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LS9 Swap

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21K views 23 replies 15 participants last post by  Socal_tvSS  
#1 ·
Just out of curiosity, has anybody done a full LS9 swap? I know a few have done LSA swaps (legitimate engine swaps) but haven't heard of any LS9 engine swaps. The LS9, being such a beast of an engine with fully forged everything, should mean there's more potential for even more power. According to the ZR1 guys on Corvetteforum, 1,000 rwhp on a stock LS9 isn't a problem. A lot of those guys are running that much power on stock internals without issue for years. Apparently, the pistons, rods, etc can handle it.
 
#3 ·
Yeah it's definitely costly. Summit racing is selling the LS9 for $15,589 or something like that. How much would it cost to pull the LS3 out of this, fully forge the internals, put a blower on it and do all the necessary stuff to get it as robust as an LS9? Maybe not as much, but it can't be that far off. The LS9 comes with 640 but doesn't seem very difficult to bring it way up from there.

That and just having an LS9 powered Chevrolet SS just has a nice ring to it lol.
 
#4 ·
Buy some pistons, rods, heads, manifold. Buy a f1 Procharger, and be faster for less. Or buy some pistons and rods and a turbo, even less.
 
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#6 ·
All depends on your builder, how much you do, what deals you find. It's not as simple as just dropping the ls9 engine in though, wire harness, exhaust, cooling, heat exchangers, tuning, it would probably be well over 20k to do the swap VS about 12-13k for a built Procharged ls3, or turbo without heads or manifold.
 
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#7 ·
That's about what I was expecting. So about 7-8 grand more for the LS9 swap. The reason I'm more swayed to the LS9 is the thought of having a factory assembled engine that wasn't torn apart and rebuilt by a shop just personally gives me more peace of mind.
 
#8 ·
GM has the B15 create engine that like 7 grand and almost 500 at the crank. Low compression and forged internals. 7 gs l for the engine, 3500 for the supercharge and a 400.00 for the cam. You can get that for less the 12,000. Just a thought.
 
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#11 ·
The LS3 under your hood can be made into a very reliable beast of a motor too. 10psi, mild blower cam, LT headers, and a little methanol gets into beastly power levels pretty easily. And yes, if tuned and fueled right, it will love you long time:thumbsUp:
 
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#13 ·
I believe it, the LS3 is friggin' awesome to say the least. I was thinking LSA blower at about 9 psi if I don't go the LS9 route. The LSA blower is much more realistic. I didn't want to touch the cam or take apart or remove anything internal like that.

Deephaven said:
LS9 swap would be the least efficient way I can think of to make 600+hp

I would also personally much rather have an engine built by an engine builder than the GM production line.

The LS3 block is not the weakness in the search for 1000hp, the internals are. Have it built.

If I swapped it with anything it would be an LSx but definitely then the power goals would be sky high.

And of course, if you do set aside $7000 to have Circle D build you a robust 6l80....or buy the manual SS.
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Yeah, it's definitely the most expensive path for sure. We're total opposites though. I'd rather have an engine that was put together by a GM engineer than an engine builder in a performance shop. On my Pontiac G8, I had the heads done and after about 8 thousand miles, the car would overheat all the time. The head gaskets started allowing combustion gases to seep into the coolant, causing the coolant to go into the overflow, and never come back into the radiator after it cooled down. Eventually, the overflow would overflow, coolant levels would drop and the car would overheat. I'm willing to bet if the heads never came off, this wouldn't of happened. It seems as if they either weren't put on right, or something was wrong with the head gaskets used, or something. It was a very expensive fix, but the hardest part was figuring out what the problem actually was. That experience made me weary of taking an engine apart and putting it back together on a car that I want to drive around, take on road trips etc.
 
#12 ·
LS9 swap would be the least efficient way I can think of to make 600+hp

I would also personally much rather have an engine built by an engine builder than the GM production line.

The LS3 block is not the weakness in the search for 1000hp, the internals are. Have it built.

If I swapped it with anything it would be an LSx but definitely then the power goals would be sky high.

And of course, if you do set aside $7000 to have Circle D build you a robust 6l80....or buy the manual SS.
 
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#14 ·
GM engineer? Ha, more like line worker. A reputable engine builder is the better path. Problem is most people that deal with LS stuff don't really know how to build an engine, they just throw cams in cars and are slapping heads on stock or crate motors, no actual tolerance checking, degreeing, checking bolt stretch, port matching, smoothing pistons, ect. My engine builder assembles and dissambles a motor about 3 times before it's ready, a GM crate engine it thrown together and put in a box. I do think the LS9 is a hand built deal but, it ain't worth the money for what you're getting.
 
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#20 ·
Apologies on reviving a 4 year old thread, but there is always the option to course a LS9 from a wrecked ZR1? There is usually about 2 at any given time on CoPart salvage auctions. Some of them look like the engine is untouched but I have no idea how much a salvaged ZR1 goes for. I'd hope only somewhere between $2k-$5k. Dang, the idea of only spending a few grand and ending up with a 4 door ZR1 would be kinda cool.
 
#21 ·
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#23 ·
I looked at the LS9 a while back, but the total cost with install, tuning, and extras was out of reach at the time. I decided to wait until I could save up more, but now, if I end up replacing the LS3, I’ll probably go with a custom LS 427 instead. 🤞
 
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