Bolting on the supercharger was one of the simplest parts of this buildup. Making 644 hp on good gas was even easier.Bolting on the supercharger was one of the simplest parts of this buildup. Making 644 hp o It's a recurring theme from which we just can't seem to escape. We discovered an iron 5.3L truck engine on Craigslist for $300, handed the owner three bones, tossed the greasy long-block in the back of our trusty GMC pickup truck, and headed for the barn. The plan was to slip a cam in it and see what would happen when we bolted on a ProCharger P1SC self-contained centrifugal supercharger. Self-contained means you don't have to punch an oil return hole in the pan to make this blower work. It also means we had little self-control when it came to bolting that blower to the unsuspecting little 5.3L truck motor. The opportunity was more than we could resist. This is what our truck escapee looked like sitting in the back of our parts-chaser pickup after we rescued it from abandonment. We started pulling parts off it immediately, using our new Ingersoll Rand 3/8-inch impact gun.This is what our truck escapee looked like sitting in the back of our parts-chaser pickup You may recall we've done this before-twice. The first time ("Make 600 HP on Pump Gas," Dec. '07), we pounced on a junkyard Ford 5.0L motor. With a set of RHS heads, a Comp hydraulic roller, an Edelbrock intake, and a blow-through Holley, the ProCharger huffed and puffed to 605 hp at 6,200 rpm. We were so jazzed by the P1SC's performance that we tried again with a 350ci small-block Chevy ("A Boat Anchor into a 611HP Screamer," Feb. '09) that made 611 hp at 6,000 rpm. We decided to pull off the hat trick with a 'tweener 5.3L (325ci) LS engine. That's when our good idea turned a little sideways. After The Supercharger Store sent us the kit, we discovered the cheapie iron block 5.3L motor was missing a couple of essential mount bosses for the accessory drive. By the time we realized this, we had no time to make a new mounting bracket (see the "When in Doubt, Adapt"). So we punted and used an aluminum block 5.3L motor instead. The mount is actually for the power steering pump (or idler if the pump is not used). The supercharger uses a completely separate eight-rib drivebelt. ProCharger has promised a kit to accommodate the iron block soon after you read this. Our test is still valid since there's no difference between an iron and an aluminum 5.3L. In spite of all this drama, we did make 644 hp . That made the sacrifices a little easier to take, don't you think? CAM SPECS DURATION ADVERTISED DURATION AT 0.050 LIFT LOBE SEPARATION Comp Cams, intake 269 219 0.607 112 269LrHR12, exhaust 277 227 0.614 With the old motor on the stand, we yanked the front accessory drive, water pump, and heads. We've discovered that the Posi-Lock three-jaw puller available in the Craftsman catalog works not only to remove stock harmonic balancers but will also yank the crank gear.With the old motor on the stand, we yanked the front accessory drive, water pump, and head We removed the plastic hydraulic roller lifter trays and the lifters to remove the cam. This made installing the new Comp cam pretty easy along with a new Comp timing set.We removed the plastic hydraulic roller lifter trays and the lifters to remove the cam. Th We also degreed the new cam and decided to position the camshaft about 4 degrees later than straight up. The Comp 269Lr roller we chose is a little conservative since this is such a small engine, so we decided to delay the intake closing point by 4 degrees to help the top-end power.We also degreed the new cam and decided to position the camshaft about 4 degrees later tha We took the stock 862 casting heads to our friends at West Coast Racing Cylinder Heads, where they cleaned and inspected the heads for any damage. We left the ports and valve job intact, but we did reassemble them with new Comp beehive valvesprings to accommodate the more than 0.600-inch valve lift. We also checked for valve-to-piston clearance, and there was plenty.We took the stock 862 casting heads to our friends at West Coast Racing Cylinder Heads, wh The wider Comp Cams double-row timing gear is deeper than the factory timing set, which requires these thin spacers (arrow) that fit behind the oil pump to provide clearance yet will still clear the stock timing cover.The wider Comp Cams double-row timing gear is deeper than the factory timing set, which re The final step was bolting on the Quick Fuel carb and Edelbrock Victor Jr. intake using a pair of Fel-Pro intake gaskets and a set of metric ARP intake bolts.The final step was bolting on the Quick Fuel carb and Edelbrock Victor Jr. intake using a Before pressing on the ATI balancer, we used an ATI LS pin fixture kit to drill a hole into the crank snout and add a 3/16-inch pin to prevent the balancer from spinning on the crank due to the extra load from the supercharger. We discovered after the ProCharger system arrived that it includes a horizontal pin system as part of the kit.Before pressing on the ATI balancer, we used an ATI LS pin fixture kit to drill a hole int We then installed the ATI balancer, lining up the pin with the keyway to prevent the balancer from spinning on the crank, since stock LS engines only come with a keyway for the camshaft gear and not one for the balancer.We then installed the ATI balancer, lining up the pin with the keyway to prevent the balan The ProCharger LSX kit requires relocating the alternator, but for some reason the company requires the use of an '07-'11 Corvette only alternator that is expensive. The best deal we found was a Duralast unit from Auto Zone (part number DL2326-6-2) for $219.99 plus $225.00 for the core. This is far more expensive than a used F-car alternator that could easily have been used with just a slight change to the mounting brackets.The ProCharger LSX kit requires relocating the alternator, but for some reason the company 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | » | View Full Article By Jeff Smith Enjoyed this Post? Subscribe to our RSS Feed, or use your favorite social media to recommend us to friends and colleagues!
