Go for an LS1 . You will like how much power they can make with a near stock setup . Some guys with f- bods are in the 11's on unopened motor , with just external bolt ons , a converter and tune .
With ported heads and around the 224 / 560-580' cams on the stock short motor , and some weight removal , LS1 f- body's have gone low 11's , even high 10's .
As for reliability , some of them have oil issues , its mainly due to a crap PCV design that lets massive amounts of oil into the cylinders , reducing the octane of the fuel and carboning up the ring lands etc , eventually sticking the rings and causing problems . Remove it and fit breathers or a vaccum pump and you probably wont have any problems .
My ls1 had a slight piston slap at 15k miles , I removed the PCV and ran breathers , and after another 2k of thrashing it the noise went away , funny huh ? stuck rings [img]/infopop/emoticons/icon_wink.gif[/img] others might have build issues , but I bet most of them slap cause of carbon build up , which is all caused by the PCV [img]/infopop/emoticons/icon_wink.gif[/img]
If you go the LS1 , get it tuned with ls1edit (remove all the Torque Managment ) and you will get addicted [img]/infopop/emoticons/icon_cool.gif[/img]
The stock 4l60e tranny with a high stall cant handle the power of even a stock tuned ls1 . Ive blown up 3 of them . A built one will be OK though , for a while .
A chev pattern TH350/400 or 4l80e bolts straight up , if you want to get serious .
GM did a great effort on this engine , the stock LS1 cylinder heads out flow many aftemarket SBC heads . Ported they can flow over 300 cfm at 600' .
The plastic inlet manifold doesnt heat soak very easily , its the first V8 ive driven that doesnt slow down a lot on a hot day . The LS6 intake is the one to use , it flows well enough to make 600 hp on a 346ci .
hope this helps . I was into the older stuff and never thought of an LS1 as a serious engine , but these LS1's are a whole new experience and fun fun fun . Basically , if you want to get into a new car , but still have the bug for performance and it has to be a GM V8 , this is it !! [img]/infopop/emoticons/icon_cool.gif[/img] cheers.
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