If you had 3k to spend

[Richard Cranium]

I've always heard better reviews of the Loyed Elliot heads and cam setup than the LT4. Unfortunately as I found out 3k isn't as much to work with as it sounds. You can either do a bunch of bolt on's, or one big project.

 

For 3k you might be able to build the stroker, but I doubt it unless you cut corners.

 

I think a blower or turbo would be doable since the boost would have to be lower.

 

You can do a built t56 and big boy clutch (but the rear end won't survive).

 

I think my Moser 9 inch package was around 3k including the wavetrack posi, but as of right now I'm not recommending moser.

 

If you haven't done suspension work, then you could do everything all at once, frame ties, control arms, panhard bar, torque arm and relocation mount, springs, shocks.

 

You could do full bolt ons, Throttle body, roller rockers, long tubes, ignition, tune.

 

There are a lot of options where you can put that money. But I think the blower sounds like the most fun.

[Skinner]

Pretty sure he's using it as a giant potter for flowers by now.

 

:dumb:

 

becareful he may flag your post.

[Nitrousbird]

Just not mopped with Joe's lowly LT1. Been waiting for years for a piece

Keep waiting. I'd rather be out on our boat - which is exactly what I have been doing.

 

Pretty sure he's using it as a giant potter for flowers by now.

 

:dumb:

Just sits in the garage waiting.

 

I think it's a display stand for his wife's toys :dumb:

And what toys would that be?

 

Newbie...I just sold my '95 C4 Corvette...aside from bolt-ons you will NOT get reliability out of a modded LT1 for $3k. If you do, congrats. Your holding the flag for a ferocious army of one.

You had ignition issues with yours, but plenty of LT1 owners don't, except perhaps needing an Opti swap. Besides, C4 has a totally different tranny and rear end, different accessories on the motor, and slight differences in the motor as well.

 

Do a LT4 top end with the GMPP HOT cam, Roller Rockers, and Tune. The cam is on the Older side being designed in the late 90's but still runs well.

EASILY the worst idea in this thread. This is the fast way to spend a bunch of money and make very little extra power. The cam sucks, the unported LT4 castings don't flow much better than an LT1 casting. Waste of time/money.

 

becareful he may flag your post.

Sorry if you can't do your job and need called out on it.

[Nitrousbird]

For 3k you might be able to build the stroker, but I doubt it unless you cut corners.

 

I think a blower or turbo would be doable since the boost would have to be lower.

 

You can do a built t56 and big boy clutch (but the rear end won't survive).

 

I think my Moser 9 inch package was around 3k including the wavetrack posi, but as of right now I'm not recommending moser.

 

If you haven't done suspension work, then you could do everything all at once, frame ties, control arms, panhard bar, torque arm and relocation mount, springs, shocks.

 

You could do full bolt ons, Throttle body, roller rockers, long tubes, ignition, tune.

You could easily build a stroker for 3k, but not much of a point without doing a lot to the top end.

 

I wouldn't dare run a blower/turbo on a stock bottom end.

 

LT1 T56 is a lot stronger than the LS1 T56, so I'd leave that stock. Clutch will be a needed item on any significant power increase.

 

Suspension I would personally leave later, unless you want to improve the handling of the car. Tires would be a far better investment.

 

Bolt on's, long tubes + full exhaust is good, throttle body is a waste of money without heads/cam, roller rockers are also a waste without the other modes, ignition is a waste, tune isn't going to do much without the other mods as well.

[Diagnosis]

I've always heard better reviews of the Loyed Elliot heads and cam setup than the LT4. Unfortunately as I found out 3k isn't as much to work with as it sounds. You can either do a bunch of bolt on's, or one big project.

 

For 3k you might be able to build the stroker, but I doubt it unless you cut corners.

 

I think a blower or turbo would be doable since the boost would have to be lower.

 

You can do a built t56 and big boy clutch (but the rear end won't survive).

 

I think my Moser 9 inch package was around 3k including the wavetrack posi, but as of right now I'm not recommending moser.

 

If you haven't done suspension work, then you could do everything all at once, frame ties, control arms, panhard bar, torque arm and relocation mount, springs, shocks.

 

You could do full bolt ons, Throttle body, roller rockers, long tubes, ignition, tune.

 

There are a lot of options where you can put that money. But I think the blower sounds like the most fun.

 

From all the research I have done on the LT4 top end kit most the reviews and results were'nt good. I did send Lloyd an email about the LE2 combo too and this was the response...

 

as long as the car is a 6 speed car, that head/cam set up will work great. That cam will keep pulling to 6600 RPM or so with my ported heads. No problem with a built 355 but when installing it in a stock bottom end, you will want to shift around 6300 RPM to keep from spinning rod bearings. It will still work on the stock bottom end but when you get the built 355 with with good parts that can handle 6500-6800 RPM, you will get to feel the real power of this cam.

