Engine decision made

[John Mcgraw]

Well I made the choice on the engine yesterday for the 65 resto-rod. The LS7 engine from GM was going to have way too long a lead time, and had too many unanswered questions (like the dry sump system and pcm). I had been chasing some LS2 engines with 0 miles on them for about 2 months, and they finally became available. There was a train derailment up in the midwest and a bunch of brand-new GTO's were damaged and were being scrapped by GM. It took a long time, but they were finally relaeased by GM and I scarfed up on one. I have been bugging people almost every day for the last month, and it finally paid off.
I got a pretty decent deal on it, and it is complete with all harness, pcm, and all accessories. I may have to put the rear sump Corvette pan on it to clear the chassis, but I will just have to wait until it is lowered in place to tell. I will post some pics when it arrives.

Regards, John McGraw

 

[67HEAVEN]

Nice!!!!!

 

[studiog]

Good deal John. I am starting to get resto rod fever... but first I have to finish my first project

 

[Edmond]

John,

That sounds cool! How bad were the GTO's damaged? Can't wait to read your report on fitting that LS2 in there and can't wait to see the pics!

 

[IH2LOSE]

John Best of luck with the new motor,I would love to know how you dug up that lead, But how cool is this, the motor out of a modern day Muscle car.What is the hp and tourque rating on this motor. Any chance of getting the trans also.

Did you find a rear end for the car yet?

 

[John Mcgraw]

Larry,

I read about the derailment over on one of the GTO discussion boards while looking around for info on a LS2. When I saw the pics of the wreck, I knew that there was no way that GM was going to allow these cars to be rebuilt and sold again, so I knew that these engines were going to hit the market soon. I started asking around and finally found the salvage dealer that won the bid for the salvage. It took almost 2 months before GM released the cars to be salvaged, and I must have bugged the guy that sold me the drivetrain almost every day for the last month! This is the same engine that the C6 Corvette uses and puts out 400 hp and 395 ft/lbs of torque. This through the stock exhaust, and I would expect to see the hp and torque numbers to go up substantially with a good set of headers/exhaust, lose the cats, and retune the PCM. It has the new 4L65E trans that is being used in the C6, GTO,and the the Hummer. The old 4L60E was not rated to stand up to more than 350 ft/lbs of torque. I got the whole package, engine, trans, harness, PCM, all accessories, and even the accelerator pedal, since the engine uses fly-by wire throttle just like your C5. Of course, with this throttle, torque management, and cruise control is built in the PCM. It will make for a much cleaner engine bay. I passed on the cruise control for the 59 since I didn't want to clutter up the engine bay!
I found a real nice 96 model D44 rear with 354 gears that only had about 15K miles on it, and a nice 2003 C5 front suspension. It is amazing, but the C5 front suspension give me almost 4 1/2" more engine bay room between the upper A-arm mounts. If I had known that the C5 suspension added that much more room, I would have used it on the 59! It was a real tight fit for power steering, A/C , and alternator. I think that there is a possibility that I may be able to use a low-mount A/C comperssor with all the extra room!

Regards, John McGraw

 

[IH2LOSE]

I read about the derailment over on one of the GTO discussion boards

I knew there had to be a cool story behind it. What a find.

 

[67HEAVEN]

I read about the derailment over on one of the GTO discussion boards

I knew there had to be a cool story behind it. What a find.

I wouldn't even know who to call. Lemme see.....

"Hello....hello? Is this the person in charge of shipping GTOs by rail and can you sell me an engine from a train wreck? Oh, sorry, you're the janitor?"

 

[BarryK]

awesome choice on motor John.
The LS7 would have be incredible, but not if it would take a long time to get it and really set your schedul back. Besides, the LS7 being so new, maybe it's best not to have to "experiment" to get it to work in your car.

After seeing your progress and work you have done on the '59, I can't wait to see more pics on the new '65 project.

 

[John Mcgraw]

Barry,

You are exactly right! The LS7 is a radical departure from the LS1 in a lot of areas, while the LS2 is pretty much just a bigger displacement LS1. It is really nothing but an aluminum version of the venerable 6 liter cast-iron truck engine.
Also the dollars factored into the decision. The LS7 would have cost me a pile of money before I finished with it.


Regards, John McGraw

 

[firstgear]

John, I need your email address to send some pictures to......so I can get your opinion....thanks, Herb

 

[Islander]

John,

Are you planning on using that tranny in your car? If so, do you expect to cut glass to fit it in?

 

[Delph]

John,


are there anymore left? I would love to buy one of these engines and maybe tranny for something else. Old Camaro.

Tim

 

[John Mcgraw]

Islander,

I am going to use the 4l65E trans. It is exactly the same size as a 4L60E, and it fit in my 59 without cutting on the tunnell, so I would expect it to fit the 65 without any cutting.

Regards, John McGraw

 

[John Mcgraw]

Tim,

Just today I saw several of them surface. There are none left with the original salvage yard, but I would expect to see them popping up for at least the next couple of months at resellers. Two popped up on Ebay today and one showed up in the Autotrader. I would be surprized if you could buy one of these drivetrains for less than $8K from these second-party sellers, but that still beats buying all the stuff new fron GM by quite a bit. The engine is only about $5300 discounted from GM, anf the trans is only about $2000, but by the time you buy the PCM, Wire harness, starter, alternator, power steering pump, brackets, ect, ect, ect, You will have well over $9500 invested.


Regards, John McGraw

 

[Delph]

Thanks John,

I will look around on e-bay. Autotrader? Is this the on-line version or your local one...or is it a National Autotrade? Is it under any particular heading or description?

Tim