6.0 question's

[3gracing]

(This is also posted on Pirate, but I now a lot of the people on this board are running these engines) I'm a newbie to the late model Chevy engine(A ford guy since birth). With the power people seem to get from these engines and the prices that you can get them for it's hard for even a die-hard ford guy not to buy and put one in a crawler. My ?'s are is their a certain year or years that are the best, general price range for a low-mileage motor, any good websites for info on these engines, what most do to increase the hp(wanting around 350-400hp), who best to modify the engine harness/computer. Before it's suggested, a complete Mast engine is out of the ?

Brian

 

[BamaTJ]

There was a recent thread on this. Prices have gone up on these as I have been shopping. Looking at $1400 to $2000k on a complete LQ4. Price depends on mileage and who is selling, but that is what I found. Use to be you could hae these motors all day for less than 1k. The LQ9 is the HO version of the LQ4 and has a higher compression ratio, but also a good bit more money (over $2k).

In terms of building them there is pretty much no limit, depends on how much $ you want to spend. For mine I have AA Headers, K&N Filter, GMPP LS Hot Cam w/ Springs, & ECM Tune. Hoping to be close to 400 HP with my LQ4. You can do L92 Heads, FAST Intake/TB, Bigger Cam, etc and make lots of power, but it will costs lots of coin. It is also cool that you can swap the car intake/tb and injectors on them to lower the height, and car accessory setup to lower the length. Makes them much easier to fit in a buggy. Also a gated oil pan is a must also.

 

[payne97]

whats the gated oil pan off of is it a stock item or a after market that would b cheeper than dry sump

 

[BamaTJ]

Lots of people use Kevko for pans, but moroso also makes one for LS motors (gotta get windage tray for it also). The Kevko is cheaper, but they have been having a lot of quality issues lately I have heard.

 

[3gracing]

I was hoping you would chime in Matt! i knew you were wanting to swap out the vortec for 6.0 power and figured you had found info on this. Even with the prices for the motors going up, it's still way cheaper to buy and mod a 6.0 than to build a 350 or 351 ford and acheive the same power with fuel injection. Also, was going to e-mail you about the coilovers but saw they had sold, if the buyer backs out, let me know.

Brian

 

[BamaTJ]

No problem man. The coilovers did sell and I have already gotten payment for them.

Like said before a 6.0 can cost as little or as much as you want, just depends on the build level.

I would start with the basics, ECM tun, headers, maybe a mild cam and see how the power band feels to you and get use to it. If you think you need more, add L92 heads, larger intake/Tb and a aggressive cam to match. I also think a dyna tune from an experienced builder will help a lot on these motors. I will have about $2800 in my motor that includes all the bolt on mods, flow through fuel rails, exhaust work, harness work, oil pan, remote filter, etc. If I could get 400hp out of it that would be about $7 per HP. Not bad at all, you can do much worse with old school iron.

Also I was very limited on the steering pump I can run with my current setup. By keeping the truck accessories I can go with the N-Style pump which is about the best pump you can buy without spending 1k on the Howe Trophy Truck Pump. That was another major deciding factor for me.

 

[blacksheep10]

if you want cheap, go 5.3. $800 complete.
run it at 300 horse with the tune, then get to 350 with an ls6 cam and springs ($300 on the high side) when you can find the deal and dyno tune to pretty much 385 plus if you have the time and a shop that will do it. Buddy of mine did just this recently.
Expect a grand to swap it for all the little ancillary **** that comes up. More if you don't get all the sensor (O2's, MAF, etc)
Get a COMPLETE engine with everything.

If you want something you can eventually get an easy 500 horse out of, wait for the 6 liter to come along and pay more. If you're ok with the 400 number, grab a cheap 5.3 and rock out.

 

[1TONZR2]

you can find 5.3s fairly cheap if you look for them. I got mine a few years ago for 350 bux with harness/ECM, but I had to buy a starter 110 bux, alt 120, belt 50 bux, intake 50 bux(original had a hole in it). I then bought a LS6 cam/springs for 150 bux and then had the heads milled a little bit for more a tad more compression (only reason I did this is because I needed to replace teh cam bearings after I fawked them up..... ), that was 500 bux for machine work and short block assembly. 100 bux for the tune (buddy has EFI Live). I did my own harness, so that saved some money.
so I can safely say for 1500 bux, I have a pretty healthy 5.3 with a bunch of new stuff and would think it is around 340-350.... I would like to dyno tune it, but not going to mess with it for now.

Brian

 

[COPPERHEAD42]

if you want cheap, go 5.3. $800 complete.
run it at 300 horse with the tune, then get to 350 with an ls6 cam and springs ($300 on the high side) when you can find the deal and dyno tune to pretty much 385 plus if you have the time and a shop that will do it. Buddy of mine did just this recently.
Expect a grand to swap it for all the little ancillary **** that comes up. More if you don't get all the sensor (O2's, MAF, etc)
Get a COMPLETE engine with everything.

If you want something you can eventually get an easy 500 horse out of, wait for the 6 liter to come along and pay more. If you're ok with the 400 number, grab a cheap 5.3 and rock out.

At one time this dude was crankin out 600 rear wheel HP
Worlds quickest STOCK LS based Motor

 

[patooyee]

Where does it say he is stock?

J. J.

 

[COPPERHEAD42]

he has zo6 cam and springs and that it as far as internal motor work. I was showing kellys post. You can rock a 5.3 and throw a turbo on her and be in the 600 hp pretty easy.

 

[pillsbury]

Well I know a place that sells COMPLETE drop out and has lots of stuff in stock. i bought my entire drop out from a 2004 chevy 2500HD with 6,783 miles on it for less than 2K motor tranny cpu gas pedel the works. i have taken it to an amazing shop that has done the correct things to it and i am very happy. many different options to choose from. I wish u the best of luck.

What city and state are you in?

M

 

[3gracing]

In Alabama, Lake Martin area south of B'ham. Work out of the Oxford, Al. area where their are a few junkyard I need to check! Thanks for the heads up though, if your supplier is way cheaper than the local bunch it might be cheaper to buy and ship.

brian

 

[BamaTJ]

Anybody have experience with the car intake in a 6.0? Mine will not clear the alternator bracket, like not even close. It is an 06 6.0. Any ideas on what I need to do to run the car intake and tb?

 

[patooyee]

Is your alternator high on the driver side head? What specifically doesn't clear?

J. J.

 

[BamaTJ]

Yeah high on driver side. The tb hits the alternator bracket and it is no where near bolting down. Flipped it backwards and it fits fine, but we don't have clearance to run it backwards

 

[pillsbury]

Hey Matt is sounds like ALL these car intakes are causing more problems and are ending up way more costly than they are worth. Why would you not want to keep the truck intake and keep your low to mid range torque? I am just curious. Best of luck in the 2011 KOH.

Matt

 

[BamaTJ]

Hood clearance, truck intake is much taller and the gains your mention are very small. I think I found a Speartech bracket that will fix the issues with the clearance