Aspen with a 6.0L and a Wu Tang War Whistle
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Aspen500
Well-Known Member
Question. 6.0L what?
The same thing everyone uses when they want to make stupid power for cheap. A Chevy Vortec V8 (LS based). Usually combined with a 4L80E, CircleD converter, a cut down Ford Explorer 8.8 rear, and a chinese ebay turbo at over 20psi on E85.
This is why all the dick-fiddling over stroker, supercharger, turbo, or big block mopars is just that. Just do whatever you know/can afford. The junkyard Tahoe motor with ebay parts is going to shred you anyway. 1/4 mile, full mile, highway rolling pulls, gas mileage on grocery runs you're gonna lose it all. These guys are building an 8 second LS powered mustang for $8k right now and they're not even cheaping out on parts. It's sickening.
This is why all the dick-fiddling over stroker, supercharger, turbo, or big block mopars is just that. Just do whatever you know/can afford. The junkyard Tahoe motor with ebay parts is going to shred you anyway. 1/4 mile, full mile, highway rolling pulls, gas mileage on grocery runs you're gonna lose it all. These guys are building an 8 second LS powered mustang for $8k right now and they're not even cheaping out on parts. It's sickening.
Oldiron440
Well-Known Member
Call it dick- fiddling if you want but I'm not going to put an LS in a Ford or Mopar that I own, never have never will.
What these videos don't tell you is that you still have to be a decent mechanic and fabricator with a shop with equipment to pull it off. Maybe a few short blocks to blow up and a good buddy that knows turbos and computers.
I think I've said this before but there is a guy on moparts with a Fbody running 9s with a turbo small block mopar. The body is suprising stock at about 3800 lbs.
What these videos don't tell you is that you still have to be a decent mechanic and fabricator with a shop with equipment to pull it off. Maybe a few short blocks to blow up and a good buddy that knows turbos and computers.
I think I've said this before but there is a guy on moparts with a Fbody running 9s with a turbo small block mopar. The body is suprising stock at about 3800 lbs.
On the contrary Matt from SloppyMechanics shares everything you'll need, why, and how to set it up and tune it in painfully boring detail over a hundred project videos by now. His open source hobby is why there are a disturbing number of malaise era junk cars all making the same ratty whistling V8 noises around here in the last couple years, that Aspen being one of the more tame/ironic builds.
Honestly, I'm afflicted with the same sickness as you. I'd never consider anything but a Mopar engine in my Fbody. But if racing is your thing get ready to sink FAR more time/money into a V8 that these days is really only better at making great noises.
Honestly, I'm afflicted with the same sickness as you. I'd never consider anything but a Mopar engine in my Fbody. But if racing is your thing get ready to sink FAR more time/money into a V8 that these days is really only better at making great noises.
Aspen500
Well-Known Member
The LS engines are decent engines, FAR better than the '55-'86 version of the all mighty small block Chevy but, it's still a Chevy and should be in a Chevy, not a Mopar or Ford. If you want a small block Chevy, buy a Chevrolet to put it in, IMO.
Side note on the SBC. Back in the '70's and '80's they were infamous for having camshafts with 15 lobes and 2 fuel pump eccentrics. The more things change, the more they stay the same. In the past 5 years I've replaced the camshaft in a 5.3L equipped Silverado/Sierra trucks numerous times. Reason, bad cam lobe caused by a roller lifter that quit rolling.
Side note on the SBC. Back in the '70's and '80's they were infamous for having camshafts with 15 lobes and 2 fuel pump eccentrics. The more things change, the more they stay the same. In the past 5 years I've replaced the camshaft in a 5.3L equipped Silverado/Sierra trucks numerous times. Reason, bad cam lobe caused by a roller lifter that quit rolling.
Oldiron440
Well-Known Member
The cam bearings have a tendency to spin in the block also. When that happens very low oil pressure and you need to pull the motor to change the bearings as they go in from the rear.
Oldiron440
Well-Known Member
For me it isn't mopar or no car type of thing I just like the mopar wedge big blocks. They make big torque through out the power band and if you respect the the limits of the block is very reliable.
My Fbody is the third 440 swap I had done and if it weren't for the 440 I probably wouldn't be into mopars. So I can respect what others are doing with the LS, Gen 3 Hemi and the Coyote it's not for me.
