I have an opportunity to get an 03' 6.0L Iron truck block or a 07' LS2 5.3L caddy alum block. Would either of these blocks be worth creating a high horse LSseries engine? I mean, I know the iron block is a weight over the aluminum one but the iron is 6.0L and the alum one would need to be bored out to 6.0L or 6.3L. Comments / advice?

 

There's a build in a magazine that made 550 hp with a cammed 6.0L. They used factory L92 heads and a carb.

It's a tough trade off. If you go with the aluminum you're loosing out on cubes. If you go with the iron block, you gain cubes but weight also. If you're into drag racing I'd go with the 6.0L
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Ive got a 5.3L Iron Block going into my iroc. I used the iron block cause its cheap, its a bit heavier, and its a bit more different then the LS1.

Its only heavier by 60lb's, plus i can bore it over later. The extra 60lb's will help lowering the car a little. Ive got lowering springs in the front but in the end it probably wont be any lower

 

I wouldn't be too nervous about the extra weight of the iron block - generally speaking, you can EASILY make enough power with these new engines to more than offset another 80 lbs...

 

6.2L is a 4.06 bore. Swap in a 4.0 inch rotating assembly and you'll have 414 cubes on the stock bore. The right cam and tune and you'll make an easy 500 rwhp NA

 

curious, I'm running a syclone/typhoon ECM (749) and tunerpro doing my own realtime tuning. What is an easy way to run the newer LS engines?? FAST, stock PCM, other?

 

I thought maybe if you were trying to keep the front end light, for a road racing application perhaps. *shrug*

Nonetheless, if it were me I'd go with the iron block

 

Dont worry about the weight of an LQ4 iron 6.0L block it only weighs 40lbs more than an LS1 aluminum block, thats not that big of a deal. because of the iron block you get more of a big block sound out of it. Even thou an LQ4 block is a small block and can only be bored out to a max of 408-414 cubes.

Got this from pontiachighperformance.com

LS-SERIES ENGINE BLOCKS COMPAREDBlock TypeMaterial Approx Wt.Head BoltsBellhousing PatternMax CIDMount PatternPrice$/CIDTruck 6.0Iron 170 lbs4Gen 3402Gen 3$400$0.99GMPP LSX Iron 225 Lbs4 or 6Gens 1 & 3482Gen 3$1,949$4.04Std DeckGMPP LSX Iron 235 lbs4 or 6Gens 1 & 3510 Gen 3N/AN/ATall DeckGM LS7Alum 115 lbs4Gen 3427Gen 3$3,200$7.49LS2/SleevedAlum 130 lbs4 Gen 3455 Gen 3$3,600$7.91WarhawkAlum 135 lbs4 or 6Gens 1 & 3454 (Tall)Gens 1 & 3$4,000$8.81GM C5RAlum 125 lbs4Gen 3427Gen 3$7,000+$16.39*GM Prices provided by Scoggin-Dickey Performance Center, Lubbock, Texas.

 

6.0l

 

[QUOTE=DaSkinnyGuy;3673469]Dont worry about the weight of an LQ4 iron 6.0L block it only weighs 40lbs more than an LS1 aluminum block, thats not that big of a deal. because of the iron block you get more of a big block sound out of it.

youre right about one thing. dont worry about the weight. 6.0L all the way.
the 40# difference is a joke.
i gained 60 pounds from my 383 swap to my 6.0 swap. a 6.0 block is HEAVY.
its at least an 80 pound difference from a ls series aluminum block, maybe more.
ive read where someone weighed them in at a 98 pound difference.

iron block, makes it sound like a big block? LOL!