Engine and Transmission Tech

Not to de-rail the conversation but wouldn't those threads be better suited in a stickie or something at the start of the forum?

I don't think Curtis would want a stickie for every engine choice. This thread is titled LS Engines. Those links will be easy to find later via the search feature. ;)

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Thanks Scott, to be fair I had let myself get a little irritated. Not my finest moment.

I would indeed like to see a "bolt-in" LS swap. If that could be done it would be a fine thing for the MGB conversions.

Regrettably, I suspect the RB advantages of rack placement and hood curvature may not be as beneficial as you hope, but that's no reason not to try. Realistically however, given what we are working with the only way to do it is to, well, actually do it.

Jim,

No issues on my end at all.

I'm a little behind here.....been way too busy lately.

You are right that someone needs to put an LS in a RBB.....I'm really anxious to see that done. I wish I had an opportunity to try it myself.  I am going to stick by my statement though. I'm going to qualify it to using the LS4 . I just went out to the garage and checked again and still feel the same. Here are a couple of pictures that I think show what I'm trying to describe. This one shows the initial cuts I made.



This basically shows the cut outs for the heads. The LS4 just fit between the rack and the firewall but I couldn't tilt it at all. I needed an additional 3/4" at the firewall which resulted in these additional cuts.

 

What I'm saying is I think the RBB mods are going to be closer to the first picture. Do you consider the first pic radical?  These are all guesses but I think they are educated guesses. Hope we find out soon!

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I forgot to address the bonnet. IMO, that the RBB bonnet has more curvature than a CBB is a urban myth.

Carl, I'm sure you're right....I might have been getting carried away a bit. ☺ I still see all these later grills that seem to be made for a bonnet that has more of a curve (I've got one on my car) and I wonder if they are just poorly made or if a change was actually made to the bonnet at some point? In either case you could use an LS1 or LS6 intake and still gain a bunch of room at the throttle body and bonnet. I have at least a 1/2" to 3/4" there with the LS4 intake.

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Moving the accessory drive out away from the front cover could allow the engine to be lowered by straddling the rack if the parts are available to do it. (could require balancing) It could also allow the engine to be moved further forward at which point pan to crossmember clearance becomes an issue.

Jim,

The truck crank pulley is the only pulley that might work but there isn't much room there. Based on what I see with my LS4 it's going to require you to raise the motor at least an inch if not more and you're going to be into the bonnet in a CBB at least. It's only going to get you around an inch further forward anyway.

The Corvette crank pulley gives you 24" from the edge of the pulley to the bellhousing mounting surface. The LS4 is 23.25 in that same dimension. The truck is the longest by far and the F-body is in between.

I got some pictures for you Scott. The upload order sucks, but what you have here is a top view, (1st and last) and then a detail shot showing the shelf down low on each side (and those are in reverse order. Sorry.)









This is an unmolested 74-1/2 which has the factory firewall mods for the V8.

Incidentally, on the Roadmaster, to fit the 455 there were cuts made to widen the tunnel for the bellhousing, but the corner of the passenger side shelf was only moved back 1/2" at the top only IIRC for head clearance, the driver's side being unchanged. The steering rack is below the oil pan.

Jim

Thank you Jim! Very interesting. Someone has to try this.

Well, Carl suggested a plastic engine, wonder if he knows where there is one?

Jim

I bet Pete has one. ;) I have been looking for a used one. Not interested in paying $425 for a new one

Yeah, you could probably just buy the LS engine.

Jim

You do know there is a 5.3 vortec engine in my ol' Silverado? ;)