When you've spent decades learning about and building one type of engine, it can be hard to embrace the new stuff. After all, most of us are building older cars that came with these older engines, and we have a slew of tools and parts for the old engines and they work just fine. Plus, change is painful. If It's not necessary, why do it?
In the case of small-block Chevys, the new stuff-namely the LS engine design-has a few very compelling reasons for you to take a crash course. First, this new engine design is now more than a decade old! That's not all that new. Unlike so many other new designs from various manufacturers, the LS family of engines has the same recipe of high-horsepower potential and cost-effectiveness that made the original small-block so popular, except that the power potential is much, much higher. The engine has come in everything from Corvettes to pickup trucks, so there are plenty of used ones to be had at reasonable prices.
Spending a day at Kurt Urban Performance confirmed the potential. Urban was one of the kings of big-block Chevys a decade ago, building powerplants for quite a few of the Fastest Street Car teams and professional racers. He was exposed to the LS engine design as soon as it hit the streets and saw how much more power potential this new generation of small-block Chevy engines possessed. He now routinely builds 1,500hp LS engines for racing and has even built a 7.0L version that cranked out more than 2,200 hp. On the opposite end of the cost spectrum, Urban points out that you can yank a 6.2L engine out of Denali or Escalade, toss a carb and headers on it, and make 430 hp and still have a 650-rpm idle without changing any internal engine parts.
For people who have spent years building Gen I and II small-blocks, however, the LS family looks as foreign and intimidating as a Lexus engine. Once you dig into it though, LS engines are not so different from early small-blocks, but there are quite a few differences that you'll need to know before you rebuild one. Follow along as we point out the nuances you'll need to know.
