Great video Jim, this really helped me put things into perspective. Maybe the people with all lot of LS experience, already knew, "OR THINK THEY KNOW" everything you touched on in this video, but i am new to the LS scene, and I've been searching for 2-3 weeks now, and have not found anything this informative to a newby. I was looking at the FAST intake, and aftermarket heads, and throttle bodies, and cams, excetera excetera. Not only is this information overwhelming, but some of these parts are very expensive as you pointed out.Most of the information out there are advertisements! OR shootouts about peak power. This video is very well said, and well put. I know its gonna take money to build a strong and solid engine, but after watching this video, I have a better understanding of where to spend that money.Thank you. I am now a subscriber, and looking forward to your other videos.
I am planning an ls swap for my 66 Nova. I found many detailed builds online in hotrod magazine I think. They have probably 10+ different 5.3 builds completely detailed and dynoed every step of the way as with just 1 motor they test many different configurations and also bore and stroke some to 383. They also have 4.8, 6.0, and 6.2 builds. Tons of info for a noob like you and I. Good Luck
If youre new to LS engines, its all about getting them to breathe. A decent set of headers and a few other bolt on upgrades you can put down 375-400hp no problem. Once you start getting into the bigger cams and heads, they really wake up. A good heads cam exhaust combo can get you 500 or more NA. Also theyre really strong and you can boost fairly high on the stock bottom end without a rebuild. The best thing is theyre cheap and many companies make swap parts for basically any vehicle. My 88 s10 has a stock 6.0 in it and its pretty damn quick for a stock truck motor
Ls3 intake is for square port heads. The ls6 and tbss are cathederal port and the tbss is actually better than the ls6 but its not as good looking. Stock intakes would support 800hp just fine. Unless youre planning on spending most of your time at high rpm making peak horsepower or you need to show off to the world you have a thousand dollars to blow on a F.A.S.T. intake and need to make 10 more horsepower at peak rpm then go for it. They did their homework on this series engines a lot of the stock stuff doesnt even need to be upgraded
@@tommys2979 finally someone else can point out the obvious. The stock intakes are more than capable, that's why they never get changed on a lot of the junkyard turbo LS builds. The reason they're getting pulled from the junkyard is cuz they're cheap, they're definitely not spending a grand on an intake manifold that isn't going to make a horsepower difference. 😂
Good video. The truck engine/intake is definitely the best for low to mid range street driving and will definitely support power. If anything just port the truck intake and heads in a way to increase port velocity not opening them up so much that you loose low end and now need more mods to make power through in a decent cam nothing too crazy tune it and it will have you pretty happy especially if put in something smaller.
HELL YEAH!! You are a straight shooter. Love it. I have seen so many of these youtubers do exactly what you described. They pump up the 5.3 and 4.8 liters saying that they can hold more adders but never talk about the real value of them. RIGHT ON MAN! I am a new sub for sure!
Very thorough, well said. I did however click on this to see a specific parts list for a good LS build . Good points were made here. Would like to add the weight of an oil cooler / turbo piping / intercooler / is also more weight than a good N/A build or most supercharger setups .
Richard holdener has great videos on LS Motors I suggest you go there. He has plenty of videos showing differences in motors, intakes, cams and heads. He also provides the charts that you can see the gains from low range RPM and high range RPMs. Common sense when watching like you noticed. You’ll be able to see the RPM band where you usually see yourself driving and you can determine okay which one has the best HP gain in my usual driving
Great video...if someone's on a budget..try building a 6.0 with some small chamber 5.3 heads..invest in a cam and spring kit and have some fun..if it blows..get another engine at the boneyard .
