@@richardholdener1727 yeah, there's definitely MORE to ya then just HORSEPOWER and UA-cam! just saying your really good at the content you share with us!
Things I really want. Like a 5.0 atlas. Gimme an iron block aluminum head DOHC I6 with a long runner intake and a little hair dryer turbo with a big wastegate. That would be the shit
Cross flow heads! Means bigger ports! A must for 4 valve motors! Chevy really put their homework in on this motor and did nearly nothing with it! I love this engine alot! And it's cheap! Hopefully the turbo community can start creating a demand for cams and hardware. I'm sure a few guys wanting it and they'll start producing it!
Richard's tuned in to a very overlooked engine that never had its day in the sun. GM sort of killed it off when they offered the 5.3 V8 in the Trailblazer. The 5.3 had the same peak power, but more torque, got better fuel economy, and was cheaper to produce. Then people wouldn't go for the 4.2 I-6 anymore. It did have some weird features, such as the VVT on the exhaust side only, which was used to do internal EGR instead of broadening the torque curve. The early engines up to 2005 had a really small exhaust port, probably to force higher backpressure on the engine to enhance the internal EGR effect. Maybe GM went away from that in the 2006 refresh, when the head got a bigger exhaust port, and about 15 more HP. I bought one of the early engines out of a junkyard in Michigan to study, hoping to make a V12 shortblock for people to build DIY V12 engines. I designed the crankshaft, and didn't see any major shortcomings in it. I also figured out a cam drive layout for it. The guy that ported the heads on my GMC V6 was a drag racer in the Kalamazoo, MI area, and had built a 4.2 Atlas destroked to 3.8L, and went 7.80 at ~176 mph at Martin Dragway in a dragster. He said it ran about 10,000 rpm. He built a carbureted manifold for it.
I have one, drive it everyday! 268,000 miles, Runs like the day it rolled off the assembly line! Honestly probably one of the very best engines ever made, if not the best!? Actually I was thinking about hitten it with a little 100 shot,even with that many miles, I really don't believe it'll hurt it,they are great/strong engines! P.S. The 4l60 is still going as well!
I got an 02 trailblazer with this motor recently. It's been running rough. Starts and idles fine at first, but when it gets warm the rpms start dropping and fluctuation. Until it starts lopeing like a diesel and stallsthe past. Sounds andnfeels fine. Oil pressure is good, fresh oil change done just a few days ago. New vvt, and cps. It seems to have three original coil packs and three replacement ones. I havent checked the plugs yet. I cleaned the throttle body. There was some oil residue in the black intake that has 4200 on it. Brake abs light is coming on too. It's got 220k. I don't know what work was done to it prior. It seemed kind of well taken care of. The valve cover seemed to have been replaced with the last few years, no leaks. No drips. There is some vapors coming out of the oil filler cap an or oil dipstick tube. Does that sound like rings? I drove it about 2 hours to get it to my place. But I never had a gasoline motor before. I am kinda lost. Always had diesel in the past.
@@ChapsShrugged the atlas series included 4, 5, and 6 cylinder engines. Colorado / canyons got the 4 and 5 while trailblazers and their cousins got the 6 usually but had the option of v8. The atlas family all look about the same from a glance.
I own 2 identical 2004 LT trailblazers 2wd with 4L60E trans .. one has 201,000 miles , and the other 271,000 ... No gasket issues, no leaks, no timing tensioner issues YET ... I will put new INTAKE GASKET & EXHAUST GASKET asap in 2025 , & valve cover gaskets.. I grew up working on L6 jeeps so this is a joyful breeze for me. I have owned them for 6yrs & loved every day & every DIY repair has been super easy n low cost.
No!!! That's why I love your vedios! We started out with a pump gas, premium cast pistons with big valves reliefs, a $40 used solid lifter cam! It's was awesome! Ran 6.50s 1/8 mile on motor!! Gave $500 for the assembled short block!! It was tons of fun! Ran just as fast on 93 octain!! 100 shot made it run 6 flat! Why the hell we decided to build a 'real' motor is anyone's guess. Ended with me quitting! All the money, time was the biggest issue! Now I'm retired and I'm into camping! Anyone reading this just remember, just have fun without taking a second mortgage on your house!
I wouldn't be surprised if it could. Especially if he can spin it up with cams. I dunno if he's talking about having cams ground or just mixing and matching various OEM cams.
@@D3AThCAl2DS ,there's a guy here on UA-cam somewhere that has got one in either a 68 or 69 firebird, he's got a turbo on it and I believe he's making around 850 to the tires!
ive got an atlas trailblazer. i love it. did you know that the 3700 I5 and 2900 I4 atlas motor has bigger sleeves? grab yourself a set of factory sleeves and pistons (yes its the same stroke) and press them into the I6 block for a 4.4 litre.
@@Agilepickleunite wiki search the bore and stroke of the Colorado and compare that to the trailblazer. Do the math on total cylinder capacity. Then multiply cylinder size by 6 and not 5 like the Colorado has. And you get the total possible engine size of an atlas i6 with z71 sleeves and pistons.
