lq4 power adders

[79bonanza]

well i plan on swaping a lq4 or lq9 which ever i can get and ive been thinking of some performance upgrades. so far i plan on running a gto cam and a ls2 intake on it. are there any other fairly cheap upgrades that will boost performance. and do you guys have any idea on the horsepower for a lq4 with a gto cam and ls intake.

[68GMCCustom]

Why the GTO cam and is it from a LS1 or LS2? I don't think the specs are all that great vs some of the other options you'd have available.
A car intake will drop the torque some...and is why trucks have the taller, uglier, intakes.
How much power are you looking to make? What trans are you putting behind it?

Headers, a good CAI, and a good tune, and your at or over 400hp. Much more then that you'll need a better set of heads.

[79bonanza]

well ive read somewhere that a gto cam is a good cam for a lq4, the ones from a ls2.

i was just wanting to run a ls intake to put a corvette engine cover on it, i know it will drop torque and its not really a corvette engine but it would be cool looking i think.

im running a sm465 and np205 behind this, im looking to hit right around 400hp maybe alittle more but i will be happy just close to it.

o yea its goin to be going into my trail truck 1979 chevy 4x4 bonanza

[68GMCCustom]

I looked and I think its like 204/211 @ .050 dur. with .525 lift or so....which wouldn't be bad for what you're trying to do. Not sure if buying an LS2 would cost much different then modding a LQ4/9?

[matthew20061]

If your going to the trouble of changing cams, I would definitely not recommend going with another stock cam. Many people go with something much more healthy and are very happy with the results. My guess is that the stock cam from the GTO won't be too much of a gain if at all imo.

[Shon]

IF you decide to go with a stock GM cam get a Z06 cam and the LS2 intake sux, most of the guys swap over to the LS6 or FAST. BUT the truck intake will do what you are wanting.

There are lots of used cams out there in the 214ish intake duration that works really well in these motors and can still use stock TC.

[skoffice]

If I'm not mistaken you might need the timing cover for the LS2 as well, I think most of them have the Cam Position sensor in the timing cover vs the back of the block like on the truck engines. So that LS2 cam may not have what's necessary in the rear for the truck sensor. But as mentioned, unless you want to duplicate the mild driveability of an LS2, you can run a much larger cam and see good power results. Either way you go you will need a spring upgrade and recommend hardened pushrods as well. LS6 intake has proven to be much more efficeint for power than any stock LS intake too.

[68 c10 ls2]

Also if you swap your intake to an LS1/LS6 corvette/ car intake you have to switch the whole front pulley setup. You cant run a car intake on a truck pulley setup. FAST has just came out with a new TRUCK motor intake.

[jkade]

Originally Posted by 68 c10 ls2

Also if you swap your intake to an LS1/LS6 corvette/ car intake you have to switch the whole front pulley setup. You cant run a car intake on a truck pulley setup. FAST has just came out with a new TRUCK motor intake.

Is this because of the ls2 intake? I know you can run truck acc with a ls1 intake.

[Shon]

Originally Posted by jkade

Is this because of the ls2 intake? I know you can run truck acc with a ls1 intake.

All the car intakes are the same and you can run the truck stuff with the car intakes, just takes a bracket to move the idler pulley and depending on what you want to do, a car WP helps but you can get a different diameter pulley to move the belt slightly....

[flamingbig10]

I have a lq9 and I will be running a texas speed 228r with a 228/228 Duration at 050 inch Lift and 588/588 Advertised Duration with 112 lope separation. prc double springs good for 650 max lift and 7.4 Texas Speed Hardened Chromoly Pushrods!, and I will add dynatech long tube headers, cold air intake, computer tune, the trans is a 4l80e and will add a 3200 stall convertor, and a trans hd2 shift kit and I'm keeping the truck intake so I got a 3 piece vortec max engine cover for it

[68GMCCustom]

If you have to have a cover thats about the nicest you'll find. I had the same setup on my '01 Sierra C3 with a 6.0L LQ4 but the letters on it were VORTEC 6000.

flaming....are you going to be running your truck at one of the local trucks when its finished? Would be interesting to see how the two compare on the track with different setups on our 6.0's and tranny choices. Your LQ9 has more compression then my LY6, cams are a bit different (223/231@.050-.610/.617-112), mine has the L92/LS3 heads, and then of course the induction system with mine being carb'd vs efi. They both should be nasty!

