6.0 power upgrades

[vj72ct]

hey guys great forum!!i have a 94 suburban 1500 im setting up with a 6.0 this spring and i wanted to ask you guys what you think would be good for a cam swap.my engine is an 01 or 02 6.0 i got from a full size van.im swapping the heads to a set of 97 vette heads my friend upgraded to z06 style heads and maybe his factory intake. i wanna throw in a cam while im swapping the heads.also should i go with headers or are the manifolds ok.im looking for something to smoke the tires on demand and still tow 5 quads on a trailer.the truck has 20's on it and its 4x4.thanks guys

[Detroitjoe]

if you swap the heads you will have an iron block LS2.
A little cam would be nice with the engine out. what springs are on the heads?
Headers are very easy pic one!
but it might be safer to get the 6.0l running before you change anything??
Your torque converter selection will be very important as to keeping towing.
welcome to the site.

[Jamest]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(vj72ct &#064; Mar 4 2007, 07&#58;29 PM) [snapback]85239[/snapback]</div>

hey guys great forum&#33;&#33;i have a 94 suburban 1500 im setting up with a 6.0 this spring and i wanted to ask you guys what you think would be good for a cam swap.my engine is an 01 or 02 6.0 i got from a full size van.im swapping the heads to a set of 97 vette heads my friend upgraded to z06 style heads and maybe his factory intake. i wanna throw in a cam while im swapping the heads.also should i go with headers or are the manifolds ok.im looking for something to smoke the tires on demand and still tow 5 quads on a trailer.the truck has 20&#39;s on it and its 4x4.thanks guys
[/b]

6.0L LQ4 I THINK. THERE IS AN ARTICLE IN CAR CRAFT WHERE THEY PULL A LQ4 OUT OF THE JUNK YARD AND PUT L92 HEADS AND A CAM IN IT. I THINK IT SAYS 475 HP. THAT IS GOOD NUMBERS FOR AN LQ4. JETHRO 3 TOLD ME ABOUT THE ARTICLE. AS FAR AS THE STALL, I WOULD USE THE THE HD2500 FOR THE 4L80E DEPENDING ON WHAT TRANS YOU HAVE. GOOD STALL FOR PULLING.

JAMEST

[adz]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Jamest &#064; Mar 5 2007, 09&#58;44 AM) [snapback]85281[/snapback]</div>

6.0L LQ4 I THINK. THERE IS AN ARTICLE IN CAR CRAFT WHERE THEY PULL A LQ4 OUT OF THE JUNK YARD AND PUT L92 HEADS AND A CAM IN IT. I THINK IT SAYS 475 HP. THAT IS GOOD NUMBERS FOR AN LQ4.
[/b]

http://www.carcraft.com/projectbuild/116_0...q4_short_block/

They ran the stock heads with just a cam swap, carbureted intake, MSD, and Carb.

485hp/450tq

[vj72ct]

oh i just got some more info on my motor it is from an 04 silverado 2500 2wd,vin code u,lq4.is this a better motor than i thought i had??should i go with the computer from this truck and get the pedal assembly or change throttle bodies and use an older computer??thanks again for helping out a newbie&#33;&#33;&#33;

[mongoose90584]

I would use the new computer and get nelson performance to tune it.

[badseed91]

lq4 heads are basicaly open chamber ls6 heads, i would spend the money on a set of new l92 heads vs the vette heads unless you are looking for more compression. I would keep the compression low because you may want to super or turbo later. getting the throttle peddal for the throttle by wire is way easier to work with than cables especailly if you are doing a swap to a 94&#39; model. Depending on what cam you get will be one of the most improtant factors to what stallyou get. being that you have a burban that weighs a billion tons i would think at least 3200 if not bigger, but then again it depends on how big your cam is. You need to know tire size, gear ratio, head flow numbers, cam size, type of vehicle and vehicle weight. those among other factors will contribute to what cam and stall you choose. Also since your truck probably weighs 3 tons or more your going to want as much torque down low as possible so l92 heads my not be what you want. You may be better off sticking to the heads you have with some mild port work or some patriot heads. I just see the vette heads as kind of a down grade over the heads you have now. Hope this helps.

