Best All Around Motor?

[FLDBRED]

When every thing is considered,PRICE,ease of installation,fuel economy,power,etc. Does it always come back to the SB350?I know the LS motors are great,but they cost a lot more,and the average guy still might find it hard to do the swap!Maybe the SB400?What do you think?

[au03z71]

Yes, late model roller block, vortec heads, streetable cam. Very serviceable and can be built to your preference pretty affordably.

[FLDBRED]

That's what I was thinking.I wonder how much more a 383 is,everything else being equal?

[C20-67_N_MO]

Depends if you want Performance over Economy really.

And what you expect out of your engine.

If you want performance then yes the price will go up accordingly.

A good crate engine in the 260-290hp range would be a good choice for MPG use.

Just depends what you want out of your powerplant.

Good luck.

[mike16]

i like the 307. it does every thing the 350 does but cost.

[Beuford]

I like the 400 small block. It uses no more space and weighs no more but makes a lot more torque. They are compareable cost to rebuild and most all the brackets are interchangeable,

[big_al_71]

Originally Posted by Beuford

I like the 400 small block. It uses no more space and weighs no more but makes a lot more torque. They are compareable cost to rebuild and most all the brackets are interchangeable,

I agree 100%,,,I went with a small block 400....

[CCCC]

There are a lot of 350s around here, one 400 SB and two 402 BBs - and they all run well. But, by far the best running are a 327 that came in a 69 C20 and a 327 that came in a 67 Corvette.

[RPOZ11]

383 or 396 stroked.

Get the cubic inches and the added cooling without sacrificing cracking a block.

I am sure there are more to add to this!!!

[bigsnookmaster]

"Small Block 400" My .02

[Camaro_nut2001]

Originally Posted by beuford

i like the 400 small block. It uses no more space and weighs no more but makes a lot more torque. They are compareable cost to rebuild and most all the brackets are interchangeable,

x2

[67ss&99ss]

I love my 406.

[69 longhorn]

If you are talking "old school SB", the 327 has my vote also. IMHO, that short stroke /big bore SB did give up a little tork as compaired to a 350....but that lill bioch would REV & do it fast! The thing that we all understand, & that there is no replacement for displacement. However, that is not the complete game......make ALL the pcs match(cam/gearing/ect), & that lill short stroke mouse will kick some azz, even in a 3800 lb truck. I ran a flat top 327 +.040 LJ, in a 4 bolt block. She was wearin LT-1 heads & a mild cam(216 dur @ .050),headers 650 vac spreadbore . The old truck ran a saginaw 4 spd, with 3.50 1st gear & 3.73s in the rear, & was just as happy pulling 5000 lbs on the towbar as she was bustin gears playin with those old carburated 302 Stangs. I have heard it said many times, by old racers....."if you got the gears, you dont need a big motor"....you just need enough rpms to run the gears! crazyAL

[Clyde65]

with proper prep ( as with any engine/trans swap) the LS is your best bet. There are parts readily available for this swap into just about any 60-87 Chevy truck. If you buy a crate motor, even a close to stock one, you will be paying about the same as a low mileage 6.0l Gen3 or 4 from the yard. Use Thealien's swap discussion and see what you thing. I am finishing up now and I, like most of us here, arent rolling in the dough. Single dad, one income, house and car payment just like us all. I started buying parts after reading the Classic Trucks magazine writeup. It took me about 3 months to gather the parts I needed, because of $ and no other reason. ( I wish I would have had Thealien's write up before I started) Then I jerked my tire 350/400 out and put the ls in, it was like it was made for it, I used the 4l60e trans for the 4speed and mileage. Everything is all done except the exhaust which I am currently saving for it, couple more weeks. It runs 10 times better than my 350, more juice and should get around 17-20MPG highway. Dont let this intimidate you, it is no more expensive than the crate motors and it will be a vast improvement over the gas guzzler you got. BTW I went with a 5.3l not the 6.0, just cuz I found it and the trans out of a wreck, with all accessories and harness/pcm under $1000.

Look into it, you will be glad you did.

[lsx72]

hands down ls based engine. run like a scalded dog, and great gas mileage. its not that much more. it would pay for its self in no time...

