Best LS / LT - GM V8 for Daily Driver - Decent MPG?

wesinls said:
Yes:

Your vehicle does not need a smog inspection if your:

  • Gasoline-powered vehicle is a 1975 year model or older (This includes motorcycles and trailers.)
  • Diesel-powered vehicle is a 1997 and older year model OR with a Gross Vehicle Weight of more than 14,000 pounds.

Smog Inspections - California DMV
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Nice! I wasn't thinking about the gas vs diesel.

 
There’s so many options for LS motors. Anything with a 4.0” bore (6.0) can run ls3 heads and make great power, but they’re all fine. The ls1’s are probable the least desirable due to the thin cylinder walls, I’m sure @J Alper could elaborate more on that. 
 

If you’re on a budget a 4.8/5.3 or 6.0 from an early 2000’s Silverado will be a good way to go, put a cam in it and have healthy reliable setup that makes good power and sounds cool. 

 
So you want to put an LS, with Holley F/I no less, into a 27 year old truck that came with a diesel, register and try to reliably daily drive it in the most emission regulated state in the world?  You may have to install a trans for a gas engine too, the ratios for a diesel may not be right. With all due respect, it's a bad idea no matter how you look at it.  

 
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KLC said:
So you want to put an LS, with Holley F/I no less, into a 27 year old truck that came with a diesel, register and try to reliably daily drive it in the most emission regulated state in the world?  You may have to install a trans for a gas engine too, the ratios for a diesel may not be right. With all due respect, it's a bad idea no matter how you look at it.  
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Read my original post...1st -  It has a 4L80 trans in it already - so your trans comment makes no sense...2nd, I won't need to smog it so your comments about emissions don't make sense. So with all due respect back at you - understand what you're stating before claiming something is a bad idea.

 
wesinls said:
You'd be surprised what they are going for - and they keep going up....If I swap out the engine, I'll keep everything so that I can put it back to stock...square body blazer going up, as are the Tahoe's.

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I am a bit surprised by that. I never would have thought they'd bring that kind of money. I think those examples are more like low mileage "barn finds" though, and not really a good example of the market. I'm not so sure prices on those examples will continue to increase either. We're at a place in the market that we've never been and will likely never be again thanks to covid, printing money and bidens inflation. When in history have automobiles ever increased in value before? This bubble is going to burst. If you had one of these vehicles that you bought at a realistic price prior to the insanity and were selling it now then I think you'd be in a good position but you're buying and potentially building in the peak of the market which means there's only one direction to go.

I have a 99 suburban that I bought for $2400 eight years ago and I could probably sell it today for close to twice that price even though I've put 80k miles on it. I've got quads that I bought 10-12 years ago that are worth more dollar wise now than I paid for them a decade ago.

The 4L80 is a plus but you will definitely have to change the converter. Hopefully that's all you'll have to do to the transmission to make it work behind an LS. Don't forget about the fuel system too. 

Projects like these become money pits and you will likely exceed your budget. We all know things like this can't be looked upon as investments. I think any build that's a little different than the norm is cool and I'm onboard 150% for getting around emissions. I hoard old mechanical diesel engines for projects that will run on used motor oil. I'm just struggling with the economic and reliability parts of it which it seems like that's your approach.

 
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I think everyone needs to take a moment to consider that the diesel that gm used in anything older than 2001 (arguably 2004.5 since the lb7 injector issues) is complete junk. 
 

even if the 4l80e has different gear ratios you can get a pullout from a 2500 truck or van for around 2k with a lq4/4l80e, and with the gaining popularity of this body style you can likely buy every part for the swap from various distributors.

so do the swap, put some 20’s on it and slam that bitch on the ground! Or buy one of them that’s already done, if smogs an issue register it in Arizona! 

 
Loganhawkins418 said:
There’s so many options for LS motors. Anything with a 4.0” bore (6.0) can run ls3 heads and make great power, but they’re all fine. The ls1’s are probable the least desirable due to the thin cylinder walls, I’m sure @J Alper could elaborate more on that. 
 

If you’re on a budget a 4.8/5.3 or 6.0 from an early 2000’s Silverado will be a good way to go, put a cam in it and have healthy reliable setup that makes good power and sounds cool. 
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The most affordable for a large street vehicle will be a iron block,  5.3 Iron blocks are almost free,  you can bore them .150 to make them into a 383CI, then the 6.0 iron block can bore .070-090 to get to a 416CI,  Square Factory ports will give the Biggest gain in HP the are at a 15-Degree Valve Angle after market head with ls7 design valve angle will product another 10%-15% more just will valve Angle being 11-10 degrees,  so a 416 with Aftermarket heads will be a rocket on the street. 

If you want to go even another radical step,  The cheapest iron block to do a 454CI Ls will be a dart block or a Adeapt block anything more than a 416 going to need some trans and rear end upgrade, 

 
If it's a daily commuter that your hoping to get a bit of economy out of it, leave it as is.

You'll put $15k in it to do a nice LS swap (don't bullshit yourself.) and you'll end with half the fuel economy.

 
Sounds like fun. I'd personally keep it Diesel but........ 

Good Duramax with an Allison trans. All deleted, all the fun and get decent mileage. 

Plenty of power, prob more than what ya need and tons of fun.  Even have the towing capabilities if ever needed.

Just my opinion. 

:lol:

 
Kraut_n_Rice said:
If it's a daily commuter that your hoping to get a bit of economy out of it, leave it as is.

You'll put $15k in it to do a nice LS swap (don't bullshit yourself.) and you'll end with half the fuel economy.
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If it had a LS in it then do some mods, stroke it ect,  but if it has a SBC, then it will be a total street rod when you are done, New wiring, mounts, gauges, trans rear end, front end,  going to be a project with a lot of coin 

 
As a (former) Californian who was used to dealing with smog restrictions, I absolutely get it.  The 6.5 Detroit engine in that rare Tahoe is a dog and the ability to have something cool under the hood is only limited by your imagination and wallet. How about a simple 5.3 or 6.0 out of a newer Silverado/Sierra/Tahoe/Yukon. Or, if you can find a nice one, an Escalade 6.2 could be fun as well. 

 
Well, lets just get STUPID and put a Cummins in there with the new ATS bolt up Allison trans.....you'll get great mileage and be able to smoke out the EVs on the hills. 

 
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