402 LS2 stroker or cam only LS3?
07-19-2015, 07:39 PM
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402 LS2 stroker or cam only LS3? After being out of the game for a few years, I have decided its time to jump back in and straight into the deep end. Will soon be buying a C5 vette and looking for 500+rwhp with semi-decent street manners. I've done a ton of reading and searching but I havent found anyone ask this specific question... Would I be better off buying a shortblock LS2 stroker 402 from a vendor and then having the ls1 parts swapped over from the motor already in the car and then sell off the leftover shortblock or would it be better to buy a low miles LS3, throw a cam in it and be done with it? Which would be more affordable and achieve my goal best? Right now I'm leaning toward the LS2 stroker (more cubes yet a similar price point to a cam only ls3?
07-19-2015, 08:11 PM
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It would be whatever heads were on the LS1 or LS6 in the vette so some 241's or 243's. I'd upgrade the valve springs of course. I'd have the heads upgraded later on down the road. The cam for the 402 would be a custom grind with at least 23x 23x duration and 61x lift 113 or 114 LSA, haven't really looked into what cam to put in the 402 stroker yet.
07-19-2015, 08:31 PM
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Would the pricing for either choice end up being close though? Or would one be fairly more expensive than the other? I feel like the 402 has more room for growth for the dollar which would justify it possibly costing more than just throwing in a second hand cam only ls3. A stroked ls3 would be way more expensive so I wouldn't consider that option.
07-19-2015, 08:37 PM
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My choice would be a stroked 402 with a good HCI. As far as cost have you checked out Thompson Motorsports? I bought my LQ9 from them and at the time it was the best deal I could find from a vendor
07-19-2015, 08:42 PM
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Was it a already stroked short block with a balanced assembly when you bought it from them? I know the weight difference isnt much but I want to stick with an aluminium LS2 block.
EDIT: oops, just now saw you are running stock cubes on that lq9.
Last edited by Konstantine16; 07-19-2015 at 08:57 PM.
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07-19-2015, 08:57 PM
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No problem man. I just bought a 370 LQ9 so it has a slight bore but was not stroked. It was fully balanced and blueprinted with a 1 year warranty. I went with a forged assembly as well in case I want really big power down the road. Check out their site and give them a ring. Their prices are really good and their customer service is some of the best I've ever had with this car
07-21-2015, 09:03 AM
#9
Konantine16, Give us a call and we can discuss the many options for your build along with the potential for power as well as the potential for problem.
As always thank you HCI2000SS, You were a pleasure to work with and we appreciate you recommending us to your piers.
As always thank you HCI2000SS, You were a pleasure to work with and we appreciate you recommending us to your piers.
07-21-2015, 09:45 PM
#10
I had a cam only l92 6.2 with shaved ls3 heads in my 68 camaro. With a comp lsr281 EFI cam for rectangle heads, victor jr intake and aed 850 carb, 4l80e 3200 stall, 12 bolt 4.11 gears it pulled the tires a couple feet on the street off footbreak. Car weighs 3000 with me in it. Hope this helps.
07-22-2015, 11:35 AM
#11
It would be whatever heads were on the LS1 or LS6 in the vette so some 241's or 243's. I'd upgrade the valve springs of course. I'd have the heads upgraded later on down the road. The cam for the 402 would be a custom grind with at least 23x 23x duration and 61x lift 113 or 114 LSA, haven't really looked into what cam to put in the 402 stroker yet.
07-25-2015, 04:45 PM
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So after doing a whole lot more reading up and budgeting, I've decided that the cam'd LS3 route is what I'm going to do. The 402 stroker build would be amazing but the costs are much more than I anticipated. Also, the prices of C6 vettes came down considerably more than I had realized now that the C7 has been out for a while. Going to get a 08+ year C6 with the ls3 and do full bolt ons and cam to get to the 500rwhp mark. After that level of power gets to not be enough ill likely throw a D1SC on it and call it a day.
07-29-2015, 11:02 AM
#14
After that level of power gets to not be enough ill likely throw a D1SC on it and call it a day.
07-29-2015, 05:07 PM
#16
Just do the D1SC right off the bat, don't even bother with the cam. You can always turn up the boost on that thing to get more power. Also a cam that makes 500rwhp won't play too well with the centri blower. If you know you're gonna boost it might as well do a boost cam if anything then get the blower eventually.
good advice.
even better.
