Lil Thumper
.020 over 4.8 iron block, wiseco 10-1 pistons, gen4 rods with arp bolts, stock crank
ARP 225 cathedral port heads, ls6 intake (may try sniper style for looks)
127 lb bosch injectors (looking for fuel system advice) running flex fuel and e85
Haltech s2000 platinum with dual wb and 8 channel egt (plumbing into ttix turbo manifolds)

TTiX turbo system, rodney rpm 4l60E tranny, triple disk precision conv
(looking for some recommendations on stronger drive shaft for auto swapped z06)

Champion 3 downpipes, c6 z06 exhaust (cutting package tray and swapping it in)

Head studs, LS9 head gaskets.

It's time, pulled the pan and the old LS6 has a couple of cracked piston skirts so it's time for a new bullet.

Hoping to get back to the power levels I had of 800 rwhp with better durability and a bit higher revs to hold the lower gears longer

I'm interested in TTiX folks that might have some experience

Looking for a manifold recoating (cerakote?) turbo manifolds are rusty up top

I'm considering swapping the exh housing over to .82 (need to look at what I have now) to give a bit more top end
swapping in 3" downpipes and true 3" z06 c6 exh. Looking for advice there on that swap (might need a bit of package tray cuts, ok with that)
I'm thinking of a few nice upgrades

Bret's timing chain
dual intank 500s for 1000 at tire fuel flow on e85
I'm considering direct port alchy for those "pump gas days" where e85 isn't avail. I have a driver box that will allow the haltech to control the alchy pump, looking for advice on direct port alchy nozzles
Bigger turbos?? the smaller displacement 4.8 should keep these t3/t4 turbos in the sweet spot, considering the larger 62 turbos, I think I have 58s on the ttix (will see soon, manifolds coming off!!)

I have 3.43 gears now, but also have a 3.15 rear that might be fun for those top end mexico runs.

trying out a "sniper style" intake. I know it will soften up the bottom end torq but hoping it will work well with the turbos and even out fuel distribution (easier to plumb the direct port alchy)

Just getting started, looking for advice!! Brent, I'll be calling you after I get everything apart.

 

I had Bret piece together a nice fuel system that ties completely into the factory system good for i think 1400hp, maybe it was 1200, cant remember. My car is an 04 so uses the C6 style system though. Either way, im sure Bret has something for all years.
I just bought a Huron kit. It came with some 6871 turbos, a little too big for my 5.7. Im selling those and putting some Precision 6262 in. Ive read and been told by Huron those are an appropriate size so thats what I'm going with.

 

I really like the huron kit the 62s should take you to 1200 at the engine which is plenty those big turbos would be tempting to "use them"

 

getting ready to drop the cradle and clean this dirty vette up

looking for coatings for the turbo manifolds as the tops of mine are starting to rust (cast iron) Thinking maybe cerakote as it looks like good stuff
I'm going to paint the alum cradles with a nice silver, and bought a few polished bits for the engine
looking for an upgraded alternator that looks spiffy

so many wants so few $$$ I'm going to need to drill into the manifolds for the pyrometer egt sensor and will likely need a machine shop or at least a fixture and drill press

looking to maybe freshen up and upgrade the tranny for stage 6 to 10 as there are some good new parts there Rodney is the man

I'm going to get the Haltech going and run flex fuel so brett's fuel system is going it. Likely going to need some nicer fuel rails and oh those little fittings!~!!

going to go with direct port alchy for those days where no e85 is available, this car will travel and race. The haltech has a amp driver box so it can control it integrated on the pump gas tune.

For the turbos, I have some .82 housings that I want to try to add some top end pull I'm going with champion down pipes and a c6 z06 3" exh adapted to the c5 (cut rear package tray out)

Also looking for a rear upgrade and new rotors for up front. I have some wilwood 6 piston calipers but front rotors look like they have run out and rears are stockers. Some guys go 14 rotor all the way around which looks interesting.

I've got the big sticky 335s out back so why not use them. Last but not least the paint. My old silver looks like crap on the rear bumper (doesn't match well) and the paint has some warts here and there. Looking to update to a new chin spoiler (# 3!!!)

Also the mod red seats gotta go. Looking at Corbeau A4 or some similar racing seat that is decently comfortable.

