Ls motor question

[mobileaudio25]

I have:

A Procharged LS2 (6.0L);
A heads/cam/intake/nitrous LS1 (5.7L); and
A (soon to be) twin turbo 4.8L.

Only two of those combos will make 500+hp at the wheels all day everyday. The other one just sounds really cool and scoots okay - better when you push the button.

The thing is you can do as much with your 355 Gen I SBC as you can with the LS. If you spent the money on a good valvetrain, heads, and intake you could have a very stout engine (as stout as an equal max effort LS 5.7L) without needing a bunch of swap parts. This approach has its advantages.

That said, I sold off my old SBC stuff for a reason. The LS-family of engines is just that good.

Yeah I want to move to fuel injected computer driven with good gas and a turn key motor. I love my carbs but I’m ready to update.

 

[Clone TIE Pilot]

I had my body mounts replace about 500 miles ago with rubber mounts, I wish I would have went poly.
I have adjustable uppers and lower on the rear, big front sway bar, with Grand Prix bar and jounce bars. I have Grand National rear seat bracing with a rear sway bar and the rear frame horns tied. I also have fender to core support bars and firewall to core support bars. My car is very solid and handles great. I also have radiator cross bars, aftermarket transmission crossmember.

Do you think I will still need extra chassis reinforcement?

That sounds pretty good, should look into rear LCA mount reinforcements, either weld on gussets or bolt on reinforcing bars. Several high power GNs have snapped their rear LCA frame mounts.

 

[fleming442]

I always see so much short sightedness in these questions. Why on earth would you put a TH350 behind a 600hp LS? Why put a MS injection on when the factory computer has a trans control built in?
$6-8k should be more than plenty to achieve the whole end game. Especially, if you'e only putting 150 miles a year on it.

 

[Northernregal]

Get an 05-06 6.0 find a set of aluminum 5.3 truck heads and upgrade valve springs. Add a healthy cam and do some hand porting on the heads. Hot rod did this exact build and made 500hp.

Here is one example. This is with 6.0 heads, the 5.3 heads add compression and a couple more ponies. Will also help idle with a more aggressive cam. LS motors are easy.

http://www.superchevy.com/how-to/en...un-for-cheap-budget-rebuild-lq9-makes-464-hp/

 

[Texas82GP]

Get an 05-06 6.0 find a set of aluminum 5.3 truck heads and upgrade valve springs. Add a healthy cam and do some hand porting on the heads. Hot rod did this exact build and made 500hp.

Here is one example. This is with 6.0 heads, the 5.3 heads add compression and a couple more ponies. Will also help idle with a more aggressive cam. LS motors are easy.

http://www.superchevy.com/how-to/en...un-for-cheap-budget-rebuild-lq9-makes-464-hp/

That's a good recipe but the O.P.'s goal is 500 HP at the wheels, so he's in search of say 580-600 HP at the crank to have 500 at the wheels after pushing it through the 4L80 and 9" he will likely need.

 

[mobileaudio25]

I always see so much short sightedness in these questions. Why on earth would you put a TH350 behind a 600hp LS? Why put a MS injection on when the factory computer has a trans control built in?
$6-8k should be more than plenty to achieve the whole end game. Especially, if you'e only putting 150 miles a year on it.

6-8k for motor. 2-3 k transmission, resize my driveshaft , and a crossmember is what I plan on working with. The rest of my car is built for the power. It most likely won’t even get installed with a th350 behind it, that’s just what I have currently

 

[mobileaudio25]

Does a 4L80e normally follow behind an LQ9?
I’ve read they are hard to find in a junker now days but I’m going to keep my eyes peeled.

There is a motor and transmission harness separately correct? If I found a motor and transmission from a different car can you flash them and make them work together. I know now I’m going to do an LQ9 4L80e drivetrain with some type of power adder still reading up.

 

[Texas82GP]

4L80E applications.....
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/GM_4L80-E_transmission
I don't believe the harnesses are seperate.

 

[fleming442]

There is a motor and transmission harness separately correct? If I found a motor and transmission from a different car can you flash them and make them work together. I know now I’m going to do an LQ9 4L80e drivetrain with some type of power adder still reading up.

The trans and engine harness are one unit; that's why I implied running a factory PCM is better. If you go aftermarket (MS 2 or 3), you'll need a standalone trans controller.
I think the Holley computer might run an electronic trans......

 

[64nailhead]

On your budget just about anything is possible in the 700-900whp range. The best bet is a turbo'd 6.0/4L80E combo. Swap a cam and valve springs, open the ring gaps and maybe, repeat maybe, drop the coin on a new TC. The TC depends solely on the application. Drag race ALOT? Yes, get a converter. 90+% street driven - use the stocker.

MS or stock PCM? Good question that is answered in your answers. Do you want to tune it yourself? Are going to be trying to get all you can from the tune and do you have the ability to tune? Or are you going to take it to someone and tell them 'make it run good'?

If you want to tune it yourself, then go MS. If you want to take it to someone, then use the GM system (HP Tuners takes alot of knowledge and experience to move quickly through it). Also, the MS tuning software is free - HP Tuners is not ($750 IIRC). The cost of the software is one of the reasons why tuners charge. Also, there are no where near as many experienced MS tuners as there are GM (HP Tuners) around.

With your budget you can do whatever floats your boat.