@@Agilepickleunite so long as my research is correct, resleeve an i6 block with the vortec 3700 sleeves and pistons, and it should work. so long as a fella was capable and willing to take on such a task. in my opinion, it could be done, because they did it with the 4 cylinder and 5 cylinder.
I’m so pumped for this one straight 6 dual over head cam 4 valves per cylinder 4.2litre what’s not to love !!!! Can’t wait to hear it on the dyno great find Richard
I have that motor in my gmc envoy xlt. 230.000. Only had to change water pump. At 200.000. Had 7 years now . it runs. An runs. Oil change on time. It's my big baby. On a Tahoe chassis. If no one new that. It's a Tahoe chassie. Gmc envoy chevy trailblazer. All the same chassie different motor .
This should be interesting. I just watched another dyno test of a Datsun 240 Z with one of these in it. They made amazing HP. But i had to compare it to the Syclone Jeremy Hacking is running. Aluminium block 4.3 Single Turbo running 7.59 sec Quarter mile. 185 mph. The Datsun was hoping to get a 4.0 something in the 1/8 mile. That Syclone is way fast.
inline 6 is my favorite engine configuration of all time.... don't sleep on the 300ci I know it's a pushrod but the 3/4 of a liter should even things up a lil
Great motor. I had them in my two Trailblazer LTs. Fresh air intake mod. Helical carb spacer, cat back from Magnaflow. Pushed it over 300 Hp, but improved fuel mileage by an average of 4 mpg over 50K miles driven. love this motor!!
Yeah drive pressure is a problem using the factory manifold because of the pinch in that bend before the outlet and the placement of that o2 sensor, plug and relocate. So excited Rich to see this motor in your hands!
Also because the shape of the exhaust port; big oval transitioning to a round tube is also another source of drive pressure. If you can cnc a billet manifold to carry the port profile with no shape changes until you get to the turbo inlet using a t6 hotside comes into view 😁
I had no idea of the stock power output of these 6 cyls. Wow. Guess I live under an LS/BBC sized rock. HA HA 😅 Really looking forward to you testing this in several versions Richard. You absolutely rock the automotive information side of UA-cam! Thanks for all your hard work and dedication to this channel. 👍🏼👍🏼 🍻🍻
Great job Richard, a thought, most people carry jumper leads and a few hand tools in their boots/trunks. Richard you need to carry a stand alone turbo oiling system, picture this a reservoir with oil pump with 1-4 oil feed lines and a big return. No more banging holes in sumps lol
I love your enthusiasm. But I have the same enthusiasm for the Jeep 4.0. You just can’t kill those and they couldn’t be any more simpler and reliable. They may not have the power but I’ll take my 04 Grand Cherokee with 270k over a Trailblazer with under 100k any day.
That electo viscous fan clutch was the worst thing they ever did to the Trailblazer. I replaced so many of those stupid things because the wouldn’t lock up or they wouldn’t unlock. A simple electric fan would have been so much better.
Tony and Lucky from Hot Rod Garage Failed to complete there 4200 build... Those guys suck! I subscribed to that and got scammed.. Smh. Thank you Richard for coming through with a build!! 👍👍
gm really outdid themselves with this i-6, plenty of bottom end torque with decent top end, solid as a rock! our trailblazer has 277k miles and still going strong
I had a 2000 Chevy truck with a 4.8 and my wife had a 2004 Chevy trailblazer 2WD that had more horsepower than my truck, no redline, it would pull 7000 rpm every shift, the only problem was the exhaust manifold cracked twice in 185000 miles before we sold it
The intake shells are clamp on. They are quite diffcult to take off without breaking them. I remembered when I took them off my 3.5 I5 Altas on my Colorado. It was turbocharged mostly stock other than turbo, tuned and injectors. Hold 20 psi on it but fuel pump gave out at WOT, leaned out, and blew it LOL
imo Richard does the most honest, real world content there is... I've actually spoken with him awhile on live stream and he's an amazing dude and knows his stuff... keep up the awesome work rich
Had a TB EXT with the Atlas, loved it, everything attached to it was a different story. Would be great to have the Atlas in a small car to compete with the eurotrash with similar l6's.
I remember the guys at Hot Rod Garage building two of these one was mild and the other one was supposed to be wild. The mild one was turboed and it made less than 500hp if i remember correctly. And they had some problems with the wild one. I don't mean to bash on Tony and Lucky, love their work, but I can't wait to see the full potential of this bad boy.
Had one of these in my old Trailblazer. Felt good at low rpm, and pulled my 4000 lb camper without any apparent stress, in the Ozarks. I've often thought about slapping one into a resto-mod.
Excited for this. Thought I was one of the only ones for years. I’ve loved this motor since I bought my trailblazer in 2006. I have put my 4.2 through the ringer with an Eaton m112 bolted to it. Latest rendition is built bottom end, venolia 8.5:1 pistons, some K1 rods, ported head and a way over spun Eaton m112 supercharger that makes a lot of heat at 18psi. Runs on e85. Fun ride even with the hot boost! Have fun! Can’t wait!
There was a guy a who swapped one of these into a MKIII supra and boosted it. Was a fairly straightforward swap since the 5 speed manual shares the same architecture as the Toyota trans, I believe they just switched bellhousings and fabbed up some motor mounts.
