gothic_sera

Righto, projects...

I'm based in the UK, LS engine's are a rarity over here. You can count the number of cars with them fitted on one hand at any one custom show.

I can't leave anything alone, so even though my Camaro has only been on the road for a year it's currently in bits waiting for a transmission transplant. I've built a really strong 4L80E for it ready to put some serious horsepower through the chassis. When I rebuilt the car I did it with a similar thing in mind. Substantial subframe connectors, solid body bushings, extra bracing on the front subframe as well. I also fitted a very strong 12 bolt in the back, with Moroso Brute strength posi and forged half shafts. I have a lot more to do yet, but I'm stopping short of fitting any sort of roll cage, for now. As it's predominantly a road car.

Here it is. Been to a few shows in 2014. Currently powered by a strong 360 SBC putting out around 425hp. I've made a few underhood changes since the photo was taken, including fitting hydroboost and a different air filter to get rid of that horrible chrome one!

It's got multi-point EFI (I hate carbs with a passion) and wasted spark ignition (crank triggered) with Megasquirt II ECU.





So in the quest for more horsepower I'm building an LQ (iron block LS) motor for this now with the intention of making around 700hp NA. With scope for some forced induction in the future.

I can't ever recall seeing an LQ motor for sale in the UK until I saw this one at a swap meet for a £300 ($450). It's all brand new but the block has some minor damage on the lower left corner. The heads are the stock truck ones, but I can get those skimmed and do all of the port work myself. I have a spare head that I can experiment with before I start on the real thing.





I'm still waiting for the slip yoke to arrive from the USA, and the weather has been really crap this weekend anyway so I decided to make a start on looking at this LQ engine block and figuring out how the hell I am going to fix it.

Pulled all of the pistons out of the bores - all new but missing pins and locks. Not a major problem as I might need to get another set that has valve reliefs cut as I am pretty sure I am going to run into valve to piston clearance with the sort of cam I am planning to run.

Set about checking the rest of the block over for cracks and it all seems to be OK. Checked the bores and water jacket all over and found nothing - messy job with the dye pen fluids. So that just leaves the 2 on the bottom left corner of the block where some idiot has dropped it.

Drilled the ends of the cracks as deep as I dared and ground them out. Haven't gone too mad with them as they aren't really in critical load areas of the block. But one of them is right on the back of the oil passage down the side of the block so it needs sealing up otherwise it'll leak oil. The areas of the block aren't too thick, so it should be possible to get enough heat into it (I hope!). The plan is to use HTS-528 rods for the repairs

This one is pretty simple.



The other is the one on the oil passage. The corner of the block was broken away where the sump bolt hole is. So I drilled it all the way through and then cut off the damaged part - not that it was held on by much anyway. The intention being to make a new threaded boss and dowel it to the hole I drilled through. I'll probably braze it up without the boss fitted and then just fit the boss later as it's not structural, it just needs to hold the back of the sump to the block. This gives the best chance of sealing up the crack... I think...







I've also measured the oil pan and started thinking about modifying that. It's a stock pan from a truck/Escalade and is 8" deep. Too deep for the Camaro. I haven't worked out how much I need to cut off it yet though... I've got the pick up pipe as well, but that's just steel pipe that can be cut to suit. You can buy an LS swap sump kit, but I'm not paying $200 plus $100 shipping for the privilege of that...



Let the fun commence....

dobergoose

You got real lucky finding a LQ in the UK nevermind the price you got it for. I had been looking for quite a while and only ever spotted one for sale and it was £2000. Shipping and vat on my 5.3 cost more than your engine.

gothic_sera

Thanks. Yes I got real lucky finding this one. It's worth the hassle of fixing the block and finding the other parts.

Made a start on modifying the oil pan for the LQ motor. The original truck pan is 8" deep, way too much for the Camaro. So I've cut nearly 2" out of it. Trouble is it's lost a bit of capacity as a result. Just need some thicker alloy plate to arrive so I can get on with modifying it some more to add a bit of that capacity back. Should be able to get it done this weekend.

gothic_sera

Done a bit more to the oil pan. Got some 4mm sheet and made an extension for the bottom section, this will regain the capacity lost by cutting down the depth. It gives the pan more or less the same dimensions as the Cadillac CTS-V pan.

Currently just tacked together, I want to bolt the pan to the block before fully welding it to minimise distortion.