Looking to get more out of my 1988 C1500

[Erik the Awful]

I understand that the cam isn't the best one but it is a hell of a lot more aggressive than the stock flat tappet that was in the engine originally and it allowed me to pick up some more horses without needing to open up the ECM.

The CCS40 is a fair bit more aggressive than the TBI. I'm not sure what the factory EFI will handle, but I'm pretty sure you can go larger. Call a cam company and ask what they have that will play nice, and see if your cam is spec'ed anywhere close.

That and exhaust will get you the most gains, but keep in mind that at some point you're looking at either spending a lot of money to get the TBI to handle more power, or you're looking at a carb or EFI swap.

 

[AChadwick]

Well not to worry anyone! Shortly after this post was created I was involved in a collision with a drunk and the truck is no longer operable.

That being said, a few days before the collision I did notice a large increase in flow and throttle response by purchasing a 1/4" injector spacer and using 2 1/16 gaskets for the spacer (one for each side). The only work that was done to the exhaust besides the headers was having a down pipe right after the Y. Unfortunately I wasn't able to have the truck long enough to get solid numbers for any performance increase compared to stock so anything I say will fall on deaf ears. I'm sure there is science out there for EGR but I personally did a delete on that and for the EVAP since it was bulky and just made one more thing for me to take care of. During the time I owned the truck and did modifications to it the CEL never turned on. The O2 sensor was new and the truck ran great after the engine swap and I learned the timing corresponds with what vehicle the camshaft had come out of and not the truck. A couple of guys estimated that I was making around 325-350 horsepower but I wasn't able to get that confirmed before the collision.

I bought a 1988 k1500 and I plan to do the same thing to it. I'll pull the block out of the old truck and have inspected for cracks before installing of course.

 

[AChadwick]

The CCS40 is a fair bit more aggressive than the TBI. I'm not sure what the factory EFI will handle, but I'm pretty sure you can go larger. Call a cam company and ask what they have that will play nice, and see if your cam is spec'ed anywhere close.

That and exhaust will get you the most gains, but keep in mind that at some point you're looking at either spending a lot of money to get the TBI to handle more power, or you're looking at a carb or EFI swap.

I had kind of anticipated this if I was to go with a larger roller cam. The CCS40 is honestly the best mod that any TBI owner could do. It's a much better performing camshaft and it was used in TBI vehicles. The ECU had no problem adjusting to the new camshaft along with the vortec heads. The truck never ran hot and all you have to do is adjust the timing for a 1993 caprice police package or an IROC which is around 12-15 degrees from what a friend told me. The truck ran great and strong all while being pretty reliable in my opinion. I did have one small hiccup but that was thanks to the machine shop I took the heads to trying to take advantage of me since I was 18-20 at the time.