This was a underrated engine 300 hp from 4.2 na when taking care of can easily surpass 300k without breaking a sweat 😓 to bad the turd gm 4l65e didn't hold up past 175 k but most failures were on original atf lol people and there maintenance lol but built the 4l65e can hold its own all in all it was a pretty durable combination for a grocery getter,lol I would love to turbo my 06 trailblazer but I am assuming the piggyback ecu controller and associated parts could kill a cheap build to be able to still plug in obd2 for inspection, um still thinking about it ,😆 🤣 😂 great video as usual Richard
I've been loving these for a while now. Our 02 bravada came with one, but due to an oiling issue, we had to swap it out with one from an 06 Ranier. Damn good running motor, especially with the PCMofNC tune!
I had a trailblazer that I wanted to swap the drivetrain in My S10. It had over 300,000.00 miles on it, so I sold it. I may get another one now that a mega-squirt option is on the table!
I'm interested in the 5-cylinder variant due to still a decent displacement, and a rear sump pan already on it. Plus it should fit places the 6 won't, and respond the same way to the same mods.
The i5 isn't anything special .. timing chain could be a really issue with high hp... things like a shoe string . I4 will make just as much hp and probably last longer
You should check out the "Toyobarra" Toyota 1FZ-FE 4.5 liters, and the "Nissabarra", Nissan TB48DE 4.8 liters. These are inline sixes with DOHC and 24 valves that are even bigger than the Atlas LL8 and the Barra six.
With the price of JZ motors being what it is, the might be a good alternative for an is300 swap. They use the same transmission. Just a different bellhousing. Make some motormounts, a custom wiring harness, exhaust looks easy. Done.
Looks like your delivery of a straight six went much better than a local guy I saw the other day. Lost 2 Chevy straight 6s right out of the back of his truck as he was leaving a KFC. He kept on going LOL
That's the claim but when you run the numbers backwards on that the heads would have to flow more than 450cfm in the intake. I am not saying they didn't make 1500hp, it wasn't at 15psi boost. Puts them over 700hp naturally aspirated. That's equivalent to a 830hp naturally aspirated 5.0 coyote. Possible but that an engine with heads that flow better stock and have bigger valves with a shorter stroke. They're awesome engines but if you could make that much power they would be everywhere.
@@richardholdener1727 hey Richard love your work, enthusiasm, knowledge & most of all honesty. Im interested in Atlas I4 & I5 swap mini truck or 510...
He's already been where this is going. The dyno is nice, but putting the engine in something old and classy and hustling it down the track is more interesting imo.
If only it had the standard GM bellhousing pattern, oil pan that fit "normal" vehicles, and was compatible with Holley EFI. They'd be swapped all over the place.
It's his enthusiasm and smarts in my opinion alot of people lose enthusiasm when they learn alot and he seems to be just as curious about the next engine just like it's his first time doing learning about an engine.. they are all air pumps with more or less minor difference's
I have owned 2 for over 6yrs. One of them I put a fresher reman trans and drove it from NC to Wisconsin, then to Iowa, then back to Wisconsin, then to Washington State , then north California, then to L.A., then Texas, Alabama , and then NC ... Amazing motor . I only changed Spark plugs, VVT valve, EGR valve, Thermostat, Alternator, belt, tensioner, battery, ... And both front upper AND LOWER control arms, all 4 wheel bearings, all 4 rotors & ceramic pads, and all 4 sway bar links. All 4 ball joints and outter tie rod ends.
I have had one of these motors in my storage for about a year and for the long few of me I couldn't figure out what I should put it in I am going to put it on a motor stand tear it apart and see what condition everything is in.
I think Chrysler is building a couple versions on 6 cylinder turbo engine . Be nice if they would drop them off to you to be tested . Appreciate your videos
I wonder how one of these would compare to the newer 4.3's. Both all aluminum 6 cyls by GM, nearly the same displacement, but couldn't be more different otherwise.
The Atlas is not even close to the Barra. :) Sure, its a straight 6 and its 4.2L but the Atlas does not have dual VVT that controlls the cams 60 degrees, it does not have a swirl head, it does not have support bolts in the bottom end and well, frankly its not the same engine. Sure, its a cool engine but compared to the Barra its not even close.
yes can make a lot of power but needs upgraded timing chain and i believe tensioner don't quote me been a hot minute since i did research on this engine, but atlas it has the torq. Someone did some heavy modification to one lowered compression, cams, timing chain ended up i think 6xx hp before they did turbos i think it was called the mighty 6 such a great engine plague by oil pan/front diff., electronic throttle body, pcv, and vvt still question if i should have swapped my yukon with one and use a cable driven tb
If any of you ever get a look at a set of Gurney Eagle ford windsor heads from back in the day, you wil get a shock at how similar they look to an LS head
Thoughts on the exhaust... I have one of the Atlas engines in my truck, the 2.9 liter version. They have a tendency to crack exhaust manifolds, based on my complete inability to find one that wasn't cracked, after mine split itself in twain between #2 and #3. A new manifold was $600 (!) but a stainless steel header from Pacesetter was only $250, with a catalyst on it, so I went with that, and there was a noticeable increase in power and throttle response.
