I was watching powerblock on spike last weekend and xtreme 4x4 was putting a 6.0 in their blog rock crawler. they were talking about how its basically the same as the ls2 except its a cast block and its cheaper. i went looking around at them today. would that be a doable swap into a second gen or would it just be too heavy?? any info you guys have would be appreciated.

ps. im sorry i seem to be THAT guy that just comes on here for questions all the time. i dont really know enough to help out with other peoples problems, i am actually on here quite a bit just trying to learn

 

learnin is good....we all learn everyday!

 

just gunna try this

 

I would say GO for it. It's an awesome swap and very affordable. The LQ4's can easily be found from most trucks and vans from the late 90's and up. I've even seen them put into Firebirds and Camaros to replace the LT1's. Theres special motor mounts available and the oil pan is specific, and I've read even with mild upgrades they push out big power. It would certainly be a great project and I'd love to see it done

 

the only major problem i have right now is 1 money. and 2 i daily drive it in the summer but i guess i could just drive my truck through summer... its not nearly as fun. and i heard switch the cam and then also put the ls3 intake on.

 

if you get an LQ4 or LQ9 you'll need a different serpentine belt setup. The truck setup is way too high. The intake needs to be swapped with an LS1, LS2 or LS6 intake which puts the throttle body in the way of the truck water pump pulley. If you want to run EFI you'd need a good wiring harness and someone to tune the PCM. I have a friend who does that for a part time job. He has done some repairs on some pretty badly built harnesses that people bought off ebay so it's important to find a good one.

It's a great swap and you can get big numbers for a lot less money in high performance parts.

 

The LQ9is the better motor... 20 to 45 more HP then the LQ4 motor.... LQ9 is a stock 345 HP and was found in Caddy Escalades and the big high end Suburban...

 

well ive researched this since i woke up this morning. 7am looking at engines. a great way to spend a day. got the go ahead from my parents. im 18 soo i kinda still need that. just need to make the money and get the engine. my cousin just swapped an ls1 into his nova so i have my tech support (somewhat) down. does anyone have a round about number money wise. im going to want to pull the trans along with the engine because mine is a 3 speed.

 

The cast LQ motors are not too heavy. Since the 2nd gens came with a big block Chevy they'll handle almost anything weight or HP wise. I would try to keep an eye out for a wrecked truck or SUV in the years your engine would be stock. This will provide you with the engine and trans, plus all the computer and wiring harnesses needed to make the swap affordable. You'll also have a overdrive trans to make it better on the highway. Be sure to look for 2WD trucks, as the 4WD will probably not the the right tranny for your 2nd Gen swap.
Once you've got all you need from the donor you can continue to part it out and recoup some of the purchase price, then scrap the remainder to get scrap price from it too.

 

sounds like a good plan. first i have to get the parts car out of my backyard.