Vortec 4200 Engine Differences 

i think i just fell more in love with cars cause of this inline beauty

Was about to go buy a vette to build a newer drift car. Cause already has an ls1. Now I wanna Frankenstein another pickup or wagon with one of these and between 4 and 500hp on 2 tunes. 1 for skidracin 1 for highway pulls

If I get my machine shop again (purchased one before the paradise fires and by the time I made space, the cops wouldn't let me up to clean out the warehouse where they were sitting) I'll be doing a lloott of work on these atlas motors. Hopefully I can get another 5 axis manual mill and cnc so I can prototype AND test internals. Goal it to start producing my own "ameri-barra" set that would include anything needed to get to 1000hp reliably or 1500 as a strip hero with meticulous maintenance. Kind of like J.P. racing did with the 1gz-fe v12 toyota and 1fz-fe 4.0 2j derivative.

Just towed 8500 lbs with my 04 rainier lol

I never understood why GM DC'd this engine. Such a fantastic and silky smooth powerhouse engine.

Thanks For shedding light on a good thing👀👍😎

And I been a longtime member of Inliners International

075h 7 lucid 2

5.0)!( 092.0 30 17.,2.,2900 .8ch

J0l7.979+08081 H5 , 979w7590 L90l746 37 55L0 97

L50 4 9 70, 799 . H7 7 0

I agree I have the 04 version and it pulls very hard especially once you get to 3500 and above feels like a little boost kicks in but it’s just the vvt working.

@@Thumper68 I’ve got an 02 with 440k on it and running strong it burns a little oil but what can you expect

Mopar Slant 6 from the 60s!!! Bullet proof, and zero electronics...

@@ucsasinkings8296holy shit man!

You can find them at any junkyard/pull apart. I've seen quite a lot.

my local mechanics keep trying to get me to trash my TB even though the engine works fine. Makes me suspicious. haha

@@carnage50x why am I just now realizing you commented on this lol small world😂

@@zerohourdrift it's been 84 years...

Same

There are some older videos of MK3 Supras with 4200's floating around.

“HotRod Garage” did a supercharger (or maybe it was a turbo) build on one of these engines. It’s been a while since I watched the episode. (From an 04 I believe)

I have a 06 trailblazer and a 3rd gen camaro just looking for a trans

A worked with a guy who's nephew put a 4.2 in his 37 Chevy Coupe. At Cars n Coffe people would ask why not an LS or SBC. His reply was any idiot can put an LS in. He just wanted to be different. Theres a 32 Ford Highboy up in Canada that has a Jag 4.2 in it. Just to be different.

Have an sr20de sentra here at the shop rn. Really want that motor. Also have an 06 trail blazer at the shop. Really want that motor too haha

@@rattyratstuff7125 That's a shoehorn! I'm back on my old bullshit, straight power train "swap" into an 80s hearse. It will be mine, oh yes, it will be mine

I've seen some of your vids. You are always missing with the tranny and the tcm,, so what happened? Why did it blew up?!

@@marlo0oty213 I guess because I install a Corvette servo a long time ago. It was shifting to 2nd. too hard for a long time.

@@blackericdenice still you had a chance for a manual tb or some other gear to try other than the 4l60

@@marlo0oty213 I would like to install a 6L80.

@@blackericdenice I can’t wait to see that. Good luck but I guess the trans housing is different you may have to make a custom adapter plate!

Thanks bud! Thanks for checking it out too l!

They're pretty much the same, but there are some non visible differences, like the sleeves in the later ones are apparently stronger.

Hey guys. It's an honor. It's 6+1 on 02-07 engines. 08-09 had 58x identical to an LS. The cam is a weird 6 tooth pattern from 02-07. In 08-09 they went to 4x identical to an LS. The cam sprockets interchange across all the years.

No sh**! Imagine having the SF lads hit you up!

Thanks. Yes. Only thing you really need to do that is tools. That and I'd get some new main bolts.

Yep. Good catch.