Surprising little motor in my 07 envoy....loves full throttle high-er rpm runs....funny how the tach shows 7k...with no redline....🤔kinda exhilarating at times....😏....looking at tailpipe turbo addition one day.....seen a fella make around 450 turboed....
I want a jeep 4.0 in a ram 1500. Seems weird they put the v8 magnum in the jeep and never the big 6 back in to the ram. With some boost, its a mini cummins clone
Good turbo headers are more about consistent power than high numbers. A properly designed header will ensure that no one cylinder gets over heated from being too restricted. Too much restriction in the exhaust system causes power loss and slow spooling and high egt.
At one point Kooks, or maybe it was Stainless Works, had headers for this engine. Beautiful stainless split setup, 3 into 1 and 3 into 1. Also, I think Pacesetter had a 6 into 1 header. Emtech has cams I think.
Attention!!!!! Every one watching this needs to sign the RPM act. Keep racing legal.
By 2022 there won't be any racecars in America. Until then, challenge Personam jurisdiction.
2022?
Thank all those who voted for binfrauden and Harris! Idiot's!
@@docsmallblock6584 .....yup.....dude is taking the meaning of america away
Where do I find it?
I've wanted to get my hands on one of these for a while!
Put it in the mini Leroy kyle.
Now that Richard has done a video,they will be $2000 in junkyard. I like these engines alot but I wanted the 5cylinder to swap into my audi
I've got an entire trailblazer I could probably sell you for 500 bucks. It's in WI
Really helpful I know
@@timothybayliss6680 the 5cyl arent very good.
You need another non running car?
I love Richard's enthusiasm about whatever engine lands in the shop
Some might say too enthusiastic
Way too much. I lasted 35 seconds.
This motor was awesome and undervalued. It would have been a great truck base motor.
The first year they made this engine they won Baja with one of these.
I think it would be a cool restomod engine for a c10/k10 truck that originally had an inline 6.
GM could have done a factory turbo and beat Ford to the EcoBoost trend. 4.2 on boost would outperform all NA LS factory truck engines.
@@kellyheath8547 L6 > V6
@@famousmidnight except for cost of production maybe.
Richard I swear was born to do 2 things!
1) Find Horsepower!
2) Talk to cameras!!
and love my family-that's actually #1
@@richardholdener1727 yeah, there's definitely MORE to ya then just HORSEPOWER and UA-cam! just saying your really good at the content you share with us!
@@richardholdener1727 you can say that louder 4 the people in the back 👏
Things I really want. Like a 5.0 atlas. Gimme an iron block aluminum head DOHC I6 with a long runner intake and a little hair dryer turbo with a big wastegate. That would be the shit
Cross flow heads! Means bigger ports! A must for 4 valve motors! Chevy really put their homework in on this motor and did nearly nothing with it! I love this engine alot! And it's cheap! Hopefully the turbo community can start creating a demand for cams and hardware. I'm sure a few guys wanting it and they'll start producing it!
aussie inline 6 engines were crossflow with 2 valves.
a must for power imo
@@JyveKilla which one exactly? All the ones I was aware of were same side or 4 valve motors.
@@Mrx1080 search Ford intech. The crossflow design started in 1976 with a pushrod engine and the intech was the final 2 valve design before the Barra.
The barra engine sux sounds like shit. Most Aussie don't like them it's only Ford guys that get butt hurt from the LS we call them blow fish not barra
Richard's tuned in to a very overlooked engine that never had its day in the sun. GM sort of killed it off when they offered the 5.3 V8 in the Trailblazer. The 5.3 had the same peak power, but more torque, got better fuel economy, and was cheaper to produce. Then people wouldn't go for the 4.2 I-6 anymore. It did have some weird features, such as the VVT on the exhaust side only, which was used to do internal EGR instead of broadening the torque curve. The early engines up to 2005 had a really small exhaust port, probably to force higher backpressure on the engine to enhance the internal EGR effect. Maybe GM went away from that in the 2006 refresh, when the head got a bigger exhaust port, and about 15 more HP.
I bought one of the early engines out of a junkyard in Michigan to study, hoping to make a V12 shortblock for people to build DIY V12 engines. I designed the crankshaft, and didn't see any major shortcomings in it. I also figured out a cam drive layout for it.
The guy that ported the heads on my GMC V6 was a drag racer in the Kalamazoo, MI area, and had built a 4.2 Atlas destroked to 3.8L, and went 7.80 at ~176 mph at Martin Dragway in a dragster. He said it ran about 10,000 rpm. He built a carbureted manifold for it.
Now that was a buzzin half dozen turning up to 10 grand
Awesome.
Holy Smokes YES big v12
V12. Wow
I drove a TrailBlazer with the 4.2 for many years and I sure do miss it.
Richard... I have never been as excited for testing as I am with this motor! Keep it up!
I have one, drive it everyday! 268,000 miles,
Runs like the day it rolled off the assembly line!
Honestly probably one of the very best engines ever made, if not the best!?
