2015 Whipplerado project
 

Target vehicle is a '15 Silverado LTZ, 4 wheel drive 5.3L, 6 speed auto w/ k&n diy air filter, in oem air box.

Goal is to get as much power to the wheels (550-600 rwhp) with a safe tune, using hpt and with the following items being gathered.

1) Whipple 2.9L tuner kit, with extra 6.2L parts and their latest higher volume IC pump, 4.375" and 4.0" pullies.
2) Dedicated motorsports harness w/ 3 bar map sensor
3) 91mm throttle body from a 6.2L
4) Autometer pro series digital wideband gauge, Glowshift dual IAT gauge and digital vacuum/boost gauge and Autometer 3 gauge pillar mounted pod.
6) hpt pro interface on windows 10 laptop, installed and working
7) 3 bar map sensor
8) hp tuners software
9) 2 young wrenches and 1 old guy

phase 1 complete, blower installed and tuned (rich at the moment), 4" sc pulley, 11.5 psi boost. phase 2 started (LT4 cam, springs, L86 injectors)

Latest update:

WOW...what a steep learning curve on the hpt software and on this vehicle !!

anyhow, injectors are swapped out and without the $1000 worth of special tools. Valve springs are in as well

working on the cam swap, which has turned out to be interesting to say the least. For anyone with a similar motor and/or vehicle, the oil pump needs to come off of the front of the crank and that requires lowering the oil pan, which on a 4 wheel drive can be a bit lengthy....at the moment, I still have 1 almost unreachable bolt to loosen up (or grind a groove into the pan...(ouch)

here is an interesting link to the tty control valve solenoid problem that could crop up and throw tuning out the door

Sticking Camshaft Position Actuator Solenoid Valve

outside of that I think that the unrestricted fuel line that was recommended, was possibly a waste of money, in that the fuel rail entries have very small entry holes as well

more to come...

What about headers and exhaust. With all that air going in you gotta let it out.

I hear you. It's my son's truck and he has no muffler on it at the moment. He loves the sound, no drone , etc. That said, I've seen kooks long tubes without cats on sale. currently he still has the 2 cats up front and 1 (cat?) after the y pipe. from there it goes thru a flex connector and out the side, just ahead of the rear wheel. the flapper is open always. truck sounds pretty good!!

Please educate me as to why some trucks drone, etc and whether the kooks with or without cats , would be a good choice. and if so, 1 3/4 or 1 7/8" primary tubes??

The possible exhaust restriction might be why boost is over 11.5 psi with the 4" pulley.

Will see shortly how it goes with the LT4 cam and 6.2L injectors

thanks for the feedback

If you can't get it out, you can't get it in !!

Cat converters remove rasp because they are resonator basically. A short chambered muffler will drone just because of the design.

It all depends on the setup for why they drone, lack of resonator or wrong style muffler will create the rasp and drone. Running converters or a longer straight through muffler with an additional resonator or j-pipe can cancel out rasp/drone and make it sound good.

how does the j pipe work??

I've seen pics on KB's Silverado but didn't really understand how it installs or works

thx

"They work by being open to the exhaust before the muffler, 1/4 of the length as long as one of the resonant soundwaves, and capped at the other end. The sound wave is then reflected back into the exhaust at 1/2 wavelength, perfectly out of sync with the wavelength that's coming after it, thereby canceling it out."

More here: https://www.performancetrucks.net/fo...-drone-489463/

cool stuff....thanks

Headers will def reduce boost pressure. BTW the LT-1 or L86 TB is 87mm not 91mm

RT

While also increasing power and torque

yes, I clarified the tb sizes in a nother thread, thanks

headers not happening immediately

I don't see it gaining much more power without headers. It just can't breath.

More like severely constipated!

RT

500 to the wheels is the minimum goal....headers later unless????

not my truck, it's my son's

Exhaust system most important at this point. When he's ready, just let him know not to worry about going too big. The bigger or better flowing the better off you will be with a blower. Scavenging talk should be reserved to the N/A section if you know what I mean.

Lets see some pics or vids of this thing getting down.

I hear you LOUD and clear

thanks

Ok, moving forward...what are the best bang for the buck headers for this application?

thx

You mentioned he has a pipe just after the 3rd cat out before the tire, he will probably want to look at getting something to quiet the beast down when headers are installed, those 3 cats muffle the sound pretty good and you will be removing those.

I wouldn't look at anything less than TSP and if he needs cats where he lives, you get limited to ARH, Kooks and Stainless Works unless buy the Y and put cats in the TSP's or have one fab'd.

actually tsp does make a catted y pipe for this (5.3L) not for the 6.2??

well, truck is up and running.....in tuning stages !! woohoo

some pics of the blower install and creativity at work

Damn... Way to go with the hoist! These blowers are heavy as hell!

RT

my son and his friend put it in for phase 1, while I was screaming 'Don't tear the O ring"

well, when we took it out to swap cam , injectors, etc. sure enough a corner of the O ring was shredded. So we got the hoist, but the boom was way too short, so we McGyvered a weights bar onto the end, and still had to use fedex shims underneath for the last 2 inches (front and rear), in that the firewall insulation was wedged up against the top of the blower.