Why would you put up an older head on a newer block? Maaan. You have to do the opposite. I own a 04 trailblazer with the P10. Got a complete 2008 engine. Im gonna swap the crank of 2004 to the 2008 engine and rewire a P12 PCM to get the best ever vortec. I confirm 2007 head works well on 2005 block.

02 trailblazer had rod knock, had a free 07 engine with a bad head. Cheap is why.

Can you confirm that? You're speaking from experience?

Would be nice in a 5 series. I had a 530i with a Garrett GT40 and it was awesome until a guard rail bit me and caused frame damage. Just a slight dinger on the highway but it was enough.

Likely hood interfearance

A bare long block weighs about 320pounds.

Thank you. That is much lighter than I expected. Some day I will get one and thanks to you will not have to learn the hard way.

This should answer the majority of your questions. sites.google.com/view/vortec4200wiki/home

@@Calvin-Nelson You rock! Thanks!

What a great site. Well done 👍🏻

If what you are asking is do the LT heads fit on the LS, then yes the bolt holes line up. They changed the dowel locations, and again you have to come up with a solution for the valve order.

No problem. Thanks for the idea!

Nice piece of education Calvin. A lot of misconception out in the forums where people claim that using a 06 and later cylinder head on a 05 block is a way to increase HP. Clearly none of them actually tried what they claim otherwise they would have discovered the bolt pattern variation.

I have not. Unfortunately, they are a very different bore spacing. LS is 4.400", Atlas is 4.055"

Yeah. The early motors are very capable too.

Doing a drift build is totally doable. As with any drift car, the key is oil control. There is a guy in Sweden that has a really sick Volvo Drift car with a 4200. Check this out for more information. sites.google.com/view/vortec4200wiki/home

My 2002 LS TB is right around that 258,000 range and running great.

@@David-rx5eo just braking in! Ha!!

Very easy. Bolts on.

Yep. You will have to attach the 58x wheel to the damper, because the internal trigger wheel is not removable.

@@Calvin-Nelson oh BEANS. I'd want to use a Holley efi as that's what I'm familiar with.

I don't.... Well not yet anyways. I think the key will be RPM.

103mm

Yes and yes. Go on the Vortec 4200 swap and performance page on facebook. They have all of the details for manual trans swaps there. For weber carb install, all you need to do is make an intake.

@@Calvin-Nelson Thanks! Will check it out.

I have a ton of info here. Check it out. sites.google.com/view/vortec4200wiki/home

Ngk tr6 plug. 0.020" gap. Probably could have gapped it down a little more but we were out of time.

I think they did very minor things. They're all pretty good.

could be the difference in crankshafts (just a thought). he did say that the counter weights were reduced in 06 so maybe the ecm is reading off the 06 crankshaft stuff and not the 05. might need someone with a programmer or a machine that can delve deep into the values and see what parameters are messing up. i doubt the rpms are different but i believe the sensors are different. all else fails if the plugs and sensors are the same then swap them for the 06 and see if there is a change.

The camshaft reluctor is different and I don't think you can change just them

Good to know. I'll still screw it up.

@@Calvin-Nelson I just copied and pasted that - I had never even heard of either term before - thanks for the great vids! I'm tooling around in my TB 04 - wondering if some MMO will clog up my oil pan filter since the whole drive train would have to be taken apart if that happens! haha. I used some MMO before and had the classic dirty exhaust smoke clean out. So I guess I got lucky. Also I put in boron Nitride. ... At 267K so far so good - the third valve did not burn out as happens on those engines. haha. thanks again.

Yes

Definitely have to shim the lifters to essentially make then solid. Another hot ticket is to use Ecotech followers. They are stronger, and interchange. Not sure what to recommend on valve springs. I found a set of 2JZ valve springs that will work, I just don't know if it will work at 10,000 RPM. These engines have very bad harmonics at around 6,500 RPM. Guys that are taking them to 10,000 RPM run like 7,000 stall converters. Basically they just get through the bad harmonics as quickly as possible. I would probably be wise to put cams in it so that it will make power at that RPM. Billet cams are expensive, but you probably can get away with a regrind. In my opinion the stock cams are pretty decent and you can do a lot with them. Not sure if they'll support power at 10,000 rpm.