Actually I was thinking about hitten it with a little 100 shot,even with that many miles, I really don't believe it'll hurt it,they are great/strong engines!
P.S. The 4l60 is still going as well!
I got an 02 trailblazer with this motor recently. It's been running rough. Starts and idles fine at first, but when it gets warm the rpms start dropping and fluctuation. Until it starts lopeing like a diesel and stallsthe past. Sounds andnfeels fine. Oil pressure is good, fresh oil change done just a few days ago. New vvt, and cps. It seems to have three original coil packs and three replacement ones. I havent checked the plugs yet. I cleaned the throttle body. There was some oil residue in the black intake that has 4200 on it. Brake abs light is coming on too. It's got 220k. I don't know what work was done to it prior. It seemed kind of well taken care of. The valve cover seemed to have been replaced with the last few years, no leaks. No drips. There is some vapors coming out of the oil filler cap an or oil dipstick tube. Does that sound like rings? I drove it about 2 hours to get it to my place. But I never had a gasoline motor before. I am kinda lost. Always had diesel in the past.
They are great motors. I have a 04 trailblazer and it has 200,000 miles on it and never had any internal issues
I thought the American inline Trailblazer engines were the stupid 5 cylinders they put in the Colorado/Canyon! 🤯 wild!
@@ChapsShrugged the atlas series included 4, 5, and 6 cylinder engines. Colorado / canyons got the 4 and 5 while trailblazers and their cousins got the 6 usually but had the option of v8. The atlas family all look about the same from a glance.
I own 2 identical 2004 LT trailblazers 2wd with 4L60E trans .. one has 201,000 miles , and the other 271,000 ... No gasket issues, no leaks, no timing tensioner issues YET ... I will put new INTAKE GASKET & EXHAUST GASKET asap in 2025 , & valve cover gaskets.. I grew up working on L6 jeeps so this is a joyful breeze for me. I have owned them for 6yrs & loved every day & every DIY repair has been super easy n low cost.
No!!! That's why I love your vedios! We started out with a pump gas, premium cast pistons with big valves reliefs, a $40 used solid lifter cam! It's was awesome! Ran 6.50s 1/8 mile on motor!! Gave $500 for the assembled short block!! It was tons of fun! Ran just as fast on 93 octain!! 100 shot made it run 6 flat! Why the hell we decided to build a 'real' motor is anyone's guess. Ended with me quitting! All the money, time was the biggest issue! Now I'm retired and I'm into camping! Anyone reading this just remember, just have fun without taking a second mortgage on your house!
Richard: It's not like we're gonna be making 1000 hp, because we're not...
Me: Big Bang That Sucker! Shoot For The Moon!
oh but it can with the right mods
I wouldn't be surprised if it could. Especially if he can spin it up with cams. I dunno if he's talking about having cams ground or just mixing and matching various OEM cams.
@@D3AThCAl2DS ,there's a guy here on UA-cam somewhere that has got one in either a 68 or 69 firebird, he's got a turbo on it and I believe he's making around 850 to the tires!
Yes please!
ive got an atlas trailblazer. i love it. did you know that the 3700 I5 and 2900 I4 atlas motor has bigger sleeves? grab yourself a set of factory sleeves and pistons (yes its the same stroke) and press them into the I6 block for a 4.4 litre.
Is this true how do I verify this my head is spinning just thinking about it
@@Agilepickleunite wiki search the bore and stroke of the Colorado and compare that to the trailblazer. Do the math on total cylinder capacity. Then multiply cylinder size by 6 and not 5 like the Colorado has. And you get the total possible engine size of an atlas i6 with z71 sleeves and pistons.
@@Agilepickleunite so long as my research is correct, resleeve an i6 block with the vortec 3700 sleeves and pistons, and it should work. so long as a fella was capable and willing to take on such a task. in my opinion, it could be done, because they did it with the 4 cylinder and 5 cylinder.
I’m so pumped for this one straight 6 dual over head cam 4 valves per cylinder 4.2litre what’s not to love !!!! Can’t wait to hear it on the dyno great find Richard
Just purchased a 2006 trailblazer lt, excited to start adding power
I have that motor in my gmc envoy xlt. 230.000. Only had to change water pump. At 200.000. Had 7 years now . it runs. An runs. Oil change on time. It's my big baby. On a Tahoe chassis. If no one new that. It's a Tahoe chassie. Gmc envoy chevy trailblazer. All the same chassie different motor .
Once I get back to my workstation I'm going to start designing a billet exhaust manifold for that engine
@ 7:19 "This was never a factory turbo option, but it is for me!
Pure gold"🤣
This should be interesting. I just watched another dyno test of a Datsun 240 Z with one of these in it. They made amazing HP. But i had to compare it to the Syclone Jeremy Hacking is running. Aluminium block 4.3 Single Turbo running 7.59 sec Quarter mile. 185 mph. The Datsun was hoping to get a 4.0 something in the 1/8 mile. That Syclone is way fast.
inline 6 is my favorite engine configuration of all time.... don't sleep on the 300ci I know it's a pushrod but the 3/4 of a liter should even things up a lil
Great motor. I had them in my two Trailblazer LTs. Fresh air intake mod. Helical carb spacer, cat back from Magnaflow. Pushed it over 300 Hp, but improved fuel mileage by an average of 4 mpg over 50K miles driven. love this motor!!
what did you do with the carb spacer?
