School Me on LS Motors

[Erik the Awful]

I have near zero experience on LS motors, but I may be getting involved in a project where we will need to build a "serious" horsepower naturally-aspirated LS on a strict budget. The engine will almost certainly not be using a factory ECM.

What do I need to know about the differences in generations? What differences are there in the blocks? What's the best non-forum website for an LS newb to study? What's the best forum for LS engine builds?

 

[0xDEADBEEF]

NA power on an LS is stupid easy. It's all about the cam, and there a buttload to choose from.

Obviously, you would want the most displacement your budget allows for. Since it's NA an aluminum block would be a good choice to keep the weight down. I wouldn't worry about the block differences too much to be honest. I know on the OG LS1 they made some revisions in 2002 for the block, but I don't know if those made it to the truck blocks.

 

[Erik the Awful]

Do Gen IV parts bolt onto a Gen I block?

We won't be boring or stroking. This will need to be done with junkyard-available parts, and it will need to be rugged. As of right now the thought is a stock bottom end 6.0 iron truck block with 6.2 heads.

Still, I need reference material to study.

 

[0xDEADBEEF]

Do Gen IV parts bolt onto a Gen I block?

We won't be boring or stroking. This will need to be done with junkyard-available parts, and it will need to be rugged. As of right now the thought is a stock bottom end 6.0 iron truck block with 6.2 heads.

Still, I need reference material to study.

If you meant Gen III, yes.

 

[Erik the Awful]

Sure. I'm still learning what motors were produced when.

EDIT:
Aha! There is no "Gen I LS". They started with Gen III and call the SBCs Gen I and II. Got it.

 

[0xDEADBEEF]

Good call on the rec port heads, they're a fair amount better than the cathedral ports.

 

[PlayingWithTBI]

The other day my son came over to help tile the kitchen. He showed me some pictures of a 6.2 where the valve spring broke, the valve stem got bent and the valve itself puked out the intake port. He said he's had a few 6.2s come in like this. IDK personally but, he says this is a known issue with their valve train - just saying

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[df2x4]

If you're not familiar with Sloppy Mechanics, Matt Happel has a lot of good budget oriented LS information. It's mostly forced induction related but there's a bunch of good general info scattered throughout.

Sloppy Wiki:
https://sites.google.com/site/sloppywiki/home

Sloppy Youtube:
https://www.youtube.com/@SloppyMechanics

Richard Holdener has also done a bunch of awesome testing with the LS platform. If you check the "Playlists" tab on his Youtube channel he has an entire playlist called "LS NA Mods" with over 200 videos.

Richard Holdener Youtube:
https://www.youtube.com/@richardholdener1727

 

[Jerryred94silvy]

What @PlayingWithTBI said. I’ve known the only people I’ve known that had the 6.2 are the only people I’ve known that had their valvetrain take a dump on them.

 

[0xDEADBEEF]

The other day my son came over to help tile the kitchen. He showed me some pictures of a 6.2 where the valve spring broke, the valve stem got bent and the valve itself puked out the intake port. He said he's had a few 6.2s come in like this. IDK personally but, he says this is a known issue with their valve train - just saying

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Bad batch of valve springs. It happens sometimes. I remember it happening a lot on the LT1 in the C7.

He'd be running aftermarket springs anyways.