chevy LS conversion. Advantages? Disadvantages? Costs?

[mackempete]

I'm particularly interested in this conversion for my chim. I'm hoping to get some info about the following:
- After the initial investment would a converted car continue to empty my pockets with
the need for constant repairs?
- How does the sound of a LSx compare to a rover V8?
- Are there any companies offering this conversion?
- Would around 10k be a sensible budget?
- And finaly ignoring the cost who would actually have this done?
Thanks in advance, also thanks to everyone for the info about a stage 3 4.6 conversion. 900ss sorry about jumping in on your thread.
Pete

[argoose]

Peter

Sportmotive are just about to start a conversion.

Speak to Ian

[GreenV8S]

I think Boosted, Speed Eight and Jellison would be the main people to talk to, and it wouldn't hurt to have a chat with Steve Heath too.

[Griffter]

mackempete said:

I'm particularly interested in this conversion for my chim. I'm hoping to get some info about the following:
- After the initial investment would a converted car continue to empty my pockets with
the need for constant repairs?

It'd be a 'one off' - with associated delays, parts fabrication and expense if repair work was required. Might not be a trip to Halfords for a fanbelt for example.

mackempete said:

- How does the sound of a LSx compare to a rover V8?

Having seen jellison's google video - pretty awesome! More guttural and muscle car. Lot's of this is down to the exhaust I guess.

mackempete said:

- Are there any companies offering this conversion?

As argoose says, Sportmotive. email [e-mail] - super approachable guy. Tell him what you want and what your budget is. Ian'll give you a straight answer.

mackempete said:

- Would around 10k be a sensible budget?

I've no idea. Sounds reasonable, but half that could easily go on engine and drivetrain, then there's exhaust, propshaft, engine mounts, cooling pipes, ancilliaries etc etc plus labour to problem solve, fabricate and install. It'll soon mount up!

mackempete said:

- And finaly ignoring the cost who would actually have this done?

You?!

mackempete said:

Thanks in advance, also thanks to everyone for the info about a stage 3 4.6 conversion. 900ss sorry about jumping in on your thread.
Pete

[Boosted LS1]

I've got all the parts here to do the conversion, engine mounts etc and £10k plus or minus a bit for unknown bits and bobs is in the ball park depending on how good you want it to be and what capacity you want. Main decisions are which gearbox will you use because that costs extra and which ecu will you use, stock, aftermarket or mappable like a DTA/Motec?

I carry most of the spares and supply a few people on here so forget halfords Between us we have most things covered

Boosted.

[zumbruk]

mackempete said:

- How does the sound of a LSx compare to a rover V8?

This one I can answer, having seen/heard jellisons at Abingdon last Saturday.

And the answer is "angry". Very angry. Like a RV8 having a serious hissy fit! And bloody excellent. jellisons installation looks like a factory fit - very impressive.

[theaxe]

There's a writeup on jellison's conversion on TVR Chimaera Pages (link to the video at the bottom).

[mackempete]

Thanks for the info everyone. yet again this forum has come up trumps.

I'm glad that around £10k is a sensible budget and that they are pro's offering this conversion. Boosted I've been checking out your site, very impressive, didnt realise there was so many options for this engine.

I've also checked out the google video of Jellison's chim. That car sounds great, shame about the colour

I'm in the process of sorting the finances so I wont waste anyones time by asking for any indepth quotes or info till the cash is in place, probably later in the year all been well.

One more question quick question...
I'm still toying with the RV8 4.6 swap. This looks like it would cost roughly half as much as an LS conversion. Obviously an LS wont make twice the power of a 4.6 but would the extra power/torque, lower maintenance and reliability be worth spending the extra cash on the yank lump?

Edited by mackempete on Wednesday 14th June 23:16

[Wildfire]

As much as I love the RV8 I aleays have the timebomb mentality that something will go wrong with the car, starting with the engine. If I could switch to a LSX (as in if I could afford it, I would). The LS range of engines are bulletproof from what I hear and the performance is staggering! One less thing to worrk about. Now if someone could come up with a chassis that doesn't corrode.....

[RichardD]

mackempete said:

Thanks for the info everyone. yet again this forum has come up trumps.

I'm glad that around £10k is a sensible budget and that they are pro's offering this conversion. Boosted I've been checking out your site, very impressive, didnt realise there was so many options for this engine.

I've also checked out the google video of Jellison's chim. That car sounds great, shame about the colour

I'm in the processes of sorting the finances so I wont waste anyones time by asking for any indepth quotes or info till the cash is in place, probably later in the year all been well.

One more question quick question...
I'm still toying with the RV8 4.6 swap. This looks like it would cost roughly half as much as an LS conversion. Obviously an LS wont make twice the power of a 4.6 but would the extra power/torque, lower maintenance and reliability be worth spending the extra cash on the yank lump?

Hello Pete

If you fancy some bedtime reading,

www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/1557884072/203-1160613-4998333?v=glance&n=283155 was recommended by the owner of a certain purple Chimaera The efficiency and simplicity of the LSx engine is sooo impressive.

Since you have a 4.0, do you have a T5 gearbox or a Rover one?

I'd guess that a LS1 would be OK with the T5 gearbox, but to go on a higher level then the TKO 600 would probably be in order.

If you did stick with the 4.6 Rover idea, there is a poster on this topic (clue in his name!) who could probably turbocharge it if you got such urges !

When looking at the big picture, something that interests me and I do not know the answer to is re-sellability. Although costing more, would a LSx Chim (with chassis refurb whilst at it) increase in value more than an engine swapped one which would be less desirable than a 500 model...?

