Now that I have a new truck I'm looking to get started on my 95' I found this engine on ebay it looks pretty complete for what I'm thinking of doing.
6.0 LITER VORTEC ENGINE MOTOR CADILLAC ESCALADE LQ9 96K | eBay

Should I try to find an engine/trans combo instead? I plan to do a KB turbo and keep the 4x4. My truck has the 4L60 could it be beefed up to handle the occasional WOT pull?

I'm going to replace a lot of parts and lower the truck new wheels,paint ect ect. Here's the best picture I have of it right now. I'll get some more once I get started on it.

 

I bought my 6.0 from the same salvage yard as the one in the Ebay auction. They are THE BEST auto recycler I have ever dealt with.
Cool project... Not sure about your tranny question. I put a later model 80E in mine.

 

The tbi 5.7 4l60e has a different bell housing then the ls 4l60e style

 

$2500 for an LQ9 with 95k on it? holy ****! I think you could find one for around $1500 with similar miles.

 

Yea my buddy paid 1300 for a pullout with harness, pcm, and all accessories with 80K.

 

You can use the trans that's in the truck now, you just may need a flexplate spacer or may have to notch the torque converter holes on the flexplate. Truckin' magazine swapped a 6.0 into a 82 K-5 Blazer in their September issue and referred to flexplate mods in the article. They reused the Blazer's 700R4 so that there would be no issues mating to the t-case and they could leave the rest of the drivetrain alone. Seems like it would be the easiest most inexpensive route...

BTW, keep shopping, you can do better than $2500 for a 95k LQ9...that price would be more reasonable if it included the trans though...

 

The price does seem high. I payed 1300 about 3 years back for my 6.0 from the same outfit. With all the positive hype surrounding the 6.0's, I figured the going rate for a LQ9 went up.

 

I've been out of town all week so haven't been able to post anything.


I thought the price seemed a little high to me also. What kind of mods have to be done to the flexplate and use my 4l60? I was thinking I could use a bigger rear end out of a similar year model 3/4 ton truck also.

The big issue is I have no place to do all this stuff at anymore. I'm ready now if I could find someone that would be willing to help for some extra cash on the side

 

Sounds like a sweet build there aren't a lot of LQ9/4L80E factory combo trucks running around at all; most trucks with the LQ9 that are out there got the 4L60E. Therefore I think it would probably be easier to get your engine and trans separately if you are looking to upgrade the trans. Yeah that price is a bit over the top, you can do better. Good luck

 

LQ9 was never paired to a 4l80e from the factory, I believe.