hey guys i have a 1995 k1500 and i have been thinking about upgrading it for sometime now. well the tranny cracked in half about 2 weeks ago so i spent 2300$ on a new one and now i want to upgrade it so its faster, what do you recomend i do to it, i want it to have around 450-500hp when its done. what steps should i take 1st? any help is great thnx.

 

450-500hp huh....well, you will have to ditch the TBI system and go carb or MPFI for that.....you will need more cubes or forced induction. The first step to take is deal with the exhaust and induction of the engine. Hooker or hedman long tube headers, cat-back exhaust, high flow cat/or no cat, open K&N air filter element assembly, and a good tune up(fuel filter, spark plugs, wires, dist. cap, rotor button, fuel injector cleaner). A stock 5.7L is 210hp and 300 ft lbs of torque. The next step would be a cylinder heads/camshaft swap. I have a 1990 with a lot of goodies done to it, you can see in my sig. Any question, feel free to ask.

 

put a crate motor in it

 

That could work but you still need the supporting mods and a different induction system to make that much power.

 

yea im a nub at all this stuff but i want to learn as much as i can, how do i go about getting it carbed insted of tbi?

 

Well, with a carb conversion, you will need a intake manifold, a carb (on a stock engine a 650cfm will do), fuel pressure regulator set to 5-7 psi, custom fuel lines, etc. On a stock engine, the TBI is better than the carb. However, if you upgrade the cam and heads, then you can make the TBI run with it after some modifications or just throw a carb on it.

If your just starting out, get your supporting mods done first is what I would recommend. Start with: Hooker/Hedman long tube headers, 2.5" dual exhaust, high flow cat if you have emissions, 14x3 or 4" K&N air filter assembly(not just the filter but the base and top plate too to get rid of the fender ducting), and do a tune up....fuel filter, spark plugs, wires, rotor button, distributor cap, oil change, oil filter, etc. Also, throw in some fuel injector cleaner to clean them out. After that, you can start with the fun stuff like intake swaps, etc.

 

i love everyone on here... just thought i would share that....

 

what about a new camshaft? what kind do you reccomend?

 

well, a camshaft for 450-500hp in a stock engine ain't going to happen. You will need heads and a compression change and other things. But if your just looking to pep up the stock engine for right now...look at a 206/206 or 212/212 for the stock TBI heads...the intake and exhaust almost flow the same that's why the single pattern would be good to choose from. But, you would have to change springs for that cam. The stock camshaft is a hyd. flat tappet.....I would recommend a hyd. roller conversion.