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Almost a year later I have decided to do a full motor build with an LSA Supercharger kit added. Car was previously FBO/H/C making over 430rwhp on a stock block. Don't plan to be done before Winter 2019.
Questions.
Can an LSA kit be done on a C5 corvette? YES
Has it been done before? YES, by anyone on forum IDK
Requirements? Anyone looking to do this will need to note: the Windshield cowl will need to be cut substantially, you will need to either run cathedral to square port adapters or build a motor utilizing LS3 heads as I will. Will need a raised or cut hood, You will need a C5 compatible pulley installed on the snout of the blower or will need to redo your belt assesories
Ways to cut less of the cowl, less aggressive hood? Lower motor mounts, Subframe spacers, not running cathedral to square port adapters nor thermal reduction plates, ZL1 lid (coolant lines running from front of car rather then rear)
Expected power with complementing mods? 650-750rwhp
Last edited by GradyBaby16; 02-28-2019 at 02:40 PM.
My question is, do you all think a stock c5 6 speed with a C5Z diff, along with a trans/diff brace, and pfadt mounts will be able to handle this kit or would I need to upgrade my drivetrain to a C6Z trans, diff, rear cradle etc. while it's all out.
You may need a clutch upgrade but the rest will be fine unless you start drag racing a lot. In that case, go right to bias-plys.
Originally Posted by GradyBaby16
I was also debating on pulling the motor and putting in a forged rotating assembly at the same time if necessary.
If you have the cash, go for it, then turn the boost up.
What did you use for a hood? What fits above an LSA blower?
I havent had the chance to do this yet. I just finished upgrading my drivetrain and setting the motor up to make lower boost. Possibly winter ill do this, but I know the windshield wiper cowl needs to be cut and trimmed and either an aftermarket raised/high rise hood will be needed or I may cut into my factory hood and have the lid exposed. There was an option to use subframe spacers and lower motor mounts but I decided against that.
hit up Funcool - i'm pretty sure i saw he had a Heartbeat 2300 on his C5 now (vs the old MP112 he maxed out)
he's been playing with PDs in his car for a long time.
mine's the regular waffle iron style TVS actually designed for the C5, so i probably won't be much help.
So I have decided to move forward with this project 3 months after making this post. Progress has been very slow for me due to free time and other responsibilities. None the less I decided to post a little update in this thread. also on Instagram: Gradybaby16 is another way to view progress.
5 Months ago I pulled the drivetrain out and did a simple cheap upgrade to a low mileage C5z trans and diff, as well as pfadt mount and DTE brace. My heads are port and polished 243s and fully built so I initially intended to run this setup on a stock block. That being said I pulled the motor also and removed my old ATI balancer and swapped to a new 25% underdrive and pinned the crank. I also decided to just run stock height Hinson mounts and changed my LS7 clutch to a new Monster LT1-S twin disk and some minor other changes.
Long story short, I got side tracked on the build and dropped the car off at the paint shop to be repainted front and back and to remove my stripe and plasti dip. Fast forward to Last week, I decided I actually wanted to build my 5.7 block with a forged rotating assembly and gap it for boost. Soooo I pulled the motor out the car again last week and now im in the process of stripping the block to see what im working with or if I should go with a 5.3. This will be a slow build my plans are to build the block, get everything back in the car, run it to make sure its all good and break in the motor, then continue on the LSA track, I do not mind cutting up the cowl, I have already seen how much must be cut.
Pretty cool man. Are there other setups like this out there? I wonder what boost and hp this is capable of
The whole LSA swap has been done on many other cars now, primarily GTOs, G8s, and LS swapped cars.
The only known C5 Corvette to me to have done it is Cleetus Mcfarlands "Leroy" on a stripped chassis corvette. However his numbers where pretty impressive on a stock block corvette with all similar bolt on mods as to what I have now except possibly different cams. He put down 705-horsepower and 639 ft-lb of torque on a conservative E90 tune. To me thats good power but a little to much for me when I was going to run on a stock block which is why I installed a 25% underdrive pulley to bleed off some of that boost. However I have decided to build my 5.7 block now but will most likely still keep the underdrive pulley just to be safe. I contacted a distributor of the kit and I was told the equipped pulley for the corvette would make 8-11psi but I wanted closer to 6-8psi.
then i hope you're planning to run higher compression (high 10 to low 11). otherwise, i feel like you'll be pretty disappointed with the response. 8psi on my stock LS1 was only fun for a few months and only made about 480hp. just throwin that out there...
