What, another LS swap cost thread?

[Macguyver]

edited

For reference...
a well thought out street SBC 383 will make roughly 495 hp at 6,000 rpm and 495 lb-ft of torque at 4,500 rpm.
a well thought out street Mopar 383 will make roughly 530 hp at 6,000 rpm and 520 lb-ft of torque at 4,500 rpm.
a well thought out street Ford 351W will make roughly 490 hp at 6,500 rpm and 470 lb-ft of torque at 4,500 rpm.

 

[Streetbu]

Oil pan $220
Headers $280
Mounts $40
Valve springs & retainers $140
Used 6.0L $200
Used 5.3L complete $350
Camshaft $250
Wire harness free if you do it yourself
PCM software HPTuners $400 (iirc).
Fuel pump assembly from Holley $330
Misc that you WILL need $500.

Total $2710

 

[fleming442]

Oil pan $220
Headers $280
Mounts $40
Valve springs & retainers $140
Used 6.0L $200
Used 5.3L complete $350
Camshaft $250
Wire harness free if you do it yourself
PCM software HPTuners $400 (iirc).
Fuel pump assembly from Holley $330
Misc that you WILL need $500.

Total $2710

Trans?

 

[500/600]

Oil pan $220
Headers $280
Mounts $40
Valve springs & retainers $140
Used 6.0L $200
Used 5.3L complete $350
Camshaft $250
Wire harness free if you do it yourself
PCM software HPTuners $400 (iirc).
Fuel pump assembly from Holley $330
Misc that you WILL need $500.

Total $2710

Heads to support 550hp?

 

[Streetbu]

Stock 243 cathedral ports will support 550hp naturally aspirated with a set of valve springs.

Trans, you can use what you have or upgrade if you want... Your choice.

BTW, that list is what I have, or will have into mine. Minus the T56 that I want behind it.

 

[81cutlass]

The big difference that nobody talks about, the one resource you never get back? Time!!!!

A 5.3 or 6.0 can all be under your control. Thousands are going into the junkyard weekly and if you buy one from a yard and it's junk you can bring it back under warranty. If you blow it up you can get a replacement and have it changed in a weekend with you and a buddy.

A new crate 383 is $4k from summit or some sketchy used build you don't know the history of. You can save money and build it yourself but you're at the mercy of the machine shop. Spin a rod bearing? Yeah you can have a crank in a week from summit, but what if you need to line bore the block or recondition the rod? Is it a week, a month, or 3 months at the machine shop? You don't know, it's not under your control!

A 383 might make more power. A 383 might be less expensive. It's probably less intensive to swap into place.

But something a 383 won't beat an LS on, is availability. Good luck replacing a custom 383 in a weekend. There hasn't been a 350 4 bolt main block go in a junkyard at a rate where they are legitimately available for 10 years. It's hunt swap meets or CL or FB for a decent one and hope its now schwasted.

Are you 400 miles from home on a sunday night and the car looses spark? The local parts store will have every sensor needed and the PCM will tell you what sensor is wrong. If your 383 looses spark and you walk in will the 19 year old behind the counter be able to find the HEI module that's covered under a layer of dust? What about that alternator that tossed the bearing. I bet NAPA has a 04 tahoe alternator! I bet they can get you 1 wire SBC V belt alternator on Tuesday morning.

I drive a fleet of junk and if something goes wrong on my LS swap car it's in stock 2 blocks from my house. If my SFI turbo buick has a problem it's a week minimum to buy a part from an old man a timezone away. If something breaks on my carb turbo buick it's hope I hoarded that part or message 'the guy' on the forum and hope they have one.

It's easy to dog LS stuff and a lot of people screw the swaps up or dump cubic dollars into them, but when you are stuck in a parking lot and need to get home, I'll take LS swap for $1 bob.

 

[500/600]

Stock 243 cathedral ports will support 550hp naturally aspirated with a set of valve springs.

Trans, you can use what you have or upgrade if you want... Your choice.

BTW, that list is what I have, or will have into mine. Minus the T56 that I want behind it.

