5.7 vortec or 5.3LS?

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BeXtreme

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buick 455 weighs like 50 more pounds than an SBC 350 but it weighs a LOT Less than a BBC 454
Its also going to beat it at torque
The Buick 455 is WAY lighter than the 454 for sure. I dont think it is even as heavy as the 350. The 455 in my Riviera is the high compression(10:1) version from a 1970 Riv and it is a snappy and smooth running engine for sure. My truck is getting a big, heavy 454/4L80e combo though. I bet the riv is gonna get about double the mileage of the truck, even with the overdrive and EFI on the pickup.
 

Brothajack93

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I think we just learned something new about you today.
You should have seen her on my other thread…. Couldn’t stop laughing. Definitely defused a pointless altercation with unbiased dry humour. She’s got my back when it comes to out trolling the trolls or just annoying the a holes into leaving. Also puts me in my place if I need it too. Genuinely awesome woman she is!
 

wiscomick

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Here's my situation:

Currently destroying a perfectly good 97 C2500 RCLB and building a RCSB out of it. Frame was weak so found a low-mile RCSB frame, had it all redone. The Vortec 350 in the 97 is perfectly fine, runs great. I'm still not going to use it in the new truck.

Reasons? Ease of repair, tuning options, and future modification capability. The 350 is a pain in the ass to work on. The spider injection sucks and isn't good for a whole lot of power. The ECU isn't as capable of being tuned like the newer stuff is. The 5.3 I'm putting in is ridiculously responsive to mods.

I loved the old 350, but there's a reason it got replaced, and swapping to it is quite straightforward. Dollar for dollar it just makes more sense to swap in my situation.
 

Brothajack93

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Here's my situation:

Currently destroying a perfectly good 97 C2500 RCLB and building a RCSB out of it. Frame was weak so found a low-mile RCSB frame, had it all redone. The Vortec 350 in the 97 is perfectly fine, runs great. I'm still not going to use it in the new truck.

Reasons? Ease of repair, tuning options, and future modification capability. The 350 is a pain in the ass to work on. The spider injection sucks and isn't good for a whole lot of power. The ECU isn't as capable of being tuned like the newer stuff is. The 5.3 I'm putting in is ridiculously responsive to mods.

I loved the old 350, but there's a reason it got replaced, and swapping to it is quite straightforward. Dollar for dollar it just makes more sense to swap in my situation.
What is the difference between RCLB and RCSB…. I’m kinda in preschool when it comes to mechanical knowledge so most of the conversations that guys have had amongst each other on this thread about how they tuned their builds is foreign language to me and that’s why I’m enlisting the help of a real mechanic for going further than fabrication and turning wrenches to get the stuff bolted in. Though having the knowledge is great I don’t have much desire or brain capacity to get into much more than basic mechanical for auto body purposes. Tearing the truck down and putting it back together to repair bodies and when I’m more comfortable with it patching chassis that can safely be done without compromising anyones safety. I won’t weld structural issues without having tickets and I don’t intend to go to school. Plus it’s already been mentioned in this thread that doing it in general is weakening the integrity whether it’s enough to compromise safety or not. Fixing/replacing mechanical is a skill I want to do my own repairs because I don’t want to pay for a mechanic or be the guy who takes advantage of his mechanic friends but as for tearing apart engines, transmissions, differentials or any kind of gear boxes as well as computer tuning I will leave to the professionals. My skills are best used with the problems and upgrades that can be physically seen and the details that require a good eye and trained hands to accomplish. I know I’ll be good at this based on all the work I’ve done on similar applications just not vehicles in the past. Frame/chassis is my number one concern at this moment and it sounds like you have some input and any knowledge you can give me is much appreciated. I am also about to start a thread on the specific topic in better detail of possibilities and ideas and would love to see your input there as well
 

Brothajack93

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It's a simple acronym Regular Cab Long Bed or Regular Cab Short Bed. Others, Crew Cab Long Bed (CCLB), DRW (Dual Rear Wheels) SRW (Single Rear Wheels) etc.
Oh wow… I can’t believe I didn’t figure that out right away. Thanks for the info though at least I won’t be confused by that one again!
 

letitsnow

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Thank you

We get quite a few people coming on here (it seems) to tell us that our vortec motors are junk, and LS's are the best thing ever. You will notice this too, once you have actually been a member for a couple of months. Typically they start their swap, realize that they actually have to do some work, then give up and sell us all of their parts for pennies on the dollar. We don't care, we like good deals...

I have now owned 10+ LS powered trucks, and prefer the old vortec. I will own more LS powered trucks, as I think that that motor is the next best option after an older vortec.

I am not a purist - I modify everything to make it fit my needs better.

As far as you and your girlfriend trying to scare me away - Back when forums were a big deal I was known as the unibomber. There was one guy that really pissed me off back in 2007, and he still can't get a loan today... Bring it.
 

L31MaxExpress

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We get quite a few people coming on here (it seems) to tell us that our vortec motors are junk, and LS's are the best thing ever. You will notice this too, once you have actually been a member for a couple of months. Typically they start their swap, realize that they actually have to do some work, then give up and sell us all of their parts for pennies on the dollar. We don't care, we like good deals...

I have now owned 10+ LS powered trucks, and prefer the old vortec. I will own more LS powered trucks, as I think that that motor is the next best option after an older vortec.

I am not a purist - I modify everything to make it fit my needs better.

As far as you and your girlfriend trying to scare me away - Back when forums were a big deal I was known as the unibomber. There was one guy that really pissed me off back in 2007, and he still can't get a loan today... Bring it.

I get fed up with that myself. Some believe the LS has so much more hp, so much more torque, and 3x the gas mileage, lol.

I ran my L31 based 383 SBC pretty hard today With probably 500 lbs of cargo/luggage (my 200 lbs generator, packed full igloo cooler, camping stuff, etc in the back of the van and 3 people all together about 700 lbs. So loaded up to ~7,400 lbs. Local trip, 108 miles and 70-85 mph most of the way. Topped off the tank before I left. It was already 3/4 full by the gauge, held 9.3 gallons. When it is full the needle pegs out past full. It took me 75 miles before it dropped to full and 25 more to drop to 7/8 tank. When the needle is on E it still has 7 gallons in it. I stopped and topped off when I got to where I was going. I pump until it kicks off, then go to the next full dollar and always have. Hand calculated 18.8 MPG. I was running 80 mph on cruise when I hit the 7%, mile long grade. The cruise seems to only be able to open the throttle 65-66% now, (stock it would open to 75%). I may need to tighten the cable a bit. That being said it ran up the grade in overdrive with the converter locked at 76 mph at 2,250 rpm. I moved to the slower climbing lane on the grade and had a later 08ish Chevy truck trying to pass me the first half mile. He actually ended up dropping behind me.
 

0xDEADBEEF

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Somewhere a guy is mad because he's maintaining a constant speed and some yahoo keeps speeding up when he tries to pass.
 
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