Chaz101

Hello everyone! ive actually been following many ls1 tech threads for a couple years and finally made an account lol to start off, I have a 2005 corvette coupe z51 with ls2 6.0l, apparently the pieces of my crank bearing came loose and scraped the hell out of crank, pistons, block ect.. I have $15k and I want to drop a new DR525 (ls3 6.2 w/ 525hp) in the bay. considering the engine has over 500lb torque stock and I'm throwing my fast 102 intake manifold, vararam intake, with lg headers and full exhaust from ls2 onto it. you can see where my concern is for my 4l65e tranny (430lb max). can I throw a torque converter in there or am I better off getting a whole new tranny? what would be the most cost effective route? SUGGESTIONS PLEASE (title says 4l60e but its a 4l65e, although not much of a difference..)

mrvedit

Your 4L65E should be fine; you may eventually wear out the 3/4 clutch and require a rebuild, but wait until that happens. I definitely wouldn't a new trans from GM, those from our sponsors are built much stronger.

01ssreda4

iTrader: (96)

I would have someone reputable go through it and upgrade some parts and it should last just fine....a small 3200 converter from a sponsor like circle D would serve you very well too.

FTICONVERTERS

iTrader: (3)

A good stall converter along with the build will DEFINITELY make it a lot more fun to drive! Check us out we make converters designed specifically for Corvette applications.

mrvedit

From my understanding removing the 4L65E from a C5/C6 is a much bigger undertaking than with other cars. Hence my suggestion to just live with it.
The suggestions of a minor overhaul/upgrade and performance converter (!) certainly are valid, just a big project.

Chaz101

thank you guys! eased the burden of getting a whole new tranny off my shoulders.. The trans is in good shape so I should be good to go for a while. besides the fact I plan on babying the new engine for first 10k miles for break in. Since its more cost effective to build the tranny, what all should I be doing. putting a new torque converter will solve the problem for later down the road?

Chaz101

my apologies for all of the question. just spending a lot of $ and I want to make sure of everything before I jump the gun. I really appreciate the help from everyone.

Q1, I have the ls2 ECU in the car now because of my old engine obviously, could I use that ECU and have it tuned for my new engine or will I be forced to buy the $1,500 ECU that's made for that engine.

Q2, since ls3 and ls2 are similar. I assume it would be an easy engine swap? Ill be having a shop do the swap and what's the estimated labor hours for the swap? he quoted me $2,000 after labor, fluids and shops charges. seems a little to me..

http://www.chevrolet.com/performance...nes/dr525.html


Again, I appreciate everyone's help. fantastic community.

01ssreda4

iTrader: (96)

The engine will swap in no problem, the only real differences are the sensors for the crank and cam. Early setups used one kind (less teeth on the reluctors), and later stuff used more. There are computer conversion boxes that make the older (slower) pcms able to control the newer crank wheels. Lingenfelter makes them. If the engine is in a disassembled state you could ask the machinist to install the older wheel on the newer crank and you would have no issues. You need to verify what your car came with as this may not even be an issue, Im not sure what exact year each model moved from the older 24x to the newer 58x.

Chaz101

the engine I will be getting is the dr525 (ls3) crate motor sealed from chevy. so it will be assembled already. but I plan on throwing my 102 fast intake manifold, varanam intake on with my lg headers with full exhaust.

Since its preassembled I assume it would be more worth it to get the ls3 ECU which will run $1,500 and have it tuned with all the extras which will be another $500? Rather than tearing the new motor down to the crank to have the box setup. am I understanding this correctly?

mrvedit

I'm pretty sure your '05 Vette has a 58x LS2 engine. That means the ECU will support the LS3 after a tune.
You cannot use your existing 102 FAST intake on the LS3 because the LS2 uses Cathedral intake port heads versus Square intake ports on the LS3.
There are slightly different models of the Varanam cold air intake for LS2 and LS3, but I think the difference is small and mostly related to how it mounts to the body.

I recently bought my '06 Vette but immediately put it in storage and barely know all the Vette details. I will be extensively upgrading it in March for road course duty. For extensive engine work (or replacing the clutch) it is typical to lift the entire body off the chassis. That is probably why the engine swap cost is so high.

01ssreda4

iTrader: (96)

^^^^Good post.