BUILD THREAD 87 Cutlass EFI build: 9/13/23..NEW STUFF!

[Texas82GP]

On the cam, if it were me, I would stay in the 220°-224° range, around .525" lift and no narrower than 114° LSA. Many will think those specs are mild but remember, it's only 325 cubic inches. I have the GMPP LS Hot Cam in my 5.3 and I like it, but it can be a little choppy when its hot outside and you're in traffic or idling with the A/C on. It's 219/228 525/525 on a 112 LSA. My brother has the same cam in his 6.0 in his Camaro and it is better suited to the larger engine. The Hot Cam was really intended for the 5.7 LS1. I know running .600+ lift is the norm nowadays but I'm not comfortable with it. I have 65k miles on my cam swap in my Sierra and I get some piece of mind that the cam and valve spring combination was engineered by GM. I don't have to worry about changing valve springs because I'm out on the ragged edge with huge valve lift.

 

[Injectedcutty]

On the cam, if it were me, I would stay in the 220°-224° range, around .525" lift and no narrower than 114° LSA. Many will think those specs are mild but remember, it's only 325 cubic inches. I have the GMPP LS Hot Cam in my 5.3 and I like it, but it can be a little choppy when its hot outside and you're in traffic or idling with the A/C on. It's 219/228 525/525 on a 112 LSA. My brother has the same cam in his 6.0 in his Camaro and it is better suited to the larger engine. The Hot Cam was really intended for the 5.7 LS1. I know running .600+ lift is the norm nowadays but I'm not comfortable with it. I have 65k miles on my cam swap in my Sierra and I get some piece of mind that the cam and valve spring combination was engineered by GM. I don't have to worry about changing valve springs because I'm out on the ragged edge with huge valve lift.

That's about where i wanna stay on cam specs anyway Jared. The cutlass will be more of a healthy pavement pounder/cruiser when complete. I'd like this LS to have nice street manners with a nice chug to it. If i can get 420hp out of it i will be a happy camper!

Honestly, I'd really love to boost it. These 5.3's love it....but i have the issue of wanting to go twins....not sure how it would hold up. It will be built to be NA and down the road if i feel the need for more then it will get a procharger instead.

 

[Opie Knievel]

Scott, do you have any plans yet for how you're gonna handle the tuning?

 

[Injectedcutty]

Scott, do you have any plans yet for how you're gonna handle the tuning?

Not 100% yet. I'm looking into several companies that will reflash the pcm to get it up and running....delete vats, egr nonsense, etc.

My ultimate goal is to get the HP tuners software and learn to do it myself. I've seen tuning classes available here in the Ville, and i think it would be a good investment to attend a couple so i have a better feel for the proper way to avoid blowing stuff up lol!

 

[Opie Knievel]

Not 100% yet. I'm looking into several companies that will reflash the pcm to get it up and running....delete vats, egr nonsense, etc.

My ultimate goal is to get the HP tuners software and learn to do it myself. I've seen tuning classes available here in the Ville, and i think it would be a good investment to attend a couple so i have a better feel for the proper way to avoid blowing stuff up lol!

Doing your own tuning would be awesome. I'd love to be able to tune EFI. If I ever go EFI on the Monte Carlo, I'll probably learn to tune. There's pretty good money in doing tunes if you're good too. My buddy has an '09 Corvette that he's put a cam and heads on. He had it tuned by a local guy. He charges $500 a tune. He does one car per day. That's $2500 a week!!

 

[Rktpwrd]

Great find Scott. And at a price that can't be beat too!
Congrats to moving to "the dark side" (LS power)...
Hahaha
I'm just busting your chops of course. LS is the new SBC, so I don't blame you one bit. Like it or not, it's pretty much the way of the future. Makes good sense to get in on the ground level now and get familiar with them and learn how to make stupid power with them. Me, I'm an old school dinosaur in comparison. Trying to do more with less on an old, outdated, and weak in places platform with my 462. Problem is, I'm pretty much too heavily invested in it now to just switch engine platforms mid stream. Maybe one day, if the cast iron brute suffers a major failure...

I know it's just tentative for you at this point, but I'd love to see twin hair dryers hanging off the front of it eventually, or at least a nasty ProCharger like you mentioned. Either one would be killer!

Congratulations again, I'll be watching as always, and looking forward to your progress on the new mill. Oh, and give your painter a swift kick in the *ss and tell him to hurry up and get on with it! Gotta get yours done soon too!

Cheers buddy

D.

