Budget friendly build?
06-22-2014, 05:05 PM
#1
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Budget friendly build?
If it were your motor, and wanted something completely enjoyable to drive in terms of "streetable" or "daily driver", what would you do?
As it sits, it is a complete LY6 pullout. I am not 100% certain just yet that I will build and keep it, but I'm tossing around the idea.
I've put off my airride until I make a final decision. It will be going into my crew cab, or possibly a f-body roller or rcsb.
Mill heads? MAY do a cam, but a smallish one. Of course everything will be gone through and new gaskets will be bought and bolts. I'm thinking replacing the wheel may be cheaper than the 58x box. LS3 intake?
I have no desire to boost.
As it sits, it is a complete LY6 pullout. I am not 100% certain just yet that I will build and keep it, but I'm tossing around the idea.
I've put off my airride until I make a final decision. It will be going into my crew cab, or possibly a f-body roller or rcsb.
Mill heads? MAY do a cam, but a smallish one. Of course everything will be gone through and new gaskets will be bought and bolts. I'm thinking replacing the wheel may be cheaper than the 58x box. LS3 intake?
I have no desire to boost.
06-25-2014, 12:02 AM
#5
I did his exactly in my dd. Mine is a L96 which is the same thing but flex compatible. I feel the LS6 cam is really much better suited to the square port heads. However it is not perfect in this exact engine. Here are my thoughts:
-The exhaust bias is awesome. Really fits the l92 heads.
-This is a pretty low compression engine. That cam was not made with low compression in mind. Milling will do you wonders.
-It has a late intake valve event which combined with these heads means it carries power out very long. Peak tq isn't until 5300 rpm or so in my ride, and I've stretched the shifts out to 6700 more than once without it feeling like it was falling on its face... Pretty crazy.
-This cam leaves a lot on the table in the mid range, although it still pulls really well.
-I truly believe that this cam would make more power in the LS3 than the LS3 cam... Not sure why GM didn't do that. My guess is it's something to do with emissions.
In my saab 9-7x with a FTI 3000 converter I managed a 1/8 mile time of 8.58 at 81.75 mph. That calcs out to a 13.35 at 102.8. I'm sure my trap speed wouldn't have been quite that high though. I also only had a 1.96 60' bc of the crappy autotrac AWD system that car has. It should have been in the 1.8x range for sure, but this thing doesn't have the mid range power for any more than that. So it's every bit as fast as a bolt on and stalled tbss with the LS2.
I did spend some time thinking about a custom cam for this engine though. Something DD friendly with a vry mild converter much like I have. This is what I came up with.
217/226 115+3 .605/.605 LSL intake and LXL exhaust
This cam has -8.5* overlap which is plenty to have great manners in a 6.0 but have an idle that's a tad more aggressive than the LS6 cam. It shifts the overlap to be centered over top dead center which works well with headers as opposed to the overlap biased to the intake stroke of the factory cams to jive with manifolds. It will jack up DCR to give it a ton more bottom end power, and bring the intake valve timing in which also improves mid range. Also his cam will feel really strong with a 6200-6300 rpm shift point (may go higher with these heads... But no need with the mid range it will make), and why build it for any more when you want to keep it mild anyway? It also has much more lift which the L92 heads love. The more aggressive intake lobe helps keep DCR higher without making the intake valve events super early, while a slightly more mild exhaust lobe will keep the valvetrain noise down with headers. Combine this cam with a little bit of milling and that engine will be a monster compared to the 5.3 with great manners. And oh by the way it's intake valve close is as late as the LS2, which I'd like to point out has a 6400 rpm shift point from the factory and the 243 heads don't flow the same numbers these square ports do.
Some will criticize it for being too small but I specd it with a dd in mind. Literally no sacrifices to drivability, no need to carry it out to a crazy RPM, and really strong mid range power. These heads flow so well it would be hard to spec a cam that kills the 'top end'... So why over cam it for a dd IMO.
Hands down that's what I'd go with if I were doing it again. **** I may even end up doing a cam swap lol
I had also created a cam that was a tad more aggressive and would maybe work bettr with a 6.2... But I won't muddy up this thread with that.
Soooo long story short yes the LS6 cam will work well, but you can do better while meeting your mild dd requirements.
-The exhaust bias is awesome. Really fits the l92 heads.
