View Poll Results: Best conversion motor
LS1
97
41.28%
LS2
61
25.96%
LQ9 6.0
43
18.30%
LS1 Carbed
26
11.06%
Other BBC
8
3.40%
Voters: 235. You may not vote on this poll
POLL: What is best engine for a conversion?
TECH Resident
Joined: May 2004
Posts: 792
Likes: 2
From: SoCal
Best bang for the buck are hands-down the truck motors. Cheap low mileage pull-outs available anywhere all day long. Weight? Only 63lbs more than an all aluminum motor (though some claim different, I recall this was right out of the GM tech info site; either way it's not much difference).
Andy1
Andy1
Teching In
Joined: Nov 2006
Posts: 49
Likes: 0
Moving a motor from a truck to a car may not pass Calif smog. Specifically prohibited is moving the engine from one class of vehicle to another, with class referring to vehicle original smog requirements. Depending on I think the weight of the truck, 6,000 lb is heavy and has lower emission requirements.
Originally Posted by FireHawkMike
sell 3rd gen ---> use as downpayment for ls1 car. best motor, body, suspension swap you can do.
great plan.
seriously though, for anyone on any kind of limited budget, id reccomend a LS1 from a Fbody.. its almost a boltin, the torquearm, driveshaft, front accessories, clutch cyl(or auto shifter).....everything fits without much hassle or extra part swapping.
once its in there, you can swap cams, heads, or even the shortblock to whatever you want.... and do it over time.
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I would not go with a 5.3 / LM7 / LQ4 if I were to do the conversion on my car again. Good bang for the buck, but not so much of it 
Too little aftermarket support (aftermarket heads especially) compared to LS1, LS2, Lq9.
I would prolly go with LS2!
Too little aftermarket support (aftermarket heads especially) compared to LS1, LS2, Lq9.
I would prolly go with LS2!
Theres probably only 20 hp difference between a stock lq9 and lq4.I have an ls1 in my 69 camaro and a lq9 in my 99 rcsb truck, both of them are fast.My brother has an iron(poor mans ls1) in his 67 swb,its probably as fast as my lq9 truck.Dad has a lq9 6 speed in his 66 vette and its scary fast, you really cant go wrong with any gen3 engine is what I'm getting at.As for aftermarket,the classifieds are full of mods for these motors and cheap.As far as the bbc goes I dont think you could build one and get more HP for dollar than a lq4 or lq9.You can buy a lq9 for 1600.00 bucks add a big cam ,ls6 intake make 400 plus RWHP. What would it cost to do that with the bbc by the time you paid for machine shop labor ?
Last edited by 1969x11; Dec 18, 2007 at 08:41 PM.
Lq9 or LQ4 hands down. Best bang for your buck. Plus, with the right pistons, you can get some L-92 heads and a bad cam and make some serious hp for not to much money!!!!
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