@@brendo7363 I had it placed between the throttle body and the intake manifold. does this answer your question?
Yeah drive pressure is a problem using the factory manifold because of the pinch in that bend before the outlet and the placement of that o2 sensor, plug and relocate. So excited Rich to see this motor in your hands!
Also because the shape of the exhaust port; big oval transitioning to a round tube is also another source of drive pressure. If you can cnc a billet manifold to carry the port profile with no shape changes until you get to the turbo inlet using a t6 hotside comes into view 😁
I had no idea of the stock power output of these 6 cyls. Wow.
Guess I live under an LS/BBC sized rock. HA HA 😅
Really looking forward to you testing this in several versions Richard.
You absolutely rock the automotive information side of UA-cam!
Thanks for all your hard work and dedication to this channel. 👍🏼👍🏼
🍻🍻
Great job Richard, a thought, most people carry jumper leads and a few hand tools in their boots/trunks. Richard you need to carry a stand alone turbo oiling system, picture this a reservoir with oil pump with 1-4 oil feed lines and a big return. No more banging holes in sumps lol
I love your enthusiasm. But I have the same enthusiasm for the Jeep 4.0. You just can’t kill those and they couldn’t be any more simpler and reliable. They may not have the power but I’ll take my 04 Grand Cherokee with 270k over a Trailblazer with under 100k any day.
That electo viscous fan clutch was the worst thing they ever did to the Trailblazer. I replaced so many of those stupid things because the wouldn’t lock up or they wouldn’t unlock. A simple electric fan would have been so much better.
Tony and Lucky from Hot Rod Garage Failed to complete there 4200 build... Those guys suck! I subscribed to that and got scammed.. Smh. Thank you Richard for coming through with a build!! 👍👍
gm really outdid themselves with this i-6, plenty of bottom end torque with decent top end, solid as a rock! our trailblazer has 277k miles and still going strong
You rule man!! One of the coolest channels on UA-cam. Everyone loves turbos. You hit a niche market here, hope you never stop.
Love this guy ......so energetic and thinks out of the box
I had a 2000 Chevy truck with a 4.8 and my wife had a 2004 Chevy trailblazer 2WD that had more horsepower than my truck, no redline, it would pull 7000 rpm every shift, the only problem was the exhaust manifold cracked twice in 185000 miles before we sold it
The intake shells are clamp on. They are quite diffcult to take off without breaking them.
I remembered when I took them off my 3.5 I5 Altas on my Colorado. It was turbocharged mostly stock other than turbo, tuned and injectors. Hold 20 psi on it but fuel pump gave out at WOT, leaned out, and blew it LOL
imo Richard does the most honest, real world content there is... I've actually spoken with him awhile on live stream and he's an amazing dude and knows his stuff...
keep up the awesome work rich
I CAN ONLY BE ME
Had a TB EXT with the Atlas, loved it, everything attached to it was a different story. Would be great to have the Atlas in a small car to compete with the eurotrash with similar l6's.
Thanks for doing this one looking forward to all the info and results
I’ve been wanting this video to be made for years. Thank you
Everytime I hear that German porn intro song and hear Richard's voice I know we are going to horsepower town
Pot on with the German porn👍🏻
I remember the guys at Hot Rod Garage building two of these one was mild and the other one was supposed to be wild. The mild one was turboed and it made less than 500hp if i remember correctly. And they had some problems with the wild one. I don't mean to bash on Tony and Lucky, love their work, but I can't wait to see the full potential of this bad boy.
Had one of these in my old Trailblazer. Felt good at low rpm, and pulled my 4000 lb camper without any apparent stress, in the Ozarks. I've often thought about slapping one into a resto-mod.
techno beat
When are u gonna do another 4.2 dyno run build?
I always wait to hear that triangle come in, and then realize how out-of-time is sounds haha
Richard you never touched the fact that this also has Variable valve timing. Be cool to see it dialed in .
Excited for this. Thought I was one of the only ones for years. I’ve loved this motor since I bought my trailblazer in 2006.
I have put my 4.2 through the ringer with an Eaton m112 bolted to it. Latest rendition is built bottom end, venolia 8.5:1 pistons, some K1 rods, ported head and a way over spun Eaton m112 supercharger that makes a lot of heat at 18psi. Runs on e85. Fun ride even with the hot boost!
Have fun! Can’t wait!
Love these since the first time I worked on one in an Envoy @ the dealership back in 2005. Much untapped potential there.
There was a guy a who swapped one of these into a MKIII supra and boosted it. Was a fairly straightforward swap since the 5 speed manual shares the same architecture as the Toyota trans, I believe they just switched bellhousings and fabbed up some motor mounts.
Better option than the 7m and cheaper than a Jz.
@@johnkrstyen makes good power even at relatively low boost. I want to put one in a 3rd gen v6 camaro and drift it.
