F me

Any reason not to go with an LSX454 for the street? Relatively mild build mostly relying on cubes rather than all out race...Anybody have thoughts and/or advice. I'm thinking new GM Performance 454 block and rotating assembly.

rkupon1

iTrader: (3)

They all seem underwhelming to me. I was seriously considering one too til i noticed one thing in common in every youtube video, not a single one lights up the tires on a roll on. Why?

rkupon1

iTrader: (3)

Prolly just needs a cam swap n some head work. IMHO.

F me

That is a terrific question. Not much impressive on you tube. Nobody braggin' on the forums. They're not terribly expensive. What gives? Would a 427(LS7) be better? I'm trying to get away from power adders.

rkupon1

iTrader: (3)

Gm has a 570hp wetsump LS7. Turnkey aluminum motor ready to go. Doubt its gunna be any faster, but its got lots of potential. Even with just a few bolt ons. And pricing isnt terrible. Also there were rumors floatn around here of a 5k ls3 deal too...Again, great foundation for any hotrod with lots of potential.

rkupon1

iTrader: (3)

What are your goals? And whats it going in?

Floorman279

iTrader: (11)

my issue with these motors is i highly doubt any of the ls7 valve issue were addressed prior to these engines coming out.......i still dont think gm thinks the guides are an issue which leads me to believe these are made from a surplus of ls7 stuff laying around

rkupon1

iTrader: (3)

Interesting. For me, its a non issue as I wouldnt be leaving the heads untouched! But good point.

War Prayer

They are amazing value. I’ve seen a few of them make great power with HR intakes on a dyno, I wonder if GM underrated them.

The big advantage to the LSX over an LS7 crate or 416 is the 6 head bolts.

rkupon1

iTrader: (3)

For a power adder maybe. I dont see the big benefit on NA tho.

F me

I have a 6.0 with rectangle ports and a junkyard dog Cammotion cam now. The car is very fast as is, but rather than go to a turbo or super charger I was thinking big cubes. Less clutter, less tuning, maybe more longevity at about reasonably the same cost.

rkupon1

iTrader: (3)

Did they change the cam or any work on the heads? Or literally just a high ram n some tuning? I chased my tail in circles bout buying one myself. I didnt like idea of going iron, that was prolly biggest factor for me. 620hp seems alil underrated for a 454 LS anything! Than again, its under a warranty iirc.

F me

My goals are to be a little closer to the guys with supercharged LS3's. It's in a 71 Trans Am.

F me

I'm not worried about warranty because I was going to buy the block and rotating assembly and build from there. I was more concerned about rod/stroke ratio or intense side loading of cylinder walls, accelerated piston skirt wear and things of that nature.

rkupon1

iTrader: (3)

Well, now your opening up a bunch of options. Forget about that 454lsx altogether than. What Im currently building is an aluminum stroker with similar goals. Big NA powa! Im using a Darton sleeved gen 4 aluminum block from Mast Motorsports. 4.165 bore and 4.125 stroke. 450ci. The stroke shouldnt be a problem with the longer Darton sleeves n custom pistons. From previous experience, I will say this is the part where you ll wanna use an engine builder, not an engine assembler! I dumped 22k down the drain using a good parts budget, but the wrong guy! Well, some good parts at least. Some were bad too. Im pretty sure every SC ls3 variant makn every bit of 750hp+. At that point, staying NA, your gunna wanna use someone in the know. You ve got options with combination of cubes, cam, and lift. What intake are you planning on using?

F me

Edelbrock Victor with a 4 bbl. throttle body. I'm trying to keep this simple. I'm ok with the cast iron block...The cast iron block comes from GM all machined ready to go. I'm not sure 100% if the rotating assembly comes balanced, but that's easy. I was an engine builder from back in the day when a stroker crank was $3-3500.00 from Moldex or Hank the Crank in 1980's money. No catalogs...lol You want bad azz rods? Oliver $1500 and up...No Eagle, no Scat...

rkupon1

iTrader: (3)

Sounds good. If your not buyn a complete shortblock or long block, than id defly do some additional research n make some calls. With a big iron block like the lsx, you ve defly got tons of choices n options. One guy on here made 834hp on a pumpgas 408! My 450ci wont make that mainly because of my intake manifold choice. Hopefully you ll do a seperate thread for your build. Sounds like a cool project. Lotsa sharp people here on this forum.

KW Baraka

iTrader: (7)

I would agree.

Mill and port the heads
Get static compression to 12:1
And put a moderately aggressive cam

Should be able to get 600hp to the wheels fairly easily.....and still be tame enough for daily (in traffic) driving.

KW

LaBLKv6Z

iTrader: (13)

Check out redbaronlsx454 on Youtube. He's had the 454 LSX in his car for a long time and been kicking *** with it from what I've seen on his channel.

https://www.youtube.com/user/redbaronprodutions/videos

Darth_V8r

iTrader: (4)

Iirc the 454 also uses ls7 heads?