 

It looks like no matter how I want to do this its going to take more money to get it done right. I was hoping to do it in stages but that might be asking for trouble.

 

A blower does sound like alot of fun but probably not realistic on my budget.

[Diagnosis]

 

LT1 T56 is a lot stronger than the LS1 T56, so I'd leave that stock. Clutch will be a needed item on any significant power increase.

 

Suspension I would personally leave later, unless you want to improve the handling of the car. Tires would be a far better investment.

 

Bolt on's, long tubes + full exhaust is good, throttle body is a waste of money without heads/cam, roller rockers are also a waste without the other modes, ignition is a waste, tune isn't going to do much without the other mods as well.

 

This is the same thing I was told when I first started talking about doing something to my car a few weeks ago. Good to see someone else agrees with that info.

[lt1chicken]

I have had my Le2 heads and cam for 3 years now. Car is very streetable and last night I ran 13.7 consistant on street tires, untuned. Car pulls strong and sounds great at idle. i would suggest llyod elliot to anyone for lt1 stuff. Port your own intake and save some cash. Also get the torque arm off the back of the transmission... caused me many problems over the years.

[ansonivan]

I would leave the car stock and spend the money on tools, dinner or anything else which won't evaporate as quickly as a modded engine. Edited July 18, 2011 by ansonivan

[Buckeye1647545503]

I would leave the car stock and spend them money on tools, dinner or anything else which won't evaporate as quickly as a modded engine.

 

That is why I said nice wheels like forgelines. Make the car stand apart from others and catch eyes and be only slighty slower than the car with 3k in mods

[hpfiend]

Also get the torque arm off the back of the transmission... caused me many problems over the years.

 

but it makes such a nice place to brace the pinion nut against to torque it correctly without good air tools!

 

I forgot about sfc-s if you dont at least have those def get them now- especially with a ttop car.

 

To the OP have you ever personally had a stock displacement built N/A setup? If you are dead-set on NA I would save for a forged stroker setup. What are your goals- if you want to go about 3 tenths faster and spend all your money to get poor gas mileage, lose driveability, and have a time bomb for a clutch and rear by all means go for it. And if those gains aren't enough what is the next step- bigger cam for even less driveability/mileage and maybe half a second if you are lucky- oh now the heads aren't big enough- cha ching you are out another 2 grand and you hate the car now because it can barely pull away from a stop light without slipping the clutch, gets about 10-12 mpg and is dead worthless below 3500 rpm where you drive daily anyhow. Do they still make the 211/219 or 219/219 .525 lift cams from lingenfelter? That's about the only one that made sense to me with my f-body what are the specs on this le2?

 

There is a reason they say there is no replacement for displacement forced or natural. If you don't want to get serious fast spend the money on dates/entertainment as mentioned before or /stereo/appearance/or mild suspension work swaybars, shocks, panhard bar, lcas- if you dont get carried away lowering it those things will pay you back every day without major compromise.

 

I know it is a high compression hypereutenic setup- lots of guys put boost to them- don't get crazy with the boost and get a good tune and it wont detonate. Hell you probably have 2 tenths lost and daily sogginess in false knock already add that noisy valvetrain and enjoy it!

 

oh yeah I almost forgot- if you dont have a decent beater I'd put that 3 grand to that before all else- it took me all too long to realize it wasn't worth modifying my daily driver anymore...

 

I like the tools idea- I'd get that cheap diversion tig welder and a budget plasma cutter if I wanted to waste 3 grand.

 

 

Laters,

Andrew

Edited July 18, 2011 by hpfiend

[Patterson]

EASILY the worst idea in this thread. This is the fast way to spend a bunch of money and make very little extra power. The cam sucks, the unported LT4 castings don't flow much better than an LT1 casting. Waste of time/money.

 

Compared to what? AFR heads, Custom ported Stockers huge cam, custom manifold? Last I checked the O.P. was on a budget. I didn't say it was optimal, but the combo works. Will it make 500whp? No, but with a proper tune, it'll run strong.

[Diagnosis]

To the OP have you ever personally had a stock displacement built N/A setup? If you are dead-set on NA I would save for a forged stroker setup. What are your goals- if you want to go about 3 tenths faster and spend all your money to get poor gas mileage, lose driveability, and have a time bomb for a clutch and rear by all means go for it. And if those gains aren't enough what is the next step- bigger cam for even less driveability/mileage and maybe half a second if you are lucky- oh now the heads aren't big enough- cha ching you are out another 2 grand and you hate the car now because it can barely pull away from a stop light without slipping the clutch, gets about 10-12 mpg and is dead worthless below 3500 rpm where you drive daily anyhow. Do they still make the 211/219 or 219/219 .525 lift cams from lingenfelter? That's about the only one that made sense to me with my f-body what are the specs on this le2?

