I was gonna go H/C this fall/winter or whenever I got around with the cash and the time. Anyway I can get a great deal in this SC. I was considering going for it with my mild setup right now(stock LT1 with some bolt-ons). I figure I could get some great power for the rest of the season and then come back in the spring with a SC'd H/C setup. Unfortunately my car has around 114k on the clock. Again with my original plans I was gonna just run the heads and cam til the motor died, build a 383 and just reinstall the same parts in it, it would then just obviously be stronger and completely rebuilt. Is it a poor idea to SC the car as it sits? Then if I do continue with my plans over the winter will I be pushing my luck with the stock block and internals? Keep in mind I will also be adding all the necessary items(TB,injectors,tune,installing the headers,etc.) Thanks in advance.

 

Do not put a blower your car unless you are prepared to do a rebuild when the time comes. Some people have better luck than others but you will join the club at some point in time.

You have alot of miles on the clock to be adding a blower, if you do go for it I would pulley it down to 7#'s and change the valve springs at a minimum.

Also do not run platinum plugs and get some boost and fuel pressure gauges and a scan tool.

If cash is an issue then get the heads / cam.

I put my P600B on my Z and it lasted about 16,000 miles before it grenaded (car had 56,000 miles).

Good luck and remember boost is addictive.

Marc

 

I agree,
The reason I'm selling my P600B is because I was afraid of popping a piston and having to let the car sit waiting for funds and time to rebuild (and potentially harming my somewhat expensive head work).

Plenty of people have lasted a while on the stock bottom end, and some have even lasted indefinately running 6lb of non intercooled or 8lb of intercooled. The problems seem to arise when someone pullies up (as was said, boost is addictive).

When I had the SC on my car, I was running an Aquamist 2s water injection (water / alch = very good at preventing detonation, which is what usually kills the motor), as well as running a somewhat elaborate pressure relief valve to prevent any more boost than what I had dialed in (6lb is max I saw on the guage). I also had a very conservative tune that was running a bit rich and had some timing pulled out, as well as a MSD 6BTM (which allows you to pull more degrees of timing in conjunction with the boost produced). Really, I had tons of protection and probably wouldn't have hurt it, but I could feel the bug nagging at me to bump the boost or give it a bit more timing etc.

I'd hate to see someone buy my S/C and then go out and immediately blow the motor. If you are going to go forced induction then just make sure you research, do the supporting mods (make sure you have enough fuel, some form of boost retarded timing, I like the 6BTM, and I prefer water injection over intercooling but that is personal preference). I think most of the problems arise when someone either doesnt have the supporting goodies or they try to bump the boost up higher than they should.

Don't mean to turn anyone off from forced induction, as I think it is very cool and one can get some great gains off it, just gotta go in knowing what is going on and not push the limits until you can afford to forge the bottom end and then turn up the boost and go nuts (looking forward to this part maybe this winter myself).

Good luck with your decision.

Also, assuming you are talking about mine, since you were on the list of interested parties. I was going to relist it today as no one came through yet. But, if you want some time to decide, just let me know and I'll hold off relisting it.

 

Thankyou both for the replies. Really helped a lot. Although I would have no plans to turn up the boost any more than 6psi for well over a year(especially if I went H/C) I understand the mod bug and have been bitten many times. I might consider taking the money I had for H/C and transfer it towards a stroker rebuild(if the time came) thinking along the lines that my motor would be toast if I added a SC at this point, but that's why I asked. Yes wile2k I was talking about yours. I'm still considering it, but I'm trying to decide which way I want to swing right now. I know I plan to go forced induction, I'm just not exactly sure at what point, now or later. Thanks for offering to hold the relist for me, but it's not necessary. I wouldn't ask you to hold it for me unless I was certain it's what I wanted right now. Of course sell it to any first potential buyer, if the sale misses me, it sucks, but I'll find another. I'd much rather have the satisfaction of knowing I waited intelligently instead of purchasing hastily and wishing I hadn't later. Also, don't worry about turning me off on the subject of SC'ing. I'm a car nut, like all others on this board so I know modding at any point has it's ups and downs. I've always been interested in going forced induction I've just never really been in a position for it until now(still not sure if I'm ready). I would much much rather someone give me all the precautions and factors to consider(even if they are things people don't like to hear) than have someone say "yeah go get a SC and turn the boost up, it works fine". Since you guys are far more experienced at this than me, education is something I value a lot in this area. Thanks again.

 

If I were you- I would go buy some good heads. The best you can afford, have some n/a fun for a while and then build a motor later on. Once your over 450-475rwhp in a lt1 it is only going to live for so long. So taking the time to build the top half of the motor just so it's going to blow up the bottom half doesn't make sense. Advanced induction can set you up with 400rwhp+ with their combo's. Then build the bottom end up to support 12lbs of boost. If your going to buy a blower take the full advantage of them.

 

You never plan on it but it happens.

I got a 7# kit and at the time I upgraded to a 3 core intercooler cause I knew I'd do a rebuild and thought I'd go no more than 12# of boost.

Well I traded a FMU that I was no longer using to a fellow board member and got his 8# pulley and it wasn't long after that when I spun the second, third and fourth main bearings on the crank.

If you are planning a rebuild then I'd do that first and build the motor with 9.3:1 so it's not a pig while you save for a blower kit, you might want to consider a bigger blower (D-1) if you've got a rebuild motor so you can crank up the boost. You can also pulley the D-1 down to (9#'s to start out mild if you want). I'd recommend contacting Lonnie Pavtis if you are interested in a kit www.lonniesperformance.com
If you're in need of an ATI damer he's got some good deals on those too

I ran my motor for a while and ran it a few times at the track and ran 12.4 @ 108 on the motor and this is the first car I've ever tuned so it was a work in progres, slap on a D-1 w/ 18#'s of boost and hello 10's

Was hoping for lower 10's today but my track rental got rained out

Marc

 

I hadn't planned to do the top end just to blow the bottom end. It was just a matter of when not if. With over 100k on the clock I know that although I could probably easily get to 200k, once I start making around 400rwhp(which I would be probably making in excess of with the H/C setup I want) the motor probably wouldn't last long with the bottom end in stock form. I was just planning in anticipation. If it lasts for 2 years or more after the top end work I'm not gonna complain. It just gives me that much more time to save and plan. I also considered buying another short block and building a stroker set up for a blower. I'd get the best I could afford of everything and just minus the heads and cam since I'd already have those in the car running N/A. If the LT1 under the hood ever did die on me I'd just swap over the necessary parts to the new setup, slap on my worked over heads and nice cam, add a SC and now really have some fun. I know I would just like the SC now,but if I get less than 5k out of the motor after it's on that's no fun. I think I actually talked my self into it now. Go N/A then have a stroker on the engine stand getting built as I get the cash and hope the N/A setup holds out til I'm done. Or whichever comes first. Thanks again everyone. Please I'd still like to hear input on the whole subject.

 

I changed from p600b to D1. I am selling the p600B. Most parts are included with instructions. I went with a Nutek 383 and run 15psi now. The p600B has about 5K miles and I have 8/ 9/ and 12 psi pulleys with it. New motor runs strong and has much more torque. I have doubled the cost of the car with all the mods. Quite a difference with a quality short block. It was $5k assembled. I am having trouble with the opti-spark now. I am building a fix for that now.