Anyone done the Ls1 to Ls6 conversion?

If so did you have to upgrade the computer aswell?And how was is it?Was it 400+hp like the comercials say?Has anyone had one the dyno?I am thinking about doing this so some help would be great.

talking about switching out your ls1 motor for a ls6, sorry but that would be pointless. Only big differences betweent the two is heads and a cam, you could do a heads and cam swap on your current engine for 1/4 of the price and make A LOT more power then a ls6 would stock.

...Only big differences betweent the two is heads and a cam, you could do a heads and cam swap on your current engine...

And the oil pump from an LS1 to an LS6 are slightly different too, what about injector size? Probably the same though...

there are significantly better heads/cam setups out there than the LS6 conversion.

probably cheaper and yield more power.

if you want 400rwhp....get some ported heads (either 5.7Ls or 5.3Ls) and a TR224 cam. with all the bolt ons, and a good tune...400rwhp will be pretty easy.

Not really worth it to swap a complete ls6 in.. heh

I was talking about the head,cam&intake swap not a whole engine,do you have to do a computer upgrade when you do this?

I was talking about the head,cam&intake swap not a whole engine,do you have to do a computer upgrade when you do this?

no, ls1 pcm will work with it, may need some tuning if you go with a drastically differant injector, or cam.

I was talking about the head,cam&intake swap not a whole engine,do you have to do a computer upgrade when you do this?I have been eyeballing the same kit(s) from Summit. $1800 for the head / cam and gasket kit seems very reasonable. I was under the impression that a tune wasn't required but I can't imagine that being right after adding 80 horsepower. However, the air and fuel components are all still the same.

I've seen it done, albeit, only the longblock.

I met someone at the track that had taken out a perfectly running ls1, used a ls6 as a base, heads, cam, intake, throttle body, long tubes and true duals. With a built suspension, 4.10 gears on a 12 bolt and street tires he was trapping low 11's spinning the tires the whole way (it had drizzled a little rain during his line up).

He was told to get off the track due to not having a roll cage, but if you could imagine building up a f-body with everything you could think of short of 402, 427 or turbo. Keep a VERY stock appearance (save for looking underneath and seeing all the red from having every concivable suspension mod). You'd have this guy's car. A daily driven 500HP sleeper.

I think on this day I was committed to getting myself a ls1 car.

I was also thinking of getting an LS6 kit.... But every time its mentioned everyone says no. What about the LS1 factory heads? Would it be worth the price on a budget to buy some used heads (what year?) and get them ported and maybe a valve job. What HP gains could that yeild?

I was also thinking of getting an LS6 kit.... But every time its mentioned everyone says no. What about the LS1 factory heads? Would it be worth the price on a budget to buy some used heads (what year?) and get them ported and maybe a valve job. What HP gains could that yeild?

If they are getting ported, all factory castings are the same. Most do not know this.


If you're just looking for "LS6" power, then it's as simple as a cam swap only. Full bolt-ons with nearly any mild cam will yield more power. If you did the work yourself, you could actually install some cnc stock heads and a cam for $1800.

Ben T.

So it doesnt matter from year to year if you switch from center bolts to perimeter? plus if a good port/polish valve job makes an extra 15-20 hp i'd think its worth it.

The LS6 cam has a smaller base circle so you WILL need longer PR's. Hope the kit comes with them too.

TSP has some CNC ported LS6 heads fully assembled w/ LS6 springs for ~$900. You can get any cam in a kit for $600. Keep it in the .550 lift range and you won't need to change springs or anything else. I'd still change pushrods though.
$1500 and more power. Sounds like a better deal than $1800 from summit to me. You can get LS6 cams CHEAP!!! I'm talking $50-$150.

Or get a head/cam kit:
Precision Race Components 5.3L Stage 1.5 Cylinder Heads Fully CNC Ported & Assembled With 2.04" Intake Valves, 1.55" Exhaust Valves, & PRC Platiunum Springs. Kit Also Includes Hardened Pushrods & Your Choice Of Camshaft.

So no, the $1800 for the LS6 stuff doesn't seem that good.

The LS6 cam has a smaller base circle so you WILL need longer PR's. Hope the kit comes with them too.

TSP has some CNC ported LS6 heads fully assembled w/ LS6 springs for ~$900. You can get any cam in a kit for $600. Keep it in the .550 lift range and you won't need to change springs or anything else. I'd still change pushrods though.
$1500 and more power. Sounds like a better deal than $1800 from summit to me. You can get LS6 cams CHEAP!!! I'm talking $50-$150.

Or get a head/cam kit:
Precision Race Components 5.3L Stage 1.5 Cylinder Heads Fully CNC Ported & Assembled With 2.04" Intake Valves, 1.55" Exhaust Valves, & PRC Platiunum Springs. Kit Also Includes Hardened Pushrods & Your Choice Of Camshaft.

