Page 1 of 5

Turbo truck LS engine

PostPosted: Sun Oct 31, 2010 7:00 pm
by Rowdy Mclaughlin
I replaced the 4.3 turbo in the car with an LQ4 6.0 engine out of a 2003 Silverado. Totally stock engine with 100k miles with a turbo and 10-14psi it went 10.8@136.5 on the 7.5 rearend. Once I figure out a rearend I can hook up and maybe go 9s on this junkyard engine! :D
lq4-1.JPG

Re: Turbo truck LS engine

PostPosted: Sun Oct 31, 2010 7:16 pm
by RockDaddy
LS Power rules

Re: Turbo truck LS engine

PostPosted: Sun Oct 31, 2010 8:26 pm
by 2lucke4u
Rowdy Mclaughlin
LOVE IT,DETAILS,TURBO STYLE HOW DID YOU FIT IT,OIL PAN,HEADERS FROM WHAT,DETAILS DETAILS,,HAVE A 80 COUPE LEFT,SOLD MT LOW TEN CAR LAST WEEK TO GET GOING IN ANOTHER DIRECTION ,,ANY INFO WOULD BE GREAT,,
CHARLES

Re: Turbo truck LS engine

PostPosted: Sun Oct 31, 2010 8:58 pm
by Rowdy Mclaughlin
Any details you need I can give! It was all pretty easy. Its a totally stock LQ4 engine out of a junkyard. Oil pan is an F-body oilpan, I think the cheapest kit for it is from Pace. It uses two passenger side truck exhuast manifolds, the driver side one is just facing backwards, the passenger side one is facing backwards and upside down. The turbo flange is welded to the passenger manifold and the turbo bolts to it. People say its tough and not durable to weld to cast manifolds, but evidently the more modern manifolds are weldable. I welded this whole system up with a 110 volt wire feed welder with flux cored wire, no gas. It has been heated up and cooled down probably 100 times now testing it back and forth and no cracks or problems. The intake is a GMPP single plane job and the carb is a 750 double pumper modded for blow through action. The accesory setup is the one from LS2 Corvette around 2004 model. I dont run power steering but I think it would fit. The turbo is only $800 new, it is a Borg Warner S400 with 83mm turbine and 1.10 T4 turbine housing and 75mm compressor. It is a perfect match for a stock 6.0, I got lucky on it being such a good match. Ignition is a MSD6010 box, about $300, thats all you need for ignition, no distributor!! Any other details you want let me know, I love trying to con people into doing turbo setups, where else could you go 136mph on a $3000 setup(engine and turbo stuff)?! Engine was $750 and I got the turbo used for $500. Heres a link to the run, it is so smooth its amazing, stock cam and stuff will do that, notice the shift points are 5500rpm! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bjj8FImN3mE Thanks for the interest!

Re: Turbo truck LS engine

PostPosted: Sun Oct 31, 2010 9:08 pm
by stage169
That is so cool! It looks like it all fits under the hood? What is the sweet spot boost psi for the turbo? How do you think the stock pistons will hold up? Brian

Re: Turbo truck LS engine

PostPosted: Sun Oct 31, 2010 9:45 pm
by 2lucke4u
what tranny,year truck manifolds?? Its looking like my new project begins now,,,I am pumped,,,details,,anything,,the project season is now begining,put our convertible away for the year today and the 80 coupe is in the building,,
charles

Re: Turbo truck LS engine

PostPosted: Sun Oct 31, 2010 9:51 pm
by waybad
can you take close up of the turbo mounts and the merge pipe and location? that is a sweet set up,, what are
your afr under boost and normal driving? when does the boost come in(rpm) what is the exhaust down pipe size? and do you downsize the pipe to what? this is what I have been trying not to do :bang: but you make it sound so easy :th:
the ar on the turbine size seems big???? I sure I will think of more later??
Thanks TC

Re: Turbo truck LS engine

PostPosted: Sun Oct 31, 2010 10:33 pm
by Rowdy Mclaughlin
This setup unfortunately sticks up about 2" above the hood, so it needs a cowl or can cut a hole in the hood for the hat like mine. I think this turbo would be tapped out around 20psi on this engine but that would be around 900hp so that would be fun! The downpipe is 4". The a/r is about right for the T4 turbine, it spools very quick, on the street cruising along at 2500 rpm or so, you put your foot in it and it is at full boost instanlty, no lag, two black marks and youre pointing at the ditch instantly! The stock pistons are fine if you watch your timing and AFR, lots of people posting on ls1tech.com doing the same type of thing with stock parts and holding up, just not much room for error. I think rpm kills these engines as much as boost, so that is why I like the stock cam, keep the max revs right at 6000rpm and there is alot less stress. The stock cam is tiny but works really well. AFRs are low 11s going down track, mid 13s cruise. The transmission is a th350. GM sells a flexplate for this engine with an adapter for about $60 that lets you use standard th350/400 converters, and the trans bolts right up, its really nice! The truck manifolds are the standard LQ4 truck ones, these are 2003, I think 1999 to 2004 or so are all the same.

Thanks for all the interest, I am really excited about the LQ/LS engines after this. I'll get more close up pics of the piping and stuff this week and post them. It really is pretty simple to do, Im not the handiest person in the world, anyone could put this together. Anyone near Easton PA let me know and we'll go for a ride :D

Re: Turbo truck LS engine

PostPosted: Mon Nov 01, 2010 9:49 am
by stage169
I'm building a Buick V6 turbo engine and its the first one for me. Just had to ask about the stock LS pistons because all I've read about is the V6. I certainly hope you get several thousand 1/4 mile runs down the track with NO problems. I really like your build!

What is the gear ratio on your 7.5 rear?

Looking forward to your future post! Brian

Re: Turbo truck LS engine

PostPosted: Tue Nov 02, 2010 9:19 am
by Rowdy Mclaughlin
Thanks Brian! The rear is 3.31 or 3.36, I forget exactly which. I think the stock pistons will be ok as long as I dont have any detonation. Supposedly the hypereutectic (sp?) pistons are very strong as far as the power they can handle, but very sensitive to detonation!

Re: Turbo truck LS engine

PostPosted: Tue Nov 02, 2010 8:32 pm
by bill1978v8
very nice set up!!

Re: Turbo truck LS engine

PostPosted: Sat Nov 06, 2010 12:52 am
by 2lucke4u
Rowdy Mclaughlin
we need a full parts list on this setup,i'm going ahead with it,just took in a donation of a built th400/stall,20 gal cell,chrome moly driveshaft,from a friends burnt up grand national,insurance paid him off and he got the car for 200.00,he donated parts to the cause,,any list would be great,part numbers,what ever you can do,,this is happening,,thanks
Charles

Re: Turbo truck LS engine

PostPosted: Sat Nov 06, 2010 6:04 am
by 73astregt
if oops wrong thread sorry!

Re: Turbo truck LS engine

PostPosted: Sat Nov 06, 2010 7:49 am
by Fasterthansome
2lucke4u wrote:Rowdy Mclaughlin
we need a full parts list on this setup,i'm going ahead with it,just took in a donation of a built th400/stall,20 gal cell,chrome moly driveshaft,from a friends burnt up grand national,insurance paid him off and he got the car for 200.00,he donated parts to the cause,,any list would be great,part numbers,what ever you can do,,this is happening,,thanks
Charles

Look for a LY6 if your going to do it. :th:

Re: Turbo truck LS engine

PostPosted: Sat Nov 06, 2010 2:55 pm
by 72 SS PNL
if you put any more boost to it , you better get some studs in it for the heads , or youll start lifting them