How Can I Get Some Serious Hp

BigLurr54 · October 2, 2007

I was wondering how i can get a lot of horsepower out of my truck. I have a 1990 Suburban. Its 2-wheel drive. It has the original 5.7 350 in it which is throttle body injected. I rebuilt my exhaust so it is three inches all the way with a knocked out cat and a Flowmaster super 40. The transmittion was bad when i got it so i put in a rebuilt 700r4 with upgraded clutch packs. a week ago the rear end blew out and i had it replaced. It has 3.42s in it. most everythign else is stock. the truck has either 180 or 210 stock hp and i would like to jump that up a bit. I was wondering how i could get some good Hp out of this engine. i dont want to take the motor out i would rather do bolt ons. will a throttle body spacer give me results? how about the cyclone things that claim they add so much hp? can i up grade the injectors or plugs and wires and what would be a good set to add. would a chip give me any significant results? What about a supercharger? what kind works with the TBIs? im very mechanically inclined and just want to get some power out of the old truck. thanks for all your help i appriciate it

Wingnut · October 2, 2007

If you've got the $$$, go with the supercharger. Best bang for the buck HP wise.

It'll probably make short work of that motor though. Sounds like that truck is pretty tired.

Nytemare · October 2, 2007

complete rebuild of the engine, use some forged, Ti, or "pink" rods, new set of heads (Edelbrock, or similar) something with a 60cc combustion chamber, 2.02"intake/1.60" exhaust valves. Some forged pistons, plasma molly rings. Try to go for a compression ratio of about 8:1. get a 454 TBI, put in some flowmatched 454 injectors these spray at 90lbs/hr and the TBI flows 750CFM (which is good for about 350-400hp) A forged Crank and a near stock cam shaft or one with a Forced induction grind is what you want. You will need an upgraded fuel pump also. Than go buy a Vortech charger. And get a custom programmed computer. An MSD ignition wouldn't hurt at this point either. If your not planning on towing or hauling you should also look into a high stall converter, 3000rpm of there abouts. And those 3.42 gears are going to be useless for getting power to the ground. You need 4.10's if you want to Jump.

Remember, this isn't cheap, but neither is horsepower.

This setup should give you about 350hp, and be nearly bullet proof. Its still not going to jump and run, being that your driving a 6000lb box. but you will definitely notice a marked improvement. If you want to go higher than 350-380 with a 5.7 TBI you cant. You will need to upgrade to MPFI. But you may as well spend the cash on a big block crate at that point. MPFI kits aren't cheep, But high HP is possible although it will cost a bunch more.

Or...even though you said you don't want to replace the engine, there is the 502 crate. Now that will make you Jump and Run. Not to mention it will almost be the same price by the time you do the aforementioned mods, plus it comes with a warranty and everything, and you cant beat the two wire hook up. Give it a 12 volt source, and some fuel and your off and running. This would be my first choice for some serious power.

Draenor · October 2, 2007

Or...even though you said you don't want to replace the engine, there is the 502 crate. Now that will make you Jump and Run. Not to mention it will almost be the same price by the time you do the aforementioned mods, plus it comes with a warranty and everything, and you cant beat the two wire hook up. Give it a 12 volt source, and some fuel and your off and running. This would be my first choice for some serious power.

This would be the cost effective and easiest route. Then if this wasnt enough.........add the blower.

Nytemare · October 2, 2007

Or...even though you said you don't want to replace the engine, there is the 502 crate. Now that will make you Jump and Run. Not to mention it will almost be the same price by the time you do the aforementioned mods, plus it comes with a warranty and everything, and you cant beat the two wire hook up. Give it a 12 volt source, and some fuel and your off and running. This would be my first choice for some serious power.

This would be the cost effective and easiest route. Then if this wasnt enough.........add the blower.

If near 600ft-lbs isn't enough to drive around town, you have some issues

I think you'd have to box and gusset the frame, and do some serious re-engineering of your rear end geometry if you want more than 600..LOL as it is, on a 17 y/o frame, you'd be lucky not to twist something off...LOL

Axel wrap, and traction would be your biggest problems with that kind of power.

BigLurr54 · October 2, 2007

well i would rather not replace the motor i dont really have the money for that right now later on down the road i want to put in a lt-4. right now i just want to do some bolt ons to get me up past the 210 hp that it has now. 210 hp pushing 6000lbs you can see how passing a car on the highway can be a chore. i would love to do a blower but i highly doubt the old motor could handle that. so what im really looking for is like bolt ons like cold air intake throttle body spacers stuff like that. I was wondering if anyone has used them on this motor and what works the best to get the old burb up and passing a few cars on teh high way without completely replacing the motor.