So no, the $1800 for the LS6 stuff doesn't seem that good.

I'd agree with that logic.

I bought a .559/.559 lift cam and planned to use it with LS6 springs, but the more I read I've decided to go with comp 918 springs. You can get by with LS6 springs as they won't near their max lift potential, but they will not have adequate pressure to keep the valves from floating at higher RPM.

So, add in a set of springs & don't forget gaskets and head bolts.

Ben T.

I concur with the general theme here. You can buy a decent set of ported heads with all the springs and stuff necessary to run a good cam, a set of chromemoly pushrods, and a cam from a dozen different places that will get you 450 or higher crank hp for the same $1800 or less.

I'm running just a set of ported stage 1 LS1 heads with stock size valves and good double springs, cam, and all of the bolt-ons. Haven't dynoed but the mph to hp calculators say that it takes well over 400 hp at the wheels to pull 118 traps.:cool:

I concur with the general theme here. You can buy a decent set of ported heads with all the springs and stuff necessary to run a good cam, a set of chromemoly pushrods, and a cam from a dozen different places that will get you 450 or higher crank hp for the same $1800 or less.

I'm running just a set of ported stage 1 LS1 heads with stock size valves and good double springs, cam, and all of the bolt-ons. Haven't dynoed but the mph to hp calculators say that it takes well over 400 hp at the wheels to pull 118 traps.:cool:

Hey what cam are you running in this combination? I think you're the only person that would call those [118.59] "118 traps". Most people would round that off to 119! Nice mphs.:cool:

Ben T.

If you do the LS6 head,cam & intake package with no tuning you get 400hp at the crank right? So if you do the LS6 package plus the SLP 400hp package wich is Cai,Maf,1.8rockers,Headers,catback,diablo 2 programer and K & N filter what do you get 500hp or something?:confused:

Not quite. ....Don't we all wish advertised HP mods would stack... Its like this: Stock equipment has to meet regulations so thats why its so restrictive. If you did the ls6 swap with stock exhaust and intake with no computer tune, other than people calling you stupid, you wouldnt get close to the advertised HP increase. or maybe i've been drinking too much tonight. idk.

Ghost are you sure that doing the head and cam and intake package with stock equipment would not get you the advertised HP?I think you might.I am probly wrong though.

Problem is I live in Japan and I want a 500hp ls1 but good tuning is out of the question here so I have to live with what i can buy of the net that is why these kits seem like a good idea and this is for my daily driver.;)

Hey what cam are you running in this combination? I think you're the only person that would call those [118.59] "118 traps". Most people would round that off to 119! Nice mphs.:cool:

Ben T.

I never exagerate or round up. The car has actually run 120 a half a dozen times but it'll run 118 most of the time.

The cam is a custom grind 228-236 .614-.603 112 LSA ground 2° advanced. The lift numbers are with 1.75 roller rockers. It would be .598-.588 with 1.7s.

"If you do the LS6 head,cam & intake package with no tuning you get 400hp at the crank right? So if you do the LS6 package plus the SLP 400hp package wich is Cai,Maf,1.8rockers,Headers,catback,diablo 2 programer and K & N filter what do you get 500hp or something"

:lol:
yeah....good luck with that!

the SLP kit is not a bad kit, but the only things that are really doing you any good are the rockers, headers, catback and the Lid (you don't list it but i'm pretty sure it's included). the CAI is not really gonna gain you much, nor with the maf sensor. and the programming of the diablo isn't bad, but for 1/2 the price you can mailorder a much better tune.

the power numbers we were talking about earlier in the thread....the final gains from the LS6 kit....were assuming you were running must of the parts that come in the SLP kit you mention.

i'll try to lump it all together:

lid
LS6 intake
LT or midlenght headers and Ypipe
catback

figure about 340rwhp from this round of mods. all for about $1500 give or take depending on the header style and catback you choose.

LS6 camshaft
stock LS6 heads

with a decent mailorder tune from madwolf or similar you should probably put down 375hp to the wheels, which is about 425hp at the engine.

the rockers will probably gain you about 10-15hp on top of that.

now if you want an honest to goodness 500hp car....it's gonna affect how well it performs as a daily driver.
to achieve that...assuming you mean flywheel...you're gonna have to be making 430-440hp at the wheels. which means a pretty decent size camshaft and a good set of heads, along with a good tune.

something in the lines of the F14 cam from Futral (www.futralmotorsports.com) and a set of ported heads should get you there without too much problem. the cam alone is good for a solid 400rwhp and most heads shouldn't have a problem adding the extra 30hp on top of that.

sounds like you really need to sit back and assess your goals, do some more research and start planning out your attack plan.

speed and power take money...how fast do you wanna go?

remember, once you start making those power levels...things like clutches, transmissions and rear axles start to break....and that's not cheap!!!

