bigsapper

Idle curiosity got me wondering, what would it take to drop in an LSX454 crate engine in a C5?

Related to that, is there a specific year I would want to start with? Specific options to take advantage? Theoretically, it would be a daily driver (< 10k miles per year) and drag race ~10-15 times per year.

I'm not as up to speed on the C5 as I should be, considering I've owned a '97 coupe & '01 Z06.

bigsapper

Oh and I would want flex-fuel/E85.

bigsapper

Nobody? I've seen a few C5's with LS2/LS3 transplants, so it seems to be doable. Just curious on what you would need to address for a GenIV engine.

K-Spaz

I think the very first thing you need to do to get one into a C5 is to switch the reluctor wheel, or install one if they don't come with one. You have to make the computer understand where the crankshaft is. Past that the rest of it should just be tuning but I am certainly no expert on this. I think that should be about all you need along with a ton of tuning skills. Once you get a base ve table to get the car to fire I think tuning shouldn't be a big deal from there. But all the C5 computers expect the low-res reluctor wheel so that's going to be a must. Unless you intend on changing all the electronics in the car and I seriously doubt that.

https://mechanics.stackexchange.com/...-on-ls-engines

NSFW

Lingenfelter has a widget to convert the 58x signal into a 24x signal so a Gen3 PCM can work with a Gen4 motor. I have no experience with it personally, but apparently it exists:
https://www.lingenfelter.com/product/L460065397.html

I suspect that an LSX 454 would use LS7-style exhaust ports, so you'd want LS7-style headers, but I'm not sure how big the differences are.

There could be differences between some Gen3 and Gen4 sensors, but LS7 swaps have been done in C5s so I'm sure an LSX454 could be done as well.

You might get more responses on LS1Tech.com, the folks over there seem more knowledgeable about this kind of stuff. It's owned by the same company as corvetteforum.com.

killian96ss

Pretty sure that engine weighs 130 lbs more than an LS7 which also weighs more than an LS1/6 so the car will be nose heavy, but with over 600hp who cares right.

Steve

'Shifter

May want to opt for coil-overs with enough spring to address this issue.

bigsapper

Thanks for the responses all. Looks like the pinch points are the reluctor, exhaust & sensors. I'll check out the sister forum.

One way to address the weight is to use the RHS block. And I'm seeing now that a shop is building a 527ci LS using it. :O

Now lets up the ante with HammerHead Racing Hemi heads and E85! :O :O

bigsapper

Right. right, oh my brother.

jackthelad

You are going to have to upgrade the trans/rear end if you want to really use that performance. A regular C5 diff would probably come apart after a few hard launches on the strip.

jackthelad

Good article in LSX Magazine comparing the various options for a high cube LS, including the GMPP LSX block.

www.lsxmag.com/tech-stories/buying-your-first-aftermarket-ls-block/

Tsumi