on a budget would be a 5.3 or 4.8 the 6 liter is usually much more expensive and hard to find. the 5.3 or 4.8 might be smaller but they also have thicker cylinder walls to hold more pressure..aka more boost. also their better as they can spin more rmps as well😜😉😉😉😁😁😁😂🤣🤣 I'm as budget as you'll find. when i swap in my ls/vortec 5.3 I'll get it up and running good stock then later swap in a tbss, tsp stage 3 Cam larger injectors and flash a new tune. and much much later a single 66 turbo. if your looking to spend and have more money and don't plan on a ton of boost the 6.0 use great.. if you want to eventually boost it alot do the 5.3 or 4.8 you'll also get way more rpm as well from those two... again they are cheaper to buy as well
It's also worth pointing out most gen 3 truck blocks the 4.8/5.3 is one block, the 6.0 is a different block. A 4.8 5.3 can't be bored out to a 4 inch bore to be a 6.0 since the 6.0 and 5.3 are the same crankshaft. There is some stupid rare 4.8 5.3 6.0 blocks that are typically 99-00 blocks that can be bored out to a 6.0 but they are wicked rare. Where I live you can pull a 5.3 out of the junkyard yourself for a little less than 400 but the 6.0s are just hoarded by the vultures and flipped on fb marketplace for about 2k. I went to the yard at opening for 2 weeks trying to find me a new 6.0 for my truck and they would always be picked by the time I found a car that had it. I got lucky and found out my old 6.0 seized up due to rods and the mains had survived so I'm building it into a 408 stroker. For those who do buy a 6.0 gen 3 motor. a quick tip on how to make some cheap power out of it is to buy a set of 706 or 862 heads from the junkyard which are readily available, the smaller chamber will bump the compression up a nice bit and make power. I took the liberty of porting mine as well cause I got mine for 60 bucks and if I ruin them oh well I'll go get another set and try again and get better at it.
For the most part people are adding a turbo to these junk yard motors because the stock blocks and internals can handle the extra horsepower. These motors are capable of 800-1000 with that clunky truck intake and a turbo.
Only 1 problem. The 5.3l specifically the L33 is the best for high boost due to the thicker wall and flat top pistons or compression ratio. It is well know you can get more power out of a 5.3l boosted than you can a 6.0 due to the limitations of the bored cylinder and weaker block..... food for thought The l33 already has excellent heads... 243/799. My truck actually has 1 of each from the factory. 243 passenger side, 799 driver side. The truck intake is perfect for trucks or anyone that wants big torque down low and mid range. If I ever change my intake it will be a dual throttle intake. Other than that your wasting your money. Unless of course your building the rotating assembly. Then take this mans advice and build a 6.0. And if your boosting it a 6.0 make sure to build it for boost. Otherwise stay with a 5.3l. It’s all in the money you want to spend
Stock 6.0 bottom end survives 1500+ hp on Holdener's big bang series, and it's not the block that fails. How much boost/hp are most folks planning on running that the theory of the cylinder walls could come into play? Is there some documentation that the block becomes the limit at some level and what hp is it?
Most people think adding parts give big gains. Also many do not understand that while you may not see gains in one part of the torque or power curve with one mod but may change it somewhere else. Example the truck vs car intake….. the truck intake gains more low end torque because of the long runners and more air sitting in the intake when you begin accelerating but the car intake gains more power in the top end and lose some low end torque. The difference being around 5-10hp/torque but only shifted in the curve. No replacement for displacement. Weight of the vehicle is one thing but unsprung rotational mass is even more significant.
In the end the 4.8, 5.3, and 6.0 all react differently depending on certain mods. Each engine is special in it's own way, even though 90 percent of everything is shared between each other. It's like a Lego set, millions of choices. But they will always be unique no matter how you build them.
Fyi... Richard Holdener does comparison test on any engine u can dream. Stock LS junkyard engines & bolt on horsepower made him famous. Before and after dyno runs on every engine and part. Mazda , Honda, GM, Ford , Mopar etc .. You couldn't have looked to hard he is also on Motor Trend shows too
This is all great when talking about 2 valves and when talking about 2 valve against 2 valve there is no replacment for displacement other than boost or nitrous but hes right on fair fields but everyone knows 4 valves on small motors do very well on turbo apps through rpm which accually works better for street racing at a better power band and not blowing the tires off plus not all engines are the same some are aluminium some are iron and iron weighs more but can take a better pounding.
