TonyG

I just have to say that your car is beautiful irrespective of the conversion.

Just got to get rid of that huge US spec rear bumper....

Good job.


TonyG

pormgb

Yes, I need to get RID of that bumper, I probably tackle that next spring.

Thanks!!

Baptizo

I drove a '83 944 N/A with just a LT1 one in it before I found my 951 and needless to say, it was rather fun to drive and very quick.

carlege

Im guessing because he spent big money. Its kind like when gas was $5 a gallon i came to terms with it because i convinced myself i was getting a better tank of gas

TonyG

Sorry.. but I would never do this conversion for 300Hp. There's no point because a 951 engine will easily live at those power levels.

The reason to do the conversion is for higher power levels where the 951 engine just won't live (not with out problems...).
As far as the the junk yards giving you a VIN to ease your fears:

GM LSx engines do not have a VIN on them. Thus while the junk yard will give you a VIN, you have zero way of knowing if the engine you get, is the engine that came out of the car they gave you the VIN to.

Honestly... I know first hand that junk yards invest in very good steam cleaning equipment, they they clean the crap out of the engines.... and laugh about how every engine is a 30k mile enigne.

These guys laugh at people that buy their engines. I know. I know several of them. It's pretty bad.

I'm not scaring anybody. The facts are clear. LS1's were built between 1998 & 2004. Thus the newest LS1 will be at LEAST 8 years old by now. And the oldest will be 14 years old.

Honestly... how many 30k mile 8 year old engines will be sitting in a junk yard? Even if you figure way below industry anual milages... say... 12k miles per year... and say that the newest car with a LS1 was sitting there for 2 years before anybody bought the engine... it would still have at least 72k miles on it.

That's the reality of the LS1. And the LS6's were stopped in 2004 as well. So while you can buy them both new, and they are geat values... used out of a junk yard are most likely going to be high mile engines with unknown histories.

That's just the plain truth.

You could go to a LS2 or LS3, but you'd spend more money.


That's up to you.

Valve springs wear and break all the time. Take your chances if you're a gambling man....



You can spend what ever you want to spend. That's up to you.

Speed & reliability cost money. And there is a direct relationship between dollars and speed & reliability.


TonyG

TonyG

Yeah... big money.

I got a brand new LS6 long block for $3250 delivered. Huge dollars...

Yeah... I could have saved maybe $500 bucks on a used, mileage unknown LS6 off of ebay.

TonyG

Gator_86_951

I always wondered how you make a claim on one of these crate motors when it is put into a track or whatever car. I put a crate motor in one of my 68 mustangs (now sold), but I can't imagine easily making a claim on a crate motor that explodes in a track car. I think at that point you are really just buying it because it is new, and as tony says, it really isn't worth the headache of stressing out about the real mileage.

All that said, I rebuilt my 2.5L and it still sits in arlington after 5 years down, not running. rofls. Will have a wrenching party to put a new head on and get it started soon though.

xschop

Hey PormG your swap has turned out great. Alot of detail there and quality workmanship. The devil is in the details and everyone will build these things to suit their taste, budget, driving style and ego for some. If you can shave an extra 70 lbs off the front end, then the iron-blocks are the way to go. I'm not afraid to 100-shot mine on all stock internals as my friend with an LS1 C5 is. He already blew up his. The Iron lined cylinders in the alloy blocks are not immune to the physics of metal expansion rates and they do drop cylinder sleeves if boosted too fast, I have seen it before first hand. Also I drove an LS1 converted 944 a few years back and thought that it could use extra weight up front, because somewhere around 120-140 mph it did just like any other 944 I've owned and the front end "floated"....the iron-block cured that on my swap as I have pegged the speedo and tach with the 951 trans with NA 5th gear. Do not discount the truck motors. I'm writing this reply at 3:30 in the morning as I've been hammering out more 948 adapter plates. The rate of blown 4 cylinders has skyrocketed in the last year and more LM7, LM4, L33's are being transplanted, besides mine, I know of 5 others and have had more inquiries about the 5.3 swap than anything else. The latest is a well-known racer here and they all are looking for something the 4 banger lacks....low RPM torque and reliability.

docwyte

Tony ran a junkyard LS1 for 5 years before it blew up. That's pretty good durability on a race car.

My builder was able to see/hear my motor run in the car before the yard pulled it, so he was able to verify the mileage. Motor was clean and a late model LS1.

I could've gotten a truck motor, but for me the point was to end up at the same weight as before, so the LSx was the way to go.

Isn't it impossible to buy a crate LS6 new anymore? I thought GM stopped making them...

TonyG

Yeah... I ran a junk yard 2001 engine that I bought in 2005. It was 4 years old at the time. That's why I did it.

Now days... that same junk yard engine is going on 12 years old. And that was my point.

You can still get new LS1 and LS6 engines. I know several people here that have just purchased them (including myself). The price went up from $3100 to about $4500 for new long block LS6's and about $4500 for fully dressed LS1's.

My other point about the junk yard engines was that very few people can be there to actually watch an engine pulled out of a car at a junk yard. And unless you can actually be there to witness it being pulled from the car, the VIN means nothing. Additionally, why would anybody need the VIN if they could be there to watch the engine being pulled out of the car?

TonyG

TonyG

[QUOTE=robstah;8867372]Once again, I did it for the reliability. And when you can match the torque with


Who tells you this BS? Seriously.
QUOTE]

Yes... seriously.

Here's a picture of 3 broken valve springs out of my LS1.

And I won't bother with the rest of your emotional response. You should build your project however you want.

TonyG

xschop

The LS1 springs (green) are of lower grade metallurgy. You can get the Yellow Z06 springs for $50 set NEW...cheap insurance and no valve float. I'm not sure if the LM4 or L33's got the Yellow springs or not. But the valves in the LM7/LM4 are lighter weight (smaller Dia.) and I never floated mine at High RPM either.

TonyG

Those are not stock LS1 springs. They are aftermarket springs from comp cams.

Also... per many post I've seen on the internet forums and from the engine builder I use... both see lots of stock Z06 yellow spring failures. I took out the yellow stock LS6 springs that came in my new engine and installed a much higher quality aftermarket set.

TonyG

xschop

Yes, if you installed a cam with higher than .550 lift then more expensive aftermarket springs are required. To push the envelope further ....Na filled or Ti valves if you tap into your 401K

xschop

The Local guy with his Carrera turbo whatever doesn't rev his engine at me any more when I spot him....I'm sure it was embarassing that my 948 left him at the light a few weeks back. And if you are not in the know, GM has a new set of toys out called L92's and bolt on to the 6.0 blocks......450RWH on the cheap