Bored with LS swaps?

[crossboss]

Boys,
As good as the LS engine is, are you getting tired with the "Swap the LS into everything"? Your thoughts...

[janobyte]

Dad's last car show,passed about a week later,  a kid came in with his gf, and parked next. I loved the car, nicely done,,sounded bada#s. Laughed and told him our Anglia sorta the grand daddy of his. Seeing them in sandrails,,jeeps. Pretty good reason,,available: realative cheap, reliable power. Still a sbc,,how many different combos were buit with those?

[janobyte]

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[ggtsvnv]

I get why people LS swap and don't care as long as a matching numbers car isn't hacked up to do one.  I don't go out of my way to check them out. Kinda make you feel like the flathead guys when the SBC was the hot ticket in the late 50's and 60's though.

[camaroboy68ss]

I was thinking the same thing, the LS is what the old small block was decades ago. Its a not to expensive option that can make an old car drive like a brand new car with all the bells and whistles. My main issues with the LS is it looks too modern for alot of older cars. There are some companies now making stuff to dress up a LS to look more like an old big block which I like to see. Yeah you can add fuel injection to an old engine, but it still doesnt work as well as the LS that was designed with it and that all the go fast stuff is made to work it with. 

[Kelley W King]

A friend and I went to a large cars and coffee (couple hundred cars) saturday and there were so many LS swaps I felt out of place in his big block C10 truck.

[crossboss]

A friend and I went to a large cars and coffee (couple hundred cars) saturday and there were so many LS swaps I felt out of place in his big block C10 truck.

THAT is what I meant when I posted this topic. Actually, the LS swaps are getting boring (to me). Yes, no question it IS a great engine, makes a ton of power and is fairly reasonable in cost. That said, it is a boring looking engine. That is most likely why there are kits to make them look like vintage engines, and in some cases a brand X one as well.

[uscrichter]

And that is exactly why we(The ones on this site) will continue to preserve and accurately restore unique original  Camaros ! I bought a '71 Z28 a few years ago that was a garage find from a widow for a father and son resto-mod project because it didn't have any paperwork proving it was a Z-28 when I bought it only to find the POP once I got it home and explained to my Son that this car was much to valuable to resto-mod and convinced him to sell it and use the money to find a clean plain jane shell to resto-mod with all the LS and techno goodies that he wants. The reason why I didn't keep the Z is because I'm a first gen guy myself and have little passion for the second gen Camaros. He is exited to use the new technology to create the car of his dreams while not destroying a fairly rare preserved Z-28! When I was his age I would modify plain jane cars with modified small blocks which all seemed the same on the outside but a lot more horse power  inside! Kind of like were seeing now with all of the LS mods that are available now in the aftermarket to make them go faster and look better than stock. Like the saying goes" what's old is new"

[z28z11]

I love LS engines, just not in 1st. Gen Camaros. Sure, if it suits you, find a 6 cyl. or a Plain Jane low po and modify it all you want, but I'll drift right by them at a car show. I'm an old fogey originality freak, the more correct and high optioned the better, even though the modern thought and auctions favor the resto mod and pure modified cars. I recently went farther "backards" into a 1967 Nova SS, and I'm still marveling at the simplicity of the car and the proven strength (and design) of the venerable 327. See a lot of them with LS motors, too - overkill if you ask me. Carbs and points suit me very well, thank you - JMHO.

Regards,
Steve

[Vince]

I tend to agree with Steve.  At a car show if I see a 1st or even 2nd gen Camaro that has an LS engine I won't spend any more time looking at it.  Originality matters the most to me.  If I ever had a 1st or 2nd gen Camaro that needed an entirely new engine, and the original one couldn't be rebuilt, I would get a 350 crate motor with iron block and probably heads too with an aluminum intake manifold and a 4 barrel carb.  I might dress it up with aluminum LT1 style valve covers and an open element air cleaner too.  To me nothing looks better than clean, uncluttered valve covers, and a black or open element air cleaner sitting on top a 4 barrel carb. 
JMHO, but the LS engines look ugly to me with eight coils sitting on top the valve covers and a black plastic intake manifold.  Even the factory realizes this and uses plastic shields to cover the valve covers anyway.  In a modern car that look is fine, but in a 1st or 2nd gen Camaro, ugh.  I know there are different ways now that the eight individual coils can be fender mounted or covered somewhat to not show, but it still leaves in my mind a lot to be desired compared to any original small block in a 1st or 2nd gen Camaro.