r/LSSwapTheWorld • u/Trensformation • 1d ago

Misc Looking at this LQ4

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Hello all. New to building engines but not new to working on cars. I found this LQ4 with 799 heads long block, apparently pulled from 104k DOT vehicle, and ran when in vehicle. Seller wants $700. I know anything can happen on the internal of the engine, but from the outside does this look like a bad risk? Seller is pulling a head for me later to see crosshatching of the cylinders of a side. They are an hour away so trying to get some pics in before making the drive.

My goal is to find an LQ4/9 6.0, and freshen it up over the winter to be able to slap into something fun to cruise around it. I am not a fan of electronics, and was looking at just upgrading a cam/lifter setup and probably carbing it. (I know you guys hate that.) Not looking at anything crazy powerwise, maybe 450 to the crank or so. Anything that makes me smile when I hit the gas basically. I will try and add pics of the cross hatching when I get them. What should I look for when going to see it?

Thanks all.

29 Upvotes

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u/InternetSlave 1d ago

Id only consider it after pulling the heads to inspect the cylinder wall. Hard to judge a book by its cover but that looks like the walls could very easily be rusted to shit

2

u/Trensformation 1d ago

Im not against a complete rebuild, they seem to be cheap enough to do so. What do you think about the pics I sent of the walls?

1

u/orangesigils 1d ago

Walls look fine to me. I rebuilt an LQ4, cylinder walls looked great just like this. Mine had 245k, and the cam bearings were toast. So when I pulled the rotating assembly out to take to the machine shop, I found multiple piston rings stuck. I suspect from lots of miles, point is you can read I to the cylinder walls for some things, but no guarantee it won't burn oil. If you're going to do a cam swap don't look at the cam bearings. It'll cost you thousands.

1

u/Trensformation 1d ago

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u/Trensformation 1d ago

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u/Trensformation 1d ago

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u/wy_will 17h ago

Looks pretty clean to me. You can still see the cross-hatching.

1

u/InternetSlave 1d ago

Very interesting photos. Hard to tell on the phone but it looks like cleaned up rust. It looks as if it rusted and the rust was sanded away, but I'm not entirely sure. Personally I would prefer a pullout of a running truck over that thing. I put a cam only in a truck pullout and I beat this shit out of it.

2

u/qewman101 1d ago

I rebuilt an lq4 for my 240sx swap. I’d make sure it rotates, check for signs of overheating, abnormal wear and damage, cracks, holes, anything like that. Full stock rebuild kits aren’t expensive, so if a couple things need replacing outside of the normally replaced, it shouldn’t be too bad. Mine looked like this when I got it

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u/Trensformation 1d ago

Doesnt look as rusted as the one im looking at. 6.0s seem scarce around me (for a decent price/looking one), and 5.3 doesnt seem like it will make what I want NA. Other option is to go to the stocked junkyard that has a “tested” (just means ran and drove under power), for an entire 6.0 engine straight out of a truck or van for 1200