Currently im over 426rwhp N/A, havent retuned and dynoed since my last go around of light changes. I am now deciding to get a iron block 5.3 bored (not to 5.7) and with a forged rotating assembly. Compression I will most likely have closer to high 9s. Im deciding I will probably change out my TSP cam for a boost cam and will sell my underdrive for the standard ATI pulley for all the boost deciding to go with the iron block 5.3 incase I decide to add more power further down i.e meth, e85, spray.
Good luck with the build and I am not going to trash talk it but there are easier ways to get the power or more power. There is a reason people do centri blowers over pd blowers on these cars.
Good luck with the build and I am not going to trash talk it but there are easier ways to get the power or more power. There is a reason people do centri blowers over pd blowers on these cars.
I'm open to all positive and negative comments. I am completely open to constructive criticism and any opinions as this is new territory for me on this car and I'm always willing to learn. I do know of the centri preferance and twin turbo preferances both which can provide more power easily. My main reason behind choosing this route thus far at least is cost. I've been looking at a few other readily available boost kits and it seems for the price of those kits alone I could build my block and do this kit as well. I also figure if I stick with this route it may offer more insight to others on the forum with pros and cons of going this route who are on the fence.
Good luck with the build and I am not going to trash talk it but there are easier ways to get the power or more power. There is a reason people do centri blowers over pd blowers on these cars.
I think cost is a big factor. Id love to run a tvs 2300 but not for 7k or what ever it is. Although the heat soak sucks lol
I think cost is a big factor. Id love to run a tvs 2300 but not for 7k or what ever it is. Although the heat soak sucks lol
it runs way cooler than the old MP112/122s did... not to say they don't warm up, but i ain't had terrible problems with mine.
granted, i don't drag race it or spend a lot of time WOT... which is why i still got the TVS over a centri
Well. I'll jump into the deep end here.
I'm in the 'parts gathering' process for the LSA blower swap. I Already have the kit from Boost District. The guy (Rosh) is really serious about all this and quite helpful and honest. I was a Little scared going in but glad I did it - saves a TON of $$ over other PD Blowers.The LSA looks BRAND NEW!
So far I have amassed BTR (stage3 PD) cam kit, Phenolic adapters, springs, trunions, Ported Heads, Long Tubes, etc, All the good Stuff. Also got a RXT clutch from a Group Buy here. Taking a little heat from the purists coz I have to cut the firewall ledge but, that's hot rodding...
I'm not ready to do the swap yet - still need the Diff parts but I'm working on it. I am (see post above) serious about not having a car on the lift for 2 years (again) so I WILL NOT start this till I am ready... Really ready!
I plan on keeping the bottom end stock and not running crazy boost. 'Should' be OK with my 39K Mile 03 LS6.
I hope this thread grows into something that will help me and others that want to do this. Personally, I feel the LSA is a HUGE value over other PD's and I don't want the Centri Charger. My plan is to Paint the ZL1 cover body color and have it sticking out of the hood. We'll see how that goes once I start fitting things up. The phenolic adapters will raise the whole thing a lot - but if I do it right it will look BadAZZ
GradyBaby, you said in post 6 "I do not mind cutting up the cowl, I have already seen how much must be cut."
How do you know that? I am a little worried about the AC lines - don't want to lose them. I did see the Cleetus build - they showed minimal on the firewall cut & I doubt that car has AC. Do you have more info that you could share?
I have pics (not many) of a C5 that did the BD swap that I can share (on another computer) but they don't show much detail of the firewall chop. Do you have any more details on it?
I'm gonna bookmark this thread & I do plan on a build thread once I start the swap'n.
Sorry, Not much help now but I hope to be once I get into it.
Hey GradyBaby...
Here are 2 pics that Rosh from Boost District sent me. He sold a kit to a C5 guy in Chicago (I think) and got these for me - said he can get more but the guy was not in a hurry to send them. Not sure if this helps you but there is at least ONE person that pulled this swap off. He also included a suggestion on running the CAI since it is no longer centered in the bay. I can't really tell from the pic if the AC is still intact - looks like it might be - and that's a good thing
You can see the notch in the drip rail and he kept his wipers intact. I am under the impression that if you use the CTS-V lid you have to cut deeper and will NOT be able to run wipers. It's gonna take a Helluva hood (or hood mod) to clear that pulley and the lines in / out of the lid.
What are YOUR thoughts?
04-08-2018, 04:34 PM
LSA Supercharger kit on base manual C5
deciding to go with the iron block 5.3 incase I decide to add more power further down i.e meth, e85, spray.
