LS swap debate.

I've been debating hopping on the LS bandwagon and swapping one into my 92 Camaro, especially with all this 4.8 talk lately. The car is currently a 305/auto combo.

Now, I know that the 4.8's can be had for pennies, and they make decent power for what they are, or atleast way more than I'm at right now. Here is my current dilemma:

Being that this is GRM, most all of us are doing things on a budget, because this is the real world, and I'm trying to decide of LSx vs. SBC.

I've been flirting with a mild Vortec headed 350, mild cam, enough to sound good, look good, and provide more pep. As much as I'd love to pop the hood and lie to people and say it's an LS2, theres one thing that the bowtie has over the newer lsx.

It fits right into the space I have now. I'm pretty sure that I can re-use all my existing accessories (alternator, water pump, etc.) and even drop it into my existing mounts.

With the LS, I'd probably have to buy a complete engine with all those accessories, but would a truck drive fit under a third gen hood?

I know that anything worth doing is not easy, but at the same time, if you are preaching the values of $300 dollar hidden potential, how much does it really cost if you have to change so much on the car? I'd like to make the A/C work (finally) and possibly re-use my 700r4, but dollar for dollar, which one do you think would be easier/cheaper/quicker?

I emphasize quick because I'm very bad at putting things off and letting them sit, like this car did from august until may with a bad fuel pump. That's why I haven't really began a total tear down yet, afraid if I tear it apart, it will never go back together again.

Thoughts, o peanut gallery?

What's your end goal with the car?

How much time and money can you honestly afford to put into it to get to that goal? How much are you willing to?

Personally, I wouldn't go LS-series unless you were going with an honest LSx engine, i.e LS1, 2, 3, 6, 7, 9, or A, not one of these iron-block GenIII/GenIV smallbock stuff that people for some reason insist on calling an "LS engine".

Basically, I'd stick with what you have unless you have the money to do what you actually want to do.

I am using an LS1 in my Porsche 944 and am very pleased with the performance so far. As prices come down on them, I see no reason as to why someone would not want to use the LSX engine as the preferred engine swap candidate.

Get on LS1tech and check out the swap section. You will spend way more on support parts than the engine. The upside of that is you can then boost or Nitrous the piss out of your new setup and replace engines for $300!

The third gen cars need some fabrication, a special oil pan, and F body accesory drive, IIRC. The fabrication involves making room in the crossmember for the A/C compressor.

It will be WAAAY simpler to build a 350, although ultimately a 6.0 would be faster at any given level of reliability......Does that make sense? At 450 hp, your 350 is pretty rank, and maybe life limited. A new 6.0 would have a warranty.

A 350 can guarantee an easy drop in, but an LS engine opens up many other possibilities like already having MPI fuel injection and an engine that can take boost and Nitro with stock internals. it is true that there are modifications needed to fit one in a 3rd Gen.

Also, the newer LS engines have the modern gaskets that won't start leaking at the turn of a key.

This is precisely the same debate I'm having about the eventual replacement motor in my truck, when the 305 finally tuckers out.

As much as I want that LY2 in there, I think the ancillaries, accessories and wiring will be a lot more trouble than its worth for a cheapo work truck.

Sounds like I'm going with a 350.

How much do you drive the car? The fuel injected 4.8 would be significantly more efficient, I'd imagine. You can get a lot of power for cheap out of the 350 though... the ancillaries for the LS swap add up.

In reply to njansenv:

Well, I don't drive the car for the fact that it needs alot of work, and is pretty uncomfortable for an everyday commute, not to mention inefficient. It needs work on the turn signals, both of the window motors are dying, the gauge cluster acts up sometimes, but I've held onto it because it's my first car.

Up until recently I was the only driver in our family, and I needed to haul my wife an kid around in four door air conditioned comfort, which the Camaro is not. Also, 30MPG in the Sentra is nearly double what the Camaro does. Now that we're not doing half bad, I'd like to start tinkering on this car again. It's sat quite alot for the past few years, mainly because I just didn't have the time or resources to do much to it. The 305 that's in it isn't dying on me, infact I'm amazed that it runs as good as it does knock on wood considering it's mileage, and how hard I flogged that thing in high school. Hell, I changed the oil in it a week ago, and it was still brown, and hadn't been changed in over two years! Granted, it hadn't aqquired many miles in that time, Mobil 1 filters rock!

But anyway, If I can get the air conditioning working in it again, and get a more efficient engine in it, I just may start driving it alot more. Wifey has a mom-mobile now, so I can start driving something a little more inspired, but don't get me wrong, the Nissan is still plenty fun to drive.

As far as power output, I'm not wanting to make the car a monster, just wanting to make it not as much of a dog. Right now it has a stock, and I mean stock, 305 TBI in it. Factory rated at 175 HP, 255 ft-lbs of torque, maybe 100,000 miles ago. If I could double that power, I'd be tickled pink. The car is more of a cruiser, with an automatic and t-tops, it needs paint, but it's always been more of a looker, that sounded good.

I think a 4.8, with the high-revving nature of the builds that we've been talking about, would be more suited to a track car, not so much what I use this one for, of course that can always change.... if I keep reading around on here it just might..

If you want something simple, do a 350, but you still maybe seeing upper teens/lower 20s mated to a T5.

If you want to do something different, do a 4.8L. Mated to a T56 that should get mid 20's at best. Yeah it would be a bigger project, but it would be cool in the long run.

Honestly, I can't see a 3rd Gen getting any better than lower 20s on a 700R4.

Depends on the final drive. I wouldn't be surprised to see nearly 25-30 mpg on the highway.