This was a underrated engine 300 hp from 4.2 na when taking care of can easily surpass 300k without breaking a sweat 😓 to bad the turd gm 4l65e didn't hold up past 175 k but most failures were on original atf lol people and there maintenance lol but built the 4l65e can hold its own all in all it was a pretty durable combination for a grocery getter,lol I would love to turbo my 06 trailblazer but I am assuming the piggyback ecu controller and associated parts could kill a cheap build to be able to still plug in obd2 for inspection, um still thinking about it ,😆 🤣 😂 great video as usual Richard
I've been loving these for a while now.
Our 02 bravada came with one, but due to an oiling issue, we had to swap it out with one from an 06 Ranier.
Damn good running motor, especially with the PCMofNC tune!
I had a trailblazer that I wanted to swap the drivetrain in My S10. It had over 300,000.00 miles on it, so I sold it. I may get another one now that a mega-squirt option is on the table!
megasquirt and holley options have been around for a while.....300,000 miles is just perfect,you probably got rid of it for nothing as well...
Yep, sold it cheap. I think I can find another one with lower miles. They are pretty common hear in the southeast, and not all rusty.
Unless mega-squirt has changed since I last looked, you'd be much better with the Holley.
You are a fantastic teacher, Richard. I would tell you to keep up the awesomeness, but you got that.
Yoooo. Hoping you find the limit so I don't have to. Crank the boost!!
Brother, you are like a kid in a candy store, and I love your enthusiasm! Gotta love the Inline Six- keep up the great videos! 🤓
They do make a long tube header for the 4.2. Even a cheap eBay copy of it readily available
thnx
I love the truck in the beginning. best truck ever built
I'm interested in the 5-cylinder variant due to still a decent displacement, and a rear sump pan already on it. Plus it should fit places the 6 won't, and respond the same way to the same mods.
The i5 isn't anything special .. timing chain could be a really issue with high hp... things like a shoe string . I4 will make just as much hp and probably last longer
I6 I mean
I’ve seen some other people hotrod these. They seem to have oiling issues when pushed hard. Definitely look at that oiling system.
I love this motor trends hot rod garage started on one n left us hanging looking forward to Chevy new stove bolt run a turbo👍
New Hurricane 3L inline twin turbo for the Ram 1500 shows how awesome the straight 6 is!
This is an awesome engine to test. I am looking forward to it. 👍👌
A Big Bang test would be amazing too.
I was impressed by this motor back when it came out sadly it never got the love it deserved
You should check out the "Toyobarra" Toyota 1FZ-FE 4.5 liters, and the "Nissabarra", Nissan TB48DE 4.8 liters. These are inline sixes with DOHC and 24 valves that are even bigger than the Atlas LL8 and the Barra six.
With the price of JZ motors being what it is, the might be a good alternative for an is300 swap. They use the same transmission. Just a different bellhousing. Make some motormounts, a custom wiring harness, exhaust looks easy. Done.
Looks like your delivery of a straight six went much better than a local guy I saw the other day. Lost 2 Chevy straight 6s right out of the back of his truck as he was leaving a KFC. He kept on going LOL
Self Racing in Oklahoma held an NHRA record with one of these. I believe it ran 7.70s. They have also built one that makes roughly 14-1500 on 15lbs.
That's the claim but when you run the numbers backwards on that the heads would have to flow more than 450cfm in the intake. I am not saying they didn't make 1500hp, it wasn't at 15psi boost. Puts them over 700hp naturally aspirated. That's equivalent to a 830hp naturally aspirated 5.0 coyote. Possible but that an engine with heads that flow better stock and have bigger valves with a shorter stroke. They're awesome engines but if you could make that much power they would be everywhere.
They'd have to be running 19K RPM.
I guess you boys don't know who Self racing is.......
@@lte008 Maybe on 85% nitromethane at .5:1 AFR but...
@@fascistpedant758 might want to research.......
I have been wanting to build one of these in a Colorado. Thank you Richard.
i would like to run 4 and 5 cyl versions as well
I want to put one in my 2015 mustang because we can't get the Barra in the states
Putting a 4.2 on a 04-12 Colorado will need the radiator/fan relocated. Its too long.
@@NeverLetOff This is a better engine !
@@richardholdener1727 hey Richard love your work, enthusiasm, knowledge & most of all honesty.
Im interested in Atlas I4 & I5 swap
mini truck or 510...
Loved the 292 vids but I’m even more excited about this!! Love Chevy I6’s
we have a 91 fleetwood hearse we're planning on lifting. i've been toying around with the idea of swapping the tbi 350 for one of these.
On Ward's best engine list...
Richard just doubled the price of those motors, with one vid.
This is gonna make @Nivlac57 pretty happy
He's already been where this is going. The dyno is nice, but putting the engine in something old and classy and hustling it down the track is more interesting imo.
super stoked for this build. i have been waiting to see a in depth build on one of these motors for years
If only it had the standard GM bellhousing pattern, oil pan that fit "normal" vehicles, and was compatible with Holley EFI. They'd be swapped all over the place.
Why would you think their not “compatible” with Holley efi? Those ecu’s will run basically any engine (or except maybe a rotor engine)
Richard, you are a trip! In a good way. I think it is your personality as well as your enthusiasm that keeps me coming back. Keep up the good fight!
