HC Mechanic

Everyone is entitled to their own opinion, and I will have the final numbers verified on a dyno other than Paragon Engines dyno. I will say that my tuner/engine builder Austin is very good, and NOTHING but honest about what I can expect. In fact, last time I was up there he said he noticed Fifedogg’s post and let me know that the car will probably make a few percent less on a different dyno. We’ll see. I have no dog in this fight.

I’m willing to share everything I’ve done except for the internal intake mods. They took me way to long to figure out how to get right...and honestly, last time up the dyno said I was WRONG. lol I’m hoping it was the plug wires...cause once I changed them out for the new Granatelli’s, it felt like a different car.

What I can tell you about the overall performance, this is the first time the car has had grip issues in 3rd gear. Next time on the rollers will be interesting.

HC Mechanic

Semper Fi Brother, please let me know if I can ever help you with anything Marine

HC Mechanic

It’s supposed to be worth a lot according to the company that makes the intake manifold heat shield. Unfortunately I didn’t do any apples to apples comparisions in that regard, but honestly it probably wouldn’t really show up on the dyno all that much anyway; the hood is open. Once you close the hood, everything gets heat soaked much more so.

I can tell you that previously you could drive the car 5-10 min. just partial throttle warming it up. Pull over and touch the fuel rail or TB and you could not hold your hand there. Now you can do a long drive, stand on the gas, sit in traffic, pull over and hold either piece of the engine while having a conversation. I’d say it was worth the time

tac328

any specific brand of wrappings you prefer? my car's currently disassembled might as well do things while she's all apart!

HC Mechanic

I had a friend of mine who’s a jet engine mechanic in Florida test my old wires vs. one of the OEM length LS wires. I was only able to get 7 of them to fit because I re-located my coils a long time ago. This is what he had to say about the health of the wires.


Test Results:

Wire #’s 2 and 6 marked “bad terminals” had NO CONNECTION meaning the wires were “open”. The only way these wires were working was the fire was “jumping the gap” with the pressure of the boots while installed.

The only way that I got a reading on these wires was to cut open the boots….remove the spark plug connector and actually probe the wire itself for a connection.


There were 2 other wires that the wire ends fell out just handling them. I also had to probe the core itself to obtain a reading on those wires.

There were 2 wires with the jackets split open.


SUMMARY: With the high resistance, ohm variance and the mechanical damage of this ignition set it does not get much worse and still run the vehicle. The Motor should have had several dead cylinders.

An Engine would suffer GREATLY with this ignition set and ESPECIALLY at mid to upper RPMS. It would not be possible for a Motor to run “balanced” or near it’s potential.


The Granetelli wire had between 1/10th and 0 Ohms. (zero resistance) My Fluke Meter would fluctuate between .1 and 0 several times in a minute. It appears to be a very high quality wire.

HC Mechanic

There’s quite a few options out there, shoot me a PM with your number and I’ll do my best to call you tomorrow.

HC Mechanic

This is what the new custom set of wires look like, and the old wires ohm’ed out at and what they looked like below:

Suns_PSD

I had a good friend with a very strong running (I think around 640 rwhp NA) C5Z and he gained like 70 rwhp on the same dyno replacing spark plug wires and alternator.

Suns_PSD

I don't think that's realistic with your set up. LS2 or LS3?

Those intake carts are worth about 7 rwhp combined, not worth the trouble. Your headers are a bit small (good if you are running stock LS2 heads however), etc...

If that's an LS3 manual I'd guess closer to 460 rwhp.

Good luck!

HC Mechanic

Man that’s pretty amazing...
Do you know what components he used for ignition? Would be really cool to see whatever he/she is willing to share about the build specs and a dyno chart.

With any luck I’ll have mine on the rollers today and we’ll see what’s going on. I’ve tried posting videos here in the past but have not had any success, does anyone here know how you can convert a video taken from an iPhone to upload here?

Suns_PSD

I don't know much about his set up. He bought that '03 brand new and was really in to it for years but we met through motocross. He had a big block engine and saw me ogling his C5 and gave me a ride. I was hooked cause it was insanely fast. He soon afterwards sold the car and I bought my first Vette. That was probably 4 years ago now.

You should be able to post your video on youtube then link the video here.

HC Mechanic

Plugs & custom Granatelli wires are in. Haven’t driven her much yet, was cold last night by the time I got everything buttoned up...but so far feels a bit more responsive and actually sounds a little smoother. Transition on/off throttle, cruising at 40mph or so felt different, slightly more abrupt.

I’m very interested to see if she’ll throw puffs of smoke on the rollers or not...have noticed that everytime I’ve dyno’ed the car; not to mention everyother Vette I’ve seen on that dyno in the past 9 years of going to Paragon Engines. Their dyno is load controlled, so the sweep through the revs is quite slow. If there’s any time you’ll notice a slight misfire, that’s when you’ll really see it; if it’s bigger issue you’ll see it in many more circumstances.

I’ve built a lot of motorcycle road race engines and tuned them, having a ton of fun making inexpensive tweeks to this LS.
Our old race engines had $5,000+ in just the airbox and velocity stack setup. Spark plugs were $45ea and would last one weekend, approx. 500 kilometers of track time.

HC Mechanic

Sounds great

He had a big block in that baby..??

handyandy1496

I have a friend that's testing a 4.125 stroker at the track today. He changed the runners in his intake and made some interesting dyno numbers. Cant wait to see how his combo works on the track.

HC Mechanic

Very nice!! Keep us posted

HC Mechanic

Was hoping to hit the rollers again last week…

As the car finally felt like it was running right with the new plug wires installed, I was hoping to get the tune fully dialed in with the Methanol system back in action.
A big thanks to Rodney @ Pro Meth, as I’ve now got just the pump I needed; Made in USA from a company owned by a Marine as well. LOVE IT!!

Unfortunately we ran out of time to put the new meth pump in. Besides that we noticed one of the the rear tires needed to be replaced; the OEM rear tie rods being shot killed 'em. Should have everything all fixed up in a week or so. New rubber, vacuum pump serviced, meth pump replaced, and some hot ignition coils from Granatelli.

The new front & rear tie-rods along with the poly bushing kit from Lou @ LG Motorsports made made one HELL of a difference!!!
Also, the alignment specs Lou gave me transformed the cars overall stability and grip; even on tires that are shot.

Simply amazing…the car has NEVER felt this good!! Really enjoy driving it now, very happy with it Lou.

Should be able to beat or at least match 1/2 million dollar supercars in roll races, once everything is setup. MERICA'

HC Mechanic

Suns_PSD

Sorry, not a big block. A big bore motor. I don't know the details but I know it was the OEM block. Those are called an LS6 correct?

HC Mechanic

I believe so...I never studied the C5’s all that much. When I got mine I decided I really enjoyed the look of the newer C6. Much like the 70’s Stingray’s, I don’t think the C6 body style will ever lose its appeal; IMO.

orripid

put a z06 k&N cold air intake on it. It will have the maf sensor slot built in and have a way larger air filter.