LS7/7.0L/427

[Blizzardx23]

I was wondering if its possible to swap the LQ4 with an LS7? (I know ANYTHING is possible with the right amount of money) but Im talking realistic. Would it be a simple bolt in? or would there be a lot of fab work done? Have you heard of anyone doing it lately? I'd love to drop a 427 in my truck.

Im currently having issues with my truck. My right side cat. caved on itself around...70k or so miles. Then around a year later, the same side collapsed again. It was out of warranty by that time. I've since put a high flow cat. on that side as a temp fix because I had to drive it from Oklahoma to Cali before I deployed. The A/C pump went bad but was covered under warranty. The truck now has around 85k on it. I bought it used 2 years ago with 65k. (Im a 20 year old kid and I'm very hard on the truck so I know a lot of it has to do with me and my need to push it to the limit just about 97% of the time I drive it lol) but I was wondering if I would be better off buying a new engine, building it, and dropping it in, instead of trying to find every issue with the current engine.

The person before me didnt take to much care of it when they had it. It had the 22s on it that you currently see (small damages from curbing), the side steps are scuffed up like they ran something over or high centered on a vertical curb. the from bumper was scuffed up and the driver side corner where it meets the fender..that hit the fender and kind of bent and chipped the paint. So Im sure it was beat up before I got it as well.

Anyways, let me know what you guys think!

Thanks!

 

[GMTech48]

your stock trans. will NOT handle the added power/torque of the LS7!
You're talking a HUGE amt. of green to make that work!

 

[Blizzardx23]

so in reality, swapping a 7.0 is not going to happen =/
Thats what I needed to know (guess my dreams are shattered forever :sad

As for my engine, what could be some causes? I've heard that the engine could be running lean/rich (no clue what to do) and that I should also check the O2 sensor?

I've tried taking it to a couple of shops when I was home for 2 weeks...but I had no real luck

 

[smoothfrc]

Someone has already done this, not sure all the specifics, but a beefed up trans wouldnt break the bank - the ls7 would cost you more money

All the lsx motors are pretty much interchangeable.. Just need to look at things like the relucter wheel on the crank and re-splice the sensors (they use different plugs), throw in a Tune and vuala... It's that Easy! (over simplified of course)

Ls7's do cost a pretty penny, but you could easily find a decent ls2 on e-bay and work with that.

I dont know that i would rule out your stock trans holding up... These trucks are pretty damn heavy, and they may be able to handle it with little issue. All the Torque managment built into the tune pretty much keeps the trans alive. if anything, you could just make sure whoever is tuning the car to put a little extra care in that area to keep things togethor.

 

[scotto2323]

LS7 alone will run you $13,000 new. Why not throw in a 6 speed manual trans in while your at it....lol, that would be pretty cool.

 

[Blizzardx23]

LS7 alone will run you $13,000 new. Why not throw in a 6 speed manual trans in while your at it....lol, that would be pretty cool.

True, they are very expensive. But back home in Sacramento, Ca. We have basically a "neighborhood" of nothing but dismantlers. Each place specializes in different types of vehicles. I was thinking about pulling from a totaled Vette. $7-$8k maybe?

I donno...Im thinking of just buying another LQ4 and building it up, like I said, Im not sure how bad of condition my current engine is in

 

[Rollin Thunder]

If your willing to loose a 100 hp. Go find a wrecked LS2 I saw someone on a jeep forum go to his junk yard and picked up a perfectly good LS2 for about 1800. Plus radiator and all the other fixins. Then do the mods i did and push it over the edge. :thumbsup:

 

[Blizzardx23]

If your willing to loose a 100 hp. Go find a wrecked LS2 I saw someone on a jeep forum go to his junk yard and picked up a perfectly good LS2 for about 1800. Plus radiator and all the other fixins. Then do the mods i did and push it over the edge. :thumbsup:

explain? loose 100hp from what?

Do you have a built LS2? in what vehicle and how much power does it put out?


Im just not sure if I want to trade the 6.0 LS2 for my 6.0 Vortec. The LQ4 is a signature point of the Denali. Although the LS2 will be better for what I want (performance), I'd rather have a built LQ4 (not as popular..maybe because its not as good?) over an LS2 which is in all the beefed up trucks and sports cars. It would be kind of different



Also....if I do any of the mentioned motor swaps, will I keep all the stock features?...OnStar Diagnostics, Inst. MPG, all the warnings and alerts, etc.?

 

[Rollin Thunder]

explain? loose 100hp from what?

Do you have a built LS2? in what vehicle and how much power does it put out?


Im just not sure if I want to trade the 6.0 LS2 for my 6.0 Vortec. The LQ4 is a signature point of the Denali. Although the LS2 will be better for what I want (performance), I'd rather have a built LQ4 (not as popular..maybe because its not as good?) over an LS2 which is in all the beefed up trucks and sports cars. It would be kind of different



Also....if I do any of the mentioned motor swaps, will I keep all the stock features?...OnStar Diagnostics, Inst. MPG, all the warnings and alerts, etc.?