Nytemare · October 2, 2007

rebuild your TBI man. you'd be surprised how much a difference this could make.

A Spacer will help you application, as it is similar to a carb. And you could find a chip out there that will help a lot.

Your biggest downfall is your 3.42 gears, you should have put a set of 4.10's in when they blew up. They're great for low rpm's and fuel economy on the highway, but with that 6000lbs it gives your truck the get up and go of a 17y/o basset hound.

Clean up your TB, and buy a new set of injectors from LMC Truck, your stockers are more than likely having some serious internal leakage issues. Your 210hp rating is from the new engine, right now with 17 years of use, you'd be lucky to be putting out 170hp.

You should be able to do all this for under 500 bucks or so.

If you want to upgrade your ignition, get some taylor or MSD wires, Distributor and coil. Throw in a new optima battery also. A K&N or similar filter wouldn't hurt any. Something like this;

without some serious downtime or spending money on a cam, Forced induction, or giggle gas, these are your best options. this should get you at least back to your stock power out put, maybe a little higher.

thecraft · October 2, 2007

Your biggest downfall is your 3.42 gears, you should have put a set of 4.10's in when they blew up. They're great for low rpm's and fuel economy on the highway, but with that 6000lbs it gives your truck the get up and go of a 17y/o basset hound.

I get sick and tired of hearing people bash those gears all day long. Just because you have 3.42s doesn't automatically make your truck "slow" or "useless for towing." There's more to it than that... engine setup (cam, heads, etc.), torque converter stall, and mainly tire size. On other forums mainly, I always see people complaining about their 3.42s and then I see 35" Mud Boggers listed under their signature! No s**t genius, 3.42s are going to be slow with that huge tire. I'm running stock size tires (28.9") on my truck and run about 2,000rpms at 70mph... close to a NBS truck with 3.73s and stock tires. I have no problems with acceleration or towing. My truck almost never has to downshift going uphill (granted, the hills aren't as bad here as they are other places) and can light'em up at every stop light if I feel the need.

Sorry if that seems like a personal attack towards you, it's not. I agree with you to an extent, if you're running tires much bigger than 29", 3.42s are useless.

dualscoopinchevy · October 2, 2007

I dont want to rain on your parade, because I was in that parade before......It's gonna be useless with that truck unless you wanna rebuild the motor with a good set of heads. I had a 1990 1500 with the 350 for a few years. The motor blew when a few years ago. I had it rebuilt....everything but new heads. A mild cam, heads worked as much as possible, tb spacer, exhaust, headers, edlebrock manifold, custom tuned computer............it put down 201 hp. Disappointing......i know. You just cant do much with that little TBI or a better set of heads.....as well as everything else to work with those two. Just save the money for now man......I wish I had my 4 grand back.

She looked pretty though

Nytemare · October 2, 2007

Sorry if that seems like a personal attack towards you, it's not. I agree with you to an extent, if you're running tires much bigger than 29", 3.42s are useless.

No worries man.

Don't get me wrong, I like the fact that they save fuel and you run at way lower rpm's.

I have 3.42's in my truck, it pulls decently, but the guys with 4.10's can smoke me. Its one of the best upgrades you can do to make your truck quicker with a stock engine. This and a higher stall converter.

Although we would theoretically have a much higher top speed. They would just reach a given speed faster, which is what he wants (passing on the highway). But I'm pretty sure he's not going to swap out some brand new gears.

ZZ327 · October 2, 2007

put bigger fuel injectors in it, and get a plug in tuner

Zembonez · October 2, 2007

It's CRATE MOTOR TIME

Go to www.gmperformanceparts.com and bring your checkbook!

Schmids5.3l · October 3, 2007

It's CRATE MOTOR TIME

Go to www.gmperformanceparts.com and bring your checkbook!

Couldn't agree more. Get a nice 350 w/ 350 HP, that will feel like a whole new truck, and 350hp 350's are sold by everyone and their momma's for a low price. GM also has a 383 torquer crate engine that puts out over 400 ft lbs. I'd swap to carb for simplisity and lay the rubber.

Bobslob · October 3, 2007

It's CRATE MOTOR TIME

Go to www.gmperformanceparts.com and bring your checkbook!

Took the words right out of my mouth, just go all the way and get a 572 ci.

That should have enough power for ya.

Nytemare · October 3, 2007

Ramjet 350 is also a cool engine, not as cool as its big block cousin, but its simplicity of install, and coolness factor of TPI looks and nice flat torque curve puts it in one of my top choices for future projects.