LS powered Duster, Abomination or Go For it!

DusterKrazy said

The "cheap" thing I simply do not understand. They say budget LS but I keep seeing stuff like AFR or Trick flow heads that are over $2k a pair. Then they put twin turbos on them...

I don't know whose budget they are talking about but I'm wondering if their place of employment is hiring...

As far as mounting goes with oil pans, they hack the k frame all to pieces and use like an 06 GTO oil pan. Seen quite a few and its quite shoddy...why bother...

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Well, if you need all the power you can get, then aftermarket heads are the answer. Looking into LS forums will give factory heads that are proven performers and ones to stay away from. A little pocket porting and port matching along with upgrading the 5.3 intake valves from 1.9" to 2.0" can help. Get rid of the AFM BS. Mostly sales buzzword BS and a proven reliability issue. Add in a modest cam and you can have a fairly reasonable engine. The aluminium block engines are common wrecker engines now also which could take a little weight off the front end.
I met a guy that stuffed LS3 engines with the Firebird 6spd trans into BMW3 series. They use the 760 diff which bolts right in. A little port work and a cam change with a tune and they get 550HP to the wheels. His is a 4dr sleeper that he hunts blower Mustangs with. The Al V8 is shorter than the Fe block Beemer 6, so it takes 50lbs off the front end.