post up some more pics of the rig or just of the landscape of Jackson Hole. I flat out love it there, and want to get back out there in the worst way.
Vortec 5.3l fuel economy (1 Viewer)
- Thread starter rover67
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You using the stock tach? Wonder if it is accurate. Also what is the redline on a Vortec? about 5500? I checked out your engine thread. That is a nice job on the install.
rover67
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No, I am using an autometer tach with a tach adapter that wires into the coil packs. Kind-of a funky setup but the tach signal coming out of my computer did not work. Apparantly it is a relatively common thing. Redline stock I think is around 5500, but most folks up it to 6000 if they do computer work. They spin fine to that rpm.. It's got Competition Cams goodies in the top end just in case also.
So I drove the truck on a 300 mile roundtrip this weekend with the tires aired up to 35 and saw an increase in mileage even with some off road/heavy throttle miles mixed in. We drove about 30 miles of the 300 on a mix of dirt roads and some 4low 1st gear rocky stuff and a few sandy heavy throttle spots. Got 16.4mpg average which i'd say is better because of the off road mixed in.
Anyways, Norcal60, as far as I can tell your sheet if good... and i'll be doing 4.56's next.
Josh, your troopie looks pretty sweet, nice truck..
Don't have any pics of the truck in Jackson, we were too busy playing up there to stop and take pics :0/
So I drove the truck on a 300 mile roundtrip this weekend with the tires aired up to 35 and saw an increase in mileage even with some off road/heavy throttle miles mixed in. We drove about 30 miles of the 300 on a mix of dirt roads and some 4low 1st gear rocky stuff and a few sandy heavy throttle spots. Got 16.4mpg average which i'd say is better because of the off road mixed in.
Anyways, Norcal60, as far as I can tell your sheet if good... and i'll be doing 4.56's next.
Josh, your troopie looks pretty sweet, nice truck..
Don't have any pics of the truck in Jackson, we were too busy playing up there to stop and take pics :0/
Nicely done. I also have a tan FJ60. It's had a caburated 350 and an H55F in it for about 100k. I recently, as in last weekend, I finalized the swap to NV4500, NP241 and a semi-floater 14-bolt rear axle. I always got around 14 to 15 out of the old combination. The most the six could do turning 33" tires with 4.10 gears was 13 and hills were hell. Now hills are where I pass all the Jeeps on my way to Moab. Anyway, (I'm hihacking your thread) I'm doing a heavily modified TBI setup on this same engine later this summer with the help of Brian at TBI chips. (tbichips.com) fascinating information and writeups on a very simple FI system that never really got the credit it deserves. For the record, with 35" tires, 4.56 gears and the 27% overdrive of the NV4500, I'm doing about 80MPH at 2500 RPM and that is still on the acsending side of the torque curve, so I can pull it easily. Long live round headlights!
P.S. What did you do for a fuel pump and tank baffeling?
P.S. What did you do for a fuel pump and tank baffeling?
Kick ass setup! That is a fantastic combo.... If you go on ls1tech or corvetteforums and buy a used '01-02 Z06 cam for under ($100), install upgraded springs ($100), and get a retune ($200-400) that engine should make an easy 375hp if not more with headers. You won't loose any low end torque and the motor will cleanly pull to 6500rpm without the power falling off like with the stock 5.3 cam. Mileage should not be affected.
The tune alone with higher timing should net some free HP. LSx motors really respond to ported TB's ($60) 6-10hp, underdrive crank pulleys ($230) 5-10hp, and headers 10-30hp depending upon design... ie (longtube vs. shorty). You can get fully ported 5.3 heads for around $1200 from Texas Speed and Performance in TX which net approx 30-50 more hp depending upon cam choice.
On a stock LS1 shortblock I added the following: nicely ported heads and a cam with retune (AFR 205's, healthy 233/239 .600" 112LSA cam, LS6 intake, ported TB, underdrive pulley, long tube headers, and retune) which netted 440rwhp at 7100rpm and 385rwtq at 5300rpm. That is around 500hp at the crank. See signature
20K miles later on it and no issues. I beat the snot out of it.
The tune alone with higher timing should net some free HP. LSx motors really respond to ported TB's ($60) 6-10hp, underdrive crank pulleys ($230) 5-10hp, and headers 10-30hp depending upon design... ie (longtube vs. shorty). You can get fully ported 5.3 heads for around $1200 from Texas Speed and Performance in TX which net approx 30-50 more hp depending upon cam choice.
On a stock LS1 shortblock I added the following: nicely ported heads and a cam with retune (AFR 205's, healthy 233/239 .600" 112LSA cam, LS6 intake, ported TB, underdrive pulley, long tube headers, and retune) which netted 440rwhp at 7100rpm and 385rwtq at 5300rpm. That is around 500hp at the crank. See signature
20K miles later on it and no issues. I beat the snot out of it.
Thanks Rover,
I only wish my engine install was as nice as yours. I had alot of trouble with fuel delivery on mine when I used an in-line pump. I went to a wreckers in Albuquerque that had a Suburban with a steel tank, and had them cut the mounting hole for the factory Chevy fuel pump out. Then I pulled my spare tank out of the Troopie, filled it with water, and welded the mounting bracket into my tank. Now I run all of the factory Chevy steel lines and fuel filter and it runs like a dream.
Did you have many issues with heat, since you have the new distributor-less ignition? I had a lot of trouble keeping the wires from burning from the heat which the Rams's Horn exhaust generated. I finally solved it with very expensive high-temp wires, aesbestos plug sleeves and aesbestos exhaust wrap. It seemed to me like that was strongest pluss to your engine: not having wires.
