Engine help????

[78trans]

Me and my dad are building my 78 trans am. We have the choice of a 406 with an accel super ram injection system with a pro charger supercharger or a 6.0 ls engine. Which one would yall choose? This will be a car that i drive to high school. Doesn't have to be a daily driver. I have a truck for that.

[formula]

Well, other than drive it to school, what are you going to do with the car?

[justasquid]

what trans are you running?
is the LS a stock 6.0?

A lot will depend on what you plan to do with the car. just a daily driver, the 406 makes less sense. However, fitting the ls engine can become very costly. Theres a lot more cost involved other than just dropping in an engine. Fuel system, electronics, mounting hardware.... ect can add up really quick. It really is a toss up between what you plan to do with the car, how much you want to spend on the car to get it going and the amount of work its going to take to get it there. Both engine choices can have their good points and their bad.........So, to solve those issues.... my vote goes for a 400 or 455 pontiac.

[Scott Parkhurst]

Everything is moving toward LS engines. The smart move is to go LS- you'll be ready for the future. If you're in high school, you've got some future to think about!

[formula]

I still maintain that until we know what he plans to do with the car, this is more of a popularity contest than anything!

[WS6]

x2 is it an autocross car, drag car, just a driver etc. both choices have their merits

[wedgehead]

If we go with the 408 we have all the electronics already. The 6.0 we have no electronics for it. We do have cam and heads for the 6.0. Was looking to probably carb the 6.0. We would like to do some track days with it and go to the drag strip. We are putting c5 brakes on it and del-alum bushings in the suspension. This being built on a very limited budget. The 408 has eagle crank and rods srp pistons edelbrock rpm heads and a super ram injection system. The supercharger is a vortec system for a TPI engine. I do think about efi the 6.0 but the added cost of the control system could be spent elsewhere. We are going to run a 200r4 trans that we already have.

[WS6]

Tough call then. I'd let it fall to the budget then if it is tight. What I worried about was the fact that you're going to have a SC that lags and that can cause problems with an autocross type setting where you either want boost right now or cubic inches not boost a second later.

[formula]

Being an EFI nut, I'd pick the BBC purely because of the fuel injection. Carbing an LS takes away one of the best parts imo.

[WS6]

pssst hey Wes. The 406 is a small block 400 bored 0.030 over 396/402 is the big block from the late 60s early 70s. I agree that carbing an LSx takes away a huge part of what makes these engines so good. However, the carbed guys don't have any real complaints about the way it performs.

[Ishmael]

If the huffed tpi engine makes enough power for you just pull the trigger. There are all kinds of benefits to the LS like almost limitless power and drivability but you've got to install it and that is going to be a little more difficult and costly. You'll still have to plumb for injection with the tpi but that isn't difficult. Your 200r4 isn't an issue as it could go behind either engine. It isn't a daily so milage won't be a concern and how often are you actually going to autox it. If the engines cost the same, go that route unless you someday want a whole bunch more power - then go ls.

[formula]

pssst hey Wes. The 406 is a small block 400 bored 0.030 over 396/402 is the big block from the late 60s early 70s. I agree that carbing an LSx takes away a huge part of what makes these engines so good. However, the carbed guys don't have any real complaints about the way it performs.

auuuuuuuuuuuggghhhhhhhhhhhhhhh damn. CAUGHT ME--I was thinking 402.

From what I've seen, the carbed guys actually make a little more power than efi lsxs, most likely due to the intake configuration, BUT I'll trade 10 hp for the ability to wake up, stroll out to the car, turn the key and start every time.

Maybe I'm just not good enough with carbs, but I had to retrim mine twice a week when I was daily driving it, especially during the fall and spring, to keep things from going all wonky. That may have been partially due to south carolina's ridiculous 70-at-noon-30-at-night fall and spring weather, but still, i've never had the bird so much as hiccup at me since I switched to efi. I actually pulled my injectors just so I could hug them the other day, I love the reliability of efi so much.

[Evil Stu]

My DD.

Simple and effective, like a bat. Not to discourage you from an LS, lots of nice conversions out there. Somebody had to vote for the Poncho.

A non FI traditional SBC makes the car harder to sell if you ever decide to IMO.