Well after building an entirely new 4v mod motor and getting it on the dyno, making just shy of 900whp. and popping 3 head gaskets in 2 months on a brand new setup i have decided the time has come to switch teams. Starting this week i will be selling my entire drivetrain and starting fresh, this time however, going LS. I will make a for sale post in the proper area of the forums for anyone interested in an extremely well built motor, tvs supercharger, and t56. Along with other various parts from the 2003 cobra based drivetrain.
The new setup so far will be either a built 5.3 or 6.0 with an 88mm single turbo kit paired with a TH400 with 3 speed manula valve body. Holley high ram intake and A2W intercooler powered by a holley terminator x stand alone.
The car was pretty fast beofre running 9.9x @146mph through a 6 speed, but i plan to bring the car into all new territory. Hoping to be capable of deep 8s at 170+. So this thread will be the start of the progress of this build. i will be keeping my fuel system as it is already beefy and i will be keeping my trunk mounted ic tank and pump set up.
pictured below is the engine bay with the old set up and vmp 2.3 tvs. i now have a 2.65 tvs which will be for sale. Currently i have a 4.8 i will be using for mock up and testing on the new platform and a few other odds and ends.
RACEC4R
New Reader
9/30/19 12:58 p.m.
Oh wow. Daddy like! Dream swap for a lot of folks (current setup).
Swapping in an LS was the best decision I ever made. Granted, its nowhere near your power goals, but the sentiment rings true.
I'm also considering turbocharging mine, but controlling the costs is just about impossible once you go off the deep end. You are clearly prepared.
Can't wait to see it take shape.
In reply to RACEC4R :
thanks! yea at some point you just accept its a lot of money and stop tracking it. i should have more power than this in the new setup at about 60% of the cost. i should get about 20k back from my current drivetrain and so long as i wisely buy what i need for the new build i should have a substantial amount left over.
i am excited though.
Sloppy mechanics is a good resource of good budget LS info and have a bunch of free tunes available to get a good base started. Also they are currently trying to go 8's for $8k which has been pretty interesting to watch.
edizzle89 said:
Sloppy mechanics is a good resource of good budget LS info and have a bunch of free tunes available to get a good base started. Also they are currently trying to go 8's for $8k which has been pretty interesting to watch.
Umm....
Link to the tunes?
Also, turbo 4.8 swap is very relevant to my interests. So i will be watching intently.
In reply to Dusterbd13-michael :
Sloppy Tune Cabinet
Sloppy Mechanics is very GRM oriented.
i mispoke earlier. luckily the guy i was getting the motor was wrong about what it was an it is a gen 4 5.3 this is ideal due to the fact i will most likely stud this motor and re seal it and should be good to see what power the new setup will make. he wound up selling it to me for the same price ($400) so i could not say no. it has 799 heads on it which are comparable to 243 heads so that is also a win. now its time to figure out what cam i want to go with. get the motor freshened up so when the engine bay is ready i can drop it in.
RacetruckRon said:
In reply to Dusterbd13-michael :
Sloppy Tune Cabinet
Sloppy Mechanics is very GRM oriented.
I used one of his base tunes and followed a bunch of his advice . My turbo ls truck would be challenge eligible if I wasn’t 1500 miles away. If that gives you an idea of how cheaply you can turbo ls. That being said mine is only built to be a 500-550whp set up.
Dude, 500whp should be PLENTY.
Where are the recipes to go with the tunes? His website is.... interesting and unintuitive
In reply to Dusterbd13-michael :
Watch his don’t bs me builds on YouTube and his what to buy in 2018.
They are very informative.
In reply to 1SlowVW :
I would make that trip just to put that thing in the challenge. That would be sick. This year im bringing a nitrous 302 for the challenge but next year i will probably build some sort of turbo ls car.
In reply to surfshibby07 :
3k miles round trip...I’m good.
Sorry to contribute to the railroading of your thread. By the looks of things you’ve got a sweet fox body that should be a great home for a more legit turbo ls build than mine.
In reply to 1SlowVW :
3k smile road trip* lol. Ive never been this is my first year. Im fortunate to be 2 hours south. But ive heard its awesome.
And no worries. Any ls swap talk is welcome. I can always learn more. Hopefully the car turns out better than what it is now. Always trying to improve.
oh noooooooooo :(
lol j/k, it's fine. it's your car and i can't blame you for going ls.
but still...traitor :P
also how much for the 900hp engine with the bad head gasket lol (more than i can afford, i imagine)
In reply to slowbird :
well *clears throat* if someone wants the long block i will resurface the heads to be safe and fix the head gasket issue. the long block would be 10k. or i am willing to seperate the heads and the short block and sell the heads with cams for 3500 and the short block for 6500.
i currently have everything listed on craigslist and facebook. might even go into ebay. i have the blower listed. trans, and motor. already sold the IRS.
I wouldn't call an LS Foxbody going to the dark side. More like seeing the light. Lol
You're in good company.
In reply to TheV8Kid :
looks awesome!
for those interested in my $2000 challenge build, here is episode 4. also a foxbody lol.
https://youtu.be/gtIZoqbQeN4
Well the tear down officially began tonight. Sold my t56 to a friend and my irs to another friend. Also sold the racestar drag wheels. 
It has been many moons since i posted in this thread. But here is an update:
Motor is assembled. Used a gen 4 5.3. Have a btr stage 2 turbo cam, refreshed 799 heads, and all new gaskets. Also have a holley mkdrise intake.
I have a built level 4 fti th400, an on3 78mm turbo kit, and a holley terminatlr x.
In addition to all that i have a 10 gallon fuel cell in the rear with a soon to arrive magna fuel 750.
Its still a few months from being done, but its worlds closer than it was. Will post some youtube links shortly but here is the set up in the car.
In reply to Patientzero :
Thanks! I like that new edge in your pic!
Well its been a long time, but the car has come a good ways. everything short of the fuel system and half of the cold side under the hood is about done. The TH400 is installed, the rear end is built and installed. I test fitted the 28s on the rear and have to some clearancing. The car is set to be put back on the ground in the next wek or so and then i can bring her to the shop where we will get the holley wired up along with the arc switch panel. Also need to weld a few things up like the additional cage tubing since i went from 8 point to 10 point.
Well progress has been slow due to the challenge car (rx7)
But a few weeks back i finally got the level 4 fti th400 installed. Reused my stifflers trans mount which conveniently works for the t56 i had in it and a th400. mated to the trans is a boss hogg 3400 stall converter.
Now, with the arrival of some rear lower control arms, i can set it back on the ground for the first time in almost a year. Ill be able to measure what driveshaft i need made, and can bring the car to the shop to convert the 8 point cage to a 10 point. Still a few months out from running, but when its done, ohhh baby it should be a ripper.
