What makes an LS better than a small block?

[Ve8r]

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

I believe he was trying to comment on the strength not driveability.
If you need proof of stock bottom end strength on LS based engines.... take a quick trip over to you tube, and in the search box type "Sloppy Mechanics".
You will have a hard time making that much power in a SBC without forged internals, splayed caps, aftermarket block, steel crank.....and the list goes on and on.
We have come a long way since 1955.

 

[L67ss]

I oddly prefer TBI motors when I do SBCs lol

 

[ttype]

that's what makes us hotrodders in varying degrees. i don't "drag" race. however, i'm a huge fan of Factory Appearing Stock Tires. i'll be sneaking my dual exhaust up a little higher and inward of my old buick, then looking for a piece factory single outlet tailpipe to weld on to one of my duals, on the same side it came with. i will never be a John Force/Ken Duttweiler or Kenne/Belle. nor do i ever hope to be.

 

[pontiacgp]

people who can break in a flat tappet cam have likely been doing it for years without wiping a cam lobe. buying a retrofit roller cam "complete" costs as much as a take-out 5.3 with a 90 day warranty. a set of decent heads for your old motor that can accomodate "your" new recipe-as much as an efi controller. you'll still need to fiddle with a self learning one, but it's a completely different set of tools. overdrive for an older motor compared to the "warrantied" take-out... difference there too. every year that goes by takes the supply OUT of gen 1's, whereas the supply of ls goes up. they've been accumulating for almost twenty years now. i'm all for antiques. i have a big window shortbox to work on next. that one'll be efi all right, but it won't be arriving here in 3 boxes like the last one i bought, it'll come on the next motor i get with a 90 day warranty. if that one doesn't grenade or take anything out with it, my son will get it when i don't need it anymore. upgrade heads for LS stuff is reasonably priced right at your LOCAL gm dealer. go visit the next cruise-in... and ask the guy with a flathead what it's like to find parts for his machine, and how long he has owned it.

if it's going into your daily driver, your fuel costs will be recovered in some time. by the time the ls motor needs work(hopefully a reallly good while at least), a drop-in replacement will still be easy to find.

other peoples' preferences are what influences the way you build your ride.

I got this cam and the springs for $200 from a guy in Vancouver, they had a couple of hours on the engine. The rest of the kit cost me around $225.

10185071 - Hydraulic Roller Camshaft -Chevy 604 Crate Engine

 

[ttype]

before we derail OP's thread... LS is a great swap if i'ts what he wants for daily driving. it won't be easy, but nothing is. if you're looking to put collector plates on it, stick with similar vintage engine parts. it's really a wash if you just want to drive it to work and back. whatever motor you choose, have it tuned to get the most out of it. if you build it just to drive it, choose a combo of parts that'll give you the most smiles per mile, because that's what it is all about... smiles per mile

 

[ttype]

you can't drive faster than traffic anyways... keep it as simple AND easy as you can afford.

 

[pontiacgp]

you can't drive faster than traffic anyways...

that depends on what you are driving...😛

 

[CWPottenger]

At the end of the day it will always be personal opinion. As many state there are pluses and minuses to every engine. The key will always be what are you comfortable with. A Gen 1 can be built to whatever level you want, so can a LS. It will always boil down to money, skill, time, and desire. The LS come factory with many features that a Gen 1 must be modified to equal. A LS require a "car load" of changes and upgrades to be put in an older car the a Gen 1 does not. So that is the rub as they say.

 

[Clone TIE Pilot]

About finding someone to tune a carb, if you can't do it yourself, then you should not be around old cars. Many efI tuners will tell you carb tuning is easier than efi tuning. While obd2 trouble codes are helpful, they are no replacement for diagnostic skills, as some codes can be triggered by 1,000 different causes. Sometimes problems fail to set of a code.

I still see plenty of SBC, in junkyards. One yard has plenty of TPIs. Most yards in my area pulls LS engines out and sell them piecemeal behind the office, coils are extra, ecm is extra, waterpump is extra, etc. In my area, a cheap LS pullout is largely a myth in the yards. I would not want a work van motor as I see work vans being thrashed hard all the time. They are always speeding. There is a difference in wear rates between easy and hard miles.

 

[olds307 and 403]

I'd hardly call a poncho 400 a boat anchor. One of the best, if not the best, V8 pontiac ever made. LSs can be had for so cheap (compared to ford and dodge engines of today), they're ALREADY fuel injected, distributorless, and most of them either have aluminum heads, or blocks or both from the factory. They're litterally plug and play. Your buddy got a hell of a deal for that LS. Normally a running LS3 plus the wiring harness and ecm is over 2,000, but it's a complete drop in.

Obviously your friend hates torque, any 5.3 except the Gen 5 V8's suck down low.

Some will know more than me, but LS engines besides being 50 year newer technology have better heads out of the box as they start at 15* all the way down to 12* (ls7) valve angle as opposed to an sbc's 23* heads. Closer to zero the better the cfm all else equal. So thats a major difference along with cathedral ports (some retain rectangular). All in all just a better designed engine along with all the benefits of factory fuel injection.

Olds have a 6 degree valve angle plus the wide intakes with long runners help torque.