Lq4
Thread Starter
Staging Lane
Joined: Aug 2018
Posts: 95
Likes: 24
Lq4 hey all,
I’m in the process of building an lq4 and I’m wondering what the best route is. I’d like to leave the stock heads for now but I want to know how much power I can realistically make and what I would need to do it (I.e. intake, cam, throttle body) I already have a set of hooker full length stainless steel 1 7/8 primaries to use. Thanks for any input!
I’m in the process of building an lq4 and I’m wondering what the best route is. I’d like to leave the stock heads for now but I want to know how much power I can realistically make and what I would need to do it (I.e. intake, cam, throttle body) I already have a set of hooker full length stainless steel 1 7/8 primaries to use. Thanks for any input!
TECH Addict
Joined: Dec 2017
Posts: 2,195
Likes: 980
In general, it's not too hard to get a good bit over 400 HP out of one, without a whole lot of $$$. Intake & TB aren't The Bottlenecks, don't waste your money just for "more power". There's no cheeze at the end of that maze.
What car? what purpose? what budget? what goals?
What car? what purpose? what budget? what goals?
Thread Starter
Staging Lane
Joined: Aug 2018
Posts: 95
Likes: 24
I’d like to make 450 to the wheels but if I would need heads to do that it could be done further down the line. Right now I’m really just looking to get the motor into the car. It’s going in a 1970 Chevelle that’s a summer toy, it makes the occasional pass at the track and does some highway driving as well. It has 4:11 gears and it will be getting a 4L80E along with the 6.0L
TECH Senior Member
Joined: Jun 2016
Posts: 22,308
Likes: 3,625
From: Central Cal.
Get the heads ported, get a decent cam, and upgrade the valvetrain (new lifters, pushrods, and springs). Consult with a cam grinder (Cam Motion, TSP, or others...) about these goodies.
Thread Starter
Staging Lane
Joined: Aug 2018
Posts: 95
Likes: 24
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There was a guy on here awhile back that made 477whp with an LQ4 and unported 317’s. I believe he had a Vic Jr intake, a relatively large cam, and the 317’s were milled down a lot to get the compression up. I think it went in a green LT1 body style trans am.
Thread Starter
Staging Lane
Joined: Aug 2018
Posts: 95
Likes: 24
Thread Starter
Staging Lane
Joined: Aug 2018
Posts: 95
Likes: 24
LS1Tech Sponsor
Joined: Jan 2008
Posts: 2,241
Likes: 1,536
From: Ohio, Georgia, Nevada, Texas
On the subject of bang for the buck, we have a customer with an LQ4 swapped into a 1986 Monte Carlo with less than $2k investment in motor and exhaust. First up the stock 9.4:1 engine got a used LS3 cam and new blue springs, TBSS intake and 92mm tb, headers and dual exhaust. It made 352/375 on a dynopack through an unlocked 200r4 with a TCI 2200 converter. He swapped in the Pro LS stage 3 cam (SUM-8708 231/242 113+3 .600/.600), .600 lift beehives and improved upon the dual exhaust. The car was run again with the same headers, tuner and was dyno'd hot both times with 185 stat. The power went up to 412/408. So an apples to apples 60whp gain with some of that coming from the improved exhaust. The LS3 cam/springs is already a big improvement over the LQ4 cam, so you could expect more of a gain realistically or step back to a Stage 2 SUM-8707 if it was more of a fit for your converter choice for instance.
LS1Tech Sponsor
Joined: Jan 2008
Posts: 2,241
Likes: 1,536
From: Ohio, Georgia, Nevada, Texas
We just came across his blog post today actually. We think it's a great real world and realistic budget type of build and commend his efforts. Here's before the cam. Here's after the cam.
Last edited by Summitracing; Nov 16, 2018 at 11:09 AM.