I do have one motor that was intended for boost and that is my small Ford. The Ford W motor is another pet of mine.
My Fbody is the third 440 swap I had done and if it weren't for the 440 I probably wouldn't be into mopars. So I can respect what others are doing with the LS, Gen 3 Hemi and the Coyote it's not for me.
I do have one motor that was intended for boost and that is my small Ford. The Ford W motor is another pet of mine.
Aspen500
Well-Known Member
I always thought, Mopar in a Mopar, Ford in a Ford, Chevy in a Chevy, Olds in and Olds, etc...…………..The LS is good for having one of the AFM lifters breaking and then you have a dead miss and ticking. AFM: Active Fuel Management, a.k.a. cylinder deactivation. The locking pin breaks and it goes into permanent deactivation mode. Awesome part is you have to pull the cylinder head(s) to replace the bad lifter, or lifters. We usually do the broken one and the other one on that cylinder while it's apart. How often do they fail? Well, I can pretty much do the job without paying attention I've done so many of them in the past few years. Can't forget about the oil pickup tube o-ring leaking and sucking air which results in low oil pressure. Another job that I can do on auto pilot. GM LS 4.8/5.3/6.0L , 3.6L and 2.4L Ecotec are all also known as "job security" lol. Sorry, enough ragging on GM engines and for going off topic.
ch1ll
Active Member
I would rather be driving my classic ALL Mopar having just as much fun as I did back in the day when they ruled the streets. who wants to look fast and STUPID.
That's not the point of the thread. It's the fact of how cheap it is do vs using a Mopar only solution. There is a reason LS motors are finding their way into all makes - including Ford. Personally, I wouldn't do it, but that doesn't mean I can't acknowledge that it is happening and why.
A friend has a ratty ass C2 Corvette he's trying to sell. I've thought about it and a Gen3 swap just to piss off the Chevheads.
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A 274cam 6.4 Hemi TR6060 swap is one of my build recipes...
#1 It's at least twice as expensive as an LS swap or even the value of the total car in any build scenario.
#2 Dodge upgraded 90% of the parts in the Hemi when they added a supercharger for the Hellcat just to hold 700hp. Don't throw an ebay turbo at a 6.1 Hemi.
#3 Nobody has any expectations for a burgundy granny aspen if they even know what it is.
That car is unique and absurdly entertaining, has a unoffensive "dollar to giggle" ratio, and I can respect the fab/tune work that went into making it. I'm a Mopar guy but not snob enough to thumb my nose at driveable/affordable 600hp Aspen. That's awesome.
#1 It's at least twice as expensive as an LS swap or even the value of the total car in any build scenario.
#2 Dodge upgraded 90% of the parts in the Hemi when they added a supercharger for the Hellcat just to hold 700hp. Don't throw an ebay turbo at a 6.1 Hemi.
#3 Nobody has any expectations for a burgundy granny aspen if they even know what it is.
That car is unique and absurdly entertaining, has a unoffensive "dollar to giggle" ratio, and I can respect the fab/tune work that went into making it. I'm a Mopar guy but not snob enough to thumb my nose at driveable/affordable 600hp Aspen. That's awesome.
ch1ll
Active Member
Chevy's have always been cheaper to build/race/run since day 1, 1955.
you have to draw the line somewhere.
I did, yuck not me.
and if you think I don't like Chevy's, you would be wrong. I own one and I also own Fords.
you have to draw the line somewhere.
I did, yuck not me.
and if you think I don't like Chevy's, you would be wrong. I own one and I also own Fords.
Oldiron440
Well-Known Member
Running a Mopar has never been cheap........nor is running a Ford, I've bought brand new cars for the money I have in either my 500" 440 or my 289. And I'm sure you could build two Chevys that make the same numbers either one of them make for the same money. But that's just it there Chevys and I don't have any desire to own one.....period.
