School me on chevy engines

[jsudar]

I've been working at a Ford dealer forever and don't know crap about chevy engines. Last time I paid attention to chevy stuff, all the cool kids had TPI 350's, but you were still allowed on the playground with a TBI.

I have a 89 fullsize Blazer with a TBI 350 in all its 210 HP of glory. It's a family hauling crawler, but I like to blast around in the desert too. My motor runs just fine, but I am looking for more power.

What are my options for upgrades on the TBI?
What's the difference between an LT, LS1, 2, 7, whatever?
Seems like some of you have been using 5.3l and 6.0l's in your buggies, where do they fit in to the Chevy V8 line up?
What chevy motor is the most bang for the buck? (as far as swaps go, but not opposed to upgrading the TBI motor either)

 

[Chevycrew]

bang for the buck, 5.3L or 6.0L

Its not really worth the upgrades on the tbi motor. the 5.3L is 285+ horsepower stock, and can be tuned for much more.

 

[Corban_White]

383 TBI? I don't have experience here-just wanting to learn.

 

[mesha]

I like the TBI motors cause they are simple. I had one in my burb and I thought it was fine. I did want more power towing though. I put a few of the bolt on upgrades on it and it made it a little more responsive. I did the spacer TB spacer and injector spacer. It did make a difference even though it was a little. IF you want ultimate power go with a newer generation. P.S. I have a chip for a 350 TBI I don't know if it will work in an 89.

 

[UNSTUCK]

Where do I start?... For starters, once you go chevy, you don't go back!

IMO, the chevy motors just get better and better. I've never cared much for the TBI's and sounds like you know enough about them so I'll let them go. Tuned Port Injection was the next step for GM and was/ is a great torque motor. This is the motor I have right now in my Jeep. Up next were the Lt motors, which have a different, low profile intake and if I remember right, they steped up to sequintial (sp?) port injection, giving it a bit more power and such. And the distributor was done away with.
After that the gen III morors were developed, with the new sizes, 4.8, 5.3, 6.0, 8.1 for the truck motors and the 5.7 for the cars. The trucks use an iron block and AN heads. The cars use both AN blocks and heads. The trucks have a very tall intake, which is great for torque, but also makes it a bit harder to fit in the jeeps and such. The camero oil pan is about 3.5 inches shorter then the truck pan, so it is a good swap on the truck motor, allowing you to set the motor down further in the engine bay, if need be. You can also bolt the car intake on the truck heads to make the top of the engine much shorter, but the location of the alternator on the truck motor sits only about 2 inches lower then the top of the truck intake, so you dont gain much from the car intake as far as fitment.
The Gen III motors were given the LS letters. They started at 1 and jumped around a bit with numbers as they get more advanced. The latest being the LS9, supercharged in the vette. The LS 7 jumped to 427 ci.

As far as tuning and such, after playing with a few LSx motors, they are all I want to play with. I can't believe how easy they are to wire and run. You can either use a stand alone computer or a stock ecu that will control both the motor and trans, 4l60e or 4l80e. You can makes tons of adjustments on these engines as well. But really all these FI motors are very easy to wire and tune, if you have basic wiring knowledge and of corse a tuner ( I don't have a tuner, but have a guy that tunes them for us.)

Bang for the buck, you can get LSx motors pretty cheap now and are worth every penny spent. I don't know anyone that's been disapointed with them after an install. I do know people that have been disapointed with a TBI upgrade from a carb.

 

[ALF]

I'll throw in my $.02

You didn't put us in a budget but I'll say what i would do. The TBI is very reliable and I will be moving towards a TBI conversion soon. If I were you I'd drop in a set of vortec heads and a custom tune chip. That should give you a good boost in HP. If it's still not enough do all the common bolt ons, headers exhaust, ignition, intake..not air but intake manifold, etc... Still not enough? Do a pocket port and polish! When the current engine dies go for the gusto and do the stroker 383, keith black pistons, and world heads. This is whats great about GM you can upgrade as the wallet allows

 

[waynehartwig]

Where do I start?... For starters, once you go chevy, you don't go back!

IMO, the chevy motors just get better and better. I've never cared much for the TBI's and sounds like you know enough about them so I'll let them go. Tuned Port Injection was the next step for GM and was/ is a great torque motor. This is the motor I have right now in my Jeep. Up next were the Lt motors, which have a different, low profile intake and if I remember right, they steped up to sequintial (sp?) port injection, giving it a bit more power and such. And the distributor was done away with.
After that the gen III morors were developed, with the new sizes, 4.8, 5.3, 6.0, 8.1 for the truck motors and the 5.7 for the cars. The trucks use an iron block and AN heads. The cars use both AN blocks and heads. The trucks have a very tall intake, which is great for torque, but also makes it a bit harder to fit in the jeeps and such. The camero oil pan is about 3.5 inches shorter then the truck pan, so it is a good swap on the truck motor, allowing you to set the motor down further in the engine bay, if need be. You can also bolt the car intake on the truck heads to make the top of the engine much shorter, but the location of the alternator on the truck motor sits only about 2 inches lower then the top of the truck intake, so you dont gain much from the car intake as far as fitment.
The Gen III motors were given the LS letters. They started at 1 and jumped around a bit with numbers as they get more advanced. The latest being the LS9, supercharged in the vette. The LS 7 jumped to 427 ci.

As far as tuning and such, after playing with a few LSx motors, they are all I want to play with. I can't believe how easy they are to wire and run. You can either use a stand alone computer or a stock ecu that will control both the motor and trans, 4l60e or 4l80e. You can makes tons of adjustments on these engines as well. But really all these FI motors are very easy to wire and tune, if you have basic wiring knowledge and of corse a tuner ( I don't have a tuner, but have a guy that tunes them for us.)

