z3r0m4g3

2800 dollars, for my 94 LT-1 to be bored .030 over. pacesetter longtube headers put on and welded, new pistons rods etc... LT-4 hot cam, heads are going to be ported polished, with new high compression springs etc. and my computer tuned. Is that a ggod price, and if anyone can possibly tell me a guesstimate on the HP and torque that I would gain. I will be putting an edelbrock intake, edelbrock 58mm throttle body, power module, and cold air intake after the internals are finished. Let me know btw throttle position sensor was the cause for the previous problem. Thanks again. Jason

mrmint69

The price sounds good. Who will be porting the heads and doing all the work? It isn't an easy thing to do. What do you mean by power module?

z3r0m4g3

THe guy Im bringing the car to has everything in his shop, he specializes in LT-1's so hes doing the heads and the engine in house.. Im getting 1.6 rockers as well power module or power chip its a tuner ship changes variant shift points depending on rpm's fuel to air ratio drops to 13 to 1, opening up 25 horsepower. What do you think is a good guess at the hp gains after the internals are done, and what would the bolt on hp be after the internals. If thats possible. Thanks Jason

mrmint69

You can have the pcm tuned or have something like a Hypertech programmer do the tuning on your pcm. There is no chip for the 94 and up LT1's. Here is info on the hot cam so you can decide if thats the one to go with.
https://www.camaroz28.com/forums/lt1...ot-cam-683992/
https://www.camaroz28.com/forums/lt1...-cam-q-652132/
It is considered outdated and much better ones are available that make more hp.
You should tell us what hp at the wheels you are shooting for and your budget and then we will figure out what you need to do to make the power. How well the heads are ported makes so much difference. Is the motor getting completely rebuilt with forged internals? Heads rebuilt with all new parts? Not sure how much of an LT1 "expect" your dealing with. Many claim that and don't even know about the tuning and no chips after 1993. Not saying anything bad your guy, since I have no idea what he knows. I just want you to get the most bang for your buck and be happy with it. Rough estimate would be 350-400, but to many factor that could change that, good or bad.

z3r0m4g3

Ok Im looking for 400 to 450 hp rear wheels, price really isnt too much of an issue considering Im doing it in steps, Ill be finished with all upgrades by December, little at a time. The guy who is doing the work is making sure the heads will flow properly with the cam pistons etc, and yes all the internals are being redone Im doing the rest, so it will be a complete rebuild at the end. Im not asking for forged because I dont believe in forced induction or spraying an engine I want raw block power, everything else I see as FAKE hp, its like benching with a shirt, raw is raw, nothing more nothing less. Im budgeted at around 700 to 800 per month for upgrades if you give me a timeline of what it is I should buy per month Ill do that considering I know nothing about this engine, and Ill keep you posted. Just let me know. As far as the hot cam what would you reccommend then Ill take it from there. Keep in mind this car will be my daily driver, I only live 6 miles from work and rarely drive on weekends due to my tattooing, so gas mileage isnt an issue but the cheaper the better, the more hp the better just looking for the grey area in the middle so I can start this process. Thanks Jason Oh the heads are getting completely redone all new parts. As far as the chip its a module that plugs into the computer, you can buy it at summit racing, made by Jet Performance.

z3r0m4g3

Just a heads up, heres a list of parts Im purchasing, Edelbrock performer RPM Air gap intake manifold, Edelbrock 3810 58mm throttle body, SLP Performance Air Intake Kit, Throttle body bypass, then Im getting my engine built.

96capricemgr

The Edelbrock intake is JUNK and shown to possibly cause a LOSS of HP.

$2800 is way too good a price unless it is LABOR ONLY and you need to supply all the parts in addition. Besides IMO it is a really bad idea to own a car that heavily modded and not be able to do the work yourself because the average shop wont be able to handle the car anymore so if something happens while your one mechanic is unavailable you are stuck, plus modded cars need more attention.

"power module, or chip" is an enormous red flag, these pcms are flashable and cam requires custom reprogramming not some canned crap module like hypertech. Hypertech is so bad it has been shown to slow stock cars down at the track.

Then at the end even with top notch tuning and heads which there is no way in hell you are getting, the HOT cam wont get you 400rwhp. I think you will be really lucky to see 350rwhp from what you are proposing, and your budget wont even cover that.

There is no need to purchase anything for the throttle body bypass either, the kits are basically a scam.

I strongly suggest you stop everything and do a lot of reading before you buy anything.


Another thought would be if paying the labor on something like a heads/cam swap IMO you should try and do it VERY well the first time. Someone who is genuinely good at heads does NOT do all that other work himself and that cam can work but you are going to be paying more for the install so why not get a modern cam and get another 10-15hp or so even without getting wild. It is fine if someone doing all the work themselves wants to begin to dabble with a cheap cam kit and "home ported" heads because it is a learning experience and they will likely go back and do more serious heads and cam later and gaskets are all that they waste. If paying labor though it makes sense to buy the heads and cam ONCE and do it right.

