97 vortec mods

[seaox]

Just wondering what other mods I can do without spending a lot more money. Currently it is a 1997 chevy k1500 reg cab stepside 350 vortec, built 4l60e, 3.73 gears,

I currently have installed shorty headers ( I know not much of a difference but believe it or not I can feel it going up hills it pulls easier), I have a BB tune on the way, I had a complete exhaust system put under the truck, I have 1.6 roller rockers on the way, also have a stock fuel pump on the way because the one that's in there now sounds weird not to mention my bouncing fuel gauge when I hit the brakes, so I'm replacing the sender as well....Any other small mods I'm missing that will add noticeable power, I have been searching and the ones I have done seem to be the most popular. Thanks for any help

[Hezsus]

Just wondering what other mods I can do without spending a lot more money. Currently it is a 1997 chevy k1500 reg cab stepside 350 vortec, built 4l60e, 3.73 gears,

I currently have installed shorty headers ( I know not much of a difference but believe it or not I can feel it going up hills it pulls easier), I have a BB tune on the way, I had a complete exhaust system put under the truck, I have 1.6 roller rockers on the way, also have a stock fuel pump on the way because the one that's in there now sounds weird not to mention my bouncing fuel gauge when I hit the brakes, so I'm replacing the sender as well....Any other small mods I'm missing that will add noticeable power, I have been searching and the ones I have done seem to be the most popular. Thanks for any help

E-Fans

[Tony 2-Tone]

E-Fans

I've seen a few different opinions on this one. Some say that the performance gain isn't worth the cost involved or when compared to well-performing mechanical fan while some swear by E-fans and their gains.

[zraffz]

I don't see how electric fans do much of anything, the pulley still needs to be their to power the water pump. If you went to an electric water pump I'm sure you could see 10-20 horses, but the weight of the mechanical fan isn't enough to justify more than a few horses at best.
I'd get springs, retainers, LT4 hotcam - it will cost you about $600 and will make a huge difference (I can easily justify 50+ horses from a good cam. The LT1 guys have heads that flow comparable to the Vortecs and they claim 300+ whp on the dyno with bolt ons and cam). Alternatively you can probably do a ZZ4 cam without changing the springs.
Other cheap things would be under-drive pulleys, intake, etc.

And the headers can make a good bit of difference on a well breathing motor, it might be worth it to stay 1.5 intake and go 1.6 exhaust to try and take advantage of those headers. If you already ordered the rockers just go 1.6 on both. Hopefully you went with full roller rockers also since roller tips don't do much of anything.

[Pack Leader]

I beg to differ, when I put my e fan kit in it made a pretty noticeable difference. And how is the cost not justified? You can do a good e-fan conversion for around $70 or so.

[zraffz]

I beg to differ, when I put my e fan kit in it made a pretty noticeable difference. And how is the cost not justified? You can do a good e-fan conversion for around $70 or so.
How are you possibly feeling any difference in power with electric fans? You are still turning a pulley and it is still turning the water pump. A fan weighs a few pounds, an electric water pump (which is turning a pulley and the pump) cuts off about 15 horses with a vehicle that runs electric fans from the factory. Cost effective; maybe. In the pants power gain; doubted... more like in your head power gain.
I can justify 5-8 horses for the electric fans in the best case scenario but I seriously doubt you can feel that difference in power. You can index your plugs for $0 and gain anywhere from 2-5 horses.

[Tony 2-Tone]

I understand the arguments of both sides, but I'd have to say that the performance benefit is probably negligible at best. The removal of the mechanical fan will drop a couple pounds of rotational mass from the pulleys and might give you a little bit better throttle response but that doesn't necessarily mean there's more power. A lot of people confuse throttle response with an increase in power.

[zraffz]

I'd have to agree there. I can see a difference in throttle response being very possible, I can't see anybody being able to feel the difference of 5 horses though. That means over a 1/4 mile it will be a difference of like more then 1/10th of a second. Hardly something the human mind can notice.

[kyle folds]

It isn't just the rotating mass it is also the air resistance on the blades at high speed. Still not much on power gains but I have recorded a 2 mpg change on a 77 firebird.

There is also less stress on the water pump bearings. But don't just slap a fan in and give it voltage. It needs to be on a thermo switch. I would set it to ON at about 210 and OFF around 195. Also the A/C will have to have the fan running or you will have excessive high side pressure.

True, on a good day only about 5 or so hp gains but I have seen people spend a lot more than $70 to $100 and gain less

[jlkfg]

I understand the arguments of both sides, but I'd have to say that the performance benefit is probably negligible at best. The removal of the mechanical fan will drop a couple pounds of rotational mass from the pulleys and might give you a little bit better throttle response but that doesn't necessarily mean there's more power. A lot of people confuse throttle response with an increase in power.

In my opinion, the gains for an electic fan setup is that the fan doesn't have to spin if it isn't needed, when you spin a fan it takes work, not just inertia. Work to the tune of 30 hp sometimes. If you are moving down the highway, the fan doesn't need to be taking work from the engine. The caveat is that if you are towing up a hill, you may need to run the fans anyway, which takes electricity, which takes power from the engine, but at a leveled out rate thanks to the battery etc. So, no, you won't get 30 hp across the boards, but certain situations, there could be a 30 hp gain (high rpms, high speeds, cool weather), and most likely better gas mileage as a result.