My experience with ls engines: ls1, great low to high end hp, most distinct sound, good durability and great fuel efficiency, handles abuse well. (Examples running perfectly in exclusively muscle car applications at 300k miles) 5.3: a little weak at low end, not as responsive, good top end torque, pretty reliable but felt more susceptible than other ls, good gas mileage, with low compression can handle crazy boost, most basic sound. (Seems to start declining from 300k to 400k) 6.0 lq4: arguably my favorite, extremely durable, most low end response out of others, poor fuel efficiency, lost most oil, required less maintenance, most confidence inducing, Best sound. (Some examples running fine at 1 million miles) 6.2: most diverse power band with suprising top end power, most power, suprising fuel efficiency, very durable but doesn't handle abuse as well as 5.7 or 6.0, great sound. (As reliable as 5.3 with stock lifters, gains more durability with different lifters) Ive owned an 07 Tahoe 5.3 that started to fade at 300k. Yes it was still dod but basically any 5.3 ive been around starts to really fade after 300k miles. Owned an 02 Camaro ls1 (5.69L) Felt very similar to lq4, got over 25 mpg hghwy, power at any rpm, had a more classic sound and overall 2nd best experience. Lq4 6.0: ran like a top at 400k, most low end power, terrible fuel efficiency, lost most oil, took unreal amounts of abuse before I owned it. Was best overall experience, had an unreal exaust note that even a 30 year exhaust tech was suprised and said it was probably the best sounding exhaust hes built. 6.2: was the most powerful by a more noticeable margin, got great fuel efficiency considering its displacement, reliability and sound was very similar to 5.3 but exhaust was a bit more distinct. If i had to choose id go with ls1 in my car because it has the perfect combo of efficiency, reliability/durability and sound. I'd go with lq4 mainly because its durability/reliability is unmatched. If you're interested ill share its story lol. Also sounded the best by far.
You've been corrected on several things by others already in these comments, but I'd just like to mention that turbos are not only useful at high rpms - that's the operating method of centrifugal superchargers. Turbos will provide useful boost as low as 1500 rpms if they're sized correctly, and are well known for filling in the low and midrange of an engines power curve. In fact, a cheap turbo 4.8l isca much better solution than a 6.0l with all the money in that aftermarket intake and heads. $4k in parts on the 6.0l won't come close to about $1500 in parts turboing the 4.8l. Just some advice- keep learning before making videos trying to teach others. "Chamber" has a specific meaning with regards to this topic that you got wrong. You meant to say cylinder or displacement. The chamber is only part of that, and important in it's own right.
Great to hear some comon sense for a change, rather than performance parts manufacturer hype and misinformation. Getting the best gains per dollar should be the goal, and to understand the hows and whys of that gain.
Yes lq4/lq9/ls2 are awesone if you dropped them in but, the 5.3 loves boost way more then the 6.0, and if you're adding performance your probably tagging the rev limiter often
@@greenespirit4973 The cylinder walls on the 5.3 are 1/4 inch thicker than the 6.0. 3.78 inch to 4.0 inch. More clamping strength with more area between the cylinder. So you can boost the hell out of it like 10 psi all day long and not hurt it even if you have an aluminum block. For added insurance get s thick deck head with ARP fasteners.
For a stock ls motor...You wanna " juice n' boost ".ls engine take it all day long. The right size turbo is key.and not tons of boost.the nitrous is to help at the bottom of the rev range.. and then the turbo takes over.50 horse to 75 horse jet...no more.the nitrous also cools the turbocharged air.you can turn the nitrous on& off at your leisure. The kits can open/ purge/and throttle by wire can dial in when you want the n20 to kick in/ out...all from the drivers seat...in motion.throw 7 k at stock motor for a 2 in 1 combo you will love.best part.you can unbolt it all and keep it for the next ride.no motor pulls...no guess work...no wasted money on the right heads cam...ect.boost n juice.do it.do it now.pull up to an equal...just turbo power.but pull up to a Lamborghini at night you're gonna combo it...hit "open,...arm,...then hold the purge button down...have red LED lit purge nozzles throw up 2 huge red glowing vapor clouds...from the grill...not the cowl.you want a real raging bull effect...way better than the bull on the lambo emblem. Then smoke that elitist douche.your welcome. Your allllll welcome. Im frank white...have a good night.
