Been a long time since I've been on TGO on a serious note, glad to be back.

So here's the thing guys, bought a '84 Camaro Z28 when I was 16, and that was the beginning of me dumping money into going fast. Joined the military, modded a 99 Trans Am, she was beautiful and I regret selling her to this day. Sold her to buy a 02 Z06, she was fun. Traded her for a nice Duramax plus cash. Got out of the Army (6 years), and just now sold the truck and paid off all my debt. So after all that, putting a bunch in savings (married with a son now), buying a house (with a garage just for me ), getting the wife some nice things, I have approximately 6500 bucks that has been stamped APPROVED by the Mrs. for me to finally, finally, get around to rebuilding my high school car into the monster I've always dreamt it would be. AKA 400+ cube LS motor, T56 swap (its an auto), naturally aspirated, etc.

Now before everyone starts telling me 6.5k wont get me real far, I understand, it's just the beginning. I have time, and a dedicated area, I won't get the vehicle to me for a few months (away at the parents place), but I'm trying to start getting a build sheet together and something that resembles a plan. She needs some body work, and paint (I am hoping to get the equipment and do it myself), suspension work I'm sure, plus a rear end that will handle it etc.

After a few days of trying to figure out what size/type of motor I want to build I haven't made much head way. I know I want it NA, and over 400 cubes, somewhere around 550 to the groud. But I can't pin down a build that's the best bang for the buck. So I figured I'd open a thread, that's open to discussion. All opinions, biased or not, are welcome.

I don't have a bottomless pocket, but I am willing to do things slow, and correct.

Camaro will be driven 3-4 days a week, taken to the track a few times a year, I'd like her to be able to get up and move in a straight line, but also handle well on the street as well as make 1000 mile trips without blowing up. AC would be nice. As well as growing room in the future (boost).

... Damn I feel needy.

Thanks in advance guys

 

I'm at the same crossroad. I'm partial to the 6.2 do to having a L92 in a Sierra. Once tuned, and vvt tables adjusted it was amazing. I'm contemplating a 30over build with higher compression and a custom eps cam.

Please keep us updated.

 

408 short blick:
http://www.summitracing.com/parts/hpe-sp37/overview/

GMPP CNC LS3 heads
http://www.summitracing.com/parts/nal-88958758

Add a decent cam and the parts to polish it off.

 

Iron block 408-416" with stock ls3 heads intake will easily do over 500 whp thru a 6 spd. Huge flat trq curve. And verrrrry budget friendly

 

Personally if I had the $6500 budget I would probably look for a crashed 99-02 firebird or camaro on co-part. The cars will have most of the items that you need. I picked one up for ~$3000 after all the fees and was able to sell off over $1000 worth of parts I didn't need.
It's only a start to your huge project but might save you some bucks in the long run.

 

Whoa, 3800 bucks. Was doing some research yesterday and figured I could find a 6.0 block for about 600 bucks, machine work, plus a forged rotating assembly form TSP for less than 3k. (for the block). Agreed on the ls3 heads, ls1tech lead me onto those.

Definitely looking into the ls3 heads, question though, what intake mainfold would match well with that? Not really looking to throw a FAST 102 at it just yet. That's something I can easily swap out in the future when I have a grand to throw at a chuck of plastic. would ls6 match up? would it be restrictive if it did?

Definitely something I'm going to look into, I live in Montana now. Not a whole lot of wrecked lsx vehicles out here. I don't want to just slap a ls1 in it, I love the idea of a 408 or similar, keeping it NA for now. But maybe I could steal the accessories off a wrecked vehicles, plus a transmission, etc.

Question for all: When it comes to a wiring harness, should I aim for a ls1 harness? or a truck harness? does it matter that much? I plan on rewiring it all myself.

Thanks

C.

 

The LS6 intake won't match up to LS3 heads because the port shapes are different. No loss to you really, because used LS6 intakes have gotten crazy expensive and they aren't even as good as an LS3 intake. The stock LS3 intake is so good that the aftermarket has a tough time doing better, and used intakes come with 42 lb/hr injectors. Easy choice for a guy on a budget, I think.

An iron block 6.0L truck Vortec engine is probably the most budget friendly engine to begin with. The iron block is really stout and you can add a stroker kit to it if you like. It will come with low compression cathedral port heads, similar to LS6 heads but larger combustion chamber. You can either keep those heads or slap on a set of LS3 heads. Turbo guys will be more than happy to buy your used heads.

You're going to have a really tough time building a 550 RWHP naturally aspirated engine + drivetrain + suspension for $6500. I'm looking at your screen name and it begs a question... would a 10.99 second time slip make you grin from ear to ear? If the answer is yes, then you can achieve that with a stock 6.0L block, good heads, and a good cam selection. Not everybody can do it but you can if you invest your time and think things through.

Just to put things in perspective, I have the engine you want and the engine alone was more than $6500 to complete. Things just add up that you didn't think about. For example, I bought a used FAST 102 for $800 (good deal at the time), but actually spent over $2000 by the time it had a throttle body, fuel rails, and injectors. I can give you more examples how things run into the multiple thousands that you didn't plan on. I would get a solid drivetrain and suspension under your car ($$$), and save money with a stockish 6.0L engine on this first round. Then you can always upgrade the engine later because you already have the building blocks for it.

 

My buddies 416 stroker made 509 whp thru a 6spd and 9" rear with bone stock ls3 heads and ls3 intake. Tooley stage 3 stroker cam i think. Very impressive and drives extremely well. A proper ported head likely could get nearer 550 whp and have manners. But it wont be cheap.

 

The cheapest 400+ rotating assembly is $2500 once you add bearings and balancing, add another 3-500 for machine work, and you could save a little by doing the assembly by yourself, if not you're right back to the $3800.

I second the idea of getting it running with a stock 6.0L, then going bigger later. (it is what I am currently doing)

 

$6500 isn't the total budget, just the start of it. It's what I have on hand right now. Hoping to throw about 500 a month at the car till it gets to where I want it to go. Now you guys have me thinking about throwing a stock bottom 6.0 in it till I save up enough to stroke it. Might keep the low compression heads if I go that route, depends. Procharger is in my future so it'd probably pay off to have them around. I might be able to get a donor 2000 truck with a 6.0 in it. About whats the most I should pay for it (aution, it's got front end damage). Not a whole lot of usable parts that can swap over. Might be able to get a buddy to go in on it with me. It's all just ideas right now.

My user name was created when I was 16, before I even purchased the Camaro haha. I don't want to get a new one because I figure one day, one day, I'll do what my juvenile self thought was a lot easier/cheaper than it is.

Orr man, I've been reading your posts since before I owned a car, you helped me out back in the day with a few heater problems, just wanted to throw out a 'thank you!' for all the help back then, and the help I'm sure you'll be in the future.

http://www.texas-speed.com/p-1016-ts...-assembly.aspx

$1975.00 for a basic forged assembly. Balanced. I plan on doing all maintenance myself, I have plenty of engine building experience. Mostly all GEN I SBC buy still haha. Definitely got me thinking about just doing 6.0 for starters though. It might be worth it to wait the extra 5-6 months it'd take me to save up the money and just do it right off the bat. Avoid pulling the engine (or car off the engine) and accompanying work. Care to tell me some about your build? details appreciated. or a thread link.

C.

 

Check your link closely balancing is extra, and requires rod and main bearings. (I know, I've been eyeing the same one)

My build thread:
https://www.thirdgen.org/forums/ltx-...89-rs-lsx.html

 

Damn you're right, I thought that was all applied haha. Well crap. There's another month or so saving