Lastly, with 33X10.50X15 BFG A/Ts at 45 PSI, 3:73 gears and my H55F, I can get nearly 20 on average going from Santa Fe to Boulder as long as I keep the speed down. I do notice that using the Front Range winter petrol (the MTBE crap), my fuel economy drops about 15%.
Cheers,
Josh
I only wish my engine install was as nice as yours. I had alot of trouble with fuel delivery on mine when I used an in-line pump. I went to a wreckers in Albuquerque that had a Suburban with a steel tank, and had them cut the mounting hole for the factory Chevy fuel pump out. Then I pulled my spare tank out of the Troopie, filled it with water, and welded the mounting bracket into my tank. Now I run all of the factory Chevy steel lines and fuel filter and it runs like a dream.
Did you have many issues with heat, since you have the new distributor-less ignition? I had a lot of trouble keeping the wires from burning from the heat which the Rams's Horn exhaust generated. I finally solved it with very expensive high-temp wires, aesbestos plug sleeves and aesbestos exhaust wrap. It seemed to me like that was strongest pluss to your engine: not having wires.
Lastly, with 33X10.50X15 BFG A/Ts at 45 PSI, 3:73 gears and my H55F, I can get nearly 20 on average going from Santa Fe to Boulder as long as I keep the speed down. I do notice that using the Front Range winter petrol (the MTBE crap), my fuel economy drops about 15%.
Cheers,
Josh
rover67
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- #29
Fuel setup was just an inline pump placed on the outlet side of the tank, and a fuel pressure regulator in the engine compartment with a return to the stock return lines. No modifications to the tank at all. I am consistently filling up with 21-22 gallons, so I am running it as low as I did with the old motor. Haven't had any fuel delivery issues whatsoever and it did fine on the steep sections in moab.
Yeah, gnx7, I had thought about the vette cam. a buddy of mine had one for cheap when I rebuilt the top end of this motor. I opted to not go with it due to the risk of lowering the fuel economy.. mabey I should have gone for it. I did do Comp Cams lifters, springs and push rods though.. so it's good for the R's. maybe i'll do the vette cam later, but I think I am tempted to do a mild turbo or supercharger setup since up here in denver it starts to feel slow sometimes. It'd be nice to bring it back down to sea level plus some more with some boost. Maybe in the meantime the retune and a TB will be in order.. That same guy had this same motor in a late model RX7 similar to your setups and we autocrossed the snot out of it.. these motors do great all wrapped up but you are right, they do run out with the truck cams.
Mace, I used a GPS to check and see how far off the speedo and odometer were off. I've also double checked with mile markers on the longer trips. Odometer is about 25% off with the current setup.
Josh, 20mpg is stellar. really unbelievable... Haven't had any problems with heat.. check the engine thread to see how the wires run around the headers. I run cheap O'Reily plug wires too... even had a weird a$$ tune on the computer that I got from FIS and had the headers glowing red hot for a short while and didn't have any problems..
On a side note, I just put Redline MT-90 in the H55F Tranny and it shifts WAAAY nicer. I'll try to take some video of the truck runnig up through the gears and post sometime. It really is a treat.
Yeah, gnx7, I had thought about the vette cam. a buddy of mine had one for cheap when I rebuilt the top end of this motor. I opted to not go with it due to the risk of lowering the fuel economy.. mabey I should have gone for it. I did do Comp Cams lifters, springs and push rods though.. so it's good for the R's. maybe i'll do the vette cam later, but I think I am tempted to do a mild turbo or supercharger setup since up here in denver it starts to feel slow sometimes. It'd be nice to bring it back down to sea level plus some more with some boost.
Maybe in the meantime the retune and a TB will be in order.. That same guy had this same motor in a late model RX7 similar to your setups and we autocrossed the snot out of it.. these motors do great all wrapped up but you are right, they do run out with the truck cams. Mace, I used a GPS to check and see how far off the speedo and odometer were off. I've also double checked with mile markers on the longer trips. Odometer is about 25% off with the current setup.
Josh, 20mpg is stellar. really unbelievable... Haven't had any problems with heat.. check the engine thread to see how the wires run around the headers. I run cheap O'Reily plug wires too... even had a weird a$$ tune on the computer that I got from FIS and had the headers glowing red hot for a short while and didn't have any problems..
On a side note, I just put Redline MT-90 in the H55F Tranny and it shifts WAAAY nicer. I'll try to take some video of the truck runnig up through the gears and post sometime. It really is a treat.
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Sorry for the short hi-jack
I would highly recomend going with an EBL ECM from Dynamic EFI Vs a mail order tune. The EBL has much better code and alot of advantages over the older ECM's and runs many times faster to update the computer. If you do go with a mail order chip, you should atleast do your conversion based on the 95 TBI PCM, not the earlier ECM's
Take a look at my thread under the Hardcore section & there is alot of info on the EBL ECM on my Stroker.
Getting back on topic, I once got 17mpg, hand calc'd in my 60 with a TBI350 and 700r4, 31" tires on OME's. Average highway mileage was about 14/15mpg. When I went SOA with 35's mileage dropped to 11/12, but could still push 14 sometimes.
I'm getting a chip for the ECM I have, which was the reccomended ECM (PN 1227747) from Brian at tbichips.com. After reading his website thoroughly about twenty times I'm convinced that he knows what he's doing. The engine will be much more potent than any stock TBI setup ever was, so a custom chip isn't really an option. P.S. thanks for the link to the fuel pump!
Sent you a PM, trying to keep from jacking this thread too far!