I thought that someone might appreciate this...lol

I'm an idiot. Have a hoist and my 64 yr old ass (at the time) did it by myself lol...feel like a dumbass now. Guess I was anxious huh?

my son and his friend did it by hand (phase 1...blower tb, 4" pulley). On this truck, the firewall upper insulation squeezes the blower down against the manifold and O ring....well, they shredded a corner of the O ring, so after the cam, springs and injectors swap, we used the cherry picker along with an extension bar (boom had no reach). still had to protect the O ring during final inch or so with fedex shims.

gotta get creative...I'm 64 at the moment....lol

I have been thinking about using some thin polypropylene sheeting (flexible cutting board) to let the manifold slide around while setting it down on the heads then gently slide them out.

RT

the manifold is light and has 1/8" min of rubber port seals sticking out of it. I would use at least 2 of 6mm longer bolts or studs, and hover the manifold above the holes. that would be ideal, but not 100% needed. You pretty much have to be an animal to lose or pinch a seal.

plus, once you have a few bolts started, you can look around and see (even from the inside of the manifold , looking down at the runners) and you would be able to tell if the (green in my case) seals are in their groves

He's got a TVS...

ok,so does the manifold and bower have to go in together? If so, I understand, and more reason to drop it straight down on the holes and to use a hoist

Yeah manifold and blower are together.

RT

hoist w/ extension and just hover over head ports. start a couple of long screws and drop her straight down for the win !!

8-24-16 update
 

Well , we went with pacesetter longtubes, borla mufflers and no cats.

we are in the process of stripping/painting the headers, removing all the old exhaust, etc.

This will be a true dual exhaust with 3" all the way and some cool tips, hopefully coming out of both sides just ahead of the rear wheels.

If it works out, the pipes will probably be just behind the running boards with a H pipe just after the headers.

Otherwise, it will probably be similar to the stainless works exhaust with the x pipe, but all exiting just ahead of the right rear wheel/

we are also considering an old school evac system sucking from the valley cover.

Our Chilton book states that the valve cover breathers are supposed to intake fresh air , while the valley cover and pvc valve expel excess crankcase pressure, which would be sucked out through the evac one way valve and fitting welded into the right side header collector.no catch can needed and if things work out, a clean engine with zero crankcase pressure and no oil going into the whipple....

thoughts?

Crankcase Ventilation System Description as per the Chilton manual fwiw

Crankcase Ventilation System Description

A closed crankcase ventilation system is used in order to provide a more complete scavenging of the crankcase vapors. Fresh air from the throttle body is supplied to the crankcase, mixed with blow-by gases, and then passed through a crankcase ventilation valve into the intake manifold.

The primary control is through the crankcase ventilation valve which meters the flow at a rate depending on manifold vacuum. To maintain idle quality, the crankcase ventilation valve restricts the flow when intake manifold vacuum is high. If abnormal operating conditions arise, the system is designed to allow excessive amounts of blow-by gases to back flow through the crankcase vent tube into the engine air inlet to be consumed by normal combustion.

Filtered fresh air is routed from up-stream of the throttle blade to the front of the right and left rocker arm covers via formed rubber hoses. To reduce the potential of oil pullover into the throttle bore area due to back flow of the ventilation system, the fittings in the rocker arm covers are shielded from the rocker arms. From there fresh air and gases are routed through the crankcase and up to the front of the Valve Lifter Oil Manifold where the positive crankcase ventilation (PCV) valve is located. Gases are then routed through a hose to the intake manifold.

Seal the motor up completely and vent the crankcase to to open element catchcans only. Pull from both valve covers, decent size line (1/2" or better). Two one quart cans should suffice unless you melt a piston, but its the way to go in a FI combo in my opinion. PCV's are for people who like to keep a little oil mist in the intake charge to help encourage detonation.

we are going with the old school crankcase evap setup, into 1 header straight from the valley cover...and see what that gives.

btw: headers are on, new true dual exhaust, running just inside the running boards. 3" tubing all the way, exhaust exits just behind the running boards on both sides, h pipe....sounds like a big block, nice burble with the Borla xr 1's, and NO cats....love the sound, so far, no drone except a little at 1k.....

Header evacuations systems are only for constant 6-8000 RPM set ups. It won't work very well in street applications.

RT

I guess I'll find out....lol used them in all my street performance vehicles , but that was years ago. this thing will see 6500 every day, pretty much...

It might see 6500 but not all of the time. it's more for a dedicated a Drag Race setup.


RT

I agree....except at the moment, I am seeing reasonable vacuum, so I have to believe that it will relivee some crankcase pressure, even under daily driver conditions. Plus, the $30 investment might be extremely cost effective as compared to catch cans, also zero maintenance, although not great for the environment.

until the results are in, the investment is minimal and hopefully my intake tract will be oil free.....lol

stay tuned.....

No doubt, you're right, but it could provide some benefit as long as he has the tube welded in at the correct angle and has a check valve in place.

ya, it sucks like a $20 street blower....waaaaaahh