 7.0 LS7 - 7.0L V-8 OHV SFI 104.8 X 101.6 11.0 505 hp (377 kw) @ 6100* 481 lb-ft (652 Nm) @ 4800* Bowling Green, KY

Gen-V LT1  Corvette (Cpe., Conv.) 6.2 LT1 - 6.2L V-8 OHV DI 103.25 x 92 11.5 455 hp (339 kW) @ 6000* 460 lb-ft (624 Nm) @ 4600* Tonawanda, NY

Corvette Z51 (Cpe., Conv.) 455 hp (339 kW) @ 6000* 460 lb-ft (624 Nm) @ 4600*

Ü Corvette (Cpe., Conv.) 6.2 LT1 - 6.2L V-8 OHV DI 103.25 x 92 11.5 460 hp (343 kW) @ 6000* 465 lb-ft (630 Nm) @ 4600*

Corvette Z51 (Cpe., Conv.) 460 hp (343 kW) @ 6000* 465 lb-ft (630 Nm) @ 4600*

LT4  Corvette Z06 (Cpe., Conv.) 6.2 LT4 - 6.2L V-8 SC OHV DI 103.25 x 92 10.0 650 hp (485 kW) @ 6400* 650 lb-ft (861 Nm) @ 3600*

Spurshot · April 8, 2015

Or drop in on of the 6.2's fromcamaro/corvette.

LSA  Camaro ZL1 (Cpe., Conv.) 6.2 LSA - 6.2L V-8 SC OHV SFI 103.25 x 92 9.1 580 hp (432 kW) @ 6100* 556 lb-ft (754 Nm) @ 3800*

CTS V (Cpe.,Sed.,Wag) 556 hp (415 kW) @ 6100* 551 lb-ft (747 Nm) @ 3800*

LS3  Camaro SS (Cpe. Conv.) 6.2 LS3 - 6.2L V-8 OHV SFI 103.25 x 92 10.7 426 hp (318 kW) @ 5900* 420 lb-ft (569 Nm) @ 4600*

SS Performance Sedan 415 hp (309 kW) @ 5900* 415 lb-ft (563 Nm) @ 4600*

L99  Camaro SS (Cpe., Conv.) 6.2 L99 - 6.2L V-8 VVT OHV SFI 103.25 x 92 10.4 400 hp (298 kW) @ 5900* 410 lb-ft (556 Nm) @ 4300*

LS7  Camaro Z/28 7.0 LS7 - 7.0L V-8 OHV SFI 104.8 X 101.6 11.0 505 hp (377 kw) @ 6100* 481 lb-ft (652 Nm) @ 4800* Bowling Green, KY

Gen-V LT1  Corvette (Cpe., Conv.) 6.2 LT1 - 6.2L V-8 OHV DI 103.25 x 92 11.5 455 hp (339 kW) @ 6000* 460 lb-ft (624 Nm) @ 4600* Tonawanda, NY

Corvette Z51 (Cpe., Conv.) 455 hp (339 kW) @ 6000* 460 lb-ft (624 Nm) @ 4600*

Ü Corvette (Cpe., Conv.) 6.2 LT1 - 6.2L V-8 OHV DI 103.25 x 92 11.5 460 hp (343 kW) @ 6000* 465 lb-ft (630 Nm) @ 4600*

Corvette Z51 (Cpe., Conv.) 460 hp (343 kW) @ 6000* 465 lb-ft (630 Nm) @ 4600*

LT4  Corvette Z06 (Cpe., Conv.) 6.2 LT4 - 6.2L V-8 SC OHV DI 103.25 x 92 10.0 650 hp (485 kW) @ 6400* 650 lb-ft (861 Nm) @ 3600*

Yeah, I was checking around last weekend and found a crate LT1 (current LS Corvette) 460 hp is about $9k, without a ECM.

Like I said, a Duramax would put you in front at most stoplight grand prix contests. Lots of hp under the curve. Look at how much is available at say 1500 - 2000 rpm compared to a gas motor.