GM LS-Series Engines: Complete Swap Guide & How To Build Big-Inch (2 Book Set)

In GM LS-Series Engines: The Complete Swap Manual 2nd Edition, expert technician Joseph Potak walks you through all the steps involved in installing an LS engine into any project vehicle, from concept to completion.

Variants of General Motor’s groundbreaking family of LS engines are installed in everything from mundane Chevrolet panel vans to the earth-shaking Corvette Z06. Released in 1997, the original LS1, and its numerous successors have proven powerful, reliable, and amazingly flexible.

Performance enthusiasts embraced this remarkable V-8, and it quickly became a favorite for engine swaps into project vehicles ranging from classic muscle cars to hot rods to race cars. Why? Because the versatile LS offers fantastic power, a compact design, light weight, and it responds very well to performance modifications. The key to this performance is a sophisticated electronics package demystified here by the author.

In GM LS-Series Engines: The Complete Swap Manual 2nd Edition, professional LS-series engine specialist Joseph Potak details all the considerations involved in performing this swap into any vehicle. With clear instructions, color photos, diagrams, and specification tables, Potak guides you through:

• Installing your LS engine
• Configuring the EFI system
• Designing fuel and exhaust systems
• Sourcing the correct accessories for your application
• Transmissions, torque converters, and clutches
• Performance upgrades and power-adders

This is the ultimate guide to installing an LS in your project car.

The GM LS-Series engines have made history. These engines produce copious amounts of horsepower and do it very efficiently, and therefore the LS engines have been installed in many GM cars as well as transplanted into hot rods and multitudes of muscle cars. These wildly popular engines have been modified in many ways, and one of the most popular and affordable modifications is stroking an LS engine. By adding more cubic inches, these engines produce much more horsepower and torque.     

Author Stephen Kim covers the various models of LS engines, so if you're buying an engine you are able to select the best stroker platform. He also guides you through each crucial step of building a stroker or big-inch LS engine. He starts by discussing the stroker options, the maximum stroke and bore for aluminum as well as iron block engines, and the best cranks, rods, and pistons from various aftermarket suppliers. The budding LS engine builder is then able to select parts or the stroker kit that best fits the particular motor and the budget.     

Kim delves into the benefits and drawbacks to stroking the range of LS aluminum and iron block motors. But, he also examines the aftermarket blocks from World, Dart, and GM Performance Parts for stroking. LS engines are the hottest engine family on the market right now, and for good reason. While there are other LS engine books on the market, this is the only one that specifically addresses increasing displacement as a means of gaining real-world usable horsepower.