I have been fighting myself for a month now. I dont know if i get an ls2 or 454 hardcore. I drive my car only in the summer so why do i need efi? I dont race it ont he track so i dont need dry sump. And i if i get the 454 hardcore cast block alum heads then im already saving 200 lbs so i dont think i need an aluminum block. Is there anything im missing?

 

If mileage is a concern stick with an EFI setup.
What are the prices on the engines themselves?

 

so you dont race it and want a carbed 454 ( carbs are better for racing because of tuneability at the track ) plus you'll get at the very least 25 mpg on the highway with the Ls2, with the 454 and the older style tranny you'lll get about 10 mpg. for a street car ( that isnt gonna be raced like you said ) the reliability, driveability, and gas mileage should be a no brainer with the Ls2. NOW if you can get the 454 alot cheaper and dont mind the gas mileage etc. then get the 454. it really depends on what you want to do

 

Anything stopping you from doing an EFI big-block? something like a vortec 8100 or some sort of aftermarket EFI for a 454?

 

for tuning i ahve been told an efi is much better and mroe precise for racing. What race teams have carb setups. I know a guy who wokrs on the jaguar team and he doesnt seem to know any. i know the dry sump oil system is killer on the track but its a cruising get on it once ina while car.. My car has all the suspension upgrades and is in the pro-touring category i would say. For me though i dot need the aluminum block and im definately not driving it a lot. Mileage does not matter. As for th efi im not sure i really need it because its in the summer, i never have trouble starting it so it seems as though i have answered myself. Im lookng at 11 grand almost for th hardcore 454 with solid cam which i want and probably over 15 for the ls2 if i want 575+ horse and torque. Plus from what i can see parts for lsx engiens are much more expensive. Tell me if u dont think im making the right choice

 

If your not racing it and only drive it during the summer then i dont know why your thinking of a 454 solid roller. Just a plain LS2 or LS6 would be my recommendation. Why do you want it solid roller and why do you want 575+hp? If your looking for awesome sound then that can be acheived with an LS2 or LS6 or an LS1, with a really nice cam and some cutouts. What is the intent of this vehicle?

 

Youre right i want a sick sound but i have been thinking that valve lash doesnt need to be adjsuted on a solid cam more than like every 2k miles. The solid sounds better and adds more hp. I want this to be a brute of an engine and i want there to be great power when i stomp on it going to or coming back from a car show. Who doesnt love speed? Its a goes to car shows 3-4 times a week but only gets like 75 miles from that. Its basically a car that is everything i want and that gets babied even whil its driven a dozen times a month

 

NASCAR?????????

 

What kind of car is this going into?

 

it seems like you want us to talk you into an LSx....

if you have your mind set on the 454, just do that.

 

I was just trying to make the right choice. About 2 weeks ago i was set on an ls2 from w2w and a month before that it was a twin screw. I think its because there is so much out there. Thanks for your help though

 

You realize you can buy a 402 ls2 for under five for the short block... then like 3g's, get some sweeeet *** heads, nother grand intake... cam, and what not... computer and ****, and boom... that's what... 10,000? 11,000 and I'm shooting high cuz I really am to lazy to actually look up prices...
But that'd be like... well, It's early.... just a lot of horsepower, and reliability, big block cubes, and small block gas mileage.....

 

no i definately did not realize that. I thought that buying the engine parts seperateoly would always be more expensive

 

I've been trawling the internet for ages, and I've seen this before. I was also once in this position and I was deadset on putting a 502 or 540 even in my '67 Camaro because of several reasons that I seemed to justify. Reasons like 'can't beat the sound and torque of a big block' 'it would look so cool under there' and of course the power potential. BUT I've seen the light, and I'll try to point out that while both will probably have long lives under your driving schedule, I'd suggest the LSX engines. I was going to go with a big block for that aura that it has, but it also has issues I couldn't ignore. It weighs a ton, it likes to get hot, and it sucks a lot of fuel are among those pointed out. Even if yours doesn't see much for street or highway use, they are factors I had to look at for myself. My current project is a single turbo 402 LS2 that is pretty lightweight, will stay cool, have better manners even, and sip fuel when I'm not juicing it. It will have as much power as I could want it to while still remaining mild. I'm not saying you need to turbo an LSX engine to get power out of it, but that's my choice. It will have greater efficiency due to its design than the 454 could ever muster. If it sips fuel you might find yourself making time to drive it more, and longer. Lightweight will just make all those suspension mods you did perform better too, even if you don't drive it around corners a whole hell of a lot. You won't have to adjust the lash either. Now as far as the sound goes, I'm actually quite surprised myself at what an EFI small block engine can belt out. Take a look around the net and find some sound clips, or better yet find someone WITH a modified one and check it out. I'm really not trying to be pushy or display erroneous facts, but rather stating how I was also in this boat, and ultimately went to the LSX engine family, and wouldn't consider going back. Besides, an LSX can look pretty cool under the hood of a car it wasn't initially intended to be under in the first place, and can cost about the same price, in fact an LS1 would be damn cheap to get, a built LS2 would be similar to that BB.

