KZfaq Recommendations: "hey, you like mad scientist engine stuff, check this video out" Me: "yup, this is very in my wheel house."

Im a ford guy through and through, with that said my wife's first car was a 89 Camaro Rs. I've since picked up a good condition 92 5.0 rs with z28 rear end no engine or transmission very clean interior. I Modified the K member to accept Ls swap. I used a 4.8 block & bored it to fit ls1 pistons 3.8-3.9. Used a comp cam 218/226 .541/.541 & spring retainer kit. 4l60 with Quickshift controller & mild convertor ( 2400-2800). It shifts at 6800-7000rpm ( due to way to small of a cam) Car runs a 12.2-12.4 @ 111 ( dynoed here in Florida 332 whp @ 6700) on 3.08 gears with my wife driving with cats through a single mandrel bent 3 exhaust. Shes happy but your video makes me think about doing a proper build for her instead of the cheap as possible build. Its funny as on the fender it says 5.0 TBI when in reality its a ls with a sniper efi and just as fast as a scat pack on good tires.

It's funny how most people think that the 4.8L/3.268" Iron Crankshaft is weak, when in fact, I would put it up against a cheap chinese 4" stroke twist forged crankshaft any day of the week due to it having far more journal overlap and generally suffering from far less centrifugal forces than a larger stroked unit. We have all seen the 4.8L Stock Bottom end produce around 1700 HP in 'Squirrel Tuned' (Jack's) record holding Mustang in the 1/8 mile (I believe it hasn't been broken, either motor or record). The 'Big Bore' Iron 4.8L block/bottom end is and will always be one of my favorites in terms of budget builds, especially if you have a buddy that has a pulled set of LS1/6 Pistons to donate to your cause, that offer a 100% bolt-on experience as their pin height is the same, depending on press fit or floating pin models.

A 4.8 can make peak power at 7200 rpm with stock 706 heads. LS7 lifters will handle 8k with the lightweight stock 48mm valves. With ported heads it will make over 500 bhp.

I had this idea a number of years ago; to build a genuine 302 LS and put it into a 2010 Camaro. But I wasn’t willing to sell my Fox Mustang to fund it. Glad someone is doing it.

great video! love your attention to detail. looking forward to the next one!

Your home shop is killer.

Excellent tutorial on the build. Looking forward to seeing the numbers.

You`re the first engine builder in a home garage that mic`s parts like a machinist and not using them like C Clamps.

I’ve thought about this exact build since 2012, glad someone has the time and money to do it! and show us the process, Awesome build!

Cool Project!

Great build! Love the detailed info. Lots of others shows leave out the actual build.

Brings to mind the Chevy 302s from 67-69.

Cool build process 👍: I like those LS screamers.

Keen to see the rest of this build

Subbed. Super cool, man!

looking forward to the next episode

Awesome video bro

LOL....had you stabbed the cam first, you'd known to get your bolts. 😂😂😂 LOVING THIS!

Great stuff

Amazing stuff !!

Super cool build of my favorite and most under appreciated LS engines, the four point Great !! A variation of this build I would love to see is the use of factory floated pin rods (we know they are good past 8,000 RPM), and flat top LS1/LS6 pistons !! I know there is always a push to use aftermarket parts for promotion, but I'm an old school guy who really appreciates the factory engineering in these parts and how they can be used/massaged to amazing results. Again, a super cool build !!

I'm really keen on seeing what valvetrain is chosen for this application, or what could be used to push past 8000-rpm reliably.

Which Mamo package did you get? Any idea on cam specs?

I was going to ask if that cover was equiped to block off the DOD towers but you can actually see the impressions from the top side in the video. Have yall had one of these blocks sonic checked for wall thickness? I know they are really thick but ive never heard a number.

Since the piston is custom, why wasn't the top ring land moved up? Maybe you've never noticed how far up the rings of factory LS pistons are. GM was thinking on that one. Down 0.300" compared to 0.150" adds up in power over 8 holes. If you're trying squeeze every bit out of it.....ditch the 2nd ring, bring in the oil expander, gap the top oil ring to 0.050" bottom to 0.018" and watch the power carry 500 to 800 more rpm. There's the points needed to win.

She is a beauty bud.

Technical question. If you use a 6.0 iron block 4in bore and a custom 3in stroke crank do the rod ratios and everything come together to have a 8000+ rpm modern 302 LS and be reliable? With the great features of an ls would be like a modern 302 Z/28 would be interesting to see the power with a roller cam and those high flowing ls heads.

For GT2 the corvette C6R had a 5.5L V8 making a healthy 491HP for 24h racing duty. It has been done, but getting the heads to flow will take some hustling😂😂😂

Do you run more oil with the melling high volume? Ive spun bearings on NA builds (and have heard stories from other people) and the culprit seemed to be the high volume pump. I'm sure theres a use case for them, higher volume is good for heat transfer, but doing the swap without any other changes is a big reliability issue in my experience.