What I mean loose 100 hp is going from an LS7 to an LS2. 400 or 505.


I have the LS2 6.0 liter in my 07 corvette. Has a super charger, Custom tune, cold air intake, Corsa preformance exhaust, etc. Dynos at 550 hp. I wanted a convertable so thats why I didnt just get a Z06


But from what I understand your just not out for raw power. You wanna be different. More power to ya, and If you do put an LS7 in there i wanna see lots of pics. A dyno run sheet, and lots of tire marks on the road. :yesnod:

 

[Blizzardx23]

If you do put an LS7 in there i wanna see lots of pics. A dyno run sheet, and lots of tire marks on the road. :yesnod:

heh..that would probably take every bit of money I've saved since I've been out here hahaha

I'll see what I can do when I get back though

 

[jetskied]

The bottom line is much money is too much money. The LS 7 will bolt in directly, but the electronics is different than your LQ4 so making them all communicate with each other is where it is gonna be hard. Your tranny can't handle all of that power, but you can have it beefed up by a tranny shop to handle it. Lingenfelter performance has done these type of conversions, I see you are in CA I know of a shop in Ventura called Andys Corvettes who does lots of work on Z06s who probably can help you out also. BTW going with any newer engine like a LS2 or LS3 will have the same amount of ECU modification as a LS7 so go for the LS7 if you are intent on changing engines. Good luck with your project.

 

[boostaholic]

No need for a swap, just need a little boost or nitrous

Then get a built 4L65E from www.finishlinetrans.com

 

[smoothfrc]

i was going to suggest some FI to go with the LS2... would put out more then the ls7 for less coin.

Or if you wanted to stay N/A.. you can still build an ls2 with aftermarket heads and cam and make as much or more power then the ls7 less coin. Dont get me wrong, the ls7 is a nice motor... but they have their issues and they cost alot of money for what you could build.

Could look for a nice 6.2 out of an escalade as well.... heads and cam, vuala.

 

[Blizzardx23]

has anyone heard of doing heads and cams to the LQ4? I think I remember reading something about the L92 heads?

This truck hauls a$$, even at the lights, I'm taking sports cars..I've taken A LOT of GTs (at first, I was thinking it was just the Mustang drivers that suck..but it was a continuous outcome)...is that true to anyone else?

I have a project that I'm going to work on when I get back to the states which will give the truck a true *Cold* Ram Air. It wont be your typical hood scoop as it hasn't been mass produced since the late 60s. You rarely see them on the street now. But with that being said, a better CAI system then my current K&N, L92 Heads, Cams, Tune, Headers, Flowmaster Exhaust....do you think would push 400hp+?

I'd like to have atleast 400hp+

 

[boostaholic]

Why n/a? Just turbo that sh*t and call it a day unless you want a nasty n/a 6.0. Check out www.performancetrucks.net for some ideas, plenty of people running 400+whp with heads/cam/longtubes/etc. or a magnacharger/procharger/STS turbo/trick turbo/etc.

 

[Blizzardx23]

Thanks boost...Im at the forum talking to them about it as well...I'd like to do both..internal work as well as charge it...Im looking for most power possible but Im not looking to spend $20k on something that doesnt appreciate in time..a couple $k here and there...(the internals..and minor work), then at the end, I'll spend the $5-7k on the charger...the issue with our truck...is the AWD robs us of a lot more HP then a 2wd yukon with an LQ4..correct?

 

[boostaholic]

Yeah the awd robs some power, hopefully you don't have issues with your tcase since the 03+ were alot weaker. I'd stick with a mild heads and cam (maybe a set of p&p 317's with a cam around 220-224). Then I'd get the trans done with a good converter, you'll need to decide on what kind of FI at this point since the maggy likes making gobs of low end torque and turbos hook better with a stall around 3000+. Once you have that done get a fuel pump and decide on some injectors.

 

[smoothfrc]

Why not just ditch the AWD and convert to 2wd?

 

[Rollin Thunder]

I have never heard of a tahoe with the 6.0. I have seen burbans. But not hoes. If i had not sold it. I was gunna bore out my 5.3 on the 06 to a 6.0 since they have the same stroke. Then super charge it and be ahead of the game. But I agree, enless you live in a snowy area, Just remove the transaxle up front, Take of the drive shaft, and cap off that part of the tranny. Boom. 2wd street rod denali. Plus with the AWD transfer case removed and your preformace mods, you could do some real smoky burnouts

 

[boostaholic]

I'll never get rid of the awd, these NVG-149 tcases on the 01-02 denali are the burliest unit ever put into a 1/2 ton gas. You can't pull the front shaft in mine either, it will burn up the viscous coupling. Also much easier to put down power with awd in a big suv like these.