Check out the Driveway Engineer. He's all about making LS horsepower with basically junkyard parts and as little cost as possible. Tons of useful information on horsepower combo's and tuning. Mostly adding a small turbo and having fun.
6.2L LS truck engine is a good way to go as long as it has low miles. Don't overpay for a used engine from a wrecked truck remember it is a used engine!
One thing I hate is that the intake on the LS engine is plastic. That will cause the intake gaskets to give out sooner than if it were aluminum, because of dissimilar materials and heat cycles. it's a reliability problem that bean counters created and the only way to fix it is to spend more money.
The only difference between 6.0, 5.7 and 5.3 is bore size. The only difference between a 4.8 and a 5.3 is crank, rods and pistons. The 4.8 has a short stroke and flat top pistons while the other 3 main LS engines have the same factory internals. That's why all 4.8 and 5.3 LS engines have 4.8/5.3 relief on the front of the block.
@@StreetRodJim after some consideration I'm going to go with a 706 head, twin turbo, and possibly mild cam setup since I'm hoping to have it out of the truck anyway...
You forgot the Chevy LS7 which is a 427 cubic inch motor and that's way bigger than the 364ci which made up LS 6L.. lq4/lq9 However I just learned today that GM has officially canceled production of the LS7 so those of you who didn't already buy one, good luck finding one in a junkyard.. in five years these are going to be as rare as the 1969 Camaro 302
I mean I kinda thought this was obvious it's not nitrous that pretty much does what it say but ya a cam that ads like 60ph on a 6.0l isn't going to add 60hp to a 4.8l
Also you can’t say anything about 4.8 to a 6L the same turbo is not gonna perform the same. it takes different turbos to work on different sizes. I don’t know if you know that
So, all you're really saying is what's been said since day one whether it's an LS engine or a vintage iron block- 'There's no replacement for displacement:. period. Good insight for sure... what's the bottom line then? Get the largest LS engine you can afford with an aluminum block- only mod as needed based on driving conditions. I"m very strongly considering doing and LS swap on my Porsche 964 (911 Carrera 4) and have been holding off based on what LS I should buy. If I'm mostly driving this as a daily driver- rarely every really into the pedal- and looking for reliability and dependability- I should get the largest LS I can find- leave it stock- but if I end up wanting more power- simply bolt on a turbo and have low-moderate boost. Whacha think?
Forced induction is always the way to go for power upgrades boot on aren't shit. If you don't add more fuel and air to the equation you get nothing. Also if you want some power cheap first thing is headers and cam, fuel rail , injectors, fuel pump, without a re-tuned ecu won't get much.
LY6, 6.0 LTR. Cam, springs, valve seals. close to 500 crank. Rec port heads stock. got my LY6 for 1400$. It was cherry when I pulled it apart. remember. LY6 or nothing.
Thinking of finally swapping out my SBC 383, ( AFRs, big hydro roller cam, runs awesome). Do you recommend the LY6 or the LQ9 6.0. Just want more reliability, drivability and still have power. Planning on going with cam, and tune. Hesitant due to not knowing anything about LS
@@arodderz LY6 all day If you're using stock heads. Whatever is cheaper if you are changing heads, intake and cam. If intake and cam, LY6. Mine runs awesome.
@RJ mi cleetus McFarland is making 1000 rwhp with a iron block 5.3 but it does have forged rods and pistons and some nice taxes speed and performance heads at 28 lbs of boost and that 5.3 is holding up so far
Yea but the 6.0 don’t need as much to make huge numbers so dude is right you will get better torque and hp. Mostly I would pick which one I had available and which one beat fits my needs.
