You can build an aluminum headed Windsor that will perform just as well as an ls, for around the same weight. Why not just build a dart block stroker? Shoot you can even pick up an aluminum block if you wanna go all out.
People seem to think of an ls as just this godly engine when, realistically , any motor can be built very stout with the correctly matched parts for similar prices. Fuel + air = power, regardless of whether it’s a Windsor or one of those played out ls’s
Played out LS's...
Time to play devil's advocate..
.Power potential ISNT the the reason for considering an LS over the Ford engine.....it comes that way already.
It's several factors....theyre everywhere, in everything.
The 6.0 engine is
factory rated at 360/380. Is dimensionally smaller than a 351, ( significantly) yet weighs the same while displacing 50 more cubic inches.
The engine has 6 bolt mains, Only two for a Windsor, comes with a much better CNP ignition system, and has an oil pan that lets the engine drop right into a fox engine compartment. And...if you leave the damn thing alone,..it'll almost get 30 mpg at that power level.
I get that. For somebody like me who can do all of the necessary fabrication to make it fit, an LS makes perfect sense
While it's true that it doesn't just drop in w/o fabrication, you can't exactly do that with a 351 either.
You have to scrounge for a fox chassis oil pan just to fit a 351 into the car, and it's that same pan that prevents somebody from setting it any lower or farther back should you be so inclined.
People don't consider these things because they can be made to make more power...(they certainly can) they buy them for all of the reasons listed above. it's when that factory power level isn't adequate that things start getting more expensive and the playing field starts to level out. The rods are powdered metal, the caps are powdered metal, the roller cam is hollow, the intake is plastic and very tall, and the piston is suspect for pin failure after too many miles, or abuse.
Sure,...you could make a Windsor come up to that power level
With heads,cam, and intake..and the block has proven itself to be capable of over 600 HP.. But....we're supposed to be talking budget here..
And you Have to add that stuff to even get close to factory LS numbers.
Show me a jy 351 that is rated anywhere near those numbers,
(you can't) the engine has been long discontinued and was last seen 20 years ago in a new truck....so even if you did find one it'll have a bazillion miles on it.