The Acer

I am looking at upgrading my c6 05 ls2 engine looking for some first hand experience.

I spent some money at christmas/spring and bought a RPM stage 6 tr-6060 and rpm stage 4 zr1 rear diff. I cam swapped, put some nitrous, headers 1-7/8, BAP, mccloed clutch and some sensors/gauges. Im still working out the tuning but coming along well.

This fall/winter I want to delete the nitrous and go with a&a supercharger with a target of 1000-1100hp on e85. I plan on doing fuel system upgrade but would like some feedback on Engine mods.

The purpose of the car is have a little fun on street legals and some street use.

The Engine Mods in question, is with this power level, how much would I be playing with fire leaving a stock bottom end. I think some people reported on the forums 1000hp is fine, some not. I am looking for first hand experience here.

1. Aluminum block, will it hold?
2. Stock heads, will it hold?
3. Crank, will it hold?
4. Rods/pistons, will it hold?
5. Pining the main caps necessary?
6. ARP main studs needed?
7. ARP head studs?

FourG63 97GST

Are you're talking crank hp? LS2/3 happy in the 850-900whp range on turbo application. I'll expect it to blow if you're trying to make 1000-1100whp from a blower, especially with lack of experience and having to ask this question. Those 243 heads will struggle to move air to produce those number, making you having to lean on it harder, the blower already robbing power also, making you have to lean on it even more.

gnx7

For the most part the stock Gen4 rods around 900-1000whp are on borrowed time. Will they work..... yes for a while. how long they last I would say is directly related to your tune. Take a couple degrees of timing out and run the best fuel you can to make it live.
You already bit the bullet on the driveline.... so that is a good thing. Snowball effect has just started. Make sure your fuel system is also on par for the HP goals.

PS- I have a built LSA longblock for sale on here that would be good for your goals if you only want 1000rwhp-1200rwhp

I like turbos.... no belt slip, you can add boost with a keystroke on a laptop, less strain on the crank snout, quieter exhaust, single 3" exhaust supports 1000rwhp, etc.

I have made 1200rwhp on a stock crank with Compstar rods/Wiseco pistons but after a couple years I got bold and did a 1st thru 4th gear burnout... after showing 130-140mph on the speedo in 4th.... maybe going 70mph..... I let off on the throttle in gear and it hooked up.... well... the tire shock went from back to front and snapped the crank. The only thing holding it together were the rods on 7/8 journal. Luckily the block wasn't damaged as the crank signal was interrupted and killed the engine from doing any further damage.... Windowing this block would be a $4K mistake for just that... and then add in the rest.... It snapped there because that is the pilot bearing hole... so it is hollow. If the driveline shock didn't happen... it would've lived many more moons. It had easily over 100 1/2 mile and 1/4 mile drag passes on it making 1000rwhp+ While the factory crank is strong... boost is very addictive and you will always want more. My setup made 1060rwhp on 14psi. On 22psi in 5th gear it was a maniac in a 2850lb RX-7.

The Acer

@gnx7

Thank you for sharing your experience

The car is a sunday driver half the time, and some abuse will happen on the track, I will keep that in mind.

What is your experience on the upgraded head studs and main caps?

Whats your experience on upgraded heads? Part of me would like to leave stock heads as a intentional weak spot, as the damage from failure on heads is more managable. A lot easier to buy and replace stock head after they fail, than a cracked block.

And of course, the main ingredient to high HP on the LS platform is proper tuning. I am all over that.

Spaceme1117

1000HP, from what I have read, you will be at the limits of the crank and pistons. Rods can hold the power but the rod bolts should be upgraded to ARP. Everything else can hold the power.

Good to upgrade to ARP studs at any power level. More clamping for due to using the full threaded portion of the block and much more consistent clamping force.

mn_vette

I think what FourG63 97GST was trying to say is that if you port your heads it will allow you to meet your horsepower goals with less boost and less stress on the engine. The heads won't really break as a weak spot in the engine. There is a possibility of dropping a valve or something like that, but the HP doesn't seem to be a factor for that. And if you are upgrading to head studs you might as well pull the heads and send them in to be ported.

From all the stuff I've read you'll want to do ARP Rod bolts/studs and head studs, no need to mess with the main caps.

acroy

I bet it was I am an ex-RX7 guy myself. I thought my 550whp bridgeported '87 was crazy fast. Less than 1/2 the power you were making It did go 175 (iirc) at the TX Mile, screaming @ reline for the last at least quarter mile