 

If you don't want an aluminum block then get a cast 6.0 truck block, slap a turbo and a 6 speed on it and be done. You said your car already had the suspension upgrades and was more of a pro-touring car. A turbo'd low compression 6.0 with a six speed and a sick suspension would be a hellof a bad street car. JIMO and a plan I have for a future project.

 

few things getting confused. Im getting a 454 or 427 small block which weighs much less than the big block and less that my current 350. Im driving to car shows and up in harriman state part once in a while so gas mileage doesnt even enter my mind. I know the mods on my car push it to the g machine pro touring style and i personally think the ls2 would look awsome and really go with the car but i keep weighing these different thigns in my mind. If i go with a ls2 i will get much better value i believe. to get the gen 1 engine to an ls2 i need fuel injection would be like 3 grand plus aluminum block which is another 2 which puts me at 15 grand. As far as i know i can get an ls2 for less than that. The thing is though i think 600 horse is 600 horse and for where i live and drive i dont think i need the pros of an ls. The ls2 is such a great motor for the track and strip nobody can deny that. The thing is that for the driving im going to be doing(around town and to shows) i dont think i need all the benefits of an ls2. I dont need to pay the extra cash for that type of engine. Im also just 17 and starting out i think i might be getting myself into something i cant accomplish with an installation of a ls engine. Im pretty sure i can put in a world motor with my pops and that also adds to my pros for a gen1 engine. This is not a situation where one motor is better than the other but rather which motor is better for my application. Both types of motors are great i think and im not bashing anybody who has an lsx cause i know they are great engines!

 

I think an LS2 69 would probably have better resale value too. Just another positive.

Just go with what you have the means to go with if your 17.

Peace,
Josh

 

Ahh ok, so it's not a big block you are dealing with, perhaps I should have read better . Since you are 17, and really sound like you are dealing with less money and experience perhaps you should go with the easier, budget approach. For myself, I've done it already when I was your age, and thinking about it, it would have seemed daunting to get it all built and installed. So if it's beyond your budget and experience perhaps you should stay with the large displacement small block. Don't shy away though, you can get them pre-built if you'd like, get the mounts and computer from a vendor as well. It's not as bad as it seems really, and it never hurts to get that experience either. But if you really aren't going to use the car much at all, except for some blasts to and from the car shows, then go with what you 'need'. Size-wise, the 402 could make more power even than the 427-454 and be more efficient doing it. You might have to get it tuned though, so that's another thing that might be against you. The aluminum in it comes cheap, much cheaper than an aluminum 427-454 as well. I might suggest for you the conventional small block with big CI because it would generally be easier for you and your dad to install and eventually tune though. It's all up to you!

 

If you go with a lsx based engine are you only considering a ls2. You could get a 6.0 out of a truck , put a camshaft in it and have some head work done and tuned for probably 5,000. I've seen complete 6.0l's for 2 grand a camshaft would be another 4-5 hundered , a good port job will run about 500, and a tune would be 500. Thats not that bad. as far as installing the motor in a 1st gen, they make lsx mounts that bolt into SBC mounts . The hardest thing of the whole install would be wiring . A trans crossmember might also be a small obstacle to get over, but still shouldn't be that big of a deal. I'm only 18 and completely understand what you mean about money being an issue. I've been driving my ls1 for two years now and i probably will never have another play car that doesn't have a ls based engine. They're just too much fun.

 

Hey guys by reading all of your posts i realize that there is a lot to the ls2 or ls7 that im missing out on. You guys showed me the positives and i now know what im missing out on if i dont get an lsx. Money is not an issue with me really at all it was just that i didnt know how complicated the installation would be. My dad really knows what hes doing and can easily put one in hes jsut new to the electronics. I have been watching the videos of the c6's on the video forum and listening to the engine with cams and exhaust and i love it. I really think the ls2 or ls7 would be the best for my car now because its fits right into my pro touring style. Thanks alot for your help and im glad you guys changed my mind. My dad loves the 427 numbers so we are looking to buy and ls7 turnkey ready to be dropped into my 69 camaro with just a cam for now. From what i read the ls7 makes 548 horse and 530 torque and the addition of a cam would put me where i wanna be. Im probably going to need some help about finding out if things like the tko 600 works with the ls7 and stuff like that but im sure i can find that out by looking at the threads you guys have. Once again thanks, u guys are great