Second Engine post, first here

This is what I have, and this is what I would like to know. I got a 1995 Chevy Tahoe LT 4WD that is lowered 3" in front and 5" in back. I have a little couple engine goodies but not really much of anything. In any case, this fall I am looking at swapping in a new engine and possibly a new tranny ( I may keep mine if I can and just rebuild it). I was thinking going with a efi kit to take away my TBI but farmtruc got me interested in this. I want to know what engine I am needing to look for so I can start getting parts for this swap. When I say need to know, I am very paper literate to things, but know very little about this engine, so if you could give me specific years and models of cars that they were in that would help me tremendously. As of right now I am trying to figure out the difference between an LS1 and an LS6, so you get the idea. I am guessing from what I have read the last three hours, but I should look for a late 90's camaro/firebird for my donor right? I want to keep the auto tranny, and the AC. Finally, this may be a stretch, but does anyone make a swap kit for this?

The LS1's come in the 97-03 vettes, and 98-02 fbody's. The trucks also come with a variant (same engine pretty much) from 99-03, I believe the 03's are aluminum now and not iron.
If you are going the LS1 route, most ppl will say get a 01+ fbody engine. You can get a complete one for about $3500K, that's everything, trans, engine, pcm , harness. Check out our classifiieds, if I had the $$ I'd get that one, good price and complete.
If you are going the truck engine LS1 route, I'd say put a 6.0L in yours. The 99+ trucks came with a 4.8, 5.3, 6.0L engines, 99% of the parts are interchangeable. The older 6.0L's have a longer crank that doesn't allow you to mate it up with a 4l60E. So a 6.0L 01+ would be a good idea.
For your swap i'd go with a 6.0L and a 4L80E trans setup. I'm not sure how much it would cost, but i'm guessing about 3K for a complete engine and 1500$ for the trans. You have a 4x4 and you want low end grunt and power and good gas mileage, so a 6.0L would be badass. Just cause it's a 6.0L and a truck engine, don't let it fool you, they also come in Escalades, and the SS, plus one guy was running 11's with a 6.0L. It's a hard debate between the 6.0L and LS1 but since you won't be going 140+in that truck, and probably off roading, the lowend power from the 6.0L would be better.
The LS6 is an upgrade from the LS1, GM put those in 01+ vettes called the Z06, they have light pushrods, light valves, better heads, ventalated and support block, and between this and the exhaust on the vette, it makes about 405hp, instead of the 350hp.

If someone doesn't do this swap soon, i'm going to have to be the first (that i know of) to put a 6.0L (ls1) and trans in a TBI Vortec truck, I think it would be awesome and not that hard, I bet you could line up the trans and engine just right to make it fit into your existing transfer case. I'm almost positive the casings mate up to one another. I keep telling my wife i'm going to put one in her 99 tahoe, someday, hehehe.


good luck, and post as many questions as you want,


allen

ok, so if i have a 1992 silverado.....what would be better for speed and torque? the 6.0 or the LS1?

i am confused about the pros and cons of them both.
would the 6.0 be better for towing and torque?
and the LS1 be better for top speed?

thanks tyler

I know if i put my foot out someone's gonna chopp it off, hahah, both engines are badass, but i was saying the 6.0L might be better for lower end power. If you're going to race it, the 6.0L is good as well as the LS1. It's a hard choice, I'll go with the ls1 for racing, and i'm going with the 6.0L for my tahoe.
there are a lot of 6.0L's out there that are fast, the majority of them go for it when building a boosted engine, however there are plenty of boosted ls1's out there too,

just in general, do the 6L for towing, low power and occasional racing, or a built boosted engine, go for the ls1 for racing, although mine pulls just fine when towing.

i know, i beat around the bush, lol, but both engines are great, the 6L is build off the ls1 so how can you go wrong.


later,

allen

thanx :hshake:

Alright Allen, got a couple more for you. Did I read wrong or are you getting 23 Miles per gallon on your truck. If this is so, that is what I want. I don't care too much about the low end power or the torque if I can get over 20 per gallon, after all, what is 10 horsepower once you have like 325. Also, are there some parts that I can buy to increase the power and torque during the buildup? I know old four-bolt 350 mains all day, and I know what parts to add to make them better. Do these new mostly computer powered motors work on about the same plain of thought? Finally, if you are getting the 23 MPG, then your setup is what I want, and I would like to know exactly what you have so that I can do exactly the same!!! :taunt:

