Quote Originally Posted by TurboFox View Post
Ive got 3. The LS2 came from the states and the two alum 5.3s i have were off kijiji. My friend got his t56 from the states, and im just running a th400.

We just finished putting my friends car together. We are waiting to finish mine and then might go dyno them together.

His combo is an LQ9 6.0 with 243 heads. Fast 92 intake, Tick cam. He has 2k into it. Expecting to put down around 420 rwhp.

Ive got about half of that invested in my alum 5.3 but im running a turbo setup.

The other thing to consider is the ecu. We are both running holley hp efi which is great. My car is an 85 and his is a 67 so no etests. You could run a stock ecu and tune with hp tuners or bring it to champion and have kevin tune it.

Ill be honest and say i dont know if i would do the swap into a newer vehicle because of the potential etest nonsense.

But half the stuff you bought had issues which you had to fix. The poster may not be as mechanically inclined. Expect to pay 2500-3000 for a good used LS engine. Then you need everything to go with it. Not to mention the harness, k-member, transmission, mounts, and all the BS that comes with engine swaps.

Used cobra engine, and pulley it. You can use all your factory wiring and it drops in. Run the 5 speed until it breaks. If you dont beat it or power shift it should last. I have a non forged Mach 1 engine with cobra eaton at 9 psi making 460/440 to the wheels. Its dead reliable. Only issue I see is that the cobra engine will add 82 lbs to the front end of the car.


Personally I would stick with the 2V. Start with a forged bottom end. stick the stock intake and heads back on it for now. Maybe some new valve springs if its tired. But the blower up to 17 PSI. When more funds become available do the heads and intake. Heads intake cam, blower combo is worth an easy 560 whp. Keep is simple.