Im makin the swap to a 5.3 into an 81 el camino. This might be a lil childish but is an lt1 faster than a 5.5? My dad has a vette with the lt1 and the only mod is an MSD distributor. I drove his car today and it was balls out fast. Alot faster than the 5.3 i drive in the 1500 chevy express an i drive for work. The van has nothing packed in it at all and is empty. Its pretty much like driving an big empy box.
so ur comparing a vette to a van in acceleration
me personally i would take a 4.8/5.3 over an lt1 any day of the week and make it faster mod for mod. even the 4.8 stock heads are superior over stock lt1 heads
I wouldn't use an LT1 if you PAID me...go with the 5.3, a few goodies here and there and go cruisin...LT1's are just old technology relative to what is out nowadays plus they are a bit more difficult to work on compared to GEN III and IV small blocks...
just my opinion...
__________________ '65 Buick Special- work in progress
2002 Camaro SS- 2008 LS1Tech Calendar Car (March)- Gone but not forgotten
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5.3 is pretty much a done deal. Just wondering thats all. Im gonna try to keep it stock for smog reasons here in so california. But i was thinkin would a ls6 cam and ls1 manifold make a big difference?
I'm sure the van was slower because of it's weight, tire size, gear ratio, poor flowing intake/exhaust system, etc. but it probably also felt slower because it was higher off the ground than the vette. Another consideration would be the mileage/general health difference between the two powertrains.
Quite a few things to consider here: 5.3 is rated 295 HP in a truck/van with very restrictive intake/exhaust, and they are torque managed to to death, especially the DBW throttled models. Lose torque management, free intake and exhaust up, and you will outpower that LT1, even with the very mild truck cam. A freebreathing 5.3 usually only ends up down 10 hp or so in the same configuration (intake/exhaust/tuning) as a 5.7 LS1, so you can see there are significant gains to be had.
LT1's best was 300 HP in a Vette, to more compare apples to apples, consider a LT1 in a Caprice/Impala (with cast iron heads that easily outflow the LT1 aluminum F/Y body heads) is rated 260 hp.
I think the LS6 cam is an excellent low buck cam swap idea, long as you use new valve springs.
Going from the truck intake to the LS1 intake could be a big hassle with very little to no gain. If you are using the truck water pump, the LS1 intake will NOT fit unless you change to F/Y WP and pulleys, or I have heard that idler pulley and WP outlet mods will work, but I've never seen them. Either here or on PerformanceTrucks, there are photos of cleaned up truck intakes that look loads better than factory, and buy you a little hood clearance as well, so I wouldn't be that eager to toss the truck intake unless I was trying to make big NA power or had major hood clearance issues.
Well I gotta give something to the LT1 as its how I got started.
LT1
Being its bassed on traditional small block chevy, bolting it into the 81 el camino is very straight forward, stock mounts, headers, oil pan, all will work as they would on another v8 chevy. Only accessory problem is keeping the a/c compressor if using F body accessories.
The opti-spark does suck, but if kept dry can be reliable. Usually going to have to replace seals on the timing cover as they all eventually leak like crazy. There are a few other options to ditch the opti, including one that puts a 24x crank sensor wheel in the timing cover, and running LS1 coil packs, very neat.
Parts are cheaper if you want something other then stock. Again, because most regular Small Block parts fit.
5.3L
oil pan is going to hang low with the stock oil pan. Even in my 67 chevy pickup with the 5.3, the pan is below the front cross member. 5.3 in my Caprice the pan is dangerously low. Oil pan could be changed out with LS1 type, but would probably need notched $$$. I just drive careful. Never looked at a G Body, but I've not had much luck with stock manifolds working in older GM bodies without frame modifications. I've made headers for the 5.3 using a ford mustang 5.0 header and some gm flanges: 12480130
All around the 5.3 would probably be my choice. Throw in some arp rod bolts and you pretty much can't hurt one in stock form. Usually things come down to money, and in my opinion a LT1 could be done cheaper then a 5.3 if you are new to everything.
__________________ 1967 Chevy Pickup, 5.3L 4L60E
1989 Chevy Caprice, 5.3L TH400, soon to get a turbocharger
5.3 is what i proboably will go with. I was just curious after driving the lt1 the other day. The van i drive for work has like 29 thousand miles on it so its pretty much new.
Well I gotta give something to the LT1 as its how I got started.
LT1
Being its bassed on traditional small block chevy, bolting it into the 81 el camino is very straight forward, stock mounts, headers, oil pan, all will work as they would on another v8 chevy. Only accessory problem is keeping the a/c compressor if using F body accessories.
The opti-spark does suck, but if kept dry can be reliable. Usually going to have to replace seals on the timing cover as they all eventually leak like crazy. There are a few other options to ditch the opti, including one that puts a 24x crank sensor wheel in the timing cover, and running LS1 coil packs, very neat.
Parts are cheaper if you want something other then stock. Again, because most regular Small Block parts fit.
5.3L
oil pan is going to hang low with the stock oil pan. Even in my 67 chevy pickup with the 5.3, the pan is below the front cross member. 5.3 in my Caprice the pan is dangerously low. Oil pan could be changed out with LS1 type, but would probably need notched $$$. I just drive careful. Never looked at a G Body, but I've not had much luck with stock manifolds working in older GM bodies without frame modifications. I've made headers for the 5.3 using a ford mustang 5.0 header and some gm flanges: 12480130
All around the 5.3 would probably be my choice. Throw in some arp rod bolts and you pretty much can't hurt one in stock form. Usually things come down to money, and in my opinion a LT1 could be done cheaper then a 5.3 if you are new to everything.
I agree it depends on your goals. The LT1 would be easier to drop in. As far as hp my C4 pulled 290rwhp with an open airlid, K&N, and an air foil and just under 290 at another dyno in the middle of Georgia summer heat. Opti sparks can be a pain but of the 3 my family have owned the opti has gone atleast 80k. The 5.3 does have potential for more NA horsepower and swapping bigger LSx would be simple later.
__________________ Lamar
Current
01 2500HD CCSB 6.0
LT1 faster than a 5.3 