Is the slp Maf no good or mafs in general not very good.

in general, not a worthwhile upgrade.

Kraest was running 471rwhp on his h/c vette through his stock maf...

A good idea is to de-screen the MAF though. I did that and it really increases my throttle response. But there are a few places that do mail-order PCM exchanges. You could email them or call them on the phone to discuss your future upgrade plans and see what they thing you should do. They know LS1 mods really well, so they would actually be a great place to start. Plus they deal with thousands of LS1's so they know all about what mods yeild how much HP and what tuning they require.

[QUOTE=teke184and the programming of the diablo isn't bad, but for 1/2 the price you can mailorder a much better tune.[/QUOTE]

Why do you keep saying that? What makes you think that a mailorder tune is better than a Predator tune that was designed for the package?
You keep dissing Predators. Have you ever had one?? If not then quit.
If you've had a Predator and the tune sucked then dis away.

For the results of a Predator custom tune check sig.

relax al...

i wasn't aware they did custom tunes for h/c combos. my bad.

but still...for $100 lower price you can have a similar tune by mailorder.

$250 for a custom tune or $400 for a custom tune....not sure which one i would choose :think:

in general, not a worthwhile upgrade.

Kraest was running 471rwhp on his h/c vette through his stock maf...

And I still am.... that is unless someone meets my reserve of $28,000. ;)

dude...you go through cars like i go through girlfriends!!!!

geez...

get em...break em in...get em the way you want...then get rid of em...

;)

$250 for a custom tune or $400 for a custom tune....not sure which one i would choose :think:


Well let's see $250 mailorder tune, what does it do after the tune.............................................. ..................hummm nothing.

Predator $400 custom tune, what does it do after the tune..........................................humm mm oh yeah it is a live scan tool, it reads and resets DTCs, it allows you to touch up your tune with WOT timing and fuel changes, and you can still change settings for gears, tires, shift points, rev limiters, ect without exchanging computers yet again.

...can we get back to the TOPIC OF THE THREAD please.

...can we get back to the TOPIC OF THE THREAD please.

Please read all previous posts before posting something like that. The guy wanted to know if it was worth while to do the ls6 swap because he lives in Japan and some of his options and knowledge is very limited. Hes also a new member and we're trying to make sure he knows what his options are. All of this is relevant to his thread. (with the exception of the kraest's vette :D )

so now, cabell can we get BACK ON TOPIC?

Yeah, thats what I meant, lets get back to the topic of Anyone done the Ls1 to Ls6 conversion? not another thread about a handheld programmer vs. mailorder tune. I know he is in Japan and has limited tuning availability, and it is somewhat relevant, but arguing about it does no one any good. And to you Ghost, I did read the entire thread, and thats why I posted, because the last five posts added nothing to the information content of the thread. I know both Teke and Al know a lot, and I am not trying to offend anyone, but I just wanted to get the thread back on track, because I am interested in the pros and cons of the LS6 kit vs another h/c package as well.

BTW, you posting that descreening your MAF is a good idea is a personal opinion, there are many people who have received negative results, so I wouldn't descreen the MAF nor would I tell anyone else to do it, so if you are just trying to help a newbie out and let him know all of his options, you should tell him that descreening the MAF has given good and bad results...now by all means, lets get back to the topic...its listed at the top of each post (just in case you didn't know:D )

Well let's see $250 mailorder tune, what does it do after the tune.............................................. ..................hummm nothing.

Predator $400 custom tune, what does it do after the tune..........................................humm mm oh yeah it is a live scan tool, it reads and resets DTCs, it allows you to touch up your tune with WOT timing and fuel changes, and you can still change settings for gears, tires, shift points, rev limiters, ect without exchanging computers yet again.


Orrrrrrrrrrrrrr...... $550 for a year's supply of dynotunes! More horsepower than any handheld or pre-programmed unit and unlimited tuning for a year.

Mike = 1
teke = 0
Al = 0

:(

:lol:

Mike

Orrrrrrrrrrrrrr...... $550 for a year's supply of dynotunes! More horsepower than any handheld or pre-programmed unit and unlimited tuning for a year.

hahaha... depending on where you're at. There's only one dyno where i'm at and he charges $250/hr with a 2hr min charge (see... this is why competition is good). That's just for ONE session and if you want any tuning done, that costs extra. For some people, the Predator is the solution.

Where did Z28XTC go?

I'm actually thinking of doing this.. a ls1 to ls6 conversion...

Basically, I'm not equipped with tools or knowledge or space to figure out where the other half of my #8 intake pushrod is, nor deal with whatelse could be wrong no..

