I pulled the 01, 6.0 and 4l80e at about 180k to put into my offroad race and recreational buggy. Its been great for the last three years, but its time for a good freshen up. I do race it, its more of a fun thing as i cant really afford to be really competitive with it. But Its gunna be street legal this summer and fun to drive around. So my questions are pretty simple, how do i get the most bang for my buck out of this engine/trans. I will be rebuilding the trans (ive done a couple TH400s. There are so many options for the motor and with the wealth of knowledge in here, i searched for hours but get lost so i figured id just ask......

my budget is about 3000 for the engine and trans

here is a pic of the rig for reference

 

For anyone to give you meaningful input, there's a handful of information that would really help:

Approximate weight full of fuel and passengers?
What is the current/final exhaust configuration?
What converter are you running/willing to run?
Are you looking for more low-end grunt, broader overall power, or more top end?

Picking parts is all about compromise. Headers free up power and open up a broader range of cam selection. You probably don't want a stall if you crawl this, and will not want a big cam that pulls through the brakes with a stock converter.

Hope this helps!

 

fully loaded race weight is 5000

the exhaust is ls3 manifolds, to 2.5" to 3" and back to 2.5" with dual magnaflow mufflers. i was going to do a turbo setup but have kinda decided against it due to the durability of the turbo in nasty conditions....but i want one, maybe i should get back on that bandwagon. i dunno

as far as a converter, i am up for whatever but it needs to be driveable down the road

kinda want mid range power, useable power

as far as the turbo goes, could i run pretty much a stock 6.0 with a decent turbo setup? i know itll need injectors and a tune. but heads? pistons? compression?

 

For the weight you have, I would stay conservative with a cam. You could run something like this BTR Stage 1 Turbo cam naturally aspirated until you decide to go for it. I would guess it's worth around 30-40 rwhp even with your setup, and would be fine long term even if you decided to skip the turbo.

222/227 .602"/.598" 113+3

If you already have 317 aluminum heads, they flow nearly as well as 243/799 heads, but have larger combustion chambers for HD friendly compression. They will be fine either way, but you can gain some N/A power upgrading to 243/799 heads with .040 thick gaskets, or go for broke with ported heads or aftermarket castings. Keep port volumes low and the torque you want in the midrange will be there.

That cam will probably be marginal with a stock stall converter, but any more stall could make a lot of heat with heavy driveline and tires, especially if you run in sand and mud a lot.

Just my two cents - hopefully you will get some other opinions to weigh in here. Good luck with your build.