Weight difference aluminum vs cast iron
Weight difference aluminum vs cast iron I have a friend who bought a 2002 camaro ss m6 but is not very smart buyer. First thing I noticed was its white smoke coming for the catback and it was only getting worse. A week later he tells me its toast so his rich mommy and daddy buy him a brand new crate ls1 and has a local mechanic put it in and so I bought the old ls1 for 400 just hoping it was not trashed turned out it gaulded one of the pistons when I tore it apart easily machined. my original plan was too buy a lq9 and do a 408 build but what I was wondering how much the weight difference is the aluminum ls1/ls6 block from the cast iron lq9 what are the advantages going the route of iron with my plans being a street strip car ?
IMO iron block is only needed with a power adder adding 250+ ft lbs or tq/hp over the NA equivalent.
So if you are doing a 200 shot or more or doing FI with more than 250 HP then maybe consider an iron block. It adds 80-115 lbs depending on internals used, etc. The actual block is maybe 75 or 80 more lbs. Plus the weight of a turbo or supercharger if you go that route.
If you are staying NA, IMO, keep it aluminum.
So if you are doing a 200 shot or more or doing FI with more than 250 HP then maybe consider an iron block. It adds 80-115 lbs depending on internals used, etc. The actual block is maybe 75 or 80 more lbs. Plus the weight of a turbo or supercharger if you go that route.
If you are staying NA, IMO, keep it aluminum.
Yeah its about 80lbs up front. If you do go iron block you really need to remove excess weight off the front of the car to get it to launch right. I learned this the hard way. I added a iron block and for the life of me couldnt get my car to leave like it used to with the old engine. My dumb *** lol i needed to remove weight up front to compensate for that additional heavy block. If your going FI or spraying over 200 thats the way to go 