 

shopping for some parts/looking for advice

I like the BTR Stg II cam kit with TI retainers
shaft rocker system (cheap ebay knock off $330) ( I also have some decent investment cast roller rockers that might be just fine, shaft mount stuff looks better to me!!)

for the turbos
I have some .82 AR turbine housings, thinking they would help top end pull with the bigger cam

direct port Alchy Lil thumper will travel so when there is no e85 (*or I want to shoot something exotic*) I'm looking at direct port alchy

I have a driver amp box that will allow the haltech platinum to run the electric pump and control/integrate with the pump gas "on kill tune"

normally e85 flexfuel will be the norm

Brent,

I'm looking for the intank pumps to push 1k plus hp at the tire I'll be dropping the tanks, soon. Do I need to send them in???

looking for support on the wiring harness/tune, hired gun for remote support. Do you have some bandwidth soon? Can you take the car in house if I can muster getting it down there??

currently have the front and rear cradle dropped and getting ready to clean everything up and reassemble with lil thumper (iron block 4.8 .020 wiseco forged, stock rod/crank)

the AFR heads look really good but I do have a concern (probably nothing but I wonder about these things) The stock LS6 has a 3.98 bore and lil thumper now sits at 3.80

so the heads have bigger chambers, and the LS9 have even bigger bore. This sets up a bore smaller than the chamber which seems a bit funky. Should I run a smaller head and save the AFRs???

I do have some stocker 799 off a truck but hesitate to do all the porting work when the afr is such a better casting

last but not least, trying out a sniper style intake to "soften" the bottom end and still pull hard up top (get some traction and then pull hard)

on the street the top end pull will be a bit more important

I also have a 3.15 rear and I'm tempted. the 3.43 has been such a good gear it's hard to beat but a long hard pull and stout top end charge are important in this build.

I'll be updating to the champion down pipes and going to wrap them and the H pipe section of the exh to keep heat down and exh gas speed up.

Also thinking of Z06 flapper tips so I can quite crooze and run very aggressive mufflers. Starting out with the OBX 3" system cause it's cheap and modding the rear package tray as part of this build.

Any thoughts??

 

@BLOWNBLUEZ06@RKT Performance

 

"You sent the wolf that's all you gotta say"

 

rock the cradle of love. engine is out and ready for tear down.

I'll take some pics of the cracked pistons. Like to hear from others that have done iron block swap. I see knock sensors are not in the valley and I'll need to plug up the dod oil passeges.

LPE makes a really slick alum rivet tool but I'm also wondering if a staked dorman plug would work. don't want to tap the holes and get shavings in the block.

Like to get feedback on the BTR 4.8 stage II cam. Looks pretty rowdy and should pull hard to 7k.

I don't know what cam is in the car now but it runs great with it and I'm wondering if the juice is worth the squeeze to swap (another 700 bucks for a cam kit)

I have some nice comp cams roller rockers but I'm looking at some budget shaft rockers that look good too.


Time to clean this crap up and get it back together!!!

 

had a great conversation with Brent and we've got the hookup on fuel system, timing chain, great explanation on cams, and of course the haltech

I'm turning the corner from bumbed to excited. This is going to be fun!@

I was lugging the front and rear cradles around and they are much heavier than expected

anybody remember the old days of the "swiss cheese" drag cars>? they acid dipped, drilled holes, alum bumpers to get those old heavy sleds down in weight

I'd like to swiss cheese the c5 starting with those heavy cradles!!! I'll bet I can save 20 lbs or more right there by hollowing out surplus alum without impacting the structure too much.

cradles are cheap to experiment, and I have 2 already hmmmm I know the later cars mag alloy and more exotic material in the cradle. would the c6 cradle save much weight?

 

Wonder how you could stress the cradle to test for strength? I can picture the diff and trans twisting on that subframe on a hard launch but not sure if its enough to do anything at all to that cradle.

 

IMHO much better ways to save 20 lbs.
Creature comfort reduction?
Material swap selection ? (Carbon for steel, carbon for aluminum)
Driver?

I would save modifying the cradles until the very end. Perhaps a chromoly or tubular solution instead?

