marks73ta

Hey all. I'm new here and new to the LS generation. I'm 55, retired and I love engines/cars. I have a turbocharged '73 Pontiac powered 455 Trans Am. If interested go to www.americantorque.com and look at Marks 73 TA pages. It gives a little history of my TA, a story and video on my 10.2 @ 134 run with tunnel ram and nitrous, and a page showing my new turbo install. My main reason for coming here is to learn about he LS generation of engines, especially build combos and parts intechangability info. I have a really nice rust free '89 Turbo Supra that I wanted to build with it's original engine. Changed my mind so right now it's sitting with an incompletely install Pontiac 400/2004R (turbocharged) combo that I was going to go with. But I really would like to go with an LS1. Actually I want a short stroke LS1 using a 5.7 block (or the 4 inch bore block if I can afford it) and the 4.8 crank. That's why I want to learn about the parts intechangability. To see what I can mix and match and what the parts are made of. Cast, forged, powdered etc. I want a smaller short stroke motor to get better gas mileage but I will turbocharge it for the performance. Any guidance to that kind of info will be greatly apreciated. Well, getting a little long here. Thanks for the site and I'm going to be bouncing in a out of here now. Nice talking at ya. Mark L

00pooterSS

iTrader: (40)

nice car!


better link
http://www.americantorque.com/page/1/62/

3.8SFITURBO

iTrader: (10)

Welcome! Cool car!

import_raper

Nice Car... and welcome

McCs WS6

iTrader: (2)

i just picked up this book:how to build high performance chevy ls1/ls6 v-8s.. written by will hanzdel.. the book is great, it gives info on all the gen III motors and material they are made of.. it also shows how he built a 500 hp motor.. pick this book up if ur gonna build an ls1.. its really good info

marks73ta

Thanks for the nice words guys and thanks for the link 00pooterSS. Much appreciated. McCs WS6. I've sent for the book off of your recomendation. Thanks for that headsup. Next move is to start looking at E-Bay and getting familiar with all the LS parts. You can learn alot just by looking at the parts and seeing what's out there. Mark L

Scoggin Dickey

iTrader: (34)

Basically all of the parts you would want to use are interchangeable. I actually considered that same combination (4" bore block and 4.8 crank) for an engine swap I had planned. It makes roughly 328ci if I recall correctly. It should really scream. The cheapest route would be the iron 6.0 block, you can get cores for next to nothing. If you wanted aluminum the 6.0 block is about $1000 new but you can find cores pretty cheap as well but they are harder to find since everyone wants them.

marks73ta

That's the info I'm looking for. I've ordered the book (above) but they will not hav eit or shipit until October. So I have to sit on my hands and wait. The Aluminum would be great but on my budget it will probably be iron. being new to the LS motors (I'm basically an old Pontiac nut) is there an affordable aluminum 4 inch block? Actually after some thought. I will be turbo'ing it so a cast iron block may be a better idea. Especially if I want a high winding turbo'd LS. Can a 4.8 LS crank be cut to 1.89 Honda journal size? I have 2 sets of Carrillo 6.200 length 1.89 Honda journal sized/width forged rods. Can the journals on a 4.8 crank be cut to those dimensions? Would like to use these rods. Jesse, thanks for your reply. Mark L

McCs WS6

iTrader: (2)

i went to borders book store and bought the book

Scoggin Dickey

iTrader: (34)

Yep, you can cut the journals down to the Honda journal size.

As far as turboing goes, unless you are going with huge power, the aluminum would still be fine. There are plenty of people making big numbers on aluminum blocks and stock cranks. Both will do what you need and if you don't mind the extra weight iron will save you some money as it will always be cheaper unless you find a great deal on an aluminum core block.

marks73ta

Can't thank you enough for the info. I really want to use these rods on something and an LSx is a great place. This will be a daily driver an occasional strip player. Not sure how much power but I want a higher rpm short stroke smaller displacement motor for the Supra so I get decent mileage and let the turbo do the talking. Will probably go with a small roller cam for the short duration but fast ramps and high lift for the turbo. Will the LS heads create good strong flow at low rpm for the street while still flow good numbers under boost for the power? What would be the best stock LS head? Let me know if I should move this over to the other sections. Thanks again for the help guys. Thinking I will build it to street specs and turbo it as far as it will take me. Probably small twins for response. Mark L

Scoggin Dickey

iTrader: (34)

It's no problem sharing knowledge Let us know anything you need info on.

You should get some L92 heads, upgrade the springs and get a well spec'd custom turbo cam.