how much nitrous on a 396

i was wondering how much nitrous my car can handle is has callies rotating assembly,eagle rods, J & E flat top pistions. AFR stage 3 aluminum heads. LT4 intake that has been ported and polished to match the heads. It has a 58mm throttle body on it. The headers are Hooker long tubes. The computer has been reprogram by Ed Wright. any info would be greatly appreciated. the guy i bought it from told me no bigger then 150 wet shot is this true? and should i get a wet or dry set up?
thanks

i would run wet.

as long as you have an upgraded fuel system and the bottom end is FORGED then you should be able to run upwards of 250. remember that tuning is everything, and at that size shot direct port is the way to go. also a fuel cell would increase safty.

what do you mean by "forged"? all iwas plannin on runnin was 100 wet shot maybe 150 would this be save with the set up i have now?

there are two kinds of internal components, cast and forged. the difference is how they are made. forged is much stronger than cast. if you have a cast bottom end i would stick with a 150.

thanks for the help. i think my set up is forged but not for sure. the guy i bought the car from hasn't sent me the build sheet for the motor yet.

:D

If you have a calies crank, eagle rods, and je pistons then your bottom end is forged. These are quality parts, and are good for 700+ hp. You're fine with a 150 shot, but as Drew said, "tuning is everything" when you step it up.

well my car supposedly dynoed at 510 at the wheels, haven't seen the dyno sheet yet. so i'll be ok with a 150 shot? i don't want to go too crazy i was just thinkin about doin a 100 but i haven't decided yet. thanks for the help:D

You should be fine with a 150, but start with the 100.

make sure you have enough fuel pump/pumps for the motor and the additional nitrous. I prefer to run a dedicated fuel system just for the nitrous. You may want to tune this in on a chassis dyno, preferably with a wideband o2, just to get the tune correct. At this hp level, you can hurt a motor in a hurry if there is anything off on your air/fuel ratio.

we would all be interested in a dyno sheet. does the car run with a lope? is it a m6 or auto? how hard is it to hook the tires??

i haven't drove the car that much but when i did it was only 50 degrees and chilly out so i couldn't get much traction at all. i bought it nov 25 drove it for 10 days then put it away for the winter. but the guy i bought it from had the motor and everything done by nu-tek. but i made sure to ask him the rwhp and he said it was chassis dynoed at 510 rwhp and the tranny was built to handle 1500hp mcleod clutch aluminimun fly wheel all built to all hell. it has sub frame connectors and traction bars (i think) all adjustable suspension. he ran high 11's on street tires with a 2.5X 60 foot time. seems kinda slow to me but idk for sure but i am plannin on gettin nitto 555's this summer. he is sending me all the build sheets for everything and the dyno sheet as well(at least i hope so) does 510 seem really unreasonable? i read in a magazine a guy made 458 or somethin on a 395 but had ported lt1 heads adn intake. idk what the cam size was though either. and what is a "lope" :confused: sorry if i'm misleading you guys but thats what the guy said and he knew what he was talkin about cuz this was his 3rd car similar to this. but when i get the dyno sheet and see its less then 510 i'll be glad to post it on here and get things straightened out.:D

The reason the engine builder told ya not to go over 150 shot is becuase more than likely the JE pistons he used are probably Hypereutectic Alloy. These pistons and nitrous are not friends at all! The piston material changes to a brittle glass surface and will shatter like glass with to much nitrous.

Guess why I know this.

510 seems a little high. take some pictures of the motor. if im not mistaken the 396 nu-tek stuff is suppost to be in the 500hp flywheel range.

are you running straight pump gas?

it does run on a lope and i don't know if the guy used racing fuel in it when he dyno tuned it. :confused: what does your 383 have for hp?

we are still in the process of building it up. the numbers we have run though will be in the 500 mark in high alt. at the rear wheels. That should be somewhere around 600 mark at the flywheel. This is on a BUILT motor. there is about 12 going into just the motor, no to mention the ignition, the nitrous, the nitrous controller, the rear end, the clutch/flywheel, the new exhaust and a few other things. find out what your cam is and i could give you a better idea of whether or not your numbers are realistic.

i was looking at like 660 rw and people here jumped all over me. This was long before i ran the numbers and saw what was possible. while most were in straight denial, there were a few that knew what they were talking about. while i agree there is LONG road for 660 out of an LT1, and its not possible without race fuel, they were closed to a lot of the ideas. 500 is a hard number to hit at the wheels N/A. It can be done, but its not an everyday car.

I don't believe JE makes Hyperueutiectcici piston's.. Did i spell that right? :D but i believe the reason why he shouldn't spray above a 150 shot is most likely due to the compression height of the piston in a 396 with what i'm guessing is a 6" rod.. The top of the piston is too thin to run a bigger shot safely.. Not saying it can't be done though.. but carefully.. Mine has a 5.85 Rod therefore having a bigger compression height i.e more material to take the heat... Just my .02 take other's advice get a dedicated fuel system and run some high octane to help avoid the detonation which will turn you motor into a boat anchor.. Good Luck..:cool:

DrewHMS97SS; where are you having your machine work done at ?

I'm on my second 383 LT4, this time I'm setting it up for nitrous w/ forged internals. I haven't seen to many LT's around the Denver area that are radical like ours.

what does everyone mean by a dedicated fuel system? :confused:

Dedicated to the nitrous system only, usually a seperate pump and regulator. Generally it is only needed when running bigger shots of N2O.

Hypereutectic pistons are actually stronger than forged pistons are because of the silica added. But because of that they are more brittle.

As long as you don't run lean, Hypers are fine for nitrous use.

And also, whether your rotating assembly is forged or not, if your rings aren't gapped for big shots of nitrous, don't hit the motor with a big shot of nitrous. because forged or not, if your ring ends butt..... its all over.

so am i good to run a wet system up to 150 shot?

Scottland174: What do you mean by the rings not being gapped correctly ? I've never heard of this being a problem before, please explain some.

Originally posted by SROKED30TH
Scottland174: What do you mean by the rings not being gapped correctly ? I've never heard of this being a problem before, please explain some.

It's standard engine building practice to open up the ring gaps a little when setting up to run nitrous or a supercharger. The additional heat generated when the nitrous is used can cause the rings to expand to the point where the gap is eliminated and the fing ends butt up against one another. This can leas to severe scuffing of the bore or even engine seizure. Consult your piston manufacturer or rely on your engine builder for recommendations.

Rich Krause

So then it is definently not a good idea to use a gapless ring ?

Originally posted by SROKED30TH
So then it is definently not a good idea to use a gapless ring ?

I would not use gapless rings with nitrous.

Rich Krause

Cool, thanks for the input. I never knew about that before.

500 mark in high alt. at the rear wheels.

I dought you'll even break 400 at that altitude. A stock LT1 at that altitude dyno's just above 200rwhp. I remember you said your car dyno'ed 320ish. I'm sure those numbers were corrected for sea-level.

there is about 12 going into just the motor,

That's what I have into my 396. Doesn't mean anything.


500 is a hard number to hit at the wheels N/A. It can be done,

Sure it can be done, but not at 5,600 elevation. Keep dreaming

how about at sea level give or take a few hundred feet:D

I was putting a 250 shot on 355,until it dropped a valve,and broke 6 springs.kinda nervous about that much on mine.You should be okwith a 150 or 200 shot.I have done 150 now with no problems(the last time i said no problems it blew up).