 

There is a reason they say there is no replacement for displacement forced or natural. If you don't want to get serious fast spend the money on dates/entertainment as mentioned before or /stereo/appearance/or mild suspension work swaybars, shocks, panhard bar, lcas- if you dont get carried away lowering it those things will pay you back every day without major compromise.

 

oh yeah I almost forgot- if you dont have a decent beater I'd put that 3 grand to that before all else- it took me all too long to realize it wasn't worth modifying my daily driver anymore...

 

This will be the first time I have had work like this done on my car and I would like a fast car (breaking 11's would be nice). I'm not trying to push the limits of what the motor can handle either. Something to entertain myself with while building a stroker on the side. The stroker project may take a few years to complete.

 

The only specs I have on the LE2 heads/cam combo is the cam is 232/240.

 

I would'nt really call this car a DD either since I rarely drive it any more.

[dre2013]

Sell car....add $3k to profit....buy LS1 fbody

 

This.

 

 

edit - ok after actually reading the thread, looks like you really want to keep this car. I would buy an LQ9 or LQ4 shortblock, throw a cheap set of 241 or 243 heads on it, mild cam, and ls6 intake manifold. you can easily buy the motor and swap parts for $3k, and youll have 400+ rwhp, and 25mpg highway reliably. an LT1 won't do that. ive had 4 of them, and will never buy another one.

[lt1chicken]

LE2 cam specs are generic on the website. When you call him he will go through the entire build then had a cam made out of oaklahoma. He is very easy to deal with. I agree on the subframe connectors because they are a great mod for squeek and rattles sanity.

[hpfiend]

The only specs I have on the LE2 heads/cam combo is the cam is 232/240.

 

I would'nt really call this car a DD either since I rarely drive it any more.

 

Have you had it to the track yet? If so what does it run now?

 

 

==That doesn't sound like a small cam to me if those specs are advertised at 0.050. That's good is not a daily and does change perspective a bit. Is Ed Curtis at FTI still around? There was a comp cams grind everyone and their brother had back in the day- would hardly idle but made good power- there was a guy with 1 3/4" headers, blueprinted LT1 maybe .030 over, this comp cams grind, 4.10s with a 6 speed, and a 58mm tb IIRC, and it ran 12.0s I am pretty sure his heads were stock. Chris Marsh was his name if you can find anything on it- he was a hell of a driver though and kind of the exception- his car was a 93 and speed density also IIRC

 

Guys with the LT4 Hot kit, cam, roller rockers, timing set and Lt4 knock module IIRC on LT1 heads were running 12.7s...

[Diagnosis]

Have you had it to the track yet? If so what does it run now?

 

 

==That doesn't sound like a small cam to me if those specs are advertised at 0.050. That's good is not a daily and does change perspective a bit. Is Ed Curtis at FTI still around? There was a comp cams grind everyone and their brother had back in the day- would hardly idle but made good power- there was a guy with 1 3/4" headers, blueprinted LT1 maybe .030 over, this comp cams grind, 4.10s with a 6 speed, and a 58mm tb IIRC, and it ran 12.0s I am pretty sure his heads were stock. Chris Marsh was his name if you can find anything on it- he was a hell of a driver though and kind of the exception- his car was a 93 and speed density also IIRC

 

Guys with the LT4 Hot kit, cam, roller rockers, timing set and Lt4 knock module IIRC on LT1 heads were running 12.7s...

 

The only track I have taken my car to was Pacemakers 11 years ago and after many fuzzy nights/years I could'nt tell you what I ran there. I have never ran the 1/4 mile in it at a track. The best I had to gauge my time was some lighter plug in that told me 0-60 and 1/4 mile times/mph. Only ran it on my car a few times before returning it to Jegs. I do remember my best time with it was 13.6 and that was before the 4.10 gear. I am not trying to claim it was accurate but its all I have to go on until I feel I am ready to venture out to the track again.

 

The cam is on the more aggressive side, if I do go with it I hope everything else holds up.

[Sam1647545489]

Swap in a 5L with a turbo on it.

[Nitrousbird]

Compared to what? AFR heads, Custom ported Stockers huge cam, custom manifold? Last I checked the O.P. was on a budget. I didn't say it was optimal, but the combo works. Will it make 500whp? No, but with a proper tune, it'll run strong.

No it won't run strong - it is worth very little HP over stock.

 

A CC306 cam on a stock heads/intake car properly tuned will be just as streetable, far cheaper, and make MORE power. That Hot Crap setup has been a joke for many, many years.

[zeitgeist57]

If the OP doesn't go over 80mph that much, I still say $3k for engine work on an LT1 is a waste of time.

 

The purpose of this thread is to see what the best way is to invest $3k in the motor. I went down the same path with the same ideas/options and realized the smart money was in leaving the engine alone. C4 Corvette or F-Body, it'll take a lot more than $3k to reliably build an 11sec car and maintain it...