 

This is definitely the direction I'd take before modifying the subframes. Lighter wheels/tires, floating rotors with aluminum hats, aluminum lug nuts, carbon driveshaft, Brett's tubular control arms, etc will all net you much better results than removing material from the subframes as they are all unsprung/rotational weight so the benefit is two-fold.

 

another thing I'm looking at is the rear "t brace" that distributes load and hopefully stabilizes. I'm probably going to stick with stock arms for now as mine are in good shape

I have big alum hat wilwood 14 rotors. With I could afford a carbon fiber drivershaft, like that setup alot. I lost as much off my f@t @$$ as I could already :>

 

pfadt and another company make a rear tranny brace that distributes the torq load and replaces the floppy rear tranny mount which is pretty soft rubber

I'm going derlin motor mounts, alum driveshaft with no guibos, and the rear tranny mount brace (knock off is much cheaper :> to take the play out of the drivetrain and hopefully not break it.

just gotta find the money. found the driveshaft at beefcake DSS 1000 hp no couplers for 850 which is a pretty good deal. stocker will go on the shelf or if anyone needs it contact me.

cradle on the c5 is pretty heavy and strong. I could see how the later cars saved a ton of weight going with mag alloy here. Really what is needed is a chrome molly tube frame which would cut the weight and be plenty strong.

 

big progress. drive train is now 3 pieces and the cradles are all separate and the short block is on the engine stand.

I'll be dropping out the bad pistons and post up some pics. Haven't looked real close but bores appear to be pretty good so new pistons and a balance and this ls6 will be ready for boost again.

part of me is tempted to just rebuild it and put it back as it would cost less. Lil thumper would stay on the shelf and the ls6 will someday find a new home in my ugly betty ferrari testarosa kit car (which is getting a face lift, if anyone needs fixed c5 headlights, I'll have some for sale, they don't look right on this car!!1)

back to the vette, I'm trying to scrounge up enough for a few drive train upgrades

1. alum DSS driveshaft (no couplers) good to 1k hp $850 on sale
2. Rear diff brace HPI tranny mount ($225 for a nice piece that looks like it would reduce the rear squirm under power)
3. derlin motor mounts (89 on order)
4. deep 4l60 tranny pan (adds a couple of quarts and has cooling fins)
5. new oil cooler and new tranny cooler mounted up

One thing I have pondered is seeing if I could move the tranny cooler to the back of the car and still get good airflow too it.

right in the back there is a pretty good spot behind the rear wheel that looks like I could pick up airflow and keep all that plumbing in the back of the car
currently the tranny cooler is partially in front of the intercooler

more thoughts. the compressor wheel seems to be tinking against the housing maybe time for new center sections. does T3 have some bigger compressor and turbine wheels I could take advantage of?
I believe I have a TTIx with the 58 mm turbos (still good to 1k which is plenty, might spool better)

with the little 4.8, I'm hoping to extend the power band up to around 7200-7300 without falling off. Before car felt flat above 6500.

Looking at cam choices. first thing I want to do it hook up a degree wheel and dial indicator and see what's in there now (dr phil cam?? don't know specs yet)

this cam worked really well and spooled up nice so I might stick with it rather than spend the $$$ there

need advice on good lifters. the ls7 are cheap, but I'm looking to rev up pretty high. they might be "good enough" and I've heard problems with non oem stuff

for the valvetrain, I'm going with some shaft rockers, and also looking to freshen up the valve springs and heads while I'm at it. Like to go to lighter and better quality valves but I'll see what I have in there now.

looks like the AFS heads are 225s and have a really nice CNC port job and nice double springs and chrome moly retainers

already have the nice 7.4 comp 5/16 pushrods which will get checked for being straight and likely reused.

Looking a possibly a higher flow water pump (mechanical) to keep the beast cool. Already have the Ron Davis big boy rad, and dual spal fans, but every bit helps.

I went with just a bit of bling and bought a polished LS3 pan, that already has some drain holes tapped and ready which was a plus ($274, with gasket and oil pump tube, bolts, good deal!!) polish on the pan is great~

went with a finned valley cover and I'll be going to block mount knock sensors which I think might work better, a bit of a wiring change there.

Need to sell some stuff to pay for new stuff so I'll post up in C5 parts some goodies.

 

I'd look at the cooler mounted flat with perhaps a scoop under the car or behind the car if you can get some air rolling off the rear bumper.

