HOW TO: 5.7L LS1 POWER MODS HOW TO MAKE MORE POWER WITH YOUR 5.7L LS1. LONG TUBES VS STOCK EXHAUST 

Its not just an Aussie thing. Dont forget we still have countless Fbodies, Vettes and GTOs rolling around with LS1s

That FAST intake was a big deal on the 5.7, and many of us want to put our noses down on these engines, they make a ton of power with the right parts!

Richard is a man of the people, he tests engines that are available to just about anybody, 5.7 LS1’s are great but you don’t find them in the junkyard too much. I appreciate the testing that you do my friend, especially the “other guys” engines 🤘

As a C5 owner, I've been waiting on this one

Yay for LS1 content!🎉 I’m in the middle of a (unfortunately way too) long term swap using a low mileage LS1 I have been sitting on for a while. I’m fabbing up long tube tri-y headers to fit (MGB, so nothing available) and will do a cam , and likely heads at some point. I like seeing numbers on the original 5.7

I pulled the 5.3 from my Silverado and tossed in an LS1 I had laying around that was pulled from my old Trans Am. Basically, just swapped short blocks, added a stage 1 truck cam and long tubes. Since the 08 comes with the better intake and heads, after rebuilding, I reused those knowing they would work great. I tuned it for 87 and e85 as well. Truck ended up picking up 80hp and 63 tq to the wheels, makes the same peak power as a stock 6.2, idles stock and gets the same mileage as my 5.3 did. I had played around with the idea of adding the Truck Norris and the I6 trailblazer converter which would have certainly added performance and power, but this was in the summer of 22 when gas prices were going up. I also liked the idea of something that idled stock and (in theory less oil dilution from overlap) would go stock oil change intervals. Overall, I'm super happy with it and love knowing it has the OG LS granddaddy, its nostalgic.

It’s all started here with the mighty LS1!!

We've been needing this video. Thank you

When I had my 2002 Camaro SS stock bottom end LS1. Made 450/405 to the tire. CNC factory LS2 heads, ls6 intake, BTR Stage 4 cam, etc... Very healthy

Project got put on hold.. but I still love the LS1 content :) Thanks, Richard!

I recently picked up a real nice base C5 Coupe, this is the content I have been waiting for.

This I love... the aluminum... 5.7... ladder year aluminum block Motors... Richard holder you're the man

This is a great youtube channel. I have an idea, but others probably already said it, or you already did it. How about a 5.7 comparison, late model and stock. Then larger versions. 5.7 from GM in LS architecture, then 5.7 sold through FCA as the "Hemi".....look at that monster midrange torque. Wow, what a great motor.

been waiting for this, the OG LS1 engine is what we get in New Zealand too

Looking forward to more ls1/ls6 content

Thanks from downunder. I would be interested to see power change from stock cats to hi flow cats to no cats if you have the chance one day. Thanks for all your hard work undoing all the secrets of the past and showing us what works and what is just marketing hyoe.

Thank you for your knowledge and video's USA 🇺🇸

Man that is a lot of power with such a small cam. wow!

This is good info, but I really wish you had some more 5.7 with factory GM heads.

Very nice output from modest HCI, especially such a small cam. That final torque curve would be really nice on the street! If you don’t have a 6.0, you could bore your 5.3-iron or aluminum-and duplicate, I would think. Or leave it stock and add boost…

Aussie here, so yep, I love the LS1 5.7 content. Thanks, Richard ! Has there ever been a test of moving from an LS6 manifold to a Fast 92 or 102, but on a CNC ported 241/243 heads 5.7 using a baby cam? Obviously with a big cam, there's good results, but with a baby cam, im told not worth it. Especially with the extra engine noise and hacks needed for a Fast manifold. Plus over $3k of the folding stuff!

I want to see if there’s any gains from a expansion in the exhaust like on a two stroke. 3”-4”-3”. Would there be any gains from having a high-low-high pressure wave? I see more and more intakes that do it which makes more sense. But I have a race car and resonator that are 4” the rest is 3.5” (drag and drive gotta be “street legal”). I noticed a gain but that could be from the cat being .5” bigger than the previous (same brand race cat).

Im going to put a barra into my old xr6 first, but if it decide it's not a good enough change, I'll be getting an LS1 t56, it'll be going in stock then getting mods

Wish I still had mine… said too many times… 99 Z28 Hugger Orange. Made one trip down the strip. 13.6@102 best of 3 passes.

My opinion, it don't matter if it adds power either high or low, if a change adds it, it's better, especially if it doesn't take away from the other end.

a dream come true for a last gen f body owner

Watching this because i have a 2002 ws6 trans am lol.

Awesome video as always Mate. Now ya need to do a 5.4 video comparing the two as they battled here in Australia for many years

Awesome as always! Me and my friends always talk cars , and in disagreements, someone always brings up one of your videos as proof. Did you ever dyno test header wraps , or ceramic coatings?

I need some ls7 testing. Planning on putting one in a squarebody

Thanks mate

Thanks for doing this! I have a low mileage LS1 car and debating what modifications to do to my car. When people ask me what they should do to their LS engines I direct them right to your videos..

