Thread:

About done with BBC's

But then, its just my opinion

ultimate cheap motor to turbo and jus lite as hell would be the 6.2liter. but any ls turck engine from 2007 up will have the better pistons and floating wrist pin rods in it. s475 turbo on a 6.0 liter or bigger will make more tq and power than most can use

What are your goals with the engine? You can get an RHS tall deck block and have 450+ cubes without a "radical bore". Or you can use a 5.3 with a turbo. I'm not a fan of using LS engines as they come because I believe the rods (powder metal) and pistons (cast) are not suited to continous high rpm usage. An LS7 converted to wet sump would be ideal. The rods on them are titanium, and while they aren't as strong as an aftermarket Ti rod, they will still handle 800+ hp without issue and they have the advantage of somewhat lighter weight than most aftermarket forged rods. I know of one for sale right now for $11.5k that is complete minus intake.

Stock crank on all LS engines will not be a weak link until 900+ hp.

What is your budget?

There are three different intake port designs (LS1 type, LS3 type, and LS7 type), so make sure you keep it all straight as you're looking into parts.

The only block that had problems would be early (I believe 97-98) LS1's...stay away from them; but if you're starting from scratch there's no reason not to start with an LQ4/LQ9, LS2,or LS3. I only used an LS1 because that's what I have been running since '99 in my Firebird and already had the engines.

There are sleeve options out there, too...since the aluminum blocked engines can't really be bored out.

Originally Posted by FormulaZR

An LS7 converted to wet sump would be ideal. The rods on them are titanium, and while they aren't as strong as an aftermarket Ti rod, they will still handle 800+ hp without issue and they have the advantage of somewhat lighter weight than most aftermarket forged rods. I know of one for sale right now for $11.5k that is complete minus intake.

Stock crank on all LS engines will not be a weak link until 900+ hp.

LS7s ARE wet sump, until converted otherwise.

Sorry, not a boat thing. I bought a 56 chevy truck that I want to make a nice tow vehicle out of for my little hotrod boat. The truck has all C4 corvette suspension, which is kind of cool, but it also came with an all aluminum 5.7 LS1. My original plan was to trade off the LS1 for a 350 but after reading all the good things about them I'm leaning towards using it. The truck, and engine is a total project deal, everything will have to come apart. Question, will the LS1 make a good tow motor for my 18' boat?

Originally Posted by Beer:30

LS7s ARE wet sump, until converted otherwise.

??? The LS7 in the Z06 is dry sump from the factory. If you get an LS7 pullout you will have to switch oil pans, timing sets, drill a hole in the block for dipstick, either use a spacer or use an aftermarket crank, and a new balancer. Are you talking about a crate motor?

Originally Posted by Ahsumtoy

Sorry, not a boat thing. I bought a 56 chevy truck that I want to make a nice tow vehicle out of for my little hotrod boat. The truck has all C4 corvette suspension, which is kind of cool, but it also came with an all aluminum 5.7 LS1. My original plan was to trade off the LS1 for a 350 but after reading all the good things about them I'm leaning towards using it. The truck, and engine is a total project deal, everything will have to come apart. Question, will the LS1 make a good tow motor for my 18' boat?

Yes. Is it all stock as far as you know?

Originally Posted by Ahsumtoy

Sorry, not a boat thing. I bought a 56 chevy truck that I want to make a nice tow vehicle out of for my little hotrod boat. The truck has all C4 corvette suspension, which is kind of cool, but it also came with an all aluminum 5.7 LS1. My original plan was to trade off the LS1 for a 350 but after reading all the good things about them I'm leaning towards using it. The truck, and engine is a total project deal, everything will have to come apart. Question, will the LS1 make a good tow motor for my 18' boat?

I would never even consider running a first gen 350 if you have that ls1. Go get a set of 243 cylinder head, Z06 camshaft and springs and an LS6 intake and you've just created a pump gas 400hp everyday driver that will tow just about anything you want. You can run a factory ecu and with a some mild tweaking of the factory tune you will have the best drivability and fuel milage in any hot rod tow vehicle you've owned!

Andrew

Yep...gm's great identification system...

LS1, LS6 then LS2, LS7, LS3 and then hey just go to LS9. Now obviously you had discrepancies from pass cars and the the coveted corvette engine which always has to be superior coming from the factory. But still....talk about confusing if you don't know when each one came out and what changes were made....and that's not including all the truck models within that same LS family!

Also, I was reading a few years ago where guys were arguing on whether the 243 and 799 were in fact the same casting. Both were found on Z06 cars, but one guy actually found his corvette had a 243 head on one side and 799 on the other!

Andrew