[Kim57]

Guys here's a link to a discussion on another forum about the LS with a couple of reply's from it. Seems the factory did their homework on these engines and they make tons of HP without a lot of extras.
Kim
http://www.chevelles.com/forums/showthread.php?t=365904

1. INDIVIDUAL COIL PER CYLINDER. coil fires once per cycle instead of 8 times a cycle

2. sequential fuel for superior gas mileage

3. if you get an alum ls1 it is close to 200lbs lighter than a bbc. and thats weight off the front of the car

4. o ringed intake and oil pan gaskets make it a joy to work on

5. pulling cam in dead easy

6. changing springs is dead easy, also no need to do the whole io/ec or whatever it is song and dance to reset the rockers.

7. hydraulic roller from the factory

8. 15 degree heads from the factory. i wonder what 15 degree sbc or bbc heads cost

9. l92 heads that are $700 complete for the pair that outflow most bbc heads

10. 6 bolts mains stock

11. stock crank that has held 1300hp without a hiccup

13. no water through the intake makes it easier to pull

14. acc. drive belt has a tensioner from the factory

15. internally balanced from the factory

17. equal spaced intake and exhaust ports offer superior flow

18. cam sync allows for cylinder to cylinder tuning of fuel and spark

19. iron block supports up to 1500hp

20. will add more as i think of it.


oh, and they make power. my 293 cid cam only engine with only 1( thats ONE) psi boost, ran 7.8 at 98mph in a 3200lb combo

take one apart and you will see what makes them tick.. everything about them has the look and feel of high end race parts for old school small blocks.
how much is a set of 18 degree heads for a small block? i think the worst LS heads have 15 degree valve angles and the best have 12 degree valves, which opens up the port layout so there are no bottlenecks. the "bad" LS heads are better than all but the "best" old school small block heads.
6 bolt main caps with 4 bolts in the regular up and down configuration with 2 bolts that come in from the side..
head bolts that tie into the block down by the crankshaft...
the oil pan is a structural part of the block..
the cam is placed up high in the block compared to a regular small block, which allows shorter (and thus lighter) pushrods that go up to the valves at a better angle.
roller fulcrums on the shaft mounted rocker arms..
ventilation windows that let the air in the crankcase move around in the block, which causes less pumping losses as each piston moves up and down.
the oil pump is driven directly off the front of the crankshaft, and there is no distributor to put extra strain on the full roller timing chain.
roller lifters riding on a cam with a larger base circle.

The short block takes practically no effort to spin over, you can turn the assembled shortblock by hand, just grab the crank snout and spin!
The ring package is lighweight low drag(1.2mm compression and 3.0mm oil rings.)
The pistons are above the deck about .008", remember building older engines for zero deck?
with a .050 factory gasket these engines are running .042 quench, stock!
raised 55mm cam core offers several advantges for valve train stability, shorter pushrods, lightweight 8mm valves with beehive springs. With a spring swap you can turn the stock HR setup to 7k with no float.
The cylinder heads are mirror port configuration like SB2. Stock L92 heads are 260cc port with a 2.165 valve(sounds like a BBC head) they flow 300cfm untouched!
The bottom end is very stout with 6 bolt mains in a deep skirt block, turbo guys are making 1000 hp with stock bottom ends.
These engines are a joy to work on with the modern sealing, gaskets can be reused, no blue goo required.
The best part of all this is that 6.0 truck engines are plentiful and cheap!
I live in the northeast, a local recycler has 7 6.0's for sale at (1200) apiece.
Take one of these and put a cam/spring swap , carb and intake, MSD controller and you have a 500hp pump gas street engine... these are good times for those that embrace the LS platform.