LSX BLOCK AND 454 CRATE ENGINE

THE LSX BLOCK AND 454 CRATE ENGINE

As many of you already know the LSX block has been around for a little while now and since its inception has been at the forefront of aftermarket LS based blocks. With such a great and versatile block with almost limitless combinations from N/A to a wide variety of forced induction applications. Bore and stroke are also in a wide spectrum from the as cast ready to hone 3.990 or you can punch it out to 4.250 and still have 0.200 minimum wall thickness that’s a full 1/8 inch than anything else out there. And shortly after that the introduction of the tall deck was released with a 9.700 deck height from the previous 9.240 deck height with the added material it was now possible to stroke to 500 inches with a 4.500 stroke crank. This block is all business whether packing ice in the water cooler on a twin turbo 10.5 outlaw car or cruising the street in a N/A 6 speed stock looking F-body everyone knows you mean business. With 600-2500 hp and every level in-between its one nasty block.

For most money becomes the limit to speed and I’m glad to say there’s something for everybody. If your looking to spend 10 grand or 100 you can have your cake and eat it to with seemingly endless engine builders and shops around the county that have on hand the expertise and knowledge to get you going in the direction you want. Just a few good ones are Mast Motor Sports, Nelson Racing Engines and Texas Speed but like I said these are just a few the list goes on and on. I can tell you from personal experience that Mast Motor Sports has a great line up of crate engines and tech support. The staff can shoot you a quote right over the phone and list all the fine points on the process with which they use in assembling all there crate engines. They even do quite a bit of research and design. I spent 16,500 dollars including shipping for there 454 SS crate engine with cnc’d LS7 heads and a list of all the good stuff it’s a serious street piece. With 700 hp on tap at the fly on 91 octane, All the while with a mild hydraulic roller cam and lots of upgrades to go further. All I had to provide was headers and this thing was ready to start and put smiles on my face. After the final tune this was one great sounding setup that turned heads everywhere. Oh and I managed 23.69 Miles to the gallon average in my 6 speed 3,650 lb 4:11 geared 9 inch 1999 Pontiac Trans-am from San Diego California to Springfield Missouri!!! On the return trip did the same. I was really impressed at how efficient such a big motor could be and moving almost 2 tons of steel with 4:11 gears at that. I was to say the least very happy. It was a little more than what I had originally wanted to spend but the results speak for themselves.

Nelson Racing and Virginia Speed have slightly higher priced combos but when you want well north of 1500 hp they might be your next step when it comes to LS engines. At any rate this should have shed a little light on the subject and given you insight and a further prospective on what you really want, The LSX.

Happy Hot Rodding

P.S. You tube video of my install below
http://youtu.be/dlv8xqia2Q0

Leonard J Ray