[CRW97RADO]

how do you wire up e-fans..i wanna do them just dont know how.. and which ones to get??

[proskreet]

efans picked my 97 up 3 tenths on a 1/8th mile track. consistantly. I have 2 of the bigger universal fans from advance with one of the wiring kits they sell with the adjustable tstat.
or google efan wiring. Im sure some diagrams will pop up to help you out.

[bigblockkid]

Actually going from mechanical to electrical makes a big difference, you obviously aren't thinking of the drag the fan has while turning. I've done it on two of my vehicles.

[alancour]

Many PCMs have an option to turn your electric fans off once you reach a certain speed. I have mine set at 35 mph.
No fan will out flow the volume of air going through the radiator while driving.

edit-I have a 0411 in my 97.

[dritrider14]

Just wondering what other mods I can do without spending a lot more money. Currently it is a 1997 chevy k1500 reg cab stepside 350 vortec, built 4l60e, 3.73 gears,

I currently have installed shorty headers ( I know not much of a difference but believe it or not I can feel it going up hills it pulls easier), I have a BB tune on the way, I had a complete exhaust system put under the truck, I have 1.6 roller rockers on the way, also have a stock fuel pump on the way because the one that's in there now sounds weird not to mention my bouncing fuel gauge when I hit the brakes, so I'm replacing the sender as well....Any other small mods I'm missing that will add noticeable power, I have been searching and the ones I have done seem to be the most popular. Thanks for any help

you want a united weilding company tool deep box? its been sitting around since i dont have step side anymore ive been trying to sell it ....let me know

[montess85]

I did E-fans on my 1999 Tahoe. I did notice a little throttle response ,but the biggest gain was to the mpg. I saw 1-3mpg gain. I used the flexalite duel fan kit. It was about $550 ,but if you drive a lot it wouldn't take a long time to gain it back. A guy I know did a swap on his quad cab S-10 using a set of F-body fans and he wired it up to his PCM, but he is pretty good with that sorta thing. His was a more noticable gain power wise than mine. Probably because that little 4.3 doesn't have as much power to spin the same size fan as my 5.7. The Flexalite kit was very easy to install though and comes with everything you need. I would recomend it if you have done every other possible bolt on. On a side note there are more benifits to E-fans than just better MPG and Power. They decrease engine warm up time and imrpove A/C performance.

[matt g6007]

how do you get the fans to turn off at certain speeds?

[mgrotel]

im anti efan.

to op, get long tubes, cam, and a vmax spacer. if you want to go all out, get long tubes, cam, marine intake, injectors, and a whipple

[KTMRACER]

I don't see how electric fans do much of anything, the pulley still needs to be their to power the water pump. If you went to an electric water pump I'm sure you could see 10-20 horses, but the weight of the mechanical fan isn't enough to justify more than a few horses at best.
I'd get springs, retainers, LT4 hotcam - it will cost you about $600 and will make a huge difference (I can easily justify 50+ horses from a good cam. The LT1 guys have heads that flow comparable to the Vortecs and they claim 300+ whp on the dyno with bolt ons and cam). Alternatively you can probably do a ZZ4 cam without changing the springs.
Other cheap things would be under-drive pulleys, intake, etc.



And the headers can make a good bit of difference on a well breathing motor, it might be worth it to stay 1.5 intake and go 1.6 exhaust to try and take advantage of those headers. If you already ordered the rockers just go 1.6 on both. Hopefully you went with full roller rockers also since roller tips don't do much of anything.

bad advice. Any cam on a vortec L30 or L31 engine needs new valve springs. LT4 hot cam may need a higher stall torque converter, you could likely get by fine with the zz4 cam on the stock converter.

Just go 1.6 rockers all the way around, only do 1.5s on intake or exhaust side if you're too cheap to buy a full set of rockers. You should check clearances on valve springs with 1.6 rockers.

I'm not sure I'd trust an electric water pump on a daily driver. E-fans yes (personally I'd get 05+ truck fans if possible), but you don't see any new vehicle with an electric water pump. The gain from an electric fan likely comes from not having to spin the 10lb fan clutch. I still run a mechanical fan on my truck. I see too many posts on other sites with e-fan harnesses failing and having to replace relays and stuff. My mechanical fan works fine and I don't have to do anything to it.

Best basic mods are custom tune, headers, throttle body plate mod, exhaust, rockers, cam, torque converter, 0411 PCM

[chucksrt]

You guys running e fans...do you use a shroud or just mount the fan directly to the rad? I have been wanting to do this also but I don't want to limit the air being drawn through the rad because it is mounted directly when it could be mounted to a shroud and pulling air from the entire rad. Does anyone sell shrouds for e fan upgrades?

[gpracer]

To all you guys who are arguing about whether an Efan setup is better or not, you have to understand that it matters where you live.
If you live in Montana or Canada or somewhere cold, it wont do crap.

If you live in AZ, NM, TX, NV etc where it is hot as hell, you will see huge gains.
Here in PHX when it is 115 outside and I am driving on the freeway with the front and rear AC on high, my fan is locked up at 60mph!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Try downshifting and passing someone minus 30 hp and a jet engine roar.
Also AC performance at idle can be 10 degrees colder or more.