The 4.8l will take more psi becuse the cylinder wall is thicker a 4.8 L will take twice the Boost because of the thicker cylinder wall so the 4.8 L is better for Boost
The reason you already find pimped out engines getting intakes is because the stock intakes that come on these engines are already built to withstand more horsepower than they come with from the factory. The stock truck intake manifold is way more than capable of taking 500 horsepower before you see any major drawbacks. Putting aftermarket intakes obviously isn't going to make that big of a difference, the only thing you can really do is change the torque curve by using long intake runners or shorter intake runners. The reason you're not able to find this is because it's considered general knowledge. No one talks about it because everyone knows about it. Just like your "astounding discovery" that displacement equals horsepower potential, we don't ever have to talk about it, because everyone already knows.
Well Well Well How about a brand new LS2 block stroked out to about 402 with new L92 heads and dual valve springs rated to around 630 lift with a 222 230 114lsa camshaft at 580 lift. With a crane factory LS rocker upgrade kit. With factory LS2 lifters and a mellings single row true roller timing chain. Factory parts are better than most people think. On that note the fastest street car in Australia is a twin turbo LQ4 blocked engine the LQ4 does have a factory low compression ratio. The engine above is what l would build to replace my L77. But it is nearly impossible to get a brand new bare block L77. All alloy is the way to go. Should be around 600hp give or take 30hp. 😂😂😂😂😂
@@C6Z_Bob And that is the why we have the fastest genuine street cars in the world in Australia. You over cam everything in the US l get the power l want with that camshaft, with plenty under the curve for awesome drivability.
Very Informative Video....Im Currently Looking At Buying A 2003-06 GMC DENALI SUV Or Truck With The 6.0L V8 That I Want To Modify But Only With Simple Mods Like Headers Y Pipe LS6 Intake Exhaust A Tune & Shift Kit etc I Was Going To Get A FAST Intake But I Changed My Mind After Seeing This Video I Don't Want Or Need Too Much Power Just A Little Something When I Hit The Gas Are There Any Benefits From Changing The Truck Intake To A LS Intake?
Hi Jim, I just inherited a 05 1500hd GMC 4x4 with LQ4 6.0. She has 42,000 miles and 4.10 gears from factory with stock original tires. My question to you do you feel its worth the money to install the Whipple 2.3 Charger kit, for arouund 6k or use the money for other modifications. I know the truck is heavy and I don't want to throw my money away in trying to make a School Bus Fast....Many Thanks.
Not exactly my wheel house (heavy trucks), but maybe I can point you in the right direction. Because of the charger not having a delay like turbo and you having a heavy vehicle that needs low end torque, I think the charger would be a good all around/even added power throughout the whole range. (with included ECU tune and Injectors) It would be fun to drive on the street and go fast too. Might need to upgrade push rods to support it if needed. A lot of the stock LS parts will take some abuse. Maybe a Cam later. Hope this helps a little bit.
BMEP and BSFC dictate HP production. If making a NA motor, go big or go home. BUT if you plan to Turbocharge, the 5.3 will spank the 6.0. You can run more boost, and increase BMEP for a given boost level (providing of course the fuel and tune is made available) Plus you have more meat in the bore for heat rejection, better gasket sealing, room for O-rings etc.
Thank you so much for your thoughts. I just subbed you so I can watch all and learn more. I have a 93' S10 pickup and I'm wanting to deliver a Z06 7.0 to it. I just don't know the type of tranny to use my thoughts are a turbo400 with a 4,000 stall. Any and all advice is welcome. I plan on doing a start to finish build on my utube channel. I just don't want to be the slow guy or known as the gate keeper anymore. Wish me luck on my first build
Turbo400 is old school tech. If you're looking for an automatic transmission for that motor,look at the 4l60 to 4l85e. Those are found in trucks with the 6.0 motor.And they are easy to install, because they are already behind that kind of motor.
jim i have 2010 sierra 5.3L i would like to swap it with 6.0L engine from 07 Escalade can I do this swap without going through major rewiring? in other words can the newer ECM handle older engine?? appreciate your inout
If you are saying they are both LS engines, it would work if it is the same generation. i.e. both using a Blue green computer for instance. However, unless your 5.3L is dead you might just want to spruce it up instead of swapping since you are already in the LS family. Cam/turbo/springs will go a long way.
