If you already had an LS1 or LS6 equipped vehicle, would you upgrade to either a cammed LS3 engine and be able to use your existing electronics or upgrade to an LS7 which has had its sump system removed. For all intents and purposes, both engines would have approx. 550hp and the price difference would be in the 3-4k range with the LS7 being the more expensive engine.

I like the idea of keeping the electronics. Those to me are the hardest part of doing any mods

IMO the LS hits the brick wall at 400whp with the 3.78" bore NA. Stepping to a 4" helps but really going to the 4.065" makes a HUGE improvement over the older small bore stuff and it all happens after 6000RPM. The gen 4 based square port when done right adds another thousand RPM of useable range to the LS which below 6000RPM theres not a lot of gains with the square port.

The cost of stepping to gen4 and the difficulty are daunting if your going to convert to an ECM based stock controller. Dont say I didnt warn ya


But dayuuuuuuum the stuff works sweeeeet when its sorted out.


Thought about boosting your existing engine?

You could have any motor built with a 24x crank reluctor and use your existing electronics

^ This. Or get some TFS cathedrals Tooley prepped ( if you can get some of those... hes busy ) heads for your bore matched with cam and look out baby hehe

420ish...7K redline ish the 24x stuff is corked at 7200 and even then... better be careful ive dinged up some pistons at 7.

Or if you have budget? Can put together all aftermarket block, heads, intake etc. Looks innnnnnncredulous and will perform. Handily....

I'd do LS3, but I'm biased since I already went that route.

yup

These threads always bring it down to two choices;

dough
goals


So while the internet is FULL of people who will help you spend your money ( me included ) as its fun to live vicariously and share the dream, its the goals that far too oft seem full oh HOOEY and the costs that are far too oft kept quiet.

That said. It comes down to funds 99.9% of the time and if theres one thing that is the WORST its when you see a build that is literally 80-90% top shelf, and the builder ran out of dough and cheaped out the final stages and the thing never performs well or lasts long or whatever. Thats a sad story no one wants to live through so back to the priority in these decisions;

goals.

What are they? Speed focused? Style focused? Bit of both? 75/25? Cost important? etc. All factor in to the pie of what can be done.




LS9 is badass btw..... baaaaaaaadasssssssssssss

How about the all new C7 sourced LT1?
460 horsepower and 465 lb.-ft. of torque in base trim with direct fuel injection and variable valve timing.
That's what I want in my 'bird! Long live the LT1! When LS is more...

^ Yeahhhh not so much, yet. *cougheatsoakcough*

Quick question and somewhat on-topic:
What about the prospects, cost and limitations associated with supercharging (via a Magnuson or the like ) a LM7 truck engine like the one in my 06 Tahoe? (which may be ultimately destined for the engine bay of my 86 Coupe.)
3.78-inch (96 mm) bore and 3.622-inch (92.0 mm) stroke correct?

Once you go boost? The engine doesnt matter. If you know what your doing you can make 2500+ hp with a 4banger. It again comes down to cost and goals.

Regarding boost? Expect to cut your engine life down to 1/4 at minimum and more max effort stuff down to 1/100th or so. If your looking to go fast CHEAP and are willing to LEARN a TON of complex stuff and are not so concerned about durability? Read this

https://sites.google.com/site/sloppywiki/