Possible LS swap?

[wwillmon]

So right now i have my 73 c10 down to the frame and can really go either direction with the motor and tranny. Right now i have a 350 sbc that i was planning on rebuilding (aluminum heads, cam, etc.), so i dont neccessarily need an ls but i would love to have one. After reading around though it seems like the ls swaps are the way to go as far as reliability and mps etc.

My problem is im not sure with which ls motor i would want to go with. I would want to be in the ballpark of about 450-500 hp, with room to increase so im guessing i would want one with an aluminum block? My other thing is i like the looks of the old sbc and bbc motors with hardly any wires under the hood, and with the ls i know im going to have plenty of wires t run, so is it possible to clean these up and make them look show quality in our trucks (paint, wiring, etc.) This truck will just be to cruise around in and put in shows, but i want to do it right the first time and not regret my choices, so any help would be appreciated.

[Special-Ed]

lsx is where its at.... reliable, lots of power, and good on gas

there are 2 versions of the ls3 something like 420hp and the 480 hp...
with a supercharger it goes upto 620hp or something like that

[wwillmon]

Ill definitely check the ls3 out. Been trying to read up and figure everything out but theres so many different models, and ive never messed with ls motors so its taking me a bit to figure it all out haha.

[Jon01]

Any LS motor can make 450hp fairly easy.
I'd just start with a run of the mill LQ4, 243/799 heads, car intake, cam and headers and you'll be knocking on 500.
Do some reading over on LS1tech if you're new to them.

[BR3W CITY]

You can always run an ls motor with o/d trans carb'ed, and keep the ecm in the cab. You'll have more wires than before but much less than the full efi/dbw conversions.

[wwillmon]

The more and more i think about it, the more i want to do it and am convinced im going to. Would it be better just to do something like a LQ4, or should i just start with something like a LS1, or save the money and go with something like a LS3 or something. Still trying to figure out which way i want to go.

[Clyde65]

like was said before, an LQ4 with the 243 heads and a nice cam, performance tune and headers will get you right around 450-500HP. Then later if you need more power ( not sure why but you never know) you can throw a bottle, a supercharger or a couple turbo's.

[Jon01]

What Clyde said.
LQ4's are cheap, plentiful and can make plenty of power n/a with a head swap or if you want boost leave the stock large chamber heads on it and crank it up.

[BR3W CITY]

Originally Posted by Jon01

What Clyde said.
LQ4's are cheap, plentiful and can make plenty of power n/a with a head swap or if you want boost leave the stock large chamber heads on it and crank it up.

We just put some worked 317's on an ls1 with a 76mm snail....it sounds like an angry badger in heat, and goes like one too. Boost plus anything works for me