I have a 99 silverado with the 5.3l vortec motor in it. I plan on installing a turbo on it in the near future. I also plan on upgrading from the stock valve springs that already have 250k on them. I found these valve springs on the summit website.

http://www.summitracing.com/parts/NAL-12499224/

These will work in my motor correct? They will be enough for no more than 10psi of boost? I wont need any other parts like different keepers retainers and stuff like that will I?

 

First thing that comes to mind...are you putting a tubo on a 250K engine?

 

Yes those springs will work. there's not a HUGE problem with putting a turbo on a 250k mile engine but I'd suggest doing some upgrading first. I also don't know if running 10psi is good. maybe 5-7.

Springs are normally purchased based on the lift of your cam. If you end up with a cam with more than 570 lift you will need better springs

 

have you done a compression test on that motor? just curious to see what the results are on a 250k motor

 

yep thats the plan When I first decided I wanted to do a turbo project I debated on getting another newer lower mileage truck first to upgrade. As I thought more and more about it I decided i would be better to stick with this truck. This is my first foray into the world of forced induction so I have a much greater chance of blowing something up. I decided it would be much better to blow up something i owned than something the bank owned. Another thing that helped push me towards putting the turbo on this truck rather than a newer one came from a discussion I had with a guy I know and some of his friends. He is a ford guy (barf) and they were discussing engines and forced induction and whatnot and they said that there was no way you could turbo a stock motor. They all insisted that you had to spend thousands of dollars on a built motor before you could even think of putting a turbo or supercharger on an engine. At the time I was still kicking around in my head the idea of even doing a turbo at all. That conversation was sorta just the kick in the *** to make me decide that not only did I want a turbo on a stock engine, but I was going to prove that it could even be done on a motor with 250K miles.

I dont expect to really run more than about 6-7 psi. I dont plan on changing the cam at all. Im trying to keep this on a decent budget and do minimal engine upgrades for this build. Since its my first turbo project I consider it a stepping stone into the world of forced induction. I guess part of me just wants to prove that you can turbo a 250k mile stock motor and do it on a decent budget.

I did a compression and leak down test about a year and 25k miles ago. I was in tech school studying to become a mechanic and one of our worksheets was to do compression and leak down tests, so I volunteered my truck because i was curious myself. I dont remember the exact numbers anymore as that was a year ago and my memory isnt real great sometimes, but I want to say it was in the ballpark of 150. I do remember that our instructor was very impressed with the numbers that we got from an engine with that many miles on it.