Bang for the buck, you can get LSx motors pretty cheap now and are worth every penny spent. I don't know anyone that's been disapointed with them after an install. I do know people that have been disapointed with a TBI upgrade from a carb.

Exactly what I was going to say! There is no comparing the LSx motors to the older styles. Do yourself a favor, and dump the old SBC and put in a LSx.

I've found that most of the car intakes don't flow very well. The truck and LS6 intakes supposedly flow the best out of the bunch. I have the truck intake on my motor, and I don't believe that I'm going to have any issues with hood room. The motor sits far enough down inside the frame rails that I believe I'll have lots of room. The car intakes are definately cleaner looking than the truck intakes.....

 

[Crinco]

Where do I start?... For starters, once you go chevy, you don't go back!

IMO, the chevy motors just get better and better. I've never cared much for the TBI's and sounds like you know enough about them so I'll let them go. Tuned Port Injection was the next step for GM and was/ is a great torque motor. This is the motor I have right now in my Jeep. Up next were the Lt motors, which have a different, low profile intake and if I remember right, they steped up to sequintial (sp?) port injection, giving it a bit more power and such. And the distributor was done away with.

The LT motors are great, but as noted, have a cast iron block and aluminum heads, a combo that many shy away from(unless you go with the Vett motor which is all aluminum). They do keep the distributor though just not in the traditional place It is down on the crankshaft, behind the harmonic which isn't the greatest place for a rig that goes in deep water. Water and Distributors dont go well together, and it is non-sevicable.
I am running a 93 LT1 in my buggy and love the power, but the motor isn't as adjustable as new engines are and diagnosing problems not as easy.
If you are planning on spending money on your engine, spend the money once and make the upgrade that you will be happy with. Piecing it together one part at a time in the end will cost you much more and you still have an older tired engine. Good luck

 

[jsudar]

I guess it looks like a newer truck motor is the way to go. I saw a 5.3/4L60E on KSL for $1100. Maybe I'll look into that.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but the LSx motors use a different motor mount than the old SBC, but isn't the old bolt pattern still cast into the LSx motors?

 

[waynehartwig]

I guess it looks like a newer truck motor is the way to go. I saw a 5.3/4L60E on KSL for $1100. Maybe I'll look into that.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but the LSx motors use a different motor mount than the old SBC, but isn't the old bolt pattern still cast into the LSx motors?

$1100 seems like a good price if it also includes all the bolt ons, wiring, ecm, etc. Obviously mileage is a factor on cost. When I was looking, I saw them around this price for high mileage (70k+) setups. Low mileage (5k or less) I saw them closer to $2500.

I don't know enough about them to know if the SBC mount will bolt up. I don't believe it will? Could be wrong though!

 

[UNSTUCK]

They use a new style motor mount, so the sbc after market mounts wont work. The idea is the same though, so it's easy to fab something up or just use AA for a good mount. Though some people don't like AA becase once their rubbers go bad, you have to go through them to get new ones. And because the location is more forward, you need to make sure to order LSx style headers. Other wise the downpipe will go right into your mount. On the car blocks, you have two choices of where you bolt your motor mounts, the trucks just have one place.

On a side note, I thought about going to a 383 will all the nice internals once my TPI dies, but after pricing it out, it was way more then getting a GOOD lsx. It would be worth it to me to start over fresh then to go bigger with my current motor. Doesn't matter now, though since it's for sale.

 

[Crinco]

Make sure you get the pedal for that motor too. Plenty of info on that issue in here with a search.

 

[UNSTUCK]

With out looking, it must be a throttle by wire. If you don't want it you can swap the throttle body from an older motor that uses a cable. Just a thought.

 

[MikeGyver]

...unless you go with the Vett motor which is all aluminum

The LT4 does not have an aluminum block.
LSx is all aluminum.

...but the motor isn't as adjustable as new engines are and diagnosing problems not as easy.

I can change anything on my LT1's tuning (and for much less $ than tuning options for LSx), they're about as configurable as it gets, the level of control is quite amazing.

Also (I find that) the ODB1 LT1's are very easy to diagnose problems.

 

[Bart]

Make sure you get the pedal for that motor too. Plenty of info on that issue in here with a search.

And the pedal computer. Love my drive by wire.

 

[Corban_White]

And the pedal computer. Love my drive by wire.

What do you love about it?

 

[Bart]

The biggest thing is not having to plumb a cable and linkage and absolutely no chance of phantom cable stretch/throttle activation from frame twisting. It's just a couple of wires. I know there are electronics involved but I don't mind it at all.

 

[Corban_White]

Sounds like a valid reason.

 

[Crinco]

The LT4 does not have an aluminum block.
LSx is all aluminum.

The Vette LT1 is all Aluminum

I can change anything on my LT1's tuning (and for much less $ than tuning options for LSx), they're about as configurable as it gets, the level of control is quite amazing.

Also (I find that) the ODB1 LT1's are very easy to diagnose problems

I have the OBD1 93 Pontiac LT1 motor, which can not be flash programmed, I have to send it (the chip) out to be programmed as I don't have the tools to do that myself. The OBD1 systems do not have the level of detail in diagnostics that the newer OBD2 computers have.
I have only had one issue with my LT1, it was ignition related and I believe I finally solved/found the problem wire last trip out, bad contector.

 

[MikeGyver]

The LT1 and LT4 were never made with an aluminum block.
Please produce some sort of proof if you would.

The LT5 was though, which is a completely different, rare, higher performance DOHC motor.

As far as tunability, you want a '94 and up, these are flashed based PCMs, not eeprom.

OBD2 has more sensors for self diagnostic and such, but as far as tunability goes even with the OBD1 computer everything can be tuned. They both use the same engine control methods ('operating system'), the OBD1 computers are not primitive, they just has less self feedback crap.