My daily for the last 6 years has been a 72 El Camino with a 5.3 and 4L60E. I changed to an LS2 cam and changed valve springs. It has headers and the Trailblazer intake. It was 315 hp to the wheels on a Mustang dyno. We stopped the pull at 5600 rpm because it was running out of fuel. Power was still climbing. It was a junkyard engine.
Nice. This is a bone stock 99 5.7 LS1. I figure I will clean up the heads and change the seals, have them check it to make sure they are true and change the springs. Use the 5.3 short block. I am going to retain the original Camaro intake and throttle. I'll probably put a set of long tube headers on it, if they will fit, change the cam to a mild street/tow type of cam and call it good. I'll try and make it as sanitary as possible, but I am not spending a ton of time or money trying to make it look like a gen 1 sbc. But, I do think I will put a Ford emblem on the intake just to piss off the purists. 300 HP is plenty for me on this truck. If I end up with more, it's all gravy.
What I really like is that it leaks nothing. I park anywhere and there are no spots of anything. I do have the headers from Holley made for the A body. The engine had 45k on it. The trans was from a Camaro and had been rebuilt. For engine management I am running a Megasquirt MS3 and controlling the transmission with a Microsquirt. It is nice to be able to program the shift pattern.
The stock setup is geared towards torque, but it has a nice wide torque curve. Like idle to 5000 or something.
There are quite a few towing cams available. Tons of info on the old web. I will run the factory ECU and probably a stand alone computer of I use an automatic. I am leaning towards a 5 speed stick, just to minimize the extra crap for tranny coolers etc. Plus, I prefer controlling my shift point, especially when towing.
The stock LS ECU (if from an automatic vehicle) will control a 4L60E/4L80E with no other stuff needed, and you can customize all tranmission operations in the ECU with HP Tuners, FYI.
Funny how an aluminum blocked V8 in the 70’s would have been worth spending a fortune repairing but today they are throw away. SMH.
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