There are plenty of fast powerful cars around here, pick one that runs a little better than what you want and then study what they have done. I know of one guy claiming 400rwhp from a HOT cam but the shortblock was far from average and he did not even claim it was the best choice, normal results for a HOT cam are much lower.

Then there is the fuel system and drivetrain you are sofar completely ignoring.

Most of us who have quick cars endup spending $2800+ on heads/intake porting, valvetrain, gaskets and fluids.

z3r0m4g3

If 2800 dollars with porting cam work reprogramming heads and headers wont get me 350 hp which is only 75 hp from stock then I wont even do that. But Ive been doing a load of reading on this engine and the proposed build, which is or was completely crapped on, and found that thirty over produces roughly 30 hp, hot cam minimal hp gain of 25 or so, ported heads 25 hp, if Im wrong that would be 75, which would bring me to 350hp. But maybe the other siteS are wrong. Home ported, no, its a SHOP, the man builds engines for a LIVING, this isnt a "OH you can do engine work, cool Im gonna drop my car off and just let you hack the hell out of it" type thing, the man has built 4 other engines all of which my friends own and everyone of them are extremely impressive. All I want is for someone to help me on a list of things I can do with names ie Trick FLow or whatever that I can purchase so I can start building my engine, all I get are negative comments ie edelbrock intakes drop hp, well that just so happens to be the ONLY intake I can find so what can I do. When I said I dont know anything about this engine I was being upfront Im throwing a bone here so to whomever that wants to help give me a list keep in mind 700 dollars a month and there is no rush just tell me what is out there for the best pricew and quality so I can do this build. Thanks Jason

z3r0m4g3

963 capricewmgr, how is the trick flow specialties genx top end kit, Im going to do this myself with my buddy who also builds engines I figure like u said if I learn I can fix, so Im looking at that kit for now if u say its good and possibly the other things that I will have to purchase to enable my vehicle to properly use the kit. You also brought up a good point about fuel delivery so I omitted the edelbrock crap and am going to buy 40lb fuel injectors, btw the rear end has new shocks and the rear coil springs are getting put in this weekend, along with a new PCM, its needed trust me. Im also going to put on a set of shorty headers I can get them on wihtout pulling the engine, or fighting with longtubes, Im going to weld them myself because Im a welder, so thats money saved. Next month Im putting my throttle body in trick flow tfs-24258 58mm throttle body accompanied with a new intake. I figure Ill do all my bolt on stuff and if the car is where I want it I wont have to buy the internals. But either way I will be doing it myself with the aid of a friend so this way I wont be driving a ticking time bomb down the road. As far as tuning if hypertech is garbage what sould I invest in, it will need to be tuned after the bolt on stuff is added right? Just keep in touch and help me out, Ill take pics as I go so you can laugh at how dirty I get and Ill let you know how long it takes so once again u can laugh due to my ignorance of engine building etc.... Thanks a heap and for giving me the idea of doing it myself Jason

96capricemgr

First I think you are confusing RWHP and FWHP. With an automatic you are looking at at least 15% I would figure more like 18% for most cases though one "reputable" LT1 builder's work routinely exhibits 25% though I think his engine dyno is just setup to inflate numbers.
350fwhp is only 75 more than stock BUT with good ported GM heads and appropriate cam guys routinely top 400rwhp with some even topping 420rwhp, we are talking comfortable over 500fwhp compared to 430 for the Trickflow.

Your idea of 30hp from a .030 overbore is absurd at best. Guys don't see that kind of gain with a stroker over a stock shortblock unless they put in more cam and compression.

Far as intake choices, Edelbrock tried to improve the stocker in the 90s and admitted failure, they just can't make a better one to fit a stock hood than stock. Few years back they lost the integrity that had allowed them to admit that and put junk on the market. The stock intake UNPORTED is going to be plenty till you aim solidly over 400rwhp.

I don't trust just any professional, many times customers are happy just because they don't know better.

z3r0m4g3

OK Ill stick with the stock intake, that saves me money, and I swear to god I didnt see that the 430 trick flow didnt say rwhp, thanks for seeing that, here I am thinking 430 rwhp, and its probably to the crank. Either way stock will work I dont see me getting near 400 rwhp, but I will put some add ons for fun, What do you think about me starting with fuel delivery first, ie higher flowing fuel pump higher lbs/hr fuel injectors first. This is easy and I can crawl before I run. Then Ill do the cold air intake, then the throttle body, PCM for less tuning, before or after the headers. Youve been alot of help and Im very happy that you are taking the time to help me with this decision making process for I am a novice in the world of engine upgrades.Then if Im feeling froggy Ill put on some nice heads, if I want to. One more question though drivetrain, what could I do to beef it up other than a gear or will that suffice, and no Im definately not getting 400 rwhp, so jsut something that will give me a nice kick will be good, .373 possibly? Thanks Jason

96capricemgr

3.73s are nice with the A4, a stall is necessary with aftermarket cams, even the stock cam benefits greatly from a stall upgrade.