That's optimistic for heads that flow about 250cfm stock. My CNC 6.1 heads flow 360cfm, 0.630" lift cam, CNC port matched intake, large throttle body, large full length headers, large CAI, tune by AJ Berge and it makes about 560hp. Maybe I'm wayyyyyyy undercammed. Mac's 520hp is probably on the high side unless you cam it to death and then for everything else to actually match, there goes the cheap part.

 

[DRIVEN]

I feel like I'm listening to Wally Clever and Eddie Haskell argue about whether the 283 will ever be better than a flathead with a 3/4 race cam.

 

[motorheadmike]

The big difference that nobody talks about, the one resource you never get back? Time!!!!

A 5.3 or 6.0 can all be under your control. Thousands are going into the junkyard weekly and if you buy one from a yard and it's junk you can bring it back under warranty. If you blow it up you can get a replacement and have it changed in a weekend with you and a buddy.

A new crate 383 is $4k from summit or some sketchy used build you don't know the history of. You can save money and build it yourself but you're at the mercy of the machine shop. Spin a rod bearing? Yeah you can have a crank in a week from summit, but what if you need to line bore the block or recondition the rod? Is it a week, a month, or 3 months at the machine shop? You don't know, it's not under your control!

A 383 might make more power. A 383 might be less expensive. It's probably less intensive to swap into place.

But something a 383 won't beat an LS on, is availability. Good luck replacing a custom 383 in a weekend. There hasn't been a 350 4 bolt main block go in a junkyard at a rate where they are legitimately available for 10 years. It's hunt swap meets or CL or FB for a decent one and hope its now schwasted.

Are you 400 miles from home on a sunday night and the car looses spark? The local parts store will have every sensor needed and the PCM will tell you what sensor is wrong. If your 383 looses spark and you walk in will the 19 year old behind the counter be able to find the HEI module that's covered under a layer of dust? What about that alternator that tossed the bearing. I bet NAPA has a 04 tahoe alternator! I bet they can get you 1 wire SBC V belt alternator on Tuesday morning.

I drive a fleet of junk and if something goes wrong on my LS swap car it's in stock 2 blocks from my house. If my SFI turbo buick has a problem it's a week minimum to buy a part from an old man a timezone away. If something breaks on my carb turbo buick it's hope I hoarded that part or message 'the guy' on the forum and hope they have one.

It's easy to dog LS stuff and a lot of people screw the swaps up or dump cubic dollars into them, but when you are stuck in a parking lot and need to get home, I'll take LS swap for $1 bob.

Well... I have nothing further to offer.

 

[64nailhead]

if they're doing it cheap and making big power, they like changing engines. I like working on my car, but let's be serious. Do you really want to yank it out every 2 weeks?

Gotta put 'em on a zipper. Junior's Motown was put and pulled 3 times in one day before I smartened up enough to put oil dye in to find out the at the rear main was NOT leaking lol.

Heads to support 550hp?

Any stock cathedral will make 550 crank on stock valves, rockers and pushrods.




The motor and trans aren't the expense. It's the electronics and fuel system IMO.

Cam and springs - $400
ECM - $1150
Fuel system - $700 but probably closer to $900 minimum
Mounts, exhaust, oil pan,etc - $100 in parts and $500 in gas and wire for the welder and figuring your time is $10-15/hr lol - $600 total
-----------------
I say $3K minimum. I'm at $7k (and counting due to the destructed 'indestuctible' 4L80 lol), but hopefully I'll be at 750-850HP with turbo and related goodies.

The expense isn't the motor and trans........it's the rest. But I believe that I'd be at the same point with a 383 and TH400, but when something breaks, I wont't be able to find another 383 for $250 + cam and springs (if they can't be salvaged.)


And 100%, absof'inglutey do I expect to be swapping in the next bullet in less than 5 hours. Give me a carb'd motor with HEI and I'll cut that time by 40% lol. I used to look at pulling the motor like such a project, now I look at a door panel and window regulator in a worse light.

I should mention also that in my $7k+ is Macguyver's 8.8 swap kit 🙂🙂