High mileage upgrades?

Joe green · Oct 21, 2020

Hey all first time here. Looking for some opinions and guidance.
So I got a 97 k1500 with 218k miles on it, looking to give it a little more pep in its step with its age. It already has k&n cai and off road y pipe. So it breathes a little better.
I want to rebuild it and was thinking why not throw a mild cam in it. But my question is would it be worth doing that with the rebuild and the higher miles?

Schurkey · Oct 25, 2020

WHAT ENGINE???

The "K&N cai" was most likely a complete waste of money.

Joe green · Oct 25, 2020

Schurkey said:
WHAT ENGINE???

The "K&N cai" was most likely a complete waste of money.

5.7 vortex, but oh yeah complete waste of money. Nothing noticeable really

Joe green · Oct 25, 2020

Joe green said:
5.7 vortex, but oh yeah complete waste of money. Nothing noticeable really

5.7 Vortec* auto correct smh.

df2x4 · Oct 25, 2020

Schurkey said:
The "K&N cai" was most likely a complete waste of money.

Worse than that, it actually raises intake air temperatures compared to the factory setup. It's a downgrade you pay for.

df2x4 · Oct 25, 2020

Joe green said:
I want to rebuild it and was thinking why not throw a mild cam in it. But my question is would it be worth doing that with the rebuild and the higher miles?

Do you have any issues that make you think you'll need a rebuild in the near future? If not I would just do some research and assemble parts for what you want to do later at the most. There are plenty of these engines still running around with 200K+ on them.

The best "bang for the buck" performance mods for these trucks are exhaust and a tune. A real tune, not a handheld programmer. If I were you I would put the factory intake back on with a good paper filter, do at least a 3" single full exhaust with a free-flowing muffler if you haven't already, and get it tuned. Black Bear Performance can do the '96+ trucks for $360 and it's the most noticeable thing you can do for the money IMO.

EDIT - If you want an aftermarket intake that's actually an improvement over the factory one, get a Volant. They're the only company who make a sealed box intake setup for these trucks. Everything else is open box and draws hot air out of the engine compartment.

SUBURBAN5 · Oct 25, 2020

Anything you do just remember it will most likely do the domino effect. Meaning engine,trans, rear end, but if you plan on redoing all of it then nvm lol.

Aidan Kesler · Oct 25, 2020

If it were me, now i know most don't agree with this but I'm just telling my opinion lol I would do a mild rebuild with heads, cam, intake and carb. You got a vortec so you could just get your heads machined for more airflow (or leave stock if you want a torque monster) and to handle a bigger cam. Then I would do a mild cam like a 260h or 262h by comp with an edelbrock performer intake and a 600-650cfm carb. Tuning is real easy with a carb, also easy to setup if you're not familiar with electronics and EFI tuning. The cam is a flat tappet so you'd have to break it in, but if your motor has provisions for a roller, then I'd definitely go for a roller cam with similar specs as the cams I mentioned. Just throwing some ideas out there that would make decent power for a decent price. Also these mods don't require any other modifications of trans, rear end, etc etc. If you got with an any bigger cam then you'd be dealing with a new stall converter and stuff.

PlayingWithTBI · Oct 25, 2020

Aidan Kesler said:
The cam is a flat tappet so you'd have to break it in,

Vortecs came with roller cams.

IMHO going from MPFI to a carb is just plain wrong.

Aidan Kesler · Oct 25, 2020

PlayingWithTBI said:
Vortecs came with roller cams.

IMHO going from MPFI to a carb is just plain wrong.

Right, it is not logical lol but my preference. If I could learn about MPFI and do quick work with it in my home shop then I'd be inclined, but I don't want to drop $1500 on the self learning EFI kits with the handheld tuner.

edit: also I didn't know they came with rollers, I have never worked with a 96-up motor, I'm sure you could still use a flat tappet if you wanted but why would you if you could go roller with no issues hahah

High mileage upgrades?

Joe green

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df2x4

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Aidan Kesler

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