But this time it’s replacing the existing LS in this thing:
2000 Fixed Roof Coupe
I bought it to mainly enjoy as a street car and not really modify since I went off the deep end with my BMW…which I did up until now.
But here we are almost 2 years later and naturally I can’t just leave things alone, especially after spending lots of time here:
Did a bunch of lapping days in the summers of 2016 and '17 and got the itch for more power. Beat up on a lot of cars at the track, held my own against some stock new Vipers and R8s in the corners but they drove away from me on the straights, pretty frustrating. I did the math for a heads/cam upgrade on the existing motor and by the time you add in all the supporting hardware and a tune, the gains just weren’t worth the expense - especially when a big jump in displacement and head technology is available for not much more. With the exception of valve reliefs in the pistons and sodium filled valve the L92 is identical to the LS3, once you delete the VVT. The plan is a stock bottom end, mild mannered cam with a broad powerband, bulletproof valvetrain, stock LS3 intake, etc. Really as close to an OEM+ setup as I can get.
Nothing wrong with the current LS1, actually runs quite strong for 125k miles. I plan on sticking it in storage for a future project unless somebody makes me a great offer on it.
So here we go. Hop in the car and go see a man about a thing an hour away
2008 Escalade with 78,000 miles is giving its all-aluminum, 6.2L L92 heart after having a tree fall on it in a windstorm.
A few weeks later I had her strapped up and ready to come home
I really didn’t feel like dragging the cherry picker out of the shed so a bit of wiggling with the lift arms and it came right off the trailer.
The cool thing about using equipment that you haven’t touched in years is that sometimes your “past” self is smart enough to keep the bolts for LS engines zip tied to the motor stand.
Wife: “So you’re telling me you’re going to take apart a perfectly good running car, again?”
I pulled off the water pump and the exhaust manifolds - was unlucky enough to snap off 2 bolts, one below the surface of the head. Think I’ll try the welder trick for that one, we’ll see how it goes.