 

[Injectedcutty]

Great find Scott. And at a price that can't be beat too!
Congrats to moving to "the dark side" (LS power)...
Hahaha
I'm just busting your chops of course. LS is the new SBC, so I don't blame you one bit. Like it or not, it's pretty much the way of the future. Makes good sense to get in on the ground level now and get familiar with them and learn how to make stupid power with them. Me, I'm an old school dinosaur in comparison. Trying to do more with less on an old, outdated, and weak in places platform with my 462. Problem is, I'm pretty much too heavily invested in it now to just switch engine platforms mid stream. Maybe one day, if the cast iron brute suffers a major failure...

I know it's just tentative for you at this point, but I'd love to see twin hair dryers hanging off the front of it eventually, or at least a nasty ProCharger like you mentioned. Either one would be killer!

Congratulations again, I'll be watching as always, and looking forward to your progress on the new mill. Oh, and give your painter a swift kick in the *ss and tell him to hurry up and get on with it! Gotta get yours done soon too!

Cheers buddy

D.

Thanks D! I figured on of yall would bust me up a bit for converting to LS lol! I love old school iron, but for the price i got this stuff for it would be dumb to pass up! In addition, i have enough high quality parts to sell off and fund the swap.

One of the beauties of LS swap parts is i have total control of mounting options. I will be getting adjustable swap mounts that will allow me to use the stock frame mounts, and my th350 in the stock location. If i upgrade to a 4l80 in the future, or manual trans, i just move the clamshells on the swap plates to position everything correctly.

I'm looking forward to diving into the world of LS, and the options out there. Opie can vouch, I'm pretty sure my eyes have been bleeding from all the research put in here lately! Cx racing sells a complete twin turbo kit for the g body....good for 900-1000hp which is too much for the street in my opinion. Looks damn cool though! I will be keeping my eyes open for a decent deal on a procharger kit. I won't order a cam or springs until i decide for sure on forced induction.

I intend to stay with the truck intake for some low end grunt, unless i find an ls6 intake at a reasonable price. When complete, i want the LS to be as clean and aesthetically appealing as my old sbc was.

Thanks again D, updates will come as the parts start rolling in!

 

[Injectedcutty]

Well it's been a busy week in the field of LS swapping! Again, I've researched enough my eyes hurt, but that's how you get some knowledge and try to come up with a winning combo! I've posted several pics on the "g body" thread...figured i better follow up.

After getting in touch with some top cam companies, i decided and ordered a cam that should be well suited for the end result of the build....boost! I wanted to boost my car years ago, but backed out. It might take awhile, but I'm going for the gusto this time around! The cam should be in next week as its being freshly cut and sent from cam motion. Here are the specs:

This cam is engineered more for the 5.3's vs the 6.0's. Should provide a good kick in the pants!

I ordered up a new melling oil pump, as well as a pickup tube girdle to help it stay put.

Managed to get to pullapart today and do some work on a 02 suburban. Got the valve covers (gonna need a good degreaser bath from all the schmutz on em), rockers and the rocker pedestals, a steam crossover pipe, and a throttle body with good sensors still attached. I plan on doing the trunnion upgrade on the rockers as i want peace of mind when the boost is introduced.

That's it for now guys. I will continue to knock out the "parts needed" list as best as possible to stay on track. Ideally, i would love to have the short block closed up in a month or so. Stay tuned....

 

[Injectedcutty]

Well i had a little bit of free time before picking up my girls, so i gave the valve covers a much needed bath! I forgot to take a before pic, but the common nasty, oily, grimy parts one would find at a yard.

A little bit of schmutz remover, nylon brush, and a good ole water hose has em looking WAY better! Now i can smooth out the casting ridges, and give em a more custom appearance.

 

[Injectedcutty]

As i posted yesterday....deliveries for the LS swap have been coming in. Yesterday i received the cam gear (authentic GM woohoo), LS2 timing chain, trick flow chain damper and adapter bracket, melling M295 oil pump, billet pickup tube girdle, and a block plug kit.

I was checking tracking all day as i know most of you gearheads agree....it's so exciting when something says "out for delivery!"

Anyways, i got done with my route at work, and booked it home to find a couple more boxes. The more important one had my new bumpstick in it! I'm new to LS engines, especially hyd roller cams because they aren't cheap, and my gen1 did great for 10 years with a flat tappet in it.

I must say, this is one pretty piece of metal! I listed the specs prior, but it's a Tick Performance stage 1 turbo cam. Freshly ground last Friday and shipped directly from Cam Motion. Silly pics, but I'm super excited to have almost everything to close up the short block.

Let me know what you guys think? I'm geared up to build a boosted beast for my cutlass! I've always wanted to, was scared in the past....i put my big boy pants on and decided now is the time!