[SCOTI]

Originally Posted by lsx72

hands down ls based engine. run like a scalded dog, and great gas mileage. its not that much more. it would pay for its self in no time...

When you state "it's not that much more", what are you comparing it to?

Originally Posted by FLDBRED

....When every thing is considered,PRICE,ease of installation,fuel economy,power,etc....

While the LS motors are great, there's more to swapping one in than just swapping. The above quote specified the costs, ease of installation, economy, & power. To take advantage of the efficiency of an LS requires adding the electronics & fuel system to support the FI. It's not a simple weekend type swap using your local auto parts store for misc items. Of course, you could always carb it; but it's not going to pay for itself in efficiency w/that set-up.

[dccarpenter]

I have a 350 and like it but curious as to why the 327 was endorsed by one poster as the best? Any advantages it has over the small block 350? Mileage? Power? Longevity?

Not a F*rd fan usually but their inline 6 300 was a fantastic motor, do the GM inline sixes compare?

[special-K]

283 or 307.As with all motors,the closer to the original design the better durability.These motors give enough power,last longer,and drink less gas.That`s best.If you mean best power get a monster motor and forget everything else.A 350 is 85 cubic inches bigger than the original design.I`ve defended the 400 and love them.Better hope one has another rebuild left in it.They are already bored.383?Cool motor.No matter what,you`ll add the cost of a new rotating assembly to the cost,though.A longer stoke motor works more per mile,don`t forget.Not a recipe for longetivity.

[1971ls1longbed]

as far as the ls engines go ive put several together and its stupid easy to make gobs of power even with a carb. i pieced on together from ls1tech for about 2500 and it made almost 450 to the wheels. u just have to know what to look for.

[68c10burb]

Ls swaps are getting pretty cheap. I see them on cl with trans and harness for $600 on ocassion.

Favorite I've had so far was a 400 small block. I had one in a caprice wagon- with a qjet and 700r4 I could get 20mpg. Took a trip from IL to NH and got 22 mpg, until I got in the mountains.

I had a caprice/impala SS clone with an LT1 that I couldn't ever get better than 18mpg.

[clinebarger]

Originally Posted by 68c10burb

Ls swaps are getting pretty cheap. I see them on cl with trans and harness for $600 on ocassion.

Favorite I've had so far was a 400 small block. I had one in a caprice wagon- with a qjet and 700r4 I could get 20mpg. Took a trip from IL to NH and got 22 mpg, until I got in the mountains.

I had a caprice/impala SS clone with an LT1 that I couldn't ever get better than 18mpg.

I was going to say LT1, Their cheap, dependable, it bolts in. Vortec heads are based off the iron LT1 B-body head. Ive bought wrecked B-bodys for 800 bucks....... can be done very cheap just my opinion.

[CCCC]

Reply to dccarpenter. Right - the 350s, 400s, BB402s here are good - love 'em all even with their differing characterisitcs. I'm responding to the aspects of the original question in this thread.

Yes, the 327 is more to the original block design if that matters (and it probably does.). It is a better balanced engine than the later derivations, seems to idle better and seems easier to fine tune, gives better fuel mileage (especially if you can live with a smaller cfm carb), and best for me - seems to get its power on at the right revs for a 3/4 ton truck. 2nd gear on a granny plus three speed trans with my rear is a dream gear and then it seems to be "just right" in 4th at 65 mph. This is what I meant by "best running".

Now, if you want me to talk about why, after 39 years of driving it I like the 327 with big Holley and 365 hp in the 67 Sting Ray - well -----.
CCCC

[D-Rat]

pretty happy with my 400.

[FLDBRED]

I know the LS motors are better,but it's not an easy swap for the average guy!I like the 400,but most have been rebuilt once already,and they don't like much over .30.So a one piece main seal,vortec headed,roller motor might be the way to go.

It is now a 307 with the stock 2 barrel carb.Have any of you guys put the Vortec heads on this motor?

[Irishpilot]

I agree with the 400. A stock rebuild is just a little more than a 350. If you want to stroke it to a 406, it's higher priced, but with Vortec heads, it really is a performance engine.