EL CAMINO Scored a 6.0 today

[64nailhead]

And no matter what you do, please buy new lifter trays. You might regret it if you don't.

Dang, I forgot those. I have new ones 'in stock' haha. I get those from BTR as well.

 

[Built6spdMCSS]

Rods and pistons? Really?! Dafuq.

Stock LS2 (6.0) with a LS9 cam and a used Procharger took my 5300lbs TBSS into the 11s. But, you do you.

I am out.

Let me help you fill in the blanks with the below..

its gen three
Has the big chamber heads
I’ll probably go with lq9 rods n pistons to get that compressionnright

Now with that being said, this is a Gen III LQ4 since he has mentioned the above as well as the 4L80E still on the back of it.
Stock 317 Heads on it still, why I mentioned the 243/799 Heads.
LQ9 Rods & Pistons are the same as the LS2 stuff. Gen IV Rods with Flat Top Pistons.
So he is on the right track here. But be "out" if it suits you, since this guy has done a little reading to get that bit of knowledge.

Now as far as Intakes, just depends on what Heads you use. Small cube Engine like this I would stick to Cathedral Heads, expecially for what you want to do.

 

[Texas82GP]

If you're buying an LS9 cam for much more than $100-125, then spring for a new one. The extra $100-125 isn't a deal breaker. And the LS9 cam is nothing like the Elgin stage 1 or stage 2. People used to use the LS9 cams a lot before the cam selection is what it is now.

I have a list of things I do when swapping the cam - new head gaskets, new oil pump, new lifters. The seals that 81cutlass mentioned are a must. You can spring for a new gasket kit as well - ebay or Amazon special for $50 or so. But if the old gaskets aren't leaking and come off in one piece, then they won't leak when you put them back on. If you price these out individually you'll spend about 5 times what you need to. Be sure to inspect the rocker trunnions and pads for excessive wear, and the pushrods for galling on the ends and length.

Regarding lifters and oil pump, I use stock replacements, nothing special - I get Sealed Power lifters from Advance auto using a coupon code buying two lifters at a time - last time round I payed $14.50 for 2. The oil pump is a Melling M295. For head gaskets, I was using the BTR house brand, but since I started making lots of boost I use LS9 (more layers). The LS9's aren't the greatest for a 5.3, but the minor amount of inefficiency created with the loss of compression due to the larger bore and added thickness isn't an issue for me. I shim the stock oil pump spring with .100"-.120" of washers to raise the stock Gen 3 oil pump pressure to 40-50psi at idle.

If you want a true idea of the condition of your motor, then cut open the oil filter, drop the pan and inspect and the degree of buildup under the valve covers. I prefer a leak down to compression test.

My current motor was a $250 take out core and I put less than $650 into it. But I also changed the springs to Pac 1218's. It's stuck together for a bit at 20+psi and I spin it to 7500 regularly.


But, if you're an OCD type like Texas82GP then buy new everything (haha Jared). But for a 300K motor I couldn't bring myself to have $2K worth of new parts without a full rebuild.

Best of luck - Jim

Even I don't advocate new everything on an LS. I'd think you'd want new cam bearings on a 300k mile motor. Depending on how it was taken care of and how stuff looked, I might go with rings and bearings. I want to put it in once and move on. I don't like redoing work. I have enough stuff that I can't get to already. One and done for me.

I advocate the ARP head, balancer and header bolts for serviceability. I can't give it a few ooga-doogas and sleep. I also find the procedures for the TTY bolts asinine.

Keep in mind, the LS's I've done this sort of work to are my truck (122k miles on that work) and my brother's Z28 (no way I'm not doing it super right). I can see the logic of doing it cheap and "sloppy" on a race car that you may well break anyway. That's just different than my situation and not what I would do on something that I wanted to rely on.

 

[64nailhead]

I advocate the ARP head, balancer and header bolts for serviceability. I can't give it a few ooga-doogas and sleep. I also find the procedures for the TTY bolts asinine.

C'mon man.? (hehe)

I lose sleep over other people's stuff I work on because I don't want to see them disappointed. I sleep much better throwing caution into the wind on my scrap heap 🙂


I'll say this over again, junkyard LS's deserve no love. Trying to show one some love leads to disappointment.

I'm not saying to not build one properly, but either you're all in or out. My opinion. Throwing ARP at anything with 300K is a piss away f money to me. Re-use all of the TTY fasteners, gaskets, etc.



(just pickin' Jared 😉 )

 

[Built6spdMCSS]

The 6.0l in my SS right now is at 50k miles or so, 2006 LQ4 from a wrecked 3/4 ton work Van, I put on 2006 GTO 243 Heads I got for $100, got new Head Gaskets and Head Bolts for like $110 at the time. LS6 Intake I traded a 12pack of beer for. Budget build haha.

Nothing ARP on my Engine exept the 6 Flywheel Bolts. Header Bolts are what came with them 11 years ago. 🙂

 

[Northernregal]

Where is a good place to get the ls9 cam
Do we know the cam specs on that cam

IF you want less low speed torque, you should get an LS9 cam..... Get some 706 or 862 heads to compensate.... Yahhh......

Rods and pistons? Really?! Dafuq.

Stock LS2 (6.0) with a LS9 cam and a used Procharger took my 5300lbs TBSS into the 11s. But, you do you.

I am out.

No, come back and watch....

 

[Gremlinsteve]

Tough crowd

 

[64nailhead]

Tough crowd

Actually just the opposite. We are bustin' each other's chops. Seems to occur quite often here from two different countries and thousands of miles away haha. It's all in the name of good fun and G's iMHO.

You're relatively new - if you read through a bunch of old threads and our build threads you'll see it's all in fun, going fast and/or 'how to's'.

These guys will send you parts if they have and you need them. I've had members send me items for nothing just to see me use them. And I've returned the favor to others. Genuinely a good group of people here. Please don't take our cracks at each other the wrong way.

But most of all this is the most decent forum I'm a member of - no bullying or ridiculous BS. You have to give the canuckistanians there rightful due, and they won't hesitate to pile it back on 🙂🙂.


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Do you have a budget in mind with this? Usually the budget dictates what happens.....to a degree. Are you interested in making the engine bay with 6.0 look good?

 

[Built6spdMCSS]

Tough crowd

Eh, some of us build stuff and others have their stuff built for them all who you want to listen to.

 

[RabbitHoleSS]

motor has 300k on it
I’m just figuring it might need a freshening

If I’m there I might as well add the gen 4 rods correct?

Don't do it you'll let the magic out. Intended use definitely matters though.Plus the gen 3 rods are good to like 700rwhp and starting in 05(I think)the 6.0s have gen 4 rods and pistons.And are you looking for 500 crank(cam,springs,headers,tune would be close). I also wanna put 706 heads on my lq4 for cheap compression bump but haven't made it to the junkyard. If it's 500 tire, I'd think you need a turbo or some other FI. Cam,springs,injectors,340lph pump, turbo, tune get you to 500 tire easy. Youll need a good converter either way N/A or FI. And at 300k, you dont even need to gap the rings.Use that "freshen up" money to buy that stuff.

Tough crowd

I think everyone has given great advice. Tbh
If you want to build an engine, start with a big block. Seriously the money spent will be alot more comparable then you think and the built big block will be more awesome, but if you want to slam a junkyard engine and/or turbo in then go LS. This is of course just an opinion to try and help.