BS, thats what non Chevy owners want to believe. 90s Camaro’s and Corvettes are what Chevy developed THEYRE new small block for.
LS Swap vs Chevy 350
- Thread starter Jenx5811
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Hehe. That’s a hillbilly mindset. Anyone that works for GM will tell you it’s a corporate engine and was developed as such. I work with these guys on a daily basis. Just saying.....
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So, they put them in a Trans Am (Pontiac is defunct), Holdens, and the Cadillac Escalade variants. Buicks?
I see Chevy and GMC left. What did I miss?
I guess that since Carl Benz was the first to put a gas powered car on the road we are all driving Mercedes.......
That’s about as lame an analogy that can be saidI guess that since Carl Benz was the first to put a gas powered car on the road we are all driving Mercedes.......
Ok everyone we have totally hijacked this thread. So I apologize for my part in that. I poked you LS guys cuz I'm a weiner like that. I also like to fart in elevators to watch people pretend they don't smell it. So let's get back to the original question attached below in case we all forgot.
After the gear, drive it. If you need more start reading on here about what other people have done. The first things will be dual exhaust and a better breathing intake stuff. Go to a 4 bbl if you have a 2, get an aftermarket intake. That type of stuff. Get rid of the computer controls maybe. If you need more than that a cam and headwork is probably a good choice. At that point though you will likely want to do a torque converter. This is where you need to decide if you want to keep going with the 307 or swap for something else. I suspect based on what you say you are looking for a decent gear, with some better exhaust and intake will get you there. The upside is this is substantially cheaper and less work than either of those swaps. It is easy to go way down a rabbit hole when you bite off more than you can chew. Lots of cars end up junked as a result of too ambitious plans and inadequate experience.
My friend is an Olds guy and he had an 86 307 Cutlass that would put down rubber in glorious fashion. It was 100% reliable, never overheated or did anything stupid. It was gwicked fun to drive and ride in. The motor had very little "fancy" work done to it. It was just a well thought out package which is really what makes or breaks the build.
Good luck!
So jenx you see there's a lot of opinions. We are like old men at the barber shop. This is our barber shop and we hang out here and argue about minutia. You post implies you don't have a lot of experience and therefore I think either swap is a bad choice right now. There is nothing actually wrong with your 307. The real problem is everything surrounding it. Your car is suffocating and constipated with a terrible rear end to boot. I suggest the very first thing you do is change the gear ratio. No matter what motor is in that car the factory 2.xx is going to make the car feel slow. Go to at least 3.23 maybe 3.42 depending on your tire size. I assume you have an overdrive trans that means you have a 200 4R. It will be useful of and when you decide to ditch the 307. But again there is no reason a 307 can't be a fun daily driver and roast the tires. It just needs to be set free.
After the gear, drive it. If you need more start reading on here about what other people have done. The first things will be dual exhaust and a better breathing intake stuff. Go to a 4 bbl if you have a 2, get an aftermarket intake. That type of stuff. Get rid of the computer controls maybe. If you need more than that a cam and headwork is probably a good choice. At that point though you will likely want to do a torque converter. This is where you need to decide if you want to keep going with the 307 or swap for something else. I suspect based on what you say you are looking for a decent gear, with some better exhaust and intake will get you there. The upside is this is substantially cheaper and less work than either of those swaps. It is easy to go way down a rabbit hole when you bite off more than you can chew. Lots of cars end up junked as a result of too ambitious plans and inadequate experience.
My friend is an Olds guy and he had an 86 307 Cutlass that would put down rubber in glorious fashion. It was 100% reliable, never overheated or did anything stupid. It was gwicked fun to drive and ride in. The motor had very little "fancy" work done to it. It was just a well thought out package which is really what makes or breaks the build.
Good luck!
First off if Olds developed say a 550 hp 455 that still made 400 hp with 8 to 1 compression and a peanut cam, chebby would have thrown themselves on the floor and held their breath, oh wait they did. Also think F-88, Olds Corvette 270 hp Rocket V8 vs the lame 150 hp no flame 6. Out performed the Corvette and Thunderbird in every way possible. Again a tantrum was thrown, car not made, Harley Earl tried 3 times. I can still find 70's Olds 350's in great running shape, last one is 47 years old! The sbc from that era flattened cams and puffed blue smoke, just barely above the 351M/400 crap Ford was putting out which would have major problems around 200K, knock knock, who's there? My bottom end. SBC flattened cams around 100K and would not last to 300K, talking KM not Miles. They finally were a decent motor by the early 80's and continually improved. Although the Vortec heads have the same cracking issues as the Dodge Magnum heads. And don't forget the Class Action lawsuit against GM for putting the sbc 350 in Delta 88's in 1977. Of course GM ruined the super reliable Olds 350 in that same year, windowed block and light weight
shitty exhaust port cracking 3A heads. They should have kept the 73 to 76 version right till 80.
I was going to throw my 2 cents in a while ago but like other new members they ask for advice and not heard from again. I'm a SBC diehard, they are just too easy and cheap to pull power out of. That being said my advice to Jenx5811 would have been exactly what pontiac guy said above. I think that would have made him happy with min $$$ spent, plus the right direction to go if a repower was in the future.
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