[flamingbig10]

I plan on running in at reline raceway once I get some miles on the motor and rebuild the diff with 373s posi traction, cal-tracks, and drag radials

[matthew20061]

My SS has that same engine cover as well just as 68 said but with Vortec 6000. Awesome motor, that should run great with that cam!

[harnalien]

Not to hijack, but I have a question regarding cam swaps after talking to my shop tonight. The motor I am looking at is an '01 6.0 with 125,000 miles. The shop said I should replace the cam bearings. Is this necessary? That is an expense I haven't considered. Should I lOok for an engine with lower miles to alleviate this concern? If I have to tear fit all the way down, I may as well start with a shortblock. I am trying to keep this swap as simple as I can.
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[skoffice]

Originally Posted by harnalien

Not to hijack, but I have a question regarding cam swaps after talking to my shop tonight. The motor I am looking at is an '01 6.0 with 125,000 miles. The shop said I should replace the cam bearings. Is this necessary? That is an expense I haven't considered. Should I lOok for an engine with lower miles to alleviate this concern? If I have to tear fit all the way down, I may as well start with a shortblock. I am trying to keep this swap as simple as I can.
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In my opinion, cam bearings would be one of those things you do when you need to have your block bored and honed, decked, etc. At 125k you should expect to have a block prep needed around 200k if you are putting a bigger cam in or any other HP mods. If a shop looks at them and says "you need to do them because they are worn out", then of course do it. But I haven't really heard of any wiped out cam bearings on the LS engines yet. They have pretty good oiling systems. If you aren't going to dig into the short block other than a mild cam, at least do a new oil pump. .02

[harnalien]

Originally Posted by skoffice

In my opinion, cam bearings would be one of those things you do when you need to have your block bored and honed, decked, etc. At 125k you should expect to have a block prep needed around 200k if you are putting a bigger cam in or any other HP mods. If a shop looks at them and says "you need to do them because they are worn out", then of course do it. But I haven't really heard of any wiped out cam bearings on the LS engines yet. They have pretty good oiling systems. If you aren't going to dig into the short block other than a mild cam, at least do a new oil pump. .02

That's what I wad thinking. I've been researching for a long time and haven't really heard of the bearings being an issue. I will try and find one under 100k. Obviously if they are scarred, I will have to change them out. I think you can change them without tearing the engine all the way down. I don't even want ti mess with them though. This is the kind of stuff that will make me abandon the whole thing. Gotta stay focused though.
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[68GMCCustom]

If you're trying to just drop it in and go (w/o any mods)...then I'd try to find one in the 50k-80k mile range or even less. No maintenance needed other then fluids, etc....just drop it in (with efi harness and ecm re-program'd) and go. Just get the right motor for what you're wanting power wise. 4.8's are really cheap and make 300hp or more with just headers and a tune. 5.3's will give you another 50hp or more with the same setup. Step up to a the 6.0's and get another 75-150hp or so over a 4.8, depending on which (LQ4, LQ9, LY6, LS2, etc.) one you get. Of course the smaller motors would make slightly better fuel economy too.

Are you planning on getting one with a 4l60/65/70/80e type trans? Or run what you have?

[harnalien]

Originally Posted by 68GMCCustom

If you're trying to just drop it in and go (w/o any mods)...then I'd try to find one in the 50k-80k mile range or even less. No maintenance needed other then fluids, etc....just drop it in (with efi harness and ecm re-program'd) and go. Just get the right motor for what you're wanting power wise. 4.8's are really cheap and make 300hp or more with just headers and a tune. 5.3's will give you another 50hp or more with the same setup. Step up to a the 6.0's and get another 75-150hp or so over a 4.8, depending on which (LQ4, LQ9, LY6, LS2, etc.) one you get. Of course the smaller motors would make slightly better fuel economy too.

Are you planning on getting one with a 4l60/65/70/80e type trans? Or run what you have?

Yeah, I'll have to spend a little more up front to get a lower mileage engine. I don't want to tear it apart any more than I have to. I want to go with a 6.0, but the budget may dictate a 5.3. I am going to go with my 700r4 that I just had Phoenix Transmissions build for me last July. Of course, that was before I decided to do the LS swap. Had I thought I could actually do this swap, I would have held off on getting a new tranny until now. So I will keep the 700r4 and replace it if it doesn't hold up. But, if I find a screaming deal on an engine/tranny combo, I will jump on it.