Hey folks,
I've been stuck in a bind, and really can't make up my mind.
I would love some advice from the guys who have been through it. Just about anything will be considered.

A couple months ago, I blew up my ls1 (detonation) and the machine shops estimated rebuild cost was sky high, so it's time for me to go a different route.

Previous setup was:
Advanced Induction HCR 241 Heads milled to 58.5CC
Advanced Induction cam 230/234, 0.600/0.601” 112 +3
Fast 102 intake, Tony Momo Port
All on a stock bottom end, with a tune.
It made just a touch over 450 to the wheels.

Now, that being said, I'm now on the market for something new.

I have a $3,000 budget if I keep my current heads, or about 4,000 if I sell them.

I've been considering an LQ of some sort, having AI do there work on the 317's, reusing my cam, and calling it a day.

I am fairly new to this type of stuff, (I bought the car the way it was built,) so there is a whole world of things that I don't know.

My goal is an engine that can reliably make roughly the same power as the previous setup. Not interested in a time bomb.

Thanks a lot

 

Why not find a cheap LQ4 or LQ9 and use the heads you currently have? That sounds like the most logical/inexpensive option out there. Then, you could also switch over your bad *** intake/TB setup and even re-use the cam (as long as it's not wiped out). Even if it is, getting a different cam for that setup wouldn't be very expensive at all.

 

I had considered that, but I've been told by multiple people that the compression will raise too much when on a 6.0.
It was at ~11:5.1 on the 5.7.

Ideally I'd like to drop compression a little bit, just to give me a little extra room for error (bad fuel, etc..)

To my understanding the lq4 is roughly 9.5:1, and the lq9 is in the mid 10's? (10.4:1 or something like that, IIRC.)

Also, the machinist said that he saw some odd wear on the cam, but he would still reuse it. He said it appeared like maybe some trash got in the lifters, causing a little bit of wear on the cam.

 

Same thing happened to me, and I went with a LQ9 and just transfered my top over to it. Really was the cheapest option for me

 

If you plan on staying NA, then compression is your friend. There are some people who run as high at 12:1 compression and have no issues. A lot of that is in the tune. I run 11.5:1 compression with my setup right now, and I keep 93 octane (always buy my gas from the same gas station) in it at all times, which my tuner told me to based on the tune he put in. I don't consider 10.4:1 compression high at all, especially for a NA setup. Hell, lots of supercharger guys run that compression and keep things safe. It's all in the tune. I would venture to say that the reason your previous setup detonated was a direct result of a bad tune.

 

I wouldn't consider 10.4:1 comp high either.
The issue I'm having how high that 10.4 would jump when the AI HCR 241's get put on. I truly wish I knew more about engines and CR's, so I could figure out precisely what I need to do.

I would be more quick to put the blame on myself than the tuner. The car was tuned by Bluecat tuning, who has an excellent reputation.

 

I would talk with Phil at AI about it and see what he says. As long as you know the cc size of your heads, he can figure out what the compression would be on a LQ4 or LQ9. I guess it depends on how much the heads are milled, but I can't see the compression being more than 12:1.

 

I am selling a 402ci stroker in a 6.0L block for less than $3000, and the rotating assembly is new. Posted in Parts for sale.

With your heads on top, the compression will come to 10.8 : 1 .

Jay Johnson

 

Do you have a link to the thread? I've been browsing around and can't seem to find it.

 

LQ9 would give you some high compression, but the LQ4 would be around 11:1 even with the 58.5cc heads. It has dished pistons. That would be a cheap option - probably $500 or less.

And you'd most likely pick up a few ponies and a bit of torque if your heads/cam were kept. Because the stroke is the same, the powerband will look the same, but the additional bore will allow the heads to breath a bit better and the added 18cid or so will increase torque pretty much across the board by around 15-20rwtq.

 

Great info. Thanks a lot.
Now with the larger displacement, would it be worth considering a larger cam?
I liked the previous cam setup on the 5.7. Wasn't too rowdy, and no trouble driving in traffic.

 

A larger cam is not necessary, but would help. It really depends on where you want the powerband to be. With more cubes, the powerband of that cam will come down some.

 

I've got a couple new ideas.

What about selling my heads, cam, intake, and the shortblock for whatever I can get out of it..

Either buying an lq9, a set of l92 heads, ls3 intake, and a cam.

OR, buying a complete ls3?

If I sell my complete old setup, given what I've saved up, I'm looking at a $4500-5000 budget. Less the better of course.

 

The L92 heads seem to like a bit larger bore than the 4". Also the larger intake valve can limit camshaft size without fly cutting the pistons. The larger combustion chambers become difficult to gain enough compression ratio. Plenty of threads to help you decide on that route.

 

Thanks. At this point I'm trying to go with something fairly simple.
This is my first "build," and being unfamiliar with a lot of things such as PTV clearences, etc.. is not helpful.

For simplicity sake, I'd really like to just find another ls1/ls6 shortblock, and put everything back together.
For some reason I'm having a real difficult time finding a shortblock for a reasonable price though.

 

Not a bad idea at all. Lots of people run the LS3 to end on a LQ4/LQ9.

 

If you don't care, please elaborate.