charlesvolare
Well-Known Member
There's no better bang for your buck than the LS in today's market, hands down. And everyone's got different opinions on whether or not it's sane to put them in anything other than Chevy's, but to each their own. If I had an original, perfect condition, numbers matching '71 E-body I wouldn't even let the idea of an LS swap slip into my mind. But I have an '80 F-body with four doors, paint that's been decomposing for the past 20 years, and parts cobble together as I teach myself how to hotrod and I've toyed with the idea of an LS more than I'd care to admit. I'm not driving the car because it's a cool muscle car, but because I've turned every nut and bolt in the thing and it's fun to actually drive and not have the car drive you like most do these days- the experience par se. And that's how it is with a lot of today's car culture. I have no problem keeping up with today's pony cars either, the looks on their faces when they can't pull away from a 80's detroit brick is priceless. But I recently went to a roller cam setup and redid my cylinder heads and for the same price I could've had a whole ls setup, overdrive trans and all. Heck, with the money saved in gas and random parts over the next six months I could easily afford a cam and spring package to reliably make 500+ hp, easily. I like to drive and I like to drive hard, and 60 year old technology and design struggles to offer what today's technology and design has to offer. The LS head alone is an amazing chunk of metal, and the stock bottom end is no slouch either. The modern Hemi's may be able to make some power, but not as much as the LS without touching the short block internals. Maybe down the road I'll eventually LS swap my Volare, but being all mopar gets some kind of cool factor none of the LS swap cult can't get and I'm fine with dumping all my money into the mopar black whole of expensive parts.
The last test and tune I was at I raced my buddy in his 2015 Mustnag (lol) GT. He has the performance package- wide tires, launch control, "Shift Light" (dash turns red), all the bells and whistles. My 39 year old, 4000 lb, open diff, 255 street tires, small block mopar beat him the first few. He kept turning up the launch and in the last pass he only beat me by 0.017 seconds. We (I) had the crowd on edge with every pass and everyone and their mother came up to me wanting to see the car and asking what was done to it. There I was showing up on my buddy's car he's still making payments on.
But cars are made to be driven and it's always more fun to drive with obscure amounts of power and reliability. GM is producing the cheapest way to make affordable power and for people with a tight budget there's no better choice. I have no idea what Ford is doing, but Dodge obviously knows they can't beat the LS game so they went straight to the Hellcat, Demon, and now the Hellephant crate motor for outright production horsepower straight from the factory.
It makes sense why LS swaps are so popular and to not care for it with your own vehicles is perfectly okay. Brand loyalty or personal preference is perfectly fine, nothing wrong with going to a big block or turbo six instead of an LS, but what gets me are the people that hate for guys having fun with their own cars and actually hotrodding them. At Cars and Coffee, around here at least, there's two groups of guys, with the first being the bigger group by a lot: the guys who bought their cars the way they are, go to the dealership for every little thing, driving in showroom quality only to car shows and that's it because they're scared to break something or lose value. But then there's the guys who've spent countless hours, days, years on there cars perfecting it to how the enjoy it best. Could've stayed up all night to get the car together by morning. What makes one better than the other?
IMO kudos to the guys in post #1 like this who are having fun with what they love.
The last test and tune I was at I raced my buddy in his 2015 Mustnag (lol) GT. He has the performance package- wide tires, launch control, "Shift Light" (dash turns red), all the bells and whistles. My 39 year old, 4000 lb, open diff, 255 street tires, small block mopar beat him the first few. He kept turning up the launch and in the last pass he only beat me by 0.017 seconds. We (I) had the crowd on edge with every pass and everyone and their mother came up to me wanting to see the car and asking what was done to it. There I was showing up on my buddy's car he's still making payments on.
But cars are made to be driven and it's always more fun to drive with obscure amounts of power and reliability. GM is producing the cheapest way to make affordable power and for people with a tight budget there's no better choice. I have no idea what Ford is doing, but Dodge obviously knows they can't beat the LS game so they went straight to the Hellcat, Demon, and now the Hellephant crate motor for outright production horsepower straight from the factory.
It makes sense why LS swaps are so popular and to not care for it with your own vehicles is perfectly okay. Brand loyalty or personal preference is perfectly fine, nothing wrong with going to a big block or turbo six instead of an LS, but what gets me are the people that hate for guys having fun with their own cars and actually hotrodding them. At Cars and Coffee, around here at least, there's two groups of guys, with the first being the bigger group by a lot: the guys who bought their cars the way they are, go to the dealership for every little thing, driving in showroom quality only to car shows and that's it because they're scared to break something or lose value. But then there's the guys who've spent countless hours, days, years on there cars perfecting it to how the enjoy it best. Could've stayed up all night to get the car together by morning. What makes one better than the other?
IMO kudos to the guys in post #1 like this who are having fun with what they love.
