Not flaming you either (you have a good memory) ...as you said, I wound up going with the 42# injectors so in the end ...I didn't really dick around ...lol. That's what I'm trying to avoid here but now that you've seen some posts from people who've had great sucess with stock cranks ...you can see where my inquisitive nature is coming from. I think what I really need to decide on is whether or not I will actually use a small shot of nitrous or a T-trim later on. If it's a decent possiblity I need to go all forged, if not ....I shouldn't worrry about it and just go with stock crank and reconditioned rods for the PD mild cam/heads combo.....agree? As for tuning I don't like the idea of messing around with it myself.....I don't like to make a lot of changes anyway. My last combo was what I stuck with for well over a year and I would have longer if it had just held up ....so the most practical thing to do was have it tuned on a wideband by a professional and know for sure what the corrected numbers were (numbers weren't bad IMO ...check sig, esp torque). It was a nightmare yes, but valvefloat and a faulty Crane ignition and knock module can all be tricky to diagnose .....so I don't feel like I got screwed, just had bad luck ....as I am continuing to have. That being said maybe I should just go with an all forged setup and damn the cost of it. I do have the cash but it wasn't intended for this ...rather, retirement. But I'm just 32 so I'm weighing my options. I'm going to get a 0% credit card and try to pay this off within a year or so of 0% interest. If I can't I will extend it or transfer to another one and go on. I may have to dip into savings some in the bitter end though ....with my bankers' income it's a little hard to save and spend right now.

 

Dang Charlie, you have some luck, huh???? I have no words for this one! Keep us updated. Later.

Joe.

 

Hey Joe, have you done anything to that bike? Yeah, my luck is enough said. It doesn't matter how many precautions I take. Just like now, I'll fork out the extra $$$'s for an all forged setup and it will blow anyway . Honestly I'd like to just sell the POS but I have so much in it I can't stomach selling it for so little. Maybe after I get it built someone will be willing to fork out some $$$'s for it .....anyone interested?...lol.

 

Are you talking about the crotch-rocket?? If so, then yes, I did do something with it................................I wrecked it. My own fault, it was a lesson learned the hard way. So I went out and got an '02 Kawasaki Mean Streak, I love it. More laid back and it moves fairly well for a larger bike too. Hopefully I'll keep this one out of the ditch, lol!

Well, by now I'm sure you have figured out it's time to stop wasting your time and really build your Z to the hilt!!!! Spare no expense and make that thing viscous. Maybe I'll have something for you this summer..............................what's that, could there be an LS1 in Joe's future????...............just maybe

Joe.

 

I'm glad you obviously didn't get hurt too bad. I miss motorcycling, but I love a dual purpose bike since offroading is really my thing. I'm not familiar with the Mean Streak, how many cc's is that (shoot me a mail if ya want to chat more)? If you're thinking LS1, if it were me I'd look into a 98 SS or WS6 .....can get pretty good deals on those now. Honestly that's what I'd like to do, sell the Z and get one of those and do all the bolt on's ....I'd get a drop top or t-tops at least if I were to do it over. It just doesn't make financial sense at this point though, and once I have the Z built it will destroy an LS1 with bolt ons (already takes them as it is). I guess if I'm keeping this thing I may do a t-top conversion (maybe next year due to my financial destruction from this rebuild). As much as I like raw performance and rigidity, I like an open air car on really nice days even more.

 

Huh, I had read the title to this thread a couple of times but I didn't see who started it until just now.

Man Charlie, didn't you just get finished fixing some valvetrain problems? All of the broken parts has to be discouraging. Go with the forged stuff so you don't have to worry about it again.

When will you have it back together? The last time I talked to you on here you were saying we needed to run our V6's. Looks like the Buick might be the only one of yours running when the track opens. I would really like to see your Z. I have heard it is a really nice car, but the day I met you it was in the shop getting the nose painted.