[Fire99]

Guys,

On the resale front of an LS6 powered car its hard to tell as it is effectively a one off (ok 5 or 6 off) which really means its worth whatever someone will pay for it.
The only drawback i can see with an LS6 powered car is that you would be narrowing you prospective customer base when it comes to selling the car on.

There are still quite a few people who would buy a 'Std' Chim who would normally buy a normal car like a 350z of Audi TT etc and would be put off cause they couldnt buy their insurance online at Tesco's etc and worry about servicing etc.
You know what i mean.....

I would say that the Rover V8 is an extremely tough engine and definitely not one i would class in the same sentence as Time-Bomb. I would say that it is pretty old-school technology and its Output is pretty low in relation to its capacity but if serviced normally it is one of those engines that generally get noisier and rattlier with time but dont tend to go 'Bang'

Also i know of a good number of Turbo'd and Supercharged Rover V8 motors which make great power.

The LS6 engine is defintitely a great engine and 'Out of the Box' has great scope for tuning capability if you are a fan of 'Yank V8's' Obviously the likes of JEllision and Boosted are the boyz in the know there..

One thing that has just sprung to mind, which i know i'm opening a can of worms here, if you can buy a Chim with a nice Chassis for 10k and for another 10k put a decent output LS6 engine in it then you have one storming TVR for 20k. And with Tuscans generally starting just shy of 20k, which would you rather have?

(sorry if i've diverted off the thread a touch)

[Boosted LS1]

It's horses for courses imo. I can turbocharge a 4.6 very easily even in a tvr and with the right set up get past 400 hp/lbs/ft. You would also have to uprate the clutch and sort out the engine management but at least the gearbox shouldn't need changing and it would be a much smaller project to undertake then fitting an lsx.

Or, you could tune the rover n/a and or go bigger capacity and still keep your gearbox and ancilliaries.

Or you could go lsx, loads more work to do and much greater expence. It has far greater tuning potential, blown 427 in a Tiff, can do You will have additional labour costs and need a new gearbox so it's getting expensive.

As for price comparisons, well a marcos tso is probably £50k ish, Chimaera with lsx may be worth £20k ish. That's £30k cheaper! Not sure how much new tvr's are costing but there's an attraction savings wise to keeping your own car and improving it. I could get an lsx into a tuscan racer with mods.

Boosted.

[Boosted LS1]

mackempete said:

Boosted I've been checking out your site, very impressive, didnt realise there was so many options for this engine.

Thanks but it's very out of date on the lsx stuff, by quite a few years! Newer developments can be found elsewhere on the web so I don't bother to update it any more. It's more of an introduction page.

Boosted.

[Graham]

Boosted LS1 said:

I could get an lsx into a tuscan racer with mods.

Boosted.

mmmm Thats an option for next season. what mods would you expect to need... would a straight cut t5 dog box be up to it?

[Boosted LS1]

Graham said:

Boosted LS1 said:

I could get an lsx into a tuscan racer with mods.

Boosted.

mmmm Thats an option for next season. what mods would you expect to need... would a straight cut t5 dog box be up to it?

You'd have to pm me

Boosted.

[mackempete]

Fire99 said:

Guys,

for another 10k put a decent output LS6 engine in it then you have one storming TVR for 20k.

So £10k would see a decent output LS6 fitted? I was expecting a basic LS1 for that price. What sort of output are we talking here? The way i was thinking the LS install would only best a sorted 4.6 install by 40-50hp?

[shpub]

£10K for a conversion.... I think that is a low estimate to be honest but it all depends on exactly what spec the engine is and more importantly exactly what you want doing for the conversion. Does it include a different gearbox? Which ECU do you want to use? Are you going to get new custom parts or mod existing bits? Is the engine going to be new or S/H? How much of the existing bits will be reused? If new ones are used it is easy to overspend by several thousand. In other words, it is very easy to get into a money/time pit. Not necessarily an issue or problem but one that needs to be looked at with eyes wide open.

Many of the crate engines are incomplete and don't come with ancillaries/ECU etc which need to be found. Don't forget about VAT etc as well.

Also check the insurance aspects. Many companies will not touch it with that level of modification.

[trackcar]

Graham said:

Boosted LS1 said:

I could get an lsx into a tuscan racer with mods.

Boosted.

mmmm Thats an option for next season. what mods would you expect to need... would a straight cut t5 dog box be up to it?

whereabouts are you going to race that then graham?

Hasn't William Ball got LSx in his Tuscan racer for the road/track? running on LPG? He might also be worth a call for others contemplating converting cars .. though Boosted's technical experience on the actual engines i think eclipses anyone else this side of the pond?

[Boosted LS1]

shpub said:

£10K for a conversion.... I think that is a low estimate to be honest but it all depends on exactly what spec the engine is and more importantly exactly what you want doing for the conversion. Does it include a different gearbox? Which ECU do you want to use? Are you going to get new custom parts or mod existing bits? Is the engine going to be new or S/H? How much of the existing bits will be reused? If new ones are used it is easy to overspend by several thousand. In other words, it is very easy to get into a money/time pit. Not necessarily an issue or problem but one that needs to be looked at with eyes wide open.

Many of the crate engines are incomplete and don't come with ancillaries/ECU etc which need to be found. Don't forget about VAT etc as well.

Steve's correct, £10K won't get it done with a new ls6 and or box. As for the rest of the above, I've been saying that for years, well till the cows came home.

Boosted.