What makes an LS better than a small block?

[motorheadmike]

 

[LukeZ]

Good on you for posting some content for us, motorheadmike.

Just to clarify, I am not championing Gen I Chevrolet engines. If and LS is better, than that's a fact and I'd love to put one in my car. But, it seems to me that everyone who promotes the LS says that it's success to owed to its high flowing heads.

My question is: Do they make high flowing aftermarket heads for a Gen I SBC that compete with LS engine heads?

 

[Clone TIE Pilot]

Another thing to remember, is old cars and especially G bodies don't have unlimited capacity for power. 400 hp is what most G bodies can handle safely before surgery and reinforcement is required. It is pointless to have a engine that can handle 500 hp if the rest of the car can't.

Porting and shimming a oil pump renders it no longer stock. High flow oil pumps can increase wear because of cavitation in the oil that results from higher operating speed. LS oil pumps also must be carefully aligned to the crank when installed. LS engines have more internal oil leakage than SBCs and require more flow, which makes cavitation and windage worse.


The thing is there is no perfect engine for everybody.

 

[UNGN]

I would hate to have to call my boss when its raining and say, "Sorry, I cant come to work today. My 1000hp El Camino doesn't handle in the rain" lmao. It is about driveability, just as it is as much about peak power on stock internals, and gas mileage, and weight, and cost, etc.
Apparently you value peak power with a stock bottom end more than anything else. I put gas mileage and hp gained at the lowest cost at the top. That's only my opinion though; doesn't mean that I am correct.

"Its better because it is designed better" lmao

Most 1000HP LS builds are turbocharged. With the boost dialed back these are usually totally streetable. Only when the boost is turned up on race gas do they become a lightswitch - either on or off.. I had a friend with linginfelter TT Z06 that ran 133 in the 1/4 in street trim and he drove it everywhere. When accelerating on the street, the G-force made the washer spray on the windshield until over 125 mph.

 

[oldsmobile joe]

in my opinion, the ls motors are better due to the application of technology and scale of economics. gm took decades of technology gathered from running and testing their engines and put it in to the ls motor. the air flow of the heads is not what makes them great, thats just the start. they took all their knowledge from racing and put it there, the combustion chamber shape, valve angle, plug location, port layout, intake air flow, exhaust air flow, etc, and crammed it into their heads and out came an efficient head design. through this efficiency they were able to make more power with less emissions. and yes less emissions is a driving force that we don't like to admit. so much so that shortly after the ls motors came out, some of them stopped using egr valves. i never thought that would happen. hallelujah!
THEN they went and massed produced them to get the prices down for us to buy them.
i can buy a 5.3l ls that is rated at 295hp for about $500. and thats stock. no fancy parts, all easy to replace factory parts.
is the ls motor without fault, no it is not.
can you build a gen 1 sbc to this level, absolutely.

joe

 

[Bar50]

LS stuff is readily available at nearly every salvage yard.

Gen 1 stuff is getting really old. As for flow or performance, the 1996-2000 Vortec 5.7 is the last best version of the Gen 1. With an LT4 Hot Cam they can lay down 400 HP.

Same with just about any of the LS motors with a cam swap. It benefits from clean slate technology. It will have an automatic overdrive. The entry price is the largest hurdle.

I don't prefer them, because I don't have my own HP Tuners so I can work on it myself. That's purely personal.

 

[ttype]

In my opinion the only reason anyone avoids going to an LS is because they are already financially engaged in SBC parts; I cut my losses and have sold most of my Gen I parts off and everything is LS'd here now. Next I want to build a turbo LFX V6.

this 383 i have now is my last gen1 unless i find something that only needs a motor swap so i can use the 327 in the carport. it was to use all the stuff i've accumulated. guy down the road is building a little rock buggy(says there is a handful of wires to hook up, everything else is plug and play.) PLUS, his crate GM motor will eat mine at just a bit more cost really. on the "affordable" side of things, if one is upgrading from anything but a small block chevy(gen 1), you're already sourcing motor mounts. ditching the th350, shortening a driveshaft, getting a crossmember(dual exhaust),replacing fuel lines, headers, exhaust system anyways (cost the same either way)... warrantied take-outs that include transmissions start to become VERY attractively priced. a stand alone efi controller is still cheaper than FITech, you'll need a fuel pump either way...

if you are already starting with a cast iron exhausted 305, and you want to soup up to even 300hp from there with headers. the 5.3 junkyard engine starts to become cheaper and cheaper, hedman swap cast iron manifolds fit well, sound great too if you're commuting. finding take-out engines of gen 1 vintage is becoming difficult. i agree 100 percent with the statement that you build a gen one small block if you have everything gen 1 already. otherwise, even a 300 hp 5.3 will sound tamer than a well tuned 305 at idle, rev past it by at least 1000rpm and fetch better economy on the same road to work... once that 5.3 is running, is there anything left to do but but change oil at the same intervals? how about finding a guy who can tune a carburetor properly? there's a line-up at that man's door. the parts store will lend you an obd2 scanner if yours is acting up. bad batch of gas from the store you never bought before? no problem with efi!

driving down the roads this way, i can tell there's a hotrod ahead of me wayyy before i see it. you can smell an edelbrock drop-in a mile away.

if it's a car you'll give to your Millenial kid for a grad gift, who's going to figure out a vacuum leak for him/her? before pistons melt. we are becoming dinosaurs gents(and gals). zddp oil, how hard is that to find nowadays? don't get me wrong here, i like antiques too and my 383 that sits in my 34 yr old car. i'm sure it'll be my last gen 1.

 

[pontiacgp]

Daily driving

then I would go for an engine with enough power to keep you happy and basic enough to keep it dependable and low maintenance.

 

[Hickrocket1258]

It's simple to go back to the junkyard and pick up another LS complete for $500-$1000 and be done. Yes I know there's a lot more little knock knacks. I was going down that route until I found out the block was no good. After that I didn't feel like worrying about used anymore and went Blueprint crate 383.

 

[Opie Knievel]

I'm not gonna argue the technical points of design, etc. Just from an availability standpoint, LS type engines are more abundant in the salvage yards than Gen 1 small blocks nowadays. I work at a salvage yard. We have a lot of 4.8 & 5.3 engines in stock. As far as good, running Gen 1's.... I think we have 1, 350 Vortec and a couple TBI 305's. I got lucky and found a useable 350 Vortec core at work a few months ago. "LS" truck engines are the easiest to find. As time goes on Gen 1 engines will just get harder to find.

Availability is just one thing to consider though.