Many later SBCs came with roller cams, with 880 Vortec SBCs being the best factory SBC. With 2 vs 4 bolt mains, there are arguments wither 4 bolts really are stronger or weaker. 4 bolts originally came out in weaker cast iron SBCs. Aluminum is weaker than cast iron and why LS1s have 6 bolt mains. Aluminum blocks are too weak for towing which is why trucks still use cast iron.
One of the reasons LS last so long is they are designed to run warm at 200 degrees, which can also be applied to SBCs. 160 t stats are really outdated, and Ford figured it out back in the 60s.
While you can, but not always get decent deals on used LS engines, installing them into a old car is not cheap. Then there are legality issues too. A carb LS is automatically illegal in any G body as it disables many of the obd2 emission controls. Even keeping the Efi, a LS swap can still be illegal because the obd2 enhanced evap system is not compatible with factory g body gas tanks. The only legal LS swap are the expensive crate Erod kits. Then there is custom exhaust, custom driveshaft. Some of the newer auto transmissions for LS engines require expanding the trans tunnel.
Another issue is parts, both replacement and performance LS parts are more expensive than SBC parts. Adapter parts and swap kits are also expensive. Then to tune a LS engine with EFI requires $650 or more tuning software and training. Otherwise you have to take the car to a tuner shop which also won't be cheap. Mail away tunes are a crapshoot and aftermarket self leaning efi kits can months to self program themselves, and not always correctly. Overall, a LS swap is a large investment and requires learning complete new technology.
I read a car magazine article last year that went on how great the base V6 engines in the new Camaros are. That it makes more horsepower and torque stock than LS1s and 5.3s and that LS1 5.3 guys need to wake up and realize they are already becoming dated and should look at base V6 Camaro swaps in the near future. Progress is a b*tch at times.