 

flipped the short block over and got a clear look at the piston crack. Bores look pretty good so I might get away with a cheap redo. J&E pistons, likely go with Wiseco or Diamond this time around.

looking at a nice bore guage and degree wheel setup so I can degree in the cam and check the old one. Denmah the sloppy mechanic turned up some great deals on cams at Jegs

turbo stage 3 585 lift with minimal overlap for $239 is a smoking deal and tempting. Might do the shaft rockers too if I can sell off some old junk to buy new shiney stuff

new springs, and of course checking the pushrod length. Still looking over lifters. Johnson and Morel seem to be the most popular other than the ubiquitous ls7 gm lifters. I'm going to be realistic and set a 7k redline as I think the cam and turbos are "all in" by then.

these little weeny turbos make great torq but with the old 2.5 downpipes were out of steam just over 6k Hoping with a better cam, more boost, and 3 inch champion down pipes and 3" z06 exhaust lil thumper won't nose over quite so bad with the smaller displacement

anyone got some 62 mm t3/t4 turbos? I'm going to check with turbonetics and tti and see if I can just upgrade the current turbos with bigger wheels. I have the .82 AR turbine housings which will help

still toying with my sniper style intake. It will give up tons of low end torque but work well above 5500 to pull hard up top. The car is hard to hook now, so bleeding off some low end and keeping in the power band longer should help go faster.

the pipe of parts will now be cleaned up, painted, and reassembled as I finish up lil thumper and dress him up

 

I plan to mount trans/diff coolers where the Z06 rear brake ducts are in the rear fenders. Seem to be a very simple solution to mounting and airflow.

 

seems like a good airflow pickup and I'm not ducting the rear brakes so that sure could work. I can cut some vent slats and screen the fender and still be happy there (maybe even a crude filter)

also looking at wilwood rear 14 inch brake upgrade, but shoot, it's 1500 and the caliper upgrade is under 600

now a new good news bad news. Pistons are out, for sure one has a pretty deep 3/4 inch piston skirt crack on #7 and another one about half that and not as deep on #6

I'm betting this was causing piston slap. Bores look really good as does cam, head gaskets. I did notice coolant weeping around the studs.

I'm thinking about putting new pistons/rings, balance, bearings, and put this motor back in. It pulled 800 for a long time and really didn't show much sign of distress.

plugs look good, piston tops and ring lands are fine so no real evidence of severe detonation

I did notice some weird scratches on upper bearings that look like happened during installation from a bit of ham fisted work

didn't crack the crank out but I got the front balancer bolt *(WOOOOFFF) and funky dual layer pressure plate bolts out.

I know little thumper is stronger, but ls6 looks pretty good and would save me some overall work as it's made to be there

overall good news, I was expecting more damage to the block and possibly crank

h beam rods look like "no name" but would do just fine and stronger than the gen 4 rods. Hmmmmm..... good choice and problem to have I guess.

this one will come back from the dead pretty ez If I didn't distrust the pistons I'd slap 2 in and go sloppy!!

 

looking at my pile of parts I'm thinking of going another direction. I have a 4.8 alum block and believe "thumper II" is about to be born

4.8 alum gen 4 block, 3.82 wiseco forged pistons (10.2 -1), 4.0 forged lunati crank, lunati H beam rods, head and main studs

shaft roller rockers (china knocks), howards short travel link bar lifters, 3/8 pushrods

stage III cam (looking a the summit grind, look good!), ti retainers and 660 springs

that should give a valvetrain that will allow 7k+ rpms with good stability

for the turbos, I'd like to go 62/66 MM t3/t4 and will be looking to see if I can upgrade the wheels in my exisiting turbos (58 mm)

found a local gent Tim that I will contact to see about upgrades (not in the budget for brand new BB turbos, but I'd like to see if anyone has used ones!!!)

Lil thumper is back up for sale to fund Thumper II which will suite the vette better being all forged bottom end, a bit more torq, and alum block to keep the lard off and cool a bit better

anyone ever use a "part fill" hard block on the street? Probably don't need it but I might do that with the older LS6 block which could use the liner support

The LS6 turbo engine will get a refresh too. New rings, bearings, pistons. It has bottom end and head studs already, and good H beam rods. Looking for either wiseco or diamond pistons likely stock bore or 3.905