Interesting how you say that the biggest factor of long tubes is the benefit they provide through scavenging. Well I noticed the stock header you used appeared to be a Camaro style (I presume) that is a "4-1" style collector. I noticed that later on GM started using a "tri-Y 4-2-1" design on the factory exhaust manifolds for the Corvette and the z06. I'm wondering if that is the exact reason the move to the design? I'd that's the save I wonder if there are large gains between the two factory headers as well as the long tubes. Great video thanks for showing the OG a little love!

With collector extensions I wonder if having the dual extension pipes vs an H-pipe or X-pipe makes any difference with exhaust scavenging, or even if there is a loss or no difference with a y-pipe into a single exhaust.

Richard how does that small cam keep making power at 6500 rpm that's a strong engine for what is

Weird project but I have a 1995 Chevy 1500 extended cab 4x4 with the gutless TBI. Just looking for fun ideas lol

what do you do with the pcv system in these types of applications?

My og 5.7 just made 544whp 446wtq. I think there's another 20-30 left in it.

Yes 5.7🎉

346ci 10-1 compression good heads = easy power. Boosted these are monsters.

Yeah,, i love it ,,,,Kentucky 😅😅😅

How does boost affect the valve springs? I'm curious to know if boost pressure can cause valve float. How much extra lift should be allotted for boost pressure. In my head if there's constant pressure ontop of the valve pushing it open at some point it should be able to force that valve open.

What would be the current better cam . I just got one of these and a 2200 lb race car .

Show us how to get more vacuum with a stage 3 BTR cam, or any other cam that need the vacuum to run. I have a 1973 Camaro that I put a BTR stage 3 cam into LS swap, and need more vacuum for the power brakes.

think 500 hp is very respectable. I ...definitely didn't have any 500hp cars in the 70s or 80s.

Do you need to retune the car after switching cat backs? Ls1 cammed with along tubes. Only thing changes is the cat back exhaust. Borla baffle murflers switched to straight though pipe ? Need a recal?!

We did get 6l and ls3s in good amounts and we got ls7, ls2, lsa in lower amounts in higher spec holdens that your not going to find being wrecked that often on marketplace 😂

Richard where do u work and can I please have an application

I want to know if the ls1 will be okay with boost and if so should I change the short block because I heard the aluminum blocks will crack

Thanks everyone for the reply’s

just got a C5 Vette trying to figure the best combo of parts for the ls1

I wouldn't waste $ on a fast intake if you already have the ls6 on there. (Only worth it on a max effort H/C build) Free mods are good for at least 10whp Look them up Throttle body port Bump stop Etc etc I just put down 355 whp and 358 ftlb with a boltons/free mods and a tune in my 02 Z28 M6

Hey Richard what is the optimum LSA for an LS1 Street driven piece

Id be interested to see what ITB's would do on a LS1

I must be overly paranoid but I just installed a turbo. I am going to give up the bit of power over the FAST and run the BBK so I can abuse the boost. Then I can sell my plastic manifolds before I blow holes in them and use that money for more goodies.

Richard this may be the best question anyone ever asked you, however it doesn't directly pertain to this video. Since EGR increases compression by taking up space in the combustion chamber as an inert gas, what would it be like to supply Argon to the intake in any engine and compare numbers with or without the argon ? Without even doing the test, what are your thoughts on that?

💙

If the Ls1 intake gives 450 and the fast 500 then where would the ls6 be? Around 465?

I have an ‘02 z28 I want to wake up. What changes need to be made to the fuel system to support these upgrades? Fuel injectors, fuel pump? Would you need to move to a high volume oil pump?

I have an LS1 with an old MTI C1 "Hammer" cam (222° / .566" @ 112° single pattern), similar to the Comp xr275. I currently have the heads off (original 241's) and have been trying to decide between 243/799 and 706/862 with the valves unshrouded. Would love to see a comparison of these 2 factory heads on this engine. I'm looking for broad power from off idle through about 6,000-6,500 more so than peak numbers. Any recommendation between the two?

Hey Richard.. Now take the 5.7 and compare it to the 6.0. The 5.7 came with 345hp-400hp for (LS6), but the 6.0 came with 300hp-400hp for (LS2). Can you please make a video on this?

What year did the LS one change to a better manifold?

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Ls juan😂😊

1st

Old ls1s were great. I'd love to see a ls6 5.7 on that dyno.

I’ve always preached that long tubes weren’t worth much power, but the power gain is from the elimination of the cats. This backs up what I’ve always said. 11hp from headers over manifolds. Yea it picked up a little more tq, but still not as much difference as everyone thinks.

Can I make 500 tho

No way stock ls1 with just a cam n throttle body made over 430 hp😂😂 mayebe in a ls2 gto or ls3 camaro don’t see a 98-02 camaro engine make that much mine stock with 320 hp had an 02 ss camaro with just headers and exhaust and btr stage 4 cam made 380 hp 390 torque so idk how he’s making 445 or something that just seems way off or has more done to it than what he is saying 😂😂