Gees man, I think you have worse luck than me

Good luck making the decision (and dealing with the pricetag )

 

Hey what's up Jason!? It's cool hearing from you guys! Well, the one positive thing lately is that the paint job came out pretty good. The headlight buckets are now painted and the hood had to be repaired and repainted as well. They wound up blending the hood in with the fenders and it looks really good. I love my Buick, such a unique car and the blower sounds really good! I'm sure your GTP would take it due to the curb weight and weight transfer differences but it would still be fun anyway.....if I could knock off a 9.4 I'd be pleased. I wanted to do a bigger downpipe and a big Y-pipe at the back to replace the small T-pipe that splits the tailpipes ......but ......the Camaro is sucking major money out of me yet again, so the Buick must be put on hold.... possibly forever.

FWIW as the the orignal topic. I am leaning toward going with the stock crank and forged rods with studded bolts and just forgetting about the nitrous........I don't know though. If I've got forged pistons and rods it seems like common sense to cough up another 600 and get the crank too ....even if I never use nitrous....arrgggh! I hate decisions like these!

 

I've been running the same stock LT1 crank with a blower since 1995. The crank has not failed on me yet despite heavy duty street use.
After the first teardown, I found the main bearings to be in excellent shape, could have reused them. The rod bearings did not look as good, but still acceptable. This was after 2 years of supercharged use.

The stock crank should be okay, but not the rods. The rods are way more stressed than the crank ever will be in an engine. There is also debate about whether to keep the 2 bolt or switch to a 4 bolt splayed setup. I have the stock 2 bolt with arp bolts.

I had my engine balanced, but the place who did it must have made an error, it has an annoying vibe at around the 4000 rpm range. After a few hundred rpm it is smooth thru 6000+ rpm. I had it balanced at a place called "the balance shop" in Reseda, CA. I will never go there again. I don't think the guy there was familiar with the LT1's.

Nowadays, you can get the whole forged rotating assembly which is balanced for less than 3 grand. This is a good deal IMO. I would go for this without hesitation, as long as it is from a reliable and reputable source.

 

Hey Can sorry to hear about the rebuild but you prob new it would come someday. Yeah Crazyjoe is going to take my 99 off my hands. (right joe Anyhoo My crank in the Formula is the GM crank that guy was talkin bout. Also if you put ARP studs in the mains the reccomend having it align bored so if you do that might as well go with the splayed caps. Also Joe whats the new job I havent heard??? good luck

 

I would definately consider your TA if it werent a M6, I just prefer an A4 car. Yeah, I got hired on at Verizon in Charleston, it's a good job, excellent benefits, and decent money, a heck of a lot more than what I was making at the hospital, but that wouldnt take much! I've got to get my bills paid down before I can be buying anymore toys though, but I've got LS1 fever BAD!!!! Later.

Joe.

 

So you think it's better to have a pre-balanced setup? Don't you have to balance again for the flywheel anyway though? If I can get a forged kit from Combination Motorsports for $1,600 as previously mentioned, that sounds like the best deal to me. Then have it all balanced flywheel and all later on, am I understanding this right or are you saying I'd be better off having someone like Combination Motorsports balance the assembly as well? How much extra on top of that 1,600 for the balancing? The local machine shop I have chosen (Givens Crankshaft Service) has a very good rep and from what I understand back their services up very well.

Information update: A very knowledgeable engine designer here in the FI forum has explained to me that if the heads and cam are spec'd out properly, the Powerdyne will not be useless like everyone thinks on a 383. I'm pretty sure my decision is to get an all forged setup with 3.75 crank! Now I'm undecided on studded 2-bolts or just going with 4-bolts. If I step up to Vortech someday I think I'll wish I had gone 4-bolt. The block clearancing isn't so bad on a 383 ...so the cost will be marginally more.

Joe, congrats on the job ....I've got to e-mail you. Rob, good hearing from you bud....thanks for the advice too.

 

BTW, that sounds like a really good deal for such good parts ......where did you get such a deal? Does that include bearings/rings? (prolly not)

 

Well, if you get the rotating assembly internally balanced and the flywheel neutral balanced, this should work out pretty good. That way if you ever change the flywheel, just get another flywheel which is neutrally balanced also. You would basically be changing the way the factory does it (external balance) to an internal balance. You may want to ask combination motorsports if they think any grinding of the rods will be necessary for stroker clearance. Some rod/crank combos offer more clearance than others. The only way to know this is if you are an engine builder yourself. This will have to be taken into account when getting it balanced.

If you are going to get a supercharger, I would get either a procharger or vortech kit. They are more reliable than powerdyne.