[misterp]

You got a good donor engine. The LQ4/LQ9 heads are very good pieces, and up until the just-released L92 heads there pretty-much hasn&#39;t been anything better. If you really want tire-shredding power I would suggest you look at the L92 head swap, several companies have complete kits now (Scoggin-Dickey, SLP for sure) and you can make a good bit of power with a cam that is still decently suited for use in a heavy vehicle. Converter, I would not go more than 3000-RPM myself, I run a 2800 in my truck now and like it. AFA buying a converter, I&#39;m going to recommend you get one with a GOOD lockup clutch so think PI or TCS, it will be expensive but you&#39;re going to want to drive WOT in high gear without worry and in this case with the kinds of vehicle weights being discussed I would not skimp on the lockup clutch. And get the PCM & harness out of the donor truck with the motor.

Mr. P.

[badseed91]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Mister P &#064; May 8 2007, 04&#58;13 PM) [snapback]92725[/snapback]</div>

You got a good donor engine. The LQ4/LQ9 heads are very good pieces, and up until the just-released L92 heads there pretty-much hasn&#39;t been anything better. If you really want tire-shredding power I would suggest you look at the L92 head swap, several companies have complete kits now (Scoggin-Dickey, SLP for sure) and you can make a good bit of power with a cam that is still decently suited for use in a heavy vehicle. Converter, I would not go more than 3000-RPM myself, I run a 2800 in my truck now and like it. AFA buying a converter, I&#39;m going to recommend you get one with a GOOD lockup clutch so think PI or TCS, it will be expensive but you&#39;re going to want to drive WOT in high gear without worry and in this case with the kinds of vehicle weights being discussed I would not skimp on the lockup clutch. And get the PCM & harness out of the donor truck with the motor.

Mr. P.
[/b]

i forgot what magazine tested the l92 heads on a 6.0 but the l92 heads were way down on torque down low vs the 6.0l heads. they may have switched the cam for the comparisson but if i remember right they kept the same cam. With a big ass truck it would pay off to have as much low end power as you can get. i had a 2800 stall in my truck and i hated it. i took it out and went back to stock because it was barely noticeable and i sold it to get a bigger stall. I got a good sized cam vs a ls6 cam. Its not the biggest cam you can get but you can tell its down on low end power and way up on top end power. Thus a bigger stall and bigger trans cooler. If you do decide to go with a head swap make sure you get the high rev lifters from gm. After a hard run when i get back to a red light or something i can hear a horrible ticking sound, after about 1hr or so of not running when i start my truck it doesnt tick anymore. If you do change your cam make sure you get better push rods too. I wouldnt trust the stock ones over 5500 rpm especially with higher spring pressures. Give allen a call at nelson performance for a computer tune.

[badseed91]

Sorry guys i think i got a little confused as to what magazine i was talking about so after work i looked through stacks and stacks of magazines till i found the may 07&#39; car craft issue for low buck 6.0l power. pg. 46 shows the power curves and the l92 heads lost power from 2200 rpm all the way till 4800 rpm. BUT, they changed to a bigger cam so instead of condeming the l92 heads i would rather blame the cam they used. i wish i could get an apples to apples comparison where they only change one thing at a time and do a dyno pull after each one instead of two or three things. Sorry for the confusion. l92 heads are bad ass again and everyone with a 4.0" bore or bigger should have a set. However there is still an ongoing debate as to which head gasket to use. the 6.2l head gasket or the 6.0l head gasket for the simple reason that the 6.0 gasket will hang into the combustion chamber of the l92 head. the l92 heads also need off set intake rockers and a totaly different intake. A head swap to l92s can probably be done for under 1500 bucks. way cheaper than any aftermarket head. Sorry to confuse anyone.