1997 5.7 vortec

[884x4310ci]

Hey guys I am about to pick up a 97 k1500 with the 5.7 vortec.
what are the first upgrades you guys did to your? Not looking to gain 100 hp or anything.
What about the intake spacers or throttle body spacers are they worthwhile?

Thanks

 

[df2x4]

What about the intake spacers or throttle body spacers are they worthwhile?

On a Vortec truck? No and no.

Your intake flows more than enough for your engine. If you want to do some things that actually make a difference in power, replace the restrictive factory exhaust system and manifolds. Then get a tune from Black Bear Performance. Those two things will make a night and day difference.

 

[redfishsc]

Delete the intake resonator (big Vortec logo box behind the throttle) and cap the hole with a 2.5"rubber cap from Lowes, this gives you a great throaty growl from the intake at heavy throttle.

As for power upgrades, Black Bear tune and swap your gear ratio for something 4.10 or shorter (like 4.56).

People try to ********-up their engines when the reality is most of these trucks have awful 3.08 or 3.42 gears which turn a nice torquey 5.7 Vortec into a Ford 300ci 6 cylinder...... equally slow and rugged.

 

[kennythewelder]

Don't waste any money on throttle body spacers. They don't do anything on these engines. There is no fuel inside the intake, so there is no need to expand this space. Do the throttle body mod. Remove the diffuser from the bottom of the throttle blade, ( throttle body mod ). Remove the resonator box, as mentioned above. replace the air filter (only ) with a high flow air filter. Headers and a free flowing exhaust system, (not Flowmaster ) Your mufflers need to be free flowing. This means you can see straight through them if you hold them up to the light. Magna flow, SLP, Borla, even old school glass packs ect. Then have your ECM tuned as mentioned above. Also as mentioned a rear axle gear swap well help too.

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[df2x4]

I agree with all of the above except the high flow air filter and the throttle body blade diffuser mod. I've done both, and I'm in the process of un-doing both. The only thing the throttle body blade mod does is increase part-throttle response, effectively turning your throttle pedal into more of an on-off switch instead of a linear response. An oiled gauze filter such as a K&N will do nothing for performance over a standard paper element, and could potentially cause you headaches by sucking filter oil into the tubing and fouling sensors. (Ask me how I know...) If you absolutely insist on running an aftermarket air filter, run something that isn't oiled gauze.

 

[Biggershaft96]

The 2 biggest things i did that made the most difference were swapping to the mpfi injector and a tune. Idk how much of difference the injectors make if theyre not leaking but mine was definatly a noticable difference.

 

[redfishsc]

Biggershaft96 makes a good point. Upgrading the old csfi spider injector to the MPFI might not add much power according to the dyno but it definitely smooths out the engine and is noticeably snappier than the csfi, and more reliable by a long shot.

I have two 1999s, the C1500 Sub still has a good csfi, the K1500 Sub has the new MPFI, and you can definitely feel a difference in throttle response.

While you are at it, pull the whole intake and clean it out, put in new Felpro gaskets (only the rubber ones with metal frame).

You should have a good tight intake for a long, long time. I dread owning one of these trucks knowing it has anything other than the Felpro.

Some people claim good results upgrading the intake to the marine version but I cannot testify to that. But worth considering if you're doing the injectors

 

[Andy1955]

sorry he didn't appreciate your responses but i did LOL , i find a lot of usefull responses on here with no response .