Next Years Power Tour Car

[PxTx]

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: markinnaples</div><div class="ubbcode-body">I'd love to do an LS in an old school style like this one or one with a Roots-type blower.
</div></div>

Andy Starr of Hilborn had worked with the Gearz build of Cheetah running an LS. Andy is a good friend and help my Dad with his nostalgic 302 build. He gets me and has also seen thousands of LS builds. I need to ask him if he's seen any with a real old school feel.
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[VintageMusclecar]

I have a LOT of respect for the modern LS platform, it's an extremely versatile and well-proven platform. That said, it seems like the old reliable big block has become the red-headed bastard step-child around here.

Here's an interesting little combination to consider;

Very basic 496, naturally aspirated and runs on pump gas
400 Turbo, tight 10&quot; converter
3.36 gears
3600 lb race weight
Runs 10.70's @ 125 in full street trim with a best of 10.59 @ 127+
Has been together for ~6 years and has logged 14K trouble-free miles so far.

The owner just took a week long 2600+ mile road trip with it. The only problem encountered was a fouled set of plugs from a bad batch of gas.

The ONLY &quot;minus&quot; is the car gets ~12 mpg at highway speeds (turning ~3K rpm). I'm sure an overdrive and further refining the 850 Holley would improve those numbers significantly. Would it ever equal the fuel mileage of a modern LS with EFI?--of course not, it's ridiculous to even ask that question.

That said, how long would it take to recover the cost of a $10K-$15K (or more) LS swap vs. a $7800.00 bolt-in engine?

Let's do a little math.

Let's assume you tune the big block to 15 mpg (well within reach) and the LS gets 20 mpg. That's 5 mpg difference--lets say you drive 5K miles a year (generous estimate IMO since few [if any] of these cars are people's daily drivers). We'll estimate roughly $3.00/gallon for 92 octane fuel. That's 333 gallons of fuel vs. 250 for a difference of 83 gallons of fuel a year. That's $250.00 a year saved in fuel. The difference between a $15K engine and an $8K engine is $7K. At that rate, it would take 28 <span style="font-weight: bold">years</span> to recover the difference in investment. Sorry, that dog won't hunt.

Again, I have tremendous respect for the LS platform, but trying to directly compare it to a big block is the quintessential &quot;apples to oranges&quot; comparison. Show me a cost-effective naturally aspirated LS that can make over 600 lb.ft at 3000 rpm or less and 600+ HP &lt;6000 rpm...NOT gonn'a happen. Conversely, show me a cost-effective 600 HP big block that knocks down 20 mpg...I'm not going to hold my breath on that one either.

If I thought Ken would take me up on it, I'd offer to build him a 600+/600+ big block for this car AT COST--FREE LABOR on my end, just the cost of parts &amp; machine work, but I know that won't happen. Ken is a die-hard LS fan now, and I support his choice 101%--it's HIS car, he should build it the way HE wants and however it makes HIM happy.

That said, can we <span style="font-weight: bold"><span style="font-style: italic"><span style="text-decoration: underline">PLEASE</span></span></span> stop trying to compare an LS to a big block? They're two totally different animals with their own distinct characteristics.

Both have earned and are worthy of their respect.

p.s. the guy with the `Vette mentioned above also owns a late model Z06 `Vette with a 402/F1R blower--the following is a direct quote:

<span style="font-style: italic">&quot;Thanks Del! I wasn't too worried about it. It's been a very reliable car since I built it. Now my Z06 with the 402/F1R, I wouldn't drive that sucker more then 200 miles away from home which is where my free towing range ends.

It's messed up when you trust your 45 year old car to drive cross country way more then you trust a 2002. Lol&quot;</span>

[earntaz]

AMEN Eric -- agree, to each his own ... TAZ

[PxTx]

[video:youtube]https://youtu.be/-hPNAXgn0EY[/video]

[WILMASBOYL78]

So...I guess the photo of the Nomad has escaped me...or is it hidden behind someone's garage [img]<<GRAEMLIN_URL>>/hmmm.gif[/img]

wilma

[Xplantdad]

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: WILMASBOYL78</div><div class="ubbcode-body">So...I guess the photo of the Nomad has escaped me...or is it hidden behind someone's garage [img]<<GRAEMLIN_URL>>/hmmm.gif[/img]

wilma </div></div>

here you go...

[VintageMusclecar]

It's on his Facebook page Tom.

[kwhizz]

I can only speak for myself.......But.....After finally getting to a position in life (in the early 2000's)to be able to get back involved in the Muscle car era I grew up in.......I built a couple decent cars that were trailered everywhere....It was fun for a while....Then we went on the Power Tour for the first time in 2005........I drove my all stock 66 Chevelle SS 396 with a Powerglide from Milwaukee to Orlando and back.......That was the start of my realization that there was a difference in &quot;Owning&quot; a car or &quot;Driving&quot; your car......It still took me a couple of years to do an LS conversion as I was still &quot;Old School&quot;....LOL.......After years of watching Charley having too much fun with his LS cars I finally built one......I knew it was a mistake because I knew the complexity of the swap would leave me high and dry on the side of the road somewhere and I probably couldn't fix it with a screwdriver.....LOL.....Boy , was I wrong.....I could never imagine driving any of my old trailered cars on the Power Tour or any distance for that matter.........So ..I sold my trailer and the cars that at every car shown there would always be an expert there telling me what was not correct on the cars......Sheesh !!!..........I really don't miss that B.S........So....Now I'm a &quot;Driver Guy&quot; !!!....LOL.......Doesn't mean I'm right.......But.....That's where I am right now.......

Ken

[VintageMusclecar]

As long as you build what makes you happy, then you're right. [img]<<GRAEMLIN_URL>>/biggthumpup.gif[/img]

[tom406]

See attached photo for picture of the Nomad which I stole from Ken's Facebook page. It will save some of us from an uncomfortable deep dive of non-automotive information if you're anywhere left of either Ted (Nugent or Cruz), LOL.