6.0 LS Newbie question

[Tony C.]

Ok, I am diving into the LS motor swap and am a newbie at this. I have a 72 Nova with stock subframe. I will be replacing my ZZ4 with the LS 6.0. The car will be mostly a daily driver with a few runs to the track and maybe an auto cross when possible. Have read alot of the posts here and while have learned alot, I have also become confused. As such, I have a couple of questions:

Is the 6.0 a cheaper build than the LS3? What simple changes should I do to reach 500 hp while keeping the motor streetable. (read the LS3 crate motor is rated at 480 hp)

Will the stock 6.0 accessories and bracket work? What accessory bracket should I use for my vehicle?

Will the 6.0 work with a 700r4 or should I get a transmission for it as well?

What other "incidenta;s" should I know about?


Any help is grately appreciated, especially from those who have done a similiar swap.

Tony C.

[TnBlkC230WZ]

This swap sound very familiar. You need mounts and an oil pan. If you are on a budget, you can stick with the stock manifolds. The Corvette manifolds shipped with the LS3 will not clear. The 5th gen Camaro manifolds will work. They clear manual steering boxes and will work with the power steering box if you angle mill the driver's side.

I used Transdapt adapters and a Mast oil pan. The Corvette accessory drive clears and if you want to run AC, the Quik AC bracket works. You'll also want to plan for a new driveshaft.

[Tony C.]

Thanks for the input. While keeping costs down, which intake should I use? Any recommendations for the camshaft?

[Trevor @ Texas Speed]

With respect to a 6.0 vs. LS3 for cost to build, that's somewhat of a loaded question. It will be more money to purchase an LS3 vs. a 6.0L, but you can mod both motors just the same. Depending on the year of the 6.0L engine, it will either have cathedral-port heads or rectangular L92/LS3 heads. If it's a 2007+ 6.0L, it's most likely an LY6 that has L92/LS3 heads from the factory and variable valve timing (VVT). Either engine will be super easy to achieve over 500 flywheel HP with excellent street manners! If you purchase either engine as a long-block, you could send your cylinder heads to us and we can port, valve job, and setup your cylinder heads! The older 6.0L engines will have the LQ4/LQ9 heads that have a 72cc combustion chamber. We can mill them for no additional charge to get you to 10:1 CR no problem. Being aluminum heads, you're more than safe with 10:1 CR on good pump gas. If you have a newer 6.0L with the L92/LS3 heads, you can also send those heads to us for porting. We can set them up accordingly for the cam that you'll be running. We have a great line of camshafts that are specific for the L92/LS3 cylinder heads. We develop all of our cams on our SuperFlow 902 engine dyno, and we know the exact clearances for each of them. So, we know exactly how much milling you can get away with on our heads. The amount of milling allowed will vary from one porter to the next since it will depend on how much the valves were sunk when the valve job was performed. You can be in the 550-575 FWHP range without really trying hard and keeping the cam on the conservative side. If you have an LY6 engine with VVT and you have a harness built to keep the VVT, we also have a full line of VVT camshafts! I retained VVT on my '61 wagon, and it is an excellent setup to keep. In a nutshell, the cam gear uses a cam phaser to advance the cam in the low RPM's and retard it in the upper RPM's. So, you get the best of both worlds! You get the added benefit of the low-end power from the additional advance, as well as the added top-end power from retarding the cam. My wagon weighs in at 4,250 lb. w/ the LY6 in place, so it needed all the help it could get. ;)

The 6.0L accessories should work with the exception of the a/c compressor. It's a bottom-mount compressor, and most have clearance issues with the frame. Kwik Performance makes an a/c bracket that will mount it up top on the passenger-side to avoid any clearance issues. We have used it on most of the swaps we have done in-house, and it works great! You can use a 700R4 trans no problem. The key will be in the harness and computer that you use. If you're going to use a 700R4, which is a non-electronic trans, you'll want a computer and harness for a six-speed manual vehicle. We use Speartech for all of our custom harnesses, and John makes it too easy for the install. The year for the PCM and vehicle flash will be dependent on the engine you use. The newer engines will use a 58x reluctor wheel, and the older ones will use a 24x. You want to choose a combo that you can use a factory VIN for. It will be harder if you try to use an engine and trans that was not mated together at the factory (such as a 24x reluctor engine with a 6L90 transmission).

For intake manifolds, you can use the factory ones that come with either engine. They'll work just fine. The car version of the manifolds will look nicer, though, since they do not have a big engine cover like the trucks do. It just comes down to how much emphasis you have on the look of it once it's in place.

Feel free to give us a call, and any of our sales guys will be glad to assist you...even if it's only to pick our brains! We've certainly done enough of them to know what does and does not work. :)

Thanks!

Trevor
Texas Speed & Performance

[garys 68]

Wow Trevor covered pretty much everything. One thing to keep in mind, the 700R4 needs a TV cable. That's pretty easy to set up on a drive by cable motor, not so much on drive by wire. And many later motors have no provision for drive by cable. Definitely consider a new trans.

[Tony C.]

Thank you Trevor for the response. Sorry for the delay. Had been super busy with work and family life that I hadn't had a chance to log on. I will be giving you all a call.

Tony C.