Doing an engine change

Dagon · Post by **Dagon** » 10 Jun 2006, 09:05

Hey, I'm thinking of dropping a LS400's V8 into my '73 HQ Kingswood (for an increase in power over it's existing Holden Red S6) and wondering what everyone's opinion on the Lexus V8s are like.

From what I've seen they seem to be fairly popular, both for putting into midsize cars that come with crappy engines by default (80's commodore, for example) and for causing massive chassis twisting when some dumbbumbum puts one of them into a corolla.

What sort of Torque/HP do they put out in comparison to a well-built 350? And is it worth me dumping EFI for a carb (Given that every car that I've had with an EFI seems to be a peice of crap that needs a carb conversion after 3 years anyway)?

steelsnake00 · Post by **steelsnake00** » 10 Jun 2006, 09:10

Dependant. The '400 isn't a massively powerful engine in the first place, and though it would be possible to get it into an S6 bay, it would be fairly pointless.
Just dump a powerful V6 in instead.

Dagon · Post by **Dagon** » 10 Jun 2006, 09:11

I generally prefer V8s due to the better balancing. A '73 HQ has a pretty gigantic engine bay that can hold anything up to a 500 cube bigblock, though over that the chassis will start to suffer.

Hecubus · Post by **Hecubus** » 10 Jun 2006, 10:52

Given that a stock LS400 only made 250-290hp from the factory (something that's easily available from a 350), there's no point, unless you want to go for the novelty factor. As far as I know, they're reliable engines (it's rare for a modern Toyota product to be unreliable, isn't it?), but I'd also imagine setting up a carburated car to run with EFI would be a pain.

steelsnake00 · Post by **steelsnake00** » 10 Jun 2006, 13:50

Hecubus wrote:Given that a stock LS400 only made 250-290hp from the factory (something that's easily available from a 350), there's no point, unless you want to go for the novelty factor. As far as I know, they're reliable engines (it's rare for a modern Toyota product to be unreliable, isn't it?), but I'd also imagine setting up a carburated car to run with EFI would be a pain.

Without entirely building a custom electronics and fuel system, it would be nigh-on impossible.
Why not just put in a larger, more powerful V or S6? If the car's built with one in the first place, sticking a bigger block in isn't gonna ballance it any more.

Dagon · Post by **Dagon** » 11 Jun 2006, 14:12

It ain't too hard. My dad and I converted a early 90's model holden six from EFI/electronic to carb over a weekend, so I guess it's more to do with the engine.

Also, I was referring to the balance of the engine itself, not inside the car; and the reason I want to use a lexus V8 is the lack of weight (due to being aluminium) and lower size than a proper smallblock V8 which might allow me to get off with less gas consumption.

Hecubus · Post by **Hecubus** » 11 Jun 2006, 22:57

But switching from a carb to EFI is harder than the other way around. With EFI, you've got to set up the electronics and everything, make sure all the proper computers are in the car, and working together.

But, if you're willing to go to the work of getting an older car to run on EFI, why not go for the GM 5.7L V8/six-speed combo? They tend to make pretty decent fuel economy, for what it is, at least. It weighs a little less than 400lbs. I don't know how much lighter the Lexus's engine could be, that it would really help. And as for actual size, I believe pushrod engines generally take up less space (if that's what you mean by lower size).

As I said, if you want to do it for the novelty factor, go ahead. But for lower fuel consumption or whatever, it's probably just a waste of money (probably more than you'd save in fuel costs).

steelsnake00 · Post by **steelsnake00** » 11 Jun 2006, 23:25

Hang on, why don't you just buy another car?
Surely that would make more sense...

Dagon · Post by **Dagon** » 12 Jun 2006, 08:13

Vell, the Holden Kingswood line is Teh Sex. That's the reason mostly.

steelsnake00 · Post by **steelsnake00** » 12 Jun 2006, 13:48

Small-block V8 would make the most sense. Anything else is just asking for trouble.

The Gravedigger · Post by **The Gravedigger** » 12 Jun 2006, 15:19

Ever thought of going for an LS1 donker Dagon.... heck they've shoved one into an old Toyota Hilux (this was in Australia by the way)

With that you're guarenteed quite a few more mods for it, then again all depends on how much you want to shove into your car. I'd suggest going with a Vortech V2 Supercharger if you wanted to go for the supercharger conversion, there's a VU (I think) commodore running out there making a very nice 700+ kWs

boganbusman · Post by **boganbusman** » 16 Jun 2006, 12:02

I think a 350 Chev is the way to go. It's a piece of weewee to install and engine mods can be found in the gutter. A 350 is probably the cheapest power you can buy (in Aus anyway).

It's certainly not original, but hell, it'll work

Edit: btw I wouldn't even consider an EFI engine unless you can fabricate stuff or afford to pay someone else to do so.