-This is a pretty low compression engine. That cam was not made with low compression in mind. Milling will do you wonders.
-It has a late intake valve event which combined with these heads means it carries power out very long. Peak tq isn't until 5300 rpm or so in my ride, and I've stretched the shifts out to 6700 more than once without it feeling like it was falling on its face... Pretty crazy.
-This cam leaves a lot on the table in the mid range, although it still pulls really well.
-I truly believe that this cam would make more power in the LS3 than the LS3 cam... Not sure why GM didn't do that. My guess is it's something to do with emissions.
In my saab 9-7x with a FTI 3000 converter I managed a 1/8 mile time of 8.58 at 81.75 mph. That calcs out to a 13.35 at 102.8. I'm sure my trap speed wouldn't have been quite that high though. I also only had a 1.96 60' bc of the crappy autotrac AWD system that car has. It should have been in the 1.8x range for sure, but this thing doesn't have the mid range power for any more than that. So it's every bit as fast as a bolt on and stalled tbss with the LS2.
I did spend some time thinking about a custom cam for this engine though. Something DD friendly with a vry mild converter much like I have. This is what I came up with.
217/226 115+3 .605/.605 LSL intake and LXL exhaust
This cam has -8.5* overlap which is plenty to have great manners in a 6.0 but have an idle that's a tad more aggressive than the LS6 cam. It shifts the overlap to be centered over top dead center which works well with headers as opposed to the overlap biased to the intake stroke of the factory cams to jive with manifolds. It will jack up DCR to give it a ton more bottom end power, and bring the intake valve timing in which also improves mid range. Also his cam will feel really strong with a 6200-6300 rpm shift point (may go higher with these heads... But no need with the mid range it will make), and why build it for any more when you want to keep it mild anyway? It also has much more lift which the L92 heads love. The more aggressive intake lobe helps keep DCR higher without making the intake valve events super early, while a slightly more mild exhaust lobe will keep the valvetrain noise down with headers. Combine this cam with a little bit of milling and that engine will be a monster compared to the 5.3 with great manners. And oh by the way it's intake valve close is as late as the LS2, which I'd like to point out has a 6400 rpm shift point from the factory and the 243 heads don't flow the same numbers these square ports do.
Some will criticize it for being too small but I specd it with a dd in mind. Literally no sacrifices to drivability, no need to carry it out to a crazy RPM, and really strong mid range power. These heads flow so well it would be hard to spec a cam that kills the 'top end'... So why over cam it for a dd IMO.
Hands down that's what I'd go with if I were doing it again. **** I may even end up doing a cam swap lol
I had also created a cam that was a tad more aggressive and would maybe work bettr with a 6.2... But I won't muddy up this thread with that.
Soooo long story short yes the LS6 cam will work well, but you can do better while meeting your mild dd requirements.
Last edited by Vortec350ss; 06-25-2014 at 12:15 AM.
06-25-2014, 01:52 AM
#6
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No more than $2k if I can help it.
I'd rather keep the motor I have now over selling it and finding an LQ9 for a good deal.
Thanks vortec. I definitely want it dd material in every aspect. I would prefer no stall, but if I did I'd want a friendly one.
This was a last minute thought once the motor arrived. Initially I bought it to resale. Then I was offered a trade on labor for my airride. While researching the motor I convinced myself I should keep it.
I'd rather keep the motor I have now over selling it and finding an LQ9 for a good deal.
Thanks vortec. I definitely want it dd material in every aspect. I would prefer no stall, but if I did I'd want a friendly one.
This was a last minute thought once the motor arrived. Initially I bought it to resale. Then I was offered a trade on labor for my airride. While researching the motor I convinced myself I should keep it.
06-25-2014, 07:01 AM
#7
Look into the FTI. It's so cheap it's really all I'd consider running in an otherwise stock tranny for fear that the trans will eventually take out a more expensive converter.
Add a couple basic mods to the 60 e while you're in there and let this thing eat. The sonnax shift kit and 4th billet servo is where I'd start.
Add a couple basic mods to the 60 e while you're in there and let this thing eat. The sonnax shift kit and 4th billet servo is where I'd start.
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06-25-2014, 06:15 PM
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Thanks, but it will be a little while before I have time to start tearing it down. Until then, I want to get all my research done and have a good plan. Usually when I dive in to things I overspend and regret it.
