misterbill

Hey guys, I am pretty new to the LS1 world. My last good motor was my Ford 460 in my tbird, but that has been sold. Either way, I am planning on putting an LS1 in my volvo 240 (which is what I bought it for). The reason for an LS1 is the light aluminum makes the swap gain very little weight, which is exciting.

So, I am not looking for a crushing 700 hp motorm more like 400 hp. What I am looking for is:

Carburated, I already bought the kit. I am not about to have a motor swap stopped by damn wires.
A nice mild cam. Edelbrock makes the 2216 cam, stating .540 lift and a 110 LSA
What block? I have read bad things about 97-99? blocks being weak. What is "weak?" Like I said, im not looking for a bone-crusher.
I was hoping to just buy some mildly ported stock heads, and have them rebuilt.
Once I get all the parts, i'll take it to a performance shop and have it rebuilt.

Now, I am pretty much looking for a stock motor. I want to go to the track and beat my car around, but in the end, I want a reliable motor. If I need to sacrifice performance for reliablilty, then I will. What combination would you guys recommend? Are there any better castings than others for heads/blocks? Do you guys reccomend an ARP "bolt set" or anything? Or do stock main bolts/rod bolts cut it?

Thanks in advance.
Edit: Someone is selling a 5.3 (lm7?)on the forsale section, everything bolts up, right? So What performance hit do I get with the 5.3? And what is the difference? With a 5.7 crank/rod would i get an ls1? or is the bore different too?

chirp_fourth

400rwhp is EASY on a ls1.

Comp Cams TR 224 cam, or the ls1 hotcam
any decent ported ls1/ls6 casting head

All of this will work fine on a stock block and bottom end, no matter what year. If 400rwhp is all you want, then what I said above is all you need.

You could get 450rwhp by going with some AFR 205's or 225's, and a larger cam, something in the 230-240 range w/ 625-650 lift. Again, this will work on a stock bottom end no sweat.

Stock rod/main/heads bolts are fine with this kind of power. If you plan on adding nitrous or a blower/turbo, then you should get better bolts all around. Since you are building youre own motor, might as well get the newer block too.

misterbill

Cool, thanks for the information.
So what are the primary differences between the 5.3 and 5.7 and 6.0?

PREDATOR-Z

.4 & .3 more liters
6.0 is iron and heavier unless you go LS2 and that is Alum.
5.3 is tiny and no offence not worth the swap. But the 5.3 heads in ported form make really good power for a 5.7L

IMO get a whole longblock from a reputed builder such as LME, HPE, SDPC to mention some (and there are more).
You are probably going to need a custom oil pan or some serious crosmember mod.
Overall a good longblock can be had for ~5500 $$

misterbill

I dont understand.
I am not trying to argue or anything, but .3 liters, or... 20ish cubic inches makes it tiny? They seem to be less desirable, and since I am on a budget, 20-30 horsepower doesnt seem to make much of a difference.
I mean, its not like its a 305 compared to a 350 is it? Do the 5.3s still make good power with the same mods? Or do they really, really suck for some reason?

misterbill

Bump!

ssheets

iTrader: (1)

The 5.3 is the small truck motor and is also used in the tranverse mounted Impala (I think it's the Impala...brain fart)

Predator Z knows his stuff and I'd listen to his advice...that being said, the 5.3 is a fine little motor and they run well (LS1 or 2 run great). They are iron blocks and weigh more than the LS1 or LS2 and you did say weight was important for your application.

gnx7

iTrader: (28)

If you are on a budget sell the carb'd setup, keep it EFI, get great fuel economy, and the ability for a near perfect tune.

Don't be afraid of EFI.... there is a reason why every car on the road has it now. It offers better cold starting/driveability, more torque, better fuel economy, the ability to add fuel when needed, can throw codes to tell you about problems etc. The main wires to hook up are as follows: 3 wires to the ignition switch, efan relay, fuel pump relay, power, grounds, and only a few more. It really isn't hard once you have the wiring diagram.

The power is in the head/cam combo. That cam you plan to run is tiny. I have a stock shortblock with Katech rod bolts, ported heads, TSP 233/239 112LSA .600/.603" lift I daily drive, with LS6 intake,ported TB, and long tube headers. Low 20's on the highway and has some serious top end pull 4K-7100rpm when you get on it.