Pistons are put the motor at a disadvantage since at rpms past 5500rpm the anti friction skirt coating can attribute to around 5% if not more hp loss

How will splitting the rod bearing work? Your gauge will show it’s ok but won’t it be tight loose tight loose as it’s going around since the crank journal never changes? Just curious I’m not shit talking.

"Lint free wipes" *lint all over the block mating surface after wiping cylinders*

So long story short, it takes a fully built engine with high end components do run the RPMs a Coyote can do stock? Curious what it would do power wise.

I'm all confident

What kind heads are you planning on putting on it

Geez-us....what's that big Ole piston weigh? Rod? 😬 Were you able to come under the oem bob? Bob? No....no weren't. @ 4:59......ok, can't wait to see the out come.

What in the PowerNation is going on here? 😄

What? Wheres the dyno session to see the numbers? Motors built just toss it on lol. Been over a month. Need to see where this landed power wise lol

I’m guess the rotating assembly was balanced? Or does it not matter with these parts on this build?

I wonder why people don`t use another wrist pin to "push" the clip into the groove?

Could you put hemispheric heads and pistons in a LS 5.0?

I am not understanding how you can use a under size bearing and a standard together. One would be thinker than the other!! I know its not much but its still not symmetrical. Maybe I did not pay attention close enough.

And the lifters?

Now add boost

Valve timing is more important than cam timing- and they are not the same.

Cast crank ?

Why didn't you lube the cam completely???

The micrometers should have come with gauges. The gauges have rounded tips on them so they are easier to calibrate against, don't use the square blocks..... Well you can, its just harder.

Destroking is not required to turn 8k. A solid valve train does so why people give up displacement is silly

I wish I would have went to school to learn machining

I'd like to see a 6.0 or 6.2 block with custom crank with 3.0" stroke 12.5:1 compression. Maybe angle cut the heads to get the compression and port and flow the heads a bit. Get good flow. But importantly keep the velocity and swirl up. Port the heads and possibly fill the floor with epoxy. About .120-.150" on rec. Port heads carefully unshroud the valves. Polish the chambers. Ceramic coating the chamber and exhaust ports. Possibly go with larger valves. With multiple angle valve seats. A 4340 crank, and rods long enough to make up the difference. Similar pistons in 4.03+ bore. It should come in around 307-312 cid, maybe slightly larger , another thing id like to see, is a LS7 with a 4.8 crank. With modified LS7 heads, cut them a bit, and back fill the bottom of the ports, open up the bowls smooth out the port. Then fill the bottom of the port about 5/8"-3/4" then slowly open them up on a flow bench. Testing each port until the right shape and size deliverd high flow with high velocity. Testing from .030" lift to 1.200". Not looking for actual flow at yhe obviously outrageous lift. Looking more for port stability and high velocity and volume in the .400"-.800" lift. The match the intake to the intake ports and making the first 10mm if the bottom of and top of the port about .080" larger. And the intake port about .050" smaller. To leave a slight ledge the air doesn't really notice going in. But will effect reverse flow. Then spec a cam with a slight bit more duration at .050" than you think it would want. The high velocity and anti reversion should keep the TQ that would normally be lost. A 5.0L will be lazy with 7.0L high revvng heads. Therevis basically 2.0L difference in flow it would want to rev to possibly 12k+ rpm and be lazy below 6-7K rpm. I figure it would behave like the cam was about 4 sizes too big. It would probably sound mean at idle tho... Sorry to ramble again, have a awesome day...🎉

Dang it.....I'd like to know how much overlap the cam has and what lifter you plan on running to 8k rpm. I've got a 5.0 in my 2016 F150 with 438k miles on it.....I'm really interested to see where this goes.👍👍👍👍

Ls 302 camaro z28 shoulda been a thing

my cousins a Ford guy and he gets mad at me because i say Ford doesn't do anything other than a 5.0, what is it 40+ years of RND, it better be mint. i would have thought Ford would have more. IJS.

Very cool, except I'm extremely disappointed that you did not make it 12:1 or even 12:1, closer to the Gen 3 Coyote 5.0.

This was done years ago by Richard Holdner. The video is up on his channel. Used an LS3 block and a 4.8 crank 331 CI made over 600 HP.

They have been reving LS motors to 8k+ rpms for years now……

Haha copying the coyote platform nice job 👍 good choice since coyote got rated best platform for boost.

Shoulda just used a 5.7 block with the 4.8 crank. It would've been slightly larger but not much. Or just used a 5.7....it's not like the 5.7 and 5br0 went head to head anyway. The 5.7 would've for sure thrashed the 5br0.

Building a "comparable" LS engine to a coyote: uses Manley rods and custom Diamond pistons, Comp Cam, billet sprocket, ARP parts, ATI dampener. Add comparable parts to a coyote, rev it to 9,500 rpm and see the difference. 😂

if the LS is a dead engine then why not go with an LT engine?

Thank you for your knowledge and videos USA 🇺🇸 TRUMP 2024

Of course you can equal or better the horsepower. But you can’t do it while meeting the Coyote’s fuel efficiency or the strict EPA restrictions. Thats the point. Try this build under THOSE rules and you’ll fail every time. You also used all the high end parts you could find while Coyote is a mass production engine.