well I've had a 2001 pontiac trans am with the 6 speed for some time now and it was kept bone stock.
Recently after passing the 160k mark it tossed a rod through the bottom of the block so now I am looking into rebuilding and moding.

My first question is it worth it to get a stock LS6 long block and put in for now?
Or would I be better off getting a LQ4/9 block?
Or stick with the Ls1 block and do a stock motor with heads/cam possibly a bore I dunno if I can afford all the supporting mods for a 383 but that would be nice as well.

as for my goals eventualy I'd like to get a turbo setup but that is a little ways away but a nice weekend cruiser with the ability to run decent times on the track I've ran consistantly 12.8-13.2 as is stock so a low 12's to high 11's would be ideal.
as for money to get the car back up and running i've got 4500.00 now and might have more to toss around later in the winter, but if I do anything besides just another ls1 is there additional mods that would need to be done?
I plan to do long tubes and a catback no matter what I go with.
I'm planing to rebuild the transmission as well depending on what I go with motor wise the LS7 clutch looks to be decent or would a spec clutch be recomended?
will the stock wiring harness work with all the combinations or would I need to get a different one?
I'm in no rush as I wouldn't be driving it until next spring any ways so it is going to be a winter project more or less.
I have done quite a bit of internet search and have been lurking these forms for a few weeks now so I know some basics but would like to get some input from some people.

PS I don't plan to pay for much if any labor unless I decide to get a block that needs some work done to it but as for installing the motor and other mods I plan to do it myself.

 

LQ4/9 is a relatively cheap motor, and all your accesories will swap over to it. It's an iron block too, and since you eventually want to boost it that would be ideal in my opinion.

Better save up the monies though for that turbo

 

And as far as clutch goes I'd stick with the LS7

 

I think I read somewhere you can get a built 408 SB for like the same price as the 346 .......that's an instant improvement...

After all, there is no replacement for displacement.

 

I completely forgot about this site.
I haven't heard much about the ls6 swap is it that complicated?
I am leaning more towards a lq4/9 short block after some research.
what is the difference between the 2 is one preferred over the other for a f body?
I think I am going to go for a ported ls6 intake with ported stock TB, 243 heads more then likely ported with upgraded springs,upgraded lifters and rods and a decent sized cam.
I think I've found a nice 12 bolt for a good price as well that I am going to pick up as I can't see my stock rear holding together much longer after a newer and stronger motor is in.
Is there a big difference between a fpik compared to the slp lid?

So what is every one's opinions does this sound like a decent set up is there anything that I am missing?

 

6.0 has a 4.00 bore you can make a very nice 370 with off the shelf parts. If your crank is not damage you can drop it in the 6.0 no problem. I wouldent waste money on porting the ls6 intake its a solid intake it will perform well. also stay with the stock throttle body size its fine for now. The 243 ls6 heads are fine you can port them if it fits your budget but if not the they flow well enough to support 400 hp find a nice cam in the 228-230 range ls7 lifters are cheap and patriot dual valve spirngs are price well also. Buy a set a pistons to put you in the 11.5 compression range then boom you sould have a 450+ hp set up for next to nothing. Also if you every go turbo 72 cc heads will lower the compression enough to run 13-18 psi on pump and meth.

 

Thanks,
are both of the lq's 6.0 correct?
whats the difference in compression between a set of stock pistons and a set of aftermarket ones?

 

Yes both the lq4 and lq9 are 6.0L. The lq9 has a flat top pistion with 10:1 compression. The lq4 has a dished piston with 9.4:1 compression. You could make the compression what ever you want with a aftermarket piston.

 

You can't really bore an ls1 block, you can hone it to a 347 but thats about it... Unless you want to spend big money resleaving the block... And chances are if you threw a rod the block is trash anyways... Ls1 blocks dont have a lot of tolerance for failure. (I'm sure that will be debated) I would personally not spend the money on an ls6 either because all it is, is a high compression ls1 with better heads and intake. I would personally do an lq4/9... You said that you would like to do a boost application in the future, forged internals, ARP hardware, good fuel system... That way you are set to go with boost after you save up, but will run good in the mean time. As far as the wiring harness goes, as long as you keep the same reluctor wheel, yours will work. If not and you are going with a ls7 or ls3, lingenfelter makes an adaptor kit.

 

I wish I could go with a ls7 lol but I'm going to stick with the ls1 line for the time being.