LS Engine Swaps: Why?

LS motor swaps are becoming as popular today as tweed interiors were several years ago. However, tweed interiors had their place in the hot rodding world, and thank goodness they are gone now. What about LS motors though? Have you ever wondered if maybe this is just a phase the car world is going through? That maybe someday down the road, the look and feel of an old carbureted small block or big block will return to be embraced more than a newer LS motors?

Which cars are getting these swaps? The most popular heart transplants are into early sixties vehicles and muscle cars. More and more street rods are trading out their old motors for these new fuel injected Chevy motors. Lots of old trucks are making the change too. Some people even go to the extreme of swapping LS motors into their newer Fords like Foxbody Mustangs.

There must be some clear benefits to this if a Ford guy will commit the heinous act of putting a Chevy motor into his car, right? (It's not like they haven't been putting Chevy 350's into Ford's for a long time now anyways.) Two of the most common benefits are the improved power and gas mileage. The first is something every hot rodder has been pursuing for the past 75 years. Combine the two, and it's an easy decision.

This 1933 Ford has an LS hiding under the hood. What new Camaro or Mustang owner would expect that?

Then you have the reliability, tuneability, and the option for easy power adders like supercharging and turbocharging. Think about it. Ten years ago, LS motors could be found in some street rods and some high end builds. Now, they are becoming common in almost any type of build - big or small. Not to mention the rarity with which you used to see these new motors is the rarity with which you now see power adders like superchargers and twin turbos. That is to say, power adders on LS motors are almost as common as LS motors were ten years ago. Where will we be ten years from now? It seems like the LS motor has carved a nice sized niche for itself and shows no signs of slowing (no pun intended).

Here's a good example of the full range of LS swaps. This old pickup has a twin turbo setup.

What else is there to be considered with these LS swaps? Price would be elephant in the room. Open any car magazine, turn on any car show, or look at any car being built on the internet, and you'll see a supercharged or turbocharged LS motor. You think to yourself, "I should do that. The ol' girl has been using a little oil lately, and she's not doing great on power or mileage either. Let me check these new motors out!" Then you figure out the high end builders in the magazine, Mr. Foose and the Gas Monkeys, and the internet gurus are shelling out big money for those motors - even more for ones that have been taken from basic crate motors and beefed up.

If you can't afford that, the new option becomes finding a salvaged Chevy or GMC truck, Camaro, Corvette, Escalade, Tahoe, or anything else with one of these motors. A Hummer or GTO would even work. However, you need to make sure you get all the right parts when you pull it or start matching pieces up from different vehicles. It's not an easy task finding everything you need in good condition for a good price, but it's not too hard anymore.

Not very tech-savvy or willing to research? More and more shops are doing these swaps and can give you a nice setup on a motor from a salvaged car without the price of a crate motor. Let them go to the work of finding a qualified specimen of a motor, and have them put it in or do it yourself.

So whether you can afford an LS or you take the traditional hot rod route of piecing one together, is it just going to be a section of history in the history of hot rodding? Is it a phase or will these tremendous new engines stick around for a while?

We believe that they will stick around, and you will see more and more car guys switching these motors into their cars and trucks. The overhead cam motors replaced the flathead motors, and the fuel injected motors have become the new replacement. However, some cars deserve a carbureted big block, a blown flathead, a unique straight six, or some other obscure, but awesome motor. I will talk about that in the Driver's Log to come next week, so stay tuned!

To be continued...

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