- Before we even get into it,
if you just want to drop a comment below
and just let us know if you think that this is a good idea,
and just say yes or no.
I just feel like it'd be really exciting,
before we even get into talking about LS swaps
because this is a good one.
A long time ago in a land far, far away,
we made a video of boat engine swapping your car.
I had different color hair, different glasses,
and the world wasn't entirely in shambles.
But hey, we still have cool cars
so, that's a plus, kind of.
Either way, there was a very particular kind of swap
that was lightly touched on, but not too much.
A little sprinkle, sprankle of the salt,
but not actually a full meal.
A swap that inherently changed the world.
I'm Alex. Alex dot Fi on Instagram.
And today we're going to be talking about an engine swap
that changed the way water flows.
An engine swap that showed the world,
it can do whatever the (beep) it wants to,
without anyone judging them.
An engine swap that makes purists cry
and Americans over the age of 40, very, very happy.
Ladies and gentlemen,
we're gonna be talking about you wanting to LS swap,
your car.
Woo.
(upbeat music) (car tires squealing)
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That's the thing that we say. We say that a lot.
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Or you could literally have everything
your little heart could possibly desire,
including we got some new SSR wheels on there.
They're pretty sweet, okay.
They slap and we're happy.
Anyways, jumping into the heresy,
that is LS swapping your car,
we need to go back a couple few, two, three years.
Okay.
The small block Chevy LS motor started way back,
when you're looking at that specific generation in 1997.
It came out of the gate swinging, all right.
It was a 5.7 liter.
It came in the Corvette, right with about 345 horsepower.
This engine would eventually make it into the Camaro
and the Firebird, okay.
You could do some gnarly burnouts.
You could straight pipe it.
You could piss off your neighbors,
who were scared Y2K was actually going to be
a very real thing.
And once we survived the clock striking one,
one slash zero, zero;
this was actually a big deal by the way,
way back when, I remember people were scared.
Anyways, Chevy would move towards introducing the LS1
into the Camaro SS and WS6,
which would have right around 325 horsepower.
2001 would be when the LS1
would really get the good ole update
with the z06 motor and an LS6.
It was a different variant;
if you can find, you've hit gold.
Congratulations.
346 cubic inches of American freedom at 385 horsepower.
The gen threes LS is like,
a perfect motor to find at a junkyard
and swap one out, if you can.
It's just exciting, okay.
It had all the good stuff.
It had the new technology that was desperately needed.
Now, could we talk about like, the LR4 and like, the LM7
and the LQ4, the LQ9?
Sure.
Can you swap those into your car
and still party with a mullet and some Bush Light?
Also, sure, you could. You can.
It's an option. Do you want to?
Yes. I mean, no, no you don't.
You can, but you shouldn't.
You have to remember that a lot of things with the LS,
is the fact that it's an aluminum block
and a lot of those other truck motors are an iron blocks;
weigh about a hundred pounds more,
depending on which variant you get.
You want to try and stay around the LS series
with the aluminum, because of the weight savings is huge.
It provides just a more well balanced, power increase,
if you are swapping your car motor, you know.
It makes a big deal.
Weight's a big deal, all right.
However, the LS1s, the sixes and all that good stuff,
are likely to be a little bit more expensive to pick up,
which is why sometimes people do end up
swapping their iron block variants into their Datsun 240z.
Anyway, sorry.
Grab your milk, we're jumping back into the story.
As we enter into the mid 2000s,
you would see the LM4 enter the world,
which would ultimately become a 5.3 liter aluminum block.
With a little, a hair under 300 horsepower
and 325 cubic inches; it was kind of weird little thing.
But regardless the motor was made to try
and find a happy medium between
the actual iron blocks of trucks,
with the performance range of the aluminum LS1s
and the sixes.
Because GM just loves trying to make
everything universally fit, okay.
You see the good old SSR actually rock these
and some mid-range SUVs, like the ole trailblazer SS.
Which by the way, if you have a built SSR, I love you.
We need more weird platforms like that in the world.
The LS1s would leak into pretty much
all platforms of the GM world,
including the wide and sleepy Pontiac GTO,
the parallelogram looking CTSV,
and the best looking generation Corvettes,
you could possibly imagine.
The new ones are just funky, all right.
Reminds me of demolition, man, all the buttons on the side,
I just don't know how I feel.
We'd see the gen five version of the LS
finally hit the world in 2005,
which would finally see the retirement of the LS1,
and now we get to talk about the LS2.
You'd see the LM4 go to the LS3, but we're gonna try
and keep our acronyms to a minimum here.
All you have to know, is as LS continued to grow up
into being its own big strong boy,
it got smarter and it got a little bit lighter,
and then it also got more efficient.
You know, all you really need to know,
is a GM cross-platform the LS series,
as much as humanly possible.
And because that's why you see so many
LS swaps in the world.
LS swaps are number one because there's so many of them.
The LS2 is almost pretty much two times better.
It had 400 horsepower, better LS6 243 heads,
it had a new intake, bigger bore, lighter manifold.
It had a bunch of other stuff, okay.
Had things like AFM, VVT,
and good ole LS started to look a little bit younger.
A little bit of plastic surgery, if you will.
And if you jump in go further down the lineage of 2000s,
you have gen fours, and gen three engines,
starting to really intermingle throughout the years.
But the most notable additions to LS would be the LS7,
in 2007, which likes to party.
It's 505 horsepower, 427 cubic inches.
You had seven liters, two 56 transmission.
If you can find this one, don't ask questions, just buy it.
2008, we see the LS3 coming in to the Corvette.
430 horsepower
and now it's starting to bump up a little bit.
Just kinda stayed around the 400 horse.
If you want naturally aspirated,
great value motor, get yourself an LS3.
They're like the 350 of the today's world.
2009, you'd see LS9 and the LSA.
The LS9 came in the big boys;
they are run with way too much horsepower.
It came in like 940 horsepower. Actually I lied.
It came in like 638, but it's not as impressive then.
And the LSA for the CTSV at 556 horsepower.
Pretty much just didn't, just less.
I wish I was done and there are a lot of acronyms.
I get it, and I know you're not keeping along.
You're trying to,
but this, it's just how domestic motors work.
The LS engine as a whole,
has been involved, or associated,
with pretty much anything you could possibly imagine.
They've had variants of blocks and trucks,
SUVs, racing, autocross, experimental classes,
and pretty much everything else you could possibly imagine.
But we're not here to talk about the history of the motor
that is most likely to get ended up in an FD Rx7, okay.
We're here to talk about what it's actually like
to swap one of these bad boys into your car,
and if it's worth the emotional trauma, all right.
Grab your 10 mil.
Actually, no, grab your half inch.
Because we're about to go (beep) standard, dude.
LS swapping your car can be the best thing you ever do,
like it's fantastic, or it's a burning resentment
that people will never let you down for and here's why.
LS swaps most predominantly exist in older cars.
Cars that didn't have a motor
when they were even bought them
or a motor you just have some reliability issues with.
Datsun's, Rx7s, 350Zs.
Pretty notorious for usually being LS swapped
because of poor reliability.
Now, LS's are pretty reliable to come across
and you can pretty much put any junkyard LS
and throw it into one of those cars.
And you have everything that you would need to actually swap
the whole meal together still.
They're usually sitting in a Corvette that met a tree.
They're not only affordable and easy to find,
they also aren't that hard to install.
Now, depending on what type of car you could put that into,
might make it a little bit more difficult.
But for the most part, it's not terrible.
Wiring is simple enough
and because it's such a common engine swap,
most aftermarket companies actually make kits,
like specific kits, for the motor mounts
and the wiring harnesses and all that stuff,
so you can pretty much just take that whole thing
and throw it in on a weekend.
Here's the issue though,
going to LS swap your car is a little bit sacrilegious.
All right. It just is.
LS swapping your car that used to have an iconic motor,
albeit troublesome motor,
is not always welcomed in the world.
People don't like it when you take out their Doritos.
You throw one in a 350Z a hundred times
and no one blinks an eye,
but you throw in an FC,
and you may as well just kick somebody's cat.
Don't kick pancakes, please. He's a very soft boy.
Same thing with Datsuns, Mazdas, Nissans,
and almost everything besides older domestics
or drift missiles.
If you do decide to cut ties with those
that may no longer see you as a friend,
because they don't like LS swaps.
Cause that is something you must decide
when you get your first car.
They give you a little sheet.
They tell you, would you LS swap an FD Rx7,
and you say yes.
That actually changes you.
It's like the Hunger Games.
They put you in a different precinct,
because they don't want those two people intermingling,
okay.
It's just, it's a thing.
You just kind of have to be okay with it.
But LS swaps, they are inherently terrible.
It does take some patience, swaps, take time to finesse.
They are easy to swap,
but they're hard to nail out the little gremlins
you'll inevitably find, especially,
if the swap is pieced together from different cars,
which people have a tendency to do,
because we want to all save a little bit of money.
But that does come with problems.
Try to stick to the performance side of LSs
and stray away from the truck motor swaps.
The weight is tough on most cars
and it can throw off the entire feeling of your car,
as if a V8 wouldn't do that anyway.
Most swaps are from light, small motors
and replacing with a big iron truck block V8,
isn't properly mounted;
it's probably gonna result in you feeling like
you're dragging your friend out of a bar when he's drunk
and his feet just randomly finding grip.
It's just a really weird feeling.
And you start messing with the balance of the car.
It's something to actually pay attention to
if you plan on LS swapping anything.
LS swaps have so many different variations, details,
opportunities, issues, anger, love,
and everything in between.
It's like a relationship. Relation (beep).
They provide a fantastic torque curve
with a moderate power plant that doesn't cost you much.
Most variants are well-made,
with the aftermarket community
supporting pretty much everything you could imagine,
from like nuts, bolts, washers,
everything you can possibly want on that motor,
somebody probably makes 20 different versions for it.
When it comes to doing an engine swap,
LS is a great place to start
that won't leave you entirely clueless,
but you may find yourself a little bit on fire for what
you manage to put that LS into.
So, what do you think about the LS swaps?
Let us know.
And of course, if you're looking for aftermarket wheels,
tires or suspension,
be sure to hit us up over at fitmentindustries.com.
We don't sell LS swaps,
but we do sell really cool looking wheels
for that LS swapped car.
Just don't don't get yelled at, you know.
Really hope you guys enjoy it.
You could do an iron block if you wanna turbocharge it.
L92s are pretty solid by the way,
but not many people end up doing that.
They usually just go with a naturally aspirated V8.
Anyway, I'll talk to you guys later.
We'll see you later. Peace.