My '89 'stang LSx

[Atilla the Fun]

[Atilla the Fun]

[crzyone]

Chevy small block in an old ford, not very original lol.

Should make it fun to drive.

[The Dark Side of Will]

That's how you make a Ford fast...

5.3 or 6.0?

[Shaun41178(2)]

has a little bit more work left to obviously. Buddy here locally did this with an ls1 and sprayed it. It was a quick car for sure.

[Atilla the Fun]

http://www.ls1tech.com/forums/conversio ... hread.html
as funds permit, this is where I'm headed. This is the 5.3 that was in my Fiero, since the Fiero is getting an LS4 turned LS6. this mustang is beyond saving, but I have an ugly brown '85 Ford LTD 4-door, that this can go into when it's ready. A sleeper, a stealth fighter, a street sweeper. I'm at higher elevation than this guy, so I'll be using a shorter tire, a more serious cam, and a pair of T4S04 turbos. I'll be able to have full boost 500 rpm sooner, and pull 500 rpm higher, compared to him. He's done by 6300 rpm. One other detail: I'll be using a 4L85E-HD instead of a TH400. 2 reasons: I must have the overdrive, and my 5.3's computer is looking for a 4L60E.

[Atilla the Fun]

btw, that guy's 'stang did break into the 9s with his original parts but more tuning. I'll get a pic of my sleeper.

[The Dark Side of Will]

My dad and I are running a 4L80E in his Suburban using the 8051 PCM from an LT1 car, which is expecting a 4L60E. One of the shift solenoids in the 4L80E operates with the opposite polarity to that of the 4L60E, which makes a small bit of trickery necessary, but so far the combo is working very well. The result of the difference in shift solenoid polarity is that the 60 defaults to 3rd gear with no solenoid signals, and the 80 defaults to 2nd.

We're using the "dual stator" torque convertor from a Suburban/other truck with Vortec 350 and 4L80E w/towing package. It's fairly loose and would probably be a good factory (lockup!) convertor for you to get started with.

[Atilla the Fun]

Thanks, Will. I appreciate the tip. www.ls1tech.com and www.ls1truck.com both have good info on the 60-to-80 as well. But the converter, that's what I appreciate you sharing. I'll get the pic today, and post it before the weekend.

[The Dark Side of Will]

The above combo is behind a 500 cid Cadillac, BTW.

[Fastback86]

Old Suburban powered by a 500 cid Cadillac mated to a 4L80E? That's one hell of a mutt you got there. Does it have Fiero seats too?

[Atilla the Fun]

Why a cad instead of a rat, and why an 80E instead of either a built 200-4R, or a built 700R-4?

[The Dark Side of Will]

It doesn't have Fiero seats, but it does have a custom interior by Anaheim industries (now defunct) out of Texas.

My dad likes the Cadillacs primarily because they're cheap. Much cheaper than BBC's. They're also bigger (cid) than any production BBC. They have precision thin wall high nickel castings that make them lighter and longer lasting than BBC's, with nonexistent core shift. The block itself is extremely strong. It only has 4 head bolts per cylinder, but they're 1/2" and get tightened to 105 ftlbs.

My dad's also had poor luck with BBC's. He had a 454 in his previous Suburban... that broke its crankshaft. He put another 454 in it which then constantly burned coolant; he could never keep the valve guides from leaking. The Caddies give exactly zero of that sort of problem... and they're just Cadillacs. Valley pan type intake manifold gaskets and rubber manifold rail seals are OE on the Caddy, but aftermarket on BBC's, for instance.

It doesn't have a 700 because that's not an electronically shifted transmission.
It has an 80 instead of a 60 because the 60 is simply not suited to the truck's primary mission, which is heavy towing; moving cars on my uncle's flatbed trailer.

The 4L80E convertor clutch is rated for 500 ftlbs. Even with a 500 cid engine, it can tow in 4th gear lockup at nearly WOT, and thus maintain speed up the steepest interstate grades without unlocking or kicking down.
The 4L60E convertor clutch is only good for 130 ftlbs or so. It has to unlock for almost any hill climbing. This trans family has very poor cooler circulation in 4th gear unlocked, which is when the transmission is generating the greatest amount of heat. To overcome this, the transmission has to be kicked down to third. Since the convertor clutch can't lock up, it has two strikes against it for towing economically. It's also just not built to transmit over 400 ftlbs continuously.

Also, after the truck was swapped to the 80, my dad tore the 60 down and found that the clutch linings were gray. It had held up, but was leading a very accelerated wear life. The 80 was designed from the factory to take the loads the to which the truck is subjected.

The first major undertaking with the truck after the 80 swap was moving a friend from OK to MD. We were pulling his car on a U-haul trailer and grossing about 12.5K#. We were able to maintain 80+ MPH through AR, TN and swVA interstate hills in 4th gear lockup. I think you'll agree that a 60 would probably not even have survived that trip.

[Nashco]

I think I remember reading that the Caddy 472 is significantly lighter than the 500. Aside from the extra 30 cubes, any reason why your old man likes the 500 over the 472? Obviously, with a Suburban set up for towing, the extra 50-100 pounds on the front end isn't a show stopper, just curious if there's some other advantages to the 500.

Bryce

[The Dark Side of Will]

The 472 and 500 are very close to the same weight. The only difference is stroke. The Caddy is about halfway between an all-iron small block and all iron big block in terms of weight.

[CincinnatiFiero]

The 429 Cadillac is a significant amount lighter than the 472/500. In my reading online the 500ci is ~80lbs heavier than an all iron small block. But with headers, aluminum intake, lighter carbs, lighter air cleaner, lighter valve covers, relatively simple stuff, the 500 can be lighter than a small block and make twice the torque.

[The Dark Side of Will]

The 429 is a different architecture. I don't know which, if any, parts interchange.

Aluminum heads and intake are the only ways to significantly lighten the engine. Valve covers, for example, are stamped steel and fairly light. The one we have in the truck uses the EFI manifold and throttle body. It's a very squashed design with the throttle body vertical and about the same elevation as the intake ports on the heads. A real manifold would really wake the thing up, but that would require adding injector bosses to the Edelbrock carbed manifold. http://www.summitracing.com/parts/EDL-2115/

There are a couple of low volume aluminum heads available, but they'll run ~$2700 a set for the drop-in replacements. http://www.mtscadparts.net/servlet/the- ... ead/Detail

[CincinnatiFiero]

I was looking at the 472/500 performance sites, these things seem to be hugely reliable, even on boost. And they are torque monsters, yes stock, but it gets insane with mods.

[The Dark Side of Will]

Where's the "hijacked" smilie?

[CincinnatiFiero]

Got a picture of your dads truck? Make a new thread and split the topic over there.