Hi all. Just registered here looking into Gen III and Gen IV engine tech. I retired in 2007, wife retired in 2008, moved from (Milwaukee area) Wisconsin down here to Glendale AZ Oct 2008 and just enjoyed the nicest winter in my life (not that I'm rubbing it in or nuttin') LOL. But I'm not here to gloat, (or am I?) Anywho, I'm an old school motor head, but am starting to embrace the new LS motors. What's not to love. My main play car is a '73 ex showcar Trans Am with a tired old custom showcar paint job. Found it in a barn completely disassembled for an aborted restoration. Had to reassemble the frame/rearend assemblies just to get it on a trailer. The flairs and spoilers were all molded in for the showcar paint job so the owner could not disassemble the front fenders etc. So he dropped the entire frame/driveline out the bottom leaving the body sitting on a pair of heavy duty saw horses. The body looked like a giant model car kit body. All one piece with nothing inside it. Follow this link and it has most of the my history with the TA. Including the latest turbo install. Just follow the additional pages for my night a the strip (then with nitrous) etc. http://www.americantorque.com/page/0/62/ . I'm here to add to my knowledge of LS motors for a side project. I have a rustfree beautifully painted '89 Toyota Supra Turbo that I bought to play with but I popped the head gasket, something the 7MGTEs seem to do quite regularly. So I've been sitting on it waiting to get it all rebuilt and in, BUTTTT!!!! I really want to add real american muscle to it and still retain daily driver drivability. I want decent gas mileage, up to date engineering, light weight, modern electronic engine management, and high rpm capability. Being a Pontiac guy I was into trying to build a pontiac 301 which is the bastard child of the full size Pontiac block. It has just too many short comings to be viable. Sooo. My idea is to build an LS1, with a 4.8 crank to drop the displacement, but up the rpm capabilities, aluminum engine for the weight. And then turbocharge it for HP. And add a 6 speed for fun. So basically I will try to find a complete LS1/6 speed from a Camaro/Trans Am. I have 2 sets of Carrillo forged 6.200 length Honda bearing sized rods that I will put in the mix between the 4.8 crank and the pistons. Custom pistons for the combination after cutting the crank to the Honda bearing specs. I'm here to learn as much about the strong/weak links in an LS1 motor to make this happen, and not build a time bomb. I'm not against building a truck block cast iron motor if it means a stronger assembly but I prefer the aluminum for the weight savings. I appreciate any and all constructive info and flaming if it is warrented. Don't mind being told I'm stupid if it furthers my cause. Thanks for having me on the board and I look forward to talking cars/motors with you all. Mark L

 

Forgot to add the dyno day vid of my TA. In the vid I'm the last four runs. They made a mistake on the title of the first run. That was only 10 psi. The second and third was 12 psi and the last was 15 psi. The 15 psi run read 886.9 hp and 822.3 torque at the wheels. 1064 hp and 986.76 torque at the motor with a %20 correction for driveline loss. My runs were from 3000 rpm to 6000 and each new psi setting the runs got shorter to 6000 rpm. Sorry, but on the last 2 runs, the sound and video are out of sync. I just close my eyes and listen to the last 2 runs. In my pictures of the car after the turbo install, you can see the 4 inch electrically valved cut out coming out of the right side fender. On the dyno that was open and the air cleaner was removed. Otherwise it was in its full street configuration and on 91 swill they sell down here. Here is the link. http://videos.streetfire.net/video/F...DAY_643621.htm . Thanks for looking. Mark L

 

Wow...awesome! Welcome!

 

Welcome to the site Mark. That's an awesome TA you have there.

 

Thanks guys. Outrun, my sister-in-law lives in Pewaukee. I lived down in Elkhorn and worked in Burlington. Hope you lived through another winter-sorry but I live to rub it in. Love it down here BUT!!! I still have to make it thru the whole summer yet. I may be laughing out the other side o' da mouth when it hits 116--in the shade--LOL. I'm looking for LS dimensions. Did a search but did not find anything. I need bore sizes-bearing sizes-crank journal sizes-etc, basic blueprinting facts so I can start mixing and matching parts. And figuring out what blocks to find etc. Any direction to those specs would be really appreciated. But until then I'm reading everything I can find. Mark L

 

Nice. I live through winter pretty well. Thinking about getting a new sled. There are some nice trails in northern WI. 116 degree weather isn't bad cause it's a dry heat, right?

 

LOL!!! Shewww!! LOL!!! Mark L