Hello All,

It has been quite sometime since I have posted on these forums. I have recently put my high school car back together after 6 years of sitting. The vehicle is a 1995 Pontiac Firebird Formula. The car has some modifications but is only a bolt on car. CAI, Longtubes, off road y, hooker catback, Performabuilt stage 2 with 3000RPM stall, cutout, and factory 10 bolt with 3.42's and factory posi. Car is lowered on 18" c6 z06, and has a few suspension mods, strut bar, dms springs, kyb adjustable shocks, lower control arms, and adj. Panhard bar. The car is quick but just isnt nearly as powerful as I would like it to be. I have been tossing around a lot of ideas for the car and cannot decide what I want to do with it. I have thought about just doing Heads/Cam, or just N20, or my favorit idea of all supercharging the engine. If I choose to go the supercharge rout I would most likely pick up a lightly used fully forged shortblock or have a shortblock built for a supercharger application. I periodically scan the for sale section and see what I think are some great deals on shortblocks built for boost. I know I will have to get an upgraded fuel system, a tune, the supercharger, 12 bolt/9", and some other supporting mods. The shortblocks that I see are anywhere from 2k-3500. I would like to spend 5K TOTAL including supercharger on the stetup doing all installation myself. Does this sound feasible. Like I said I know I will need several other modifications in terms of fuel system and supporting mods like rear end and such, but do you think I can get out on the engine and supercharger with 5K? Also, I know this depends all on how the used engine was built, what kind of abuse it saw, and the quality parts used/who put it together but how safe would it be to buy a used shortblock from a member on the boards if I could'nt check it out in person/have it inspected? Would it be a better idea to just buy a brand new shortblock already built for boost with good components? VRE has one for 4899 OR any other builder on the net that yall can reccomend? Also, what about having a shortblock built locally from the engine I have now? I live in the Atlanta area. Can anyone reccomend a great LT1 builder? How much would I be looking at to build a motor like this? I would like to make 500rwhp or more. I want the car to be dead reliable and not have to screw with it constantly. How much boost would I need to make these numbers for a crazy fun street car? Thanks for reading all my questions and I look forward to your responses!

 

Well here's my input if it helps any. My ending goal is 500whp. Car needs to be dead reliable, backup daily if one of the current dailys go down. Also, wanted to build mine a little more custom/one-off so it isn't the "same ol" setup. A buddy of mine wants to hook his up like mine, and i think we can do his for half the cost (blower setup) because i did alot of experimenting/wasting money to make my car how I wanted it.

Honestly, $5k isn't even close unless you find a steal on some of these parts. You'd be better off finding a built car and enjoying it on someone else's dime. I think there are only 2 online members i would trust buying a "good" motor from, otherwise i wouldn't trust anyone else's motor to hold up. I've estimated my cost to build my motor at $3k, and i'm sure that's on the low side. I've got about $3k customizing the blower setup (bought used) to how i like it. I've got about 800 in gauges/laptops/my own tuning to keep it dialed in safely (I don't trust any local tuners). $3k for the rear end. 250 for drag radials. Car NEEDS upgraded brakes asap, as it takes forever to slow down from a boost run! Suspension is alright, but not optimal for traction at the drag strip.

For a nice boost in power without spending alot of dough, the heads/cam/exhaust will be your best route. Nitrous is always cheapest bang for the buck but the motor won't last forever on the gas.

 

I figured this was the case. The car is just a toy and I dont really care too much what happens to it. Heads/Cam/Exhaust/Nitrous sounds good but on a factory shortblock? Sounds like a ticking time bomb too. Heads/Cam 2K. Nitrous 1k already have full exhaust and trans. I really just have an itch to put a procharger on it with fuel upgrades and a dyno tune to ensure as much safety for the motor as possible. The engine is strong and low mileage but I know it would just be a matter of time. Thinking i'll just save my pennies for the time when the engine eats it. Or piece together a nice boost capable shortblock for the car while the current engine is dying a slow miserable or quick death whichever it is so unfortunate to recieve behind the hands of 8 lbs. of boost.... Fact is I CANT WAIT to go fast!!! But cant spend 10K on a "perfect setup" right now.

 

I'm still on the 120k original motor for now. Can't afford the motor build yet, but car is running decent, stock clutch (i assume) is holding up. I've seen the boost gauge hit 10psi on a cold day. Granted, i'm at 5200ft so the air is thin up here. Good news for you is its just a toy. My car was an everyday daily until about 6mo ago, so building it was a PITA.

Some folks on here have pushed the stock motor quite far until blowing it up with the SC, but the tune is crucial. If your impatient, get a good nitrous setup and see how long it lasts.

 

The weak spot internally on the LT1 is the rod bolts. If you were to upgrade those on a stock bottom end (as long as the rest is in good condition -- ie: good compression and oil pressure), it should last you a good long while on an head/cam/bolt-on/nitrous scenario. People throw a lot of "junk" at the bottom end and it holds up just fine. The great thing about a H/C install on a stock block is if the bottom end goes away on it, in most cases you can reuse the top end and you're not out any money. If you don't go crazy on the bottom end (ie: spinning it to 8k rpm or such), it should last you a good long while. Just some thoughts.

 

Paulster and mx5 I like u guys! Most all the other threads I read consist of u WILL blow up this or that, and NO CHANCE that will work. I know it's all a matter of time till the engine let's go and modifications shorten that window of time but what the hell are we supposed to do? Drive bolt on LT1's forever unless we want to spend out life savings on the "perfect" motor? I just wanna slap around some LS1 cars and some big mouthed ford guys round town. One being a 2004 procharged GT that really angers me!