I don't get 23mpg, i get 24mpg, hehehehe,
I have this:

ls6 block, ls1 internals, 6.0L truck intake, all truck front accessories, vette maf, built 4L60E. I really like how the truck intake looks in a truck, i'm sure the ls6 gives a little more power, but my preference is the truck intake..
I'm guessing i have about 380hp at the crank, i'll find out now that i have new tires, i'll take it to the dyno pretty soon.
To build power for the ls1 during the buildup, slap a cam in the there, maybe the gm hotcam or similar. They also respond well to a good exhaust system.
You can basically follow all old school rules for building your ls1.
It may be a little more difficult to piece your engine together like me, but i really like the way it came out.

Just from my experience, the 4L60E trannies aren't the best , but they can be, just make sure it's built to push those big tires and heavy truck. a shift kit and some clutch packs, along with a hd 2/4 band should be ok

keep the questions coming, i don't mind.

I forgot to ask earlier, but don't you have quite a problem with integrating the vortec into the system. Also, wouldn't it be at least a little better to set up some kind of Cold Air Intake for your engine instead of the restrictive air box? Thanks again...

oh yeah, also, when you say stock ls1 internals, then could I just buy an ls1 rebuild kit, or do you have a better idea?

Can you elaborate on the Vortec question, i'm lost :doh:

Most ppl do build or buy a compatible airbox system. Cold air is best, i had to do it my way becuase i couldn't think of anything right away, someday i'll build a cold air box.

Are you planning on rebuilding an ls1 or buying a complete one. I'm sure a rebuild would be pretty close to a good running one.


allen

the question that I had about the vortecs is, and I don't know if you had the same problem, but I thought that the vortec came out in the trucks in 95 and the yukon/tahoes and suburbans in 96. I know that my 95 tahoe has a 5.7 350 TBI engine and it is not vortec. Because of all of the computer parts and sensors, was it not quite difficult introducing them into the engine compartment and making it all work together correctly? Also, when I was talking about the internals, you said that you have an ls6 block with ls1 internals. So I was figuring that if I could get my hands on one of those blocks, then I could just get an ls1 rebuild kit and that would have all the internals that I would need? or am i wrong? I just thought that this would be easier than trying to find one of these engines blowed up around here. Idaho is not exactly notorious for fast street cars... all we have around here is jacked up 4x4's... :laugh:

Hmm, no vortec huh, my bro in law has a 91 s10 i believe and it has a vortec engine, v6. The new engines are also vortecs, if that's worth anything.
If you buy a ls6 block and then a rebuild kit for an ls1, i'm not sure, but aren't rebuild kits, especially ones that come with pistons and everything else, require a rebuilt block also, like boring the cylinders and stuff. If you can find a rebuild kit for stock dimensions, it will work.


allen

what i meant about the vortecs was directed at you farmtruc? wasn't your truck a 350 tbi before you put your engine in? and if so, was it hard to introduce all the extra computer?

i had the v6 / auto. i ripped all my engine harness out and replaced it with the truck harness. i simply spliced into my existing power lines and added a fuse box.

not too hard,



allen

thanks allen... i'm definitely interested in doing this I am just a little bit afraid... I've only done two engines before, and both were carbureated (sp?) so I don't want to bite off more than I can chew... youknowwhati'msayin? I just want to get some decent power and some gas mileage...

i was kind of like that too with my harness ( not as bad, i have a little wiring experience), but if you take each wire one at a time and find out what it does and take your time, it's really easy, mark all your wires, power, signals, sensors, etc... and before you know it , you'll know that harness very well. just clip or pull all the other wiring out of the harness and it really cleans it up.

good luck, and don't hesitate to ask questions,


allen

What ever happened to this project?

Quote:

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Originally posted by 95TahoeSS@Nov 13 2003, 03:08 PM
What ever happened to this project?

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I'd like to know too, I'll be doing a similar project once I get everything in order, been kind of crazy lately.

I'd like to know how it all turned/turns out.


allen

all the full size gm vehicles started the vortec in 96. I believe 88-95 was TBI.


-Mike