Good Price for An Lq4/Lq9 block

**MudStainKILLA** · 05-31-2011, 10:55 PM

Been looking around online at prices on bare blocks and was just wondering if anyone hear knew what a reasonable price was for one. Been seeing 700-900 w/o shipping.

**98TransAmWs-6** · 06-01-2011, 04:47 PM

Originally Posted by MudStainKILLA

Been looking around online at prices on bare blocks and was just wondering if anyone hear knew what a reasonable price was for one. Been seeing 700-900 w/o shipping.

Texas Speed has a 6.0L iron block for $749.99, that looks reasonable to me. So I would say anywhere around that would be good. I wouldn't pay $900 for that IMO.

**Firebirdjones** · 06-01-2011, 05:48 PM

For brand new bare cast iron LS blocks,,,that's about the going rate now. About 2-3 years ago they were just $600 from GM.

**MudStainKILLA** · 06-01-2011, 07:45 PM

ya did some more searching tonight and that looks like the range, saw the one on texas speed for 749.99. Wish they were still only 600.

**Firebirdjones** · 06-02-2011, 10:11 AM

Originally Posted by MudStainKILLA

ya did some more searching tonight and that looks like the range, saw the one on texas speed for 749.99. Wish they were still only 600.

Ya me too. This stuff isn't getting any cheaper to do either. The longer you wait the more expensive it is.
Check out some of Texas Speeds assembled short blocks based off the LQ cast iron engines. They are priced pretty reasonable for what you get (402/408). Very hard to build one for what they sell for. Then you can top it off with any cylinder head/camshaft setup you choose.

**HOBS** · 06-02-2011, 09:29 PM

Is there a reason you want a new block? All the junkyards around here sell the lq4's for around $1k with all the accessories and computer.

**MudStainKILLA** · 06-03-2011, 04:58 PM

Hobs,
I want to do an FI build and was just looking into some options, havent checked into the junk yards yet. Figured id see what the going rate was for new and go from there. Kinda give me a baseline if i would up in a situation where i could negotiate a price.
Jones,
I saw those on there too. Was going to put together a laundry list and see how it stacked up against those setups they have for sale.

**Firebirdjones** · 06-04-2011, 07:37 AM

Originally Posted by MudStainKILLA

Hobs,
Jones,
I saw those on there too. Was going to put together a laundry list and see how it stacked up against those setups they have for sale.

Good idea. That's exactly what I would do. I think the brand new bare blocks come machined and ready to go. Most rotating assemblies are machined also, but most all of them need a rebalance job even though they say they are balanced before hand. I've never found that to be completely true. They have always needed balanced after the fact from my experience.
So there may be some machine shop work to figure into the bill even though everything is brand new, something to keep in mind.

I've been through this dozens of times, most recently went through this on my truck. 454 let go. All the machine work, new rotating assembly for a 496 stroker, new heads etc...with me assembling the entire thing to cut costs it was still $5800 before taxes.
I was within $200 of a brand new GM crate 502 including the shipping (no tax, out of state). Needless to say, I went with the crate engine to save myself all the hassle of building, waiting for machine shops etc.....
That's why I mentioned the complete rotating assembled short blocks from Texas Speed. It's done and ready to go with forged goodies.

I also just bought a complete LQ4 with a 4L80E out of a 2004 truck. Complete with all accessories, wire harness, computer, belts/hoses, drive by wire gas pedal assembly, air intake, exhaust manifolds, coil packs. Basically everything to drop it in and make it run, with 80,000 miles on it.
Paid $2,000 complete. Engine priced seperate was $1,200.
This was from our local LKQ, they are all over the country in about every state if you want to do some price checking. I bought this complete setup to drop into my 72 blazer.

Hope that gives you some ideas on costs. Nothing is cheap to do anymore.

**MudStainKILLA** · 06-04-2011, 10:15 AM

ya its sounding more and more like a crate setup is the way to go, ill check out that LKQ though and see what they have around cali and NH.

**Firebirdjones** · 06-04-2011, 10:27 AM

Originally Posted by MudStainKILLA

ya its sounding more and more like a crate setup is the way to go, ill check out that LKQ though and see what they have around cali and NH.

Ya kinda sad, as I prefer to build myself. It seems anymore the only time I build is for numbers matching classic cars, or there simply isn't a crate engine with exactly what I want.
That's where those short blocks from Texas Speed are nice. You can still taylor the compression ratio you want with the heads you choose as well as the camshaft, and still make the engine somewhat your own.

**MudStainKILLA** · 06-04-2011, 12:10 PM

ya i was just playing around with the ls1/lq9 iron stroker kit they have on there, priced out at 4,100 and some change for what id want with it. Im going to finish up my laundry list later tonight and see how it stacks up. Still wanna check out LKQ and see what the have, might be nice to throw a tranny in to like with what you picked up but then again im am think of going with a th400 instead so who knows.

**Firebirdjones** · 06-05-2011, 05:48 PM

Originally Posted by MudStainKILLA

ya i was just playing around with the ls1/lq9 iron stroker kit they have on there, priced out at 4,100 and some change for what id want with it. Im going to finish up my laundry list later tonight and see how it stacks up. Still wanna check out LKQ and see what the have, might be nice to throw a tranny in to like with what you picked up but then again im am think of going with a th400 instead so who knows.

It took me a long time to find a suitable LQ engine. About 6 months. I didn't want something with 100,000 miles and I also wanted to stay away from the cylinder deactivation crap GM started around 05-06. So I was searching for an engine that was already at least 8 years old.
Makes it kinda tough to get a low mile example. Trucks are used alot and used hard. Just about everything you look at out there will be 100,000 miles or more.

I was lucky to find mine with 80K but like I said, took a while, and I paid a bit more for it too. I wanted something I could drop in and at least run it for the next 5 or 6 years before I felt I needed to pull it for a rebuild.
That's where LKQ has an advantage. They are in just about every state accross the nation, and they can search and ship from anywhere.
Keep us posted how it turns out for you.