Soo, I'm planning ot take it toa shop ...but labor is so expensive, at this point, it sounds better to just drop the engine and replace it with a ls6 longblock?

http://www.paceparts.com/index.asp?PageAction=VIEWPROD&ProdID=73133

instead of burning the clock on taking the current engine appart, and probably finding more wrong with it (and knowing its previous life, probably some serious damage) I don't have much faith in the entire current engine right now. thinking in the long run, better to just replace the whole engine.

I'm actually thinking of doing this.. a ls1 to ls6 conversion...
Basically, I'm not equipped with tools or knowledge or space to figure out where the other half of my #8 intake pushrod is, nor deal with whatelse could be wrong no..
Soo, I'm planning ot take it toa shop ...but labor is so expensive, at this point, it sounds better to just drop the engine and replace it with a ls6 longblock?
http://www.paceparts.com/index.asp?PageAction=VIEWPROD&ProdID=73133
instead of burning the clock on taking the current engine appart, and probably finding more wrong with it (and knowing its previous life, probably some serious damage) I don't have much faith in the entire current engine right now. thinking in the long run, better to just replace the whole engine.

$5730 for that or you can get a sturdy LS1 short block for $3000, pick the ported heads and cam that you want, add in the gaskets and hardware and get 60 to 100 extra hp for the same money. And still take the stuff to a shop and say put it together.

I'm actually thinking of doing this.. a ls1 to ls6 conversion...

Basically, I'm not equipped with tools or knowledge or space to figure out where the other half of my #8 intake pushrod is, nor deal with whatelse could be wrong no..

Soo, I'm planning ot take it toa shop ...but labor is so expensive, at this point, it sounds better to just drop the engine and replace it with a ls6 longblock?

http://www.paceparts.com/index.asp?PageAction=VIEWPROD&ProdID=73133

instead of burning the clock on taking the current engine appart, and probably finding more wrong with it (and knowing its previous life, probably some serious damage) I don't have much faith in the entire current engine right now. thinking in the long run, better to just replace the whole engine.

Much more fun to buy a forged 402 cube LS2 shortblock for under $4000, then throw on a set of Dart heads, a nice little cam, and LS6 intake manifold for roughly the same price, but make at least 150 more horsepower.

Mike

Check out this thread:

http://web.camaross.com/forums/showthread.php?t=444099

It originally started off as a question about an LS7 swap, but then later switched to a lot of good info on the pros and cons of an LS6 swap...it's a little on the long side, but worth the read if you're planning an LS6 longblock swap.

I've done the LS6 longblock swap, so you can check it out at the link in my sig.

Yea, I'm pretty conservative.. I want 100% stock reliability and be able to ace through emission testing (which really is just OBDII testing though). All which a LS6 should be able to easily go through (except an odd question of what to do about EGR, and what it means not to have it exaclty) and if I'm going to be replacing the engine, I want everything to be 100% new.. (which eliminates getting a used engine)


But 100% stock reliability means not really have to lift valve covers for 100k miles, which GM more or less builds the production engines like the LS6 to. Hence why I'm not too interested in going beyond a LS6 cam. I don't want to have to replace valvesprings every 20k miles to support a wilder cam. I don't want to worry about that wierd tool metal those 918 and similar springs use on initial warm up. Unless someone can persuade me without a doubt of an aftremarket setup that can be just as reliable.


Aim is to have this car not only be able to survive normal daily driver duty, but also be able to survive roadcourse open track duty, with little maintence needed.

Hence why I'm looking at a LS6.

Plus as Banddirector says, the little things add up. BTW, nice page btw on the LS6 swap. I've came to the same conclusion seperately, that in the end about how much money total I'd have to spend, for some various other stuff I too also wanted to do. So I gotta wait a few more paychecks to come in to save that money..

The LS6 cam has a smaller base circle so you WILL need longer PR's. Hope the kit comes with them too.

TSP has some CNC ported LS6 heads fully assembled w/ LS6 springs for ~$900. You can get any cam in a kit for $600. Keep it in the .550 lift range and you won't need to change springs or anything else. I'd still change pushrods though.
$1500 and more power. Sounds like a better deal than $1800 from summit to me. You can get LS6 cams CHEAP!!! I'm talking $50-$150.

Or get a head/cam kit:
Precision Race Components 5.3L Stage 1.5 Cylinder Heads Fully CNC Ported & Assembled With 2.04" Intake Valves, 1.55" Exhaust Valves, & PRC Platiunum Springs. Kit Also Includes Hardened Pushrods & Your Choice Of Camshaft.

So no, the $1800 for the LS6 stuff doesn't seem that good.



This is exactly what I was gonna post....TSP rocks! I almost wanna sell the LT1 and buy me somehgeads for the LS1. :death: