Whats the difference between a 5.3 and ls1

[shady]

Arent they both ls's? I didnt realize there was differences till reading part of another thread on here.

 

[sweetk30]

if its got 4.8/5.3/6.0 its a truck based motor and iron block . except l33 5.3 aluminum block option.

if its ls1ls3/ls6 bla bla its car based motor . and its aluminum block .

and you will pay more for the aluminum block based car engines .

and your question ls1 is a 350cid motor also . as the 5.3 is 328cid I think .

you can take a 5.3 bore it and drop in a ls car crank and make it a iron block 350 real easy .

aluminum block are good but don't like HEAVY boost like the iron blocks do .

 

[Stomis]

if its got 4.8/5.3/6.0 its a truck based motor and iron block . except l33 5.3 aluminum block option.

if its ls1ls3/ls6 bla bla its car based motor . and its aluminum block .

and you will pay more for the aluminum block based car engines .

and your question ls1 is a 350cid motor also . as the 5.3 is 328cid I think .

you can take a 5.3 bore it and drop in a ls car crank and make it a iron block 350 real easy .

aluminum block are good but don't like HEAVY boost like the iron blocks do .

The aluminum and iron block debate carries over to more than just a boost longevity dilemma also. Cost vs cost theres no reason to run an aluminum block just to save that 100# +/-.

 

[rebelgregory]

Interesting....

 

[miniwally]

if its got 4.8/5.3/6.0 its a truck based motor and iron block . except l33 5.3 aluminum block option.

if its ls1ls3/ls6 bla bla its car based motor . and its aluminum block .

and you will pay more for the aluminum block based car engines .

and your question ls1 is a 350cid motor also . as the 5.3 is 328cid I think .

you can take a 5.3 bore it and drop in a ls car crank and make it a iron block 350 real easy .

aluminum block are good but don't like HEAVY boost like the iron blocks do .

Yup

The "LS" swap thing get's me going every time. GM started using the "LS" engines in the cars a while ago. The LS1 was basically just a 350 with a different shape and an AL block. It worked so well they started into the larger LS engines that have AL blocks (First it was the LS6 I think), and then LS2 came about which is an AL block 6.0 with car specific parts on it that mainly pertain to intake height and front accessory package length for packaging in a car.
Fast forward a few years and they introduce the same block architecture in a cast iron variant in the truck and SUV line and call them various names like LY,LM etc. These engines ARE NOT LS engines. They have taller intakes, and longer front accessory packaging. There's debates about why the taller intake but in general they have found that it just changes the power band around a bit making the trucks a slight bit more powerful on the low end.

There have been changes in the intakes, heads, etc. through the years so their not all crossover type engines anymore. The reason the truck engines are sought after for boosted applications is that whey they made the block cast iron they used the same design and "molds" as the AL engine so they built extra strength into the block simply wit the material change.

So your not doing a "LS" swap unless you are installing a LS1,2,3,6,7 and now I think the LS9 is coming around.

Other wise you are installing a GM 4.8,5.3,6.0 or 6.2 engine out of a truck,suv etc. They started to install some AL block variants into a few of the lighter duty or high perf. suv and trucks so you can't say that the truck/suv line is wholly a iron block deal but in general the truck line up is iron block.

off my soap box now.

Some of the above info might be off a bit on specific application etc. but in general the overall gist is right.

 

[paratrooper307]

Yup

The "LS" swap thing get's me going every time. GM started using the "LS" engines in the cars a while ago. The LS1 was basically just a 350 with a different shape and an AL block. It worked so well they started into the larger LS engines that have AL blocks (First it was the LS6 I think), and then LS2 came about which is an AL block 6.0 with car specific parts on it that mainly pertain to intake height and front accessory package length for packaging in a car.
Fast forward a few years and they introduce the same block architecture in a cast iron variant in the truck and SUV line and call them various names like LY,LM etc. These engines ARE NOT LS engines. They have taller intakes, and longer front accessory packaging. There's debates about why the taller intake but in general they have found that it just changes the power band around a bit making the trucks a slight bit more powerful on the low end.

There have been changes in the intakes, heads, etc. through the years so their not all crossover type engines anymore. The reason the truck engines are sought after for boosted applications is that whey they made the block cast iron they used the same design and "molds" as the AL engine so they built extra strength into the block simply wit the material change.

So your not doing a "LS" swap unless you are installing a LS1,2,3,6,7 and now I think the LS9 is coming around.

Other wise you are installing a GM 4.8,5.3,6.0 or 6.2 engine out of a truck,suv etc. They started to install some AL block variants into a few of the lighter duty or high perf. suv and trucks so you can't say that the truck/suv line is wholly a iron block deal but in general the truck line up is iron block.

off my soap box now.

Some of the above info might be off a bit on specific application etc. but in general the overall gist is right.

Nailed it. The truck blocks are much less expensive and definitely easier to find. The weight savings of an aluminum block makes a difference in a sports car, not so much in a truck. The good news is that because the architecture is the same there is a lot of parts interchangeability. The motors are also the same size externally, making swaps within the family easy. LS motors (Corvette, GTO, earlier CTS-V, TB SS, etc) have higher compression pistons, different heads, and manifolds. The iron blocks are definitely better for big boost, unless you want to get a C5R or Warhawk aluminum block, and those get real spendy...

 

[Stomis]

Yup

The "LS" swap thing get's me going every time. GM started using the "LS" engines in the cars a while ago. The LS1 was basically just a 350 with a different shape and an AL block. It worked so well they started into the larger LS engines that have AL blocks (First it was the LS6 I think), and then LS2 came about which is an AL block 6.0 with car specific parts on it that mainly pertain to intake height and front accessory package length for packaging in a car.
Fast forward a few years and they introduce the same block architecture in a cast iron variant in the truck and SUV line and call them various names like LY,LM etc. These engines ARE NOT LS engines. They have taller intakes, and longer front accessory packaging. There's debates about why the taller intake but in general they have found that it just changes the power band around a bit making the trucks a slight bit more powerful on the low end.

There have been changes in the intakes, heads, etc. through the years so their not all crossover type engines anymore. The reason the truck engines are sought after for boosted applications is that whey they made the block cast iron they used the same design and "molds" as the AL engine so they built extra strength into the block simply wit the material change.

So your not doing a "LS" swap unless you are installing a LS1,2,3,6,7 and now I think the LS9 is coming around.

Other wise you are installing a GM 4.8,5.3,6.0 or 6.2 engine out of a truck,suv etc. They started to install some AL block variants into a few of the lighter duty or high perf. suv and trucks so you can't say that the truck/suv line is wholly a iron block deal but in general the truck line up is iron block.

off my soap box now.

Some of the above info might be off a bit on specific application etc. but in general the overall gist is right.

Thats not exactly correct. The LS1 is not just a 350 with a different shape and AL block... Its an entire different architecture and isnt even a 350ci, its a 346ci... The head angle is totally different, in fact the only thing Im aware of that it shares with a regular small block is the cylinder center spacing.

Secondly the LS swap term has been adopted to guys swapping any GENIII/GENIV small block. Yes its true the truck motors have a different intake height and accessory length but down at their core, IE the architecture the engine is built on it is the same motor. Whether you designate a vortec an LS or an LS a vortec is another thing. As a matter of fact theres cars with GEN III/GEN IV motors in them that are in fact NOT LS designated motor but have car intakes, oil pans, and accessories (the auto g8 GXP are an example). There are plenty of blurry lines and no 5.3s and 6.0s arent "LS motors" but we all know LS means gen III/IV by now.

Saying a truck vortec isnt equivalent in design to a car LS engine is like saying that a LO5 TBI 350 isnt a small block because it doesnt have the same workings as an L98 350 from a corvette. Still apples and apples.

 

[shady]

um... what I was wondering most is why an ls1 computer doesn't work with a truck 5.3 and things like that. as in post 784 here
http://coloradok5.com/forums/showthread.php?t=291277&page=79

but they ARE ls engines. they don't have it in the designation IE ls1/ls3 etc. but all the genIII/IV are ls family engines and mostly the exact basic design.

http://www.gmhightechperformance.co...6_ls2_ls3_l99_ls4_ls7_ls9_lsa_engine_history/

http://www.chevrolet.com/performance/crate-engines/lc9.html

Iknow its wiki
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/General_Motors_LS_engine

trying to find parts and things for the swap seem sorta hard because theres almost NOTHING specific for the truck engines. ive found some things on summit and such.. but I just wondered why certain things wouldn't interchange. thanks for the replies though.. it got me searching the net more and I found out a lot

 

[Stomis]

Possibly because of the wire harness routing differences between the two? Sorry I missed your update here.

 

[eagle mark]

um... what I was wondering most is why an ls1 computer doesn't work with a truck 5.3 and things like that. as in post 784 here
http://coloradok5.com/forums/showthread.php?t=291277&page=79

but they ARE ls engines. they don't have it in the designation IE ls1/ls3 etc. but all the genIII/IV are ls family engines and mostly the exact basic design.

There are more computer changes then LS/Truck engines!

It's always best to get a complete pull out with harness and the computer.

 

[shady]

ok. mainly a curiosity. I seen that in his thread and wondered. the 5.3 I have has the harness and pcm so im fine there... selling it now though so doesn't matter anymore I don't know what a reflash usually runs but I may still mod the harness myself to raise the price of and desirability of my motor before I throw it on CL