LS2 heads seem to be a pretty good deal..... ported heads will run you around $1K up to $2.2K and even $3K. They will provide about 30-50rwhp over stock heads. A FAST 90mm intake and 90mm TB is about $1300 and is an additional 20-30rwhp. When you start going with ported heads and upgraded intake is where it gets pricey.

orangeapeel

iTrader: (18)

kossuth

iTrader: (12)

Ok, the kit isn't a bad thing. You can hook up the EFI if you want very easy though, but the MSD does simplify things alittle but not enough that I believe warrants the cost. The . Are you attempting to basically build a LS1 from parts? If so (thats what it seems like in your post) here is what I would do. Get a good block. Year doesn't matter as much as the condition of the bores, condition of the block itself, and obviously the price. I just got done redoing my 98 block and yes the 97-98 liners are thinner BUT you can take them .005 over (the LS1/LS6 performance book says .004 but the shops say you are ok going .005) and go with an oversized piston to 3.903. I checked with various shops that sponser on here so I figured this is common. With that said you will need the crank, rods, pistons, and various other things. Pistons can be anywhere from dirt cheap stockers if you get a block that the stock bore is AOK on to about $500 for a set of 3.903 slugs. Sealed power makes a set of Hyperneutic pistons for about $230 for both stock size and 3.905, but if you had to bore 3.903 you would need forged slugs. As far as cost goes you might be shocked to find out what you might end up spending in machining costs ect ect. Lets lay this out alittle being I just had my 98 motor rebuilt

$50 to turn the polish the crank
$150 to machine the bores (was able to reuse stock pistons)
$40 Cam bearings
$140 Main bearing set
$80 head gaskets and bolts
$40 front and rear main seals
$70 new main bolts
$70 new rod bolts

This just gives you an idea of what you are looking at in machining and parts just from what I had to do. Now, this could be more or less depending. Like if the mains have the be line bored then you might as well install ARP studs in the mains because you are there and it is only like another $80 to do studs.

As far as cost on the block and such, I know I sold my 99 block for $150 which I thought was right where it should be. I also have various other parts for sale, but you'll have to look in the classifieds for those. Eithor way, it's a toss up whether a good running long block is more cost effective than building one from parts. If you find things cheap then yeah it is, but how many people are out there to make more than what something is worth off selling individual parts? Anyways hope this helps alittle.

PREDATOR-Z

How about , balancing and blueprinting ??
Line honing the crank bearings?
Checking deck for straightness?
Oil plugs?
etc...
Put it all together with the price of parts and you'll find that you can get an already built shortblock for a similar price.
To give you an exemple: Lingenfelter sells shortblocks for $2095 with exchange.

IMO I would get it done at a shop that has plenty (like a lot) of LSx experience. Those motors are more sensitive to spec tolerances than any others.

orangeapeel

iTrader: (18)

I hope you were counting on full exhaust and bolt-ons with that combo because H/C alone will not get you there....not easily that is.

misterbill

Since this motor will be swapped, some things will be tight. My plans are this:
The carbed intake, which is supposed to flow well (i know you guys hate the carbs, but its my destiny)
Good holley, new, and tuned by a professional once I get the car running.
I was hoping to find some ported stock heads or maybe some of those patriot heads (those are the cheaper aftermarkets, right?)
I want a mild cam, nothing that kills my brakes or anything. .600 lift sounds extreme to me for a car I want to drive whenever, but if the ls1 takes it, ill concider it. I wasn't planning on anything over .550, but i do want about 7000 rpms (maybe) nothing lower than like a 108 lsa.
I'll probably need block hugger headers. Since the ls1 has no distributor, I have some breathing room about how far back the motor can go, but id like to get it where the shifter pokes out in the stock position. (Edit: due to the steering shaft)
I like a sleeper, which is why im looking to keeping my stock 2 inch exhaust and getting dual electric cutouts so when i want to race i can. Quiet when it needs to be, awesome when it needs to be.

Okay or not?

PREDATOR-Z

Is it a dual plane or single plane?

Still a .58x >.600 cam will give more power and better low end trq.
As for the lsa and ICL, a 108 ICL will not be quiet for sure.
IMO pick the motor, then choose your heads, and based on that get a cam that fits the parameters needed. (I think you should do custom)

kossuth

iTrader: (12)

misterbill, check your pm's

misterbill

Its dual plane. And by quiet, I mean, I'm sure most guys on this forum can be heard from a mile away, until i want to, I dont want to be noticed. I like sleepers.
The item number on summit racing is EDL-7118
So what lift numbers for a cam should I be looking at? The only other motor I've done anything to was my 460, and .514 was .100 over stock, and more than enough.
I guess not many people know whats going to happen when LS1s get carbed, ill make sure to make a thread whenever the motor gets built.

misterbill

bumpity bump