Could you recommend a LS engine for a Suburban 1988 4WD manual, I want to get the connect & cruise but there are so many options that I got lost, my budget is no more than 17K for the combo.
It is a personal preference. Start with what functionality you need to have. 4 Wheeling, towing etc or just street driving? Then think about how it should sound if that matters to you and then price. This link has good descriptions of what each package is and what it can connect too. www.chevrolet.com/performance-parts/connect-cruise-powertrain-systems Some like the LS376/525 are not a good fit unless you are racing. The LS376/480 has a hot cam for that low rumble idle everyone likes. Again, your preference. Hope this helps.
Some of the info needs careful clarification a 5.3 will give a bigger performance gain (67 HP even with a very small cam like at TSP 216/220) than an LS1 5.7 will, there is no way a LS1 will give this much gain with that cam with same mods, go to the TSP website to see the dyno result on the website & RU-vid for that cam. See ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-aPtgp8czSqo.html If you increase cam duration to compensate for larger engine (approx 10 degrees for every 500cc bigger) then yes better off with bigger engine.
Yeah but when you need and or want that extra power when some punk pulls up with a honda trying to race you then you know you have it so what if you use that power all the time or very little of the time its still there when you want it to be not many people buy ls motors to build them stock unless its a direct replacement most ls builds go into hotrods take that how you want
@@StreetRodJim you are missing a couple key points on the 6.2 that can be a big difference depending on power goals. EVERY 6.2, comes with the excellent L92 heads. These heads are only surpassed by the LS7 heads, as far as factory offerings go. Some 6.0 also have these heads, but they lack on another front vs the 6.2, the bore is too small. While technically the L92 heads can work on any 4" or larger bore, but realistically, the bore on the 6.0 is too small to avoid shrouding the valves. Having owned both the l92 6.2, and the l76 6.0, (both are aluminum block, l92 heads, same stroke, only difference is the bore) my 6.2 much more easily made useable street torque. The 6.0 needed more assistance to get it to wake up. That little bit of extra bore, just helps the l92 heads to breathe better on the 6.2. Btw, by no means am I saying a 6.0 cant make the numbers. All i am saying, is that the bore advantage that the 6.2 has, brings more to the table than what would be expected at first glance.
To big of a question for me to answer... but LS is newer proven technology. More efficient, easier to make HP etc... Both are great, but modern is the way I will always go.
What is the same, would get you a much smaller list. The old SBC was a great platform to build on. But the LS platform is simply in the next league. The old SBC is outclassed in almost every possible way. From component strength, to head flow numbers the LS is dramatically improved. The LS engines also tend to use a longer stroke as compared to a similar displacement SBC. Overall, the replacement for the SBC easily raised the bar.
i have a 71 nova,I'm looking into what ls to get i want it to make 500hp(a lil bit over would be fine) and in the future i plan on putting a procharger which ls would you recommend i look into(my budget isnt limited)
I would look at these options. blueprintengines.com/collections/gm-compatible-ls-crate-engines & www.gmperformancemotor.com/parts/19370413.html & www.gmperformancemotor.com/parts/19370411.html All big enough that if you bolt on even more power, the numbers will matter.
I'm already around 400whp on a stock block and stock heads. Mild built ls1 with a ported fast 92 with a decent tuner and you will gain 20whp. Larger cams above 6600 with choke because lack of cfm. Running a vrx-5 cam, ported fast 92 and 92 tb, headers with offroad y pipe with magna catback. Snappy car, but the car doesn't like low rpms. I do track it so I do see 7,000rpm once and awhile. I haven't installed my pores 243s yet. I'm working on building lq4 with a T76 turbo. I'm planning on hitting 800whp or more
I agree. I should around 465 give or take at the flywheel right now. Even tho a mild stroker would be nice for having good low and mid power of a big block.