It's his enthusiasm and smarts in my opinion alot of people lose enthusiasm when they learn alot and he seems to be just as curious about the next engine just like it's his first time doing learning about an engine.. they are all air pumps with more or less minor difference's
That engine was GMs first drive by wire and variable valve timing. My favorite GM motor.
I have owned 2 for over 6yrs. One of them I put a fresher reman trans and drove it from NC to Wisconsin, then to Iowa, then back to Wisconsin, then to Washington State , then north California, then to L.A., then Texas, Alabama , and then NC ... Amazing motor . I only changed Spark plugs, VVT valve, EGR valve, Thermostat, Alternator, belt, tensioner, battery, ... And both front upper AND LOWER control arms, all 4 wheel bearings, all 4 rotors & ceramic pads, and all 4 sway bar links. All 4 ball joints and outter tie rod ends.
Congrats. That is a respectable inline 6. It took GM forever, but here we are. Looking forward to the dyno runs!
I have had one of these motors in my storage for about a year and for the long few of me I couldn't figure out what I should put it in I am going to put it on a motor stand tear it apart and see what condition everything is in.
six at six! also, that manifold being cast may give up a little flow, but for long term durability it's really really hard to beat!
So I have a fg barra in my garage here stateside id love too see this side beside
I think Chrysler is building a couple versions on 6 cylinder turbo engine . Be nice if they would drop them off to you to be tested . Appreciate your videos
I wonder how one of these would compare to the newer 4.3's. Both all aluminum 6 cyls by GM, nearly the same displacement, but couldn't be more different otherwise.
Super glad you're building one of these, they need more publicity from a reputable person.
You favorite project motor is the next one… sounds like I need to bring you a Ford 300 and see what kind of craziness you can do with it!
Interested to see how it compares to the Aussie Barra
For one the 4.2 has a slightly larger displacement. But I think the Barra might have better aftermarket support.
The Atlas is not even close to the Barra. :) Sure, its a straight 6 and its 4.2L but the Atlas does not have dual VVT that controlls the cams 60 degrees, it does not have a swirl head, it does not have support bolts in the bottom end and well, frankly its not the same engine. Sure, its a cool engine but compared to the Barra its not even close.
Yeah let's see it hit 2200hp+ like a barra.
Hopefully your interest in this motor brings it more attention. It's very slept on and would be great with aftermarket support.
yes can make a lot of power but needs upgraded timing chain and i believe tensioner don't quote me been a hot minute since i did research on this engine, but atlas it has the torq. Someone did some heavy modification to one lowered compression, cams, timing chain ended up i think 6xx hp before they did turbos i think it was called the mighty 6
such a great engine plague by oil pan/front diff., electronic throttle body, pcv, and vvt still question if i should have swapped my yukon with one and use a cable driven tb
Your favorite motor is cast via lost foam. Any big torque spikes and the 4200 EXPLODES!
If any of you ever get a look at a set of Gurney Eagle ford windsor heads from back in the day, you wil get a shock at how similar they look to an LS head
Thoughts on the exhaust... I have one of the Atlas engines in my truck, the 2.9 liter version. They have a tendency to crack exhaust manifolds, based on my complete inability to find one that wasn't cracked, after mine split itself in twain between #2 and #3. A new manifold was $600 (!) but a stainless steel header from Pacesetter was only $250, with a catalyst on it, so I went with that, and there was a noticeable increase in power and throttle response.
Surprising little motor in my 07 envoy....loves full throttle high-er rpm runs....funny how the tach shows 7k...with no redline....🤔kinda exhilarating at times....😏....looking at tailpipe turbo addition one day.....seen a fella make around 450 turboed....
I really wanted to put one of these in my jeep XJ Cherokee. Love your vids Richard... big turbo = hell yea!
I want a jeep 4.0 in a ram 1500. Seems weird they put the v8 magnum in the jeep and never the big 6 back in to the ram. With some boost, its a mini cummins clone
I been looking fir one. Now the price if then should go up lol thanks Richard
But on the jeep inline 6, doesn't the exhaust heat up the intake? Those worsening the incoming air situation.
Great, I'm fan of the 6L of any brand
There's tons of these in junkyards and nobody want them.. yet. I'm eager to see what it can make boosted on pump fuel and how well it holds up!
Hey Richard, do you ever find any Ford 6.8 v10 engines from Super Dutys or motorhomes in your travels through the wrecking yard?
Good turbo headers are more about consistent power than high numbers.
A properly designed header will ensure that no one cylinder gets over heated from being too restricted.
Too much restriction in the exhaust system causes power loss and slow spooling and high egt.
Is this a true GM design or is it a knock off of ford Barra engine built in Australia?
Do you have any plans to do a Big Bang 4200 Ameri-Berra? I would like to see what this engine could do if pushed.
At one point Kooks, or maybe it was Stainless Works, had headers for this engine. Beautiful stainless split setup, 3 into 1 and 3 into 1. Also, I think Pacesetter had a 6 into 1 header. Emtech has cams I think.
those r big $