LSx Valiant Build. Take a look inside...
But that kind of defeats the purpose of a modern engine swap. Plus i'd bet that timing cover & needed parts costs more than the MSD hemi ignition box.
They have the same options for the LS and I don't get it. At that point you might as well stick with a run of the mill small block(or whatever you started with)
Not really though, people dropped carbs on top of vortec 350s to get better power than with the older versions of the same engine...same goes for straight J heads vs magnums...old style 289 heads vs GT-40//40P heads...now you bring in the G3 hemis, there's nothing about the engine that isn't better designed than the engines they replaced. The block is better...the heads to include the valvetrain are light years better...the induction (even if you go with a carbed intake) is better, the exhaust components available to include the stock manifolds are better, and they bolt right up to legacy transmissions and engine mounts are available now. Whatever money you invest in the intake/ignition (which is programmable, so you don't have to fiddle with springs weights or vacuum cans), will be money you don't have to invest rebuilding the bottom end if you picked up, say a 50K mile longblock, from the junkyard.
So, if what you started with is a clapped out 360, you're going to spend how ever many hundreds of dollars getting new pistons, having it balanced, machined, heads rebuilt, whatever. The population of low mile low cost good condition LAs is drastically dwindling for most people, but 3G hemis have been in steady production since '03 so they'll be available for a while. And as long as the salvage place near you isn't a scalpin' thief, they can be had for a decent price.
The LS is even better in that regard, because you get the same improvements over the platform it replaced...and for cheaper. It's not uncommon to see people on CL selling a running complete 5.3 out of a wrecked Sierra for $500-$1000. That's for a 330hp stock idle small block...slap in a used warmer cam (cuz you can do that with a roller), bolt on some headers and tune it correctly you're knocking on 400hp.
...or you can read this article...
415HP From A Basic 5.3 LS Engine!
I'll grant you that HRM's dyno down at Westech is probably a little...optimistic, but even still, a 5.3 pushing 400 or near it is pretty decent for most people's wants.
