im going to rebuild my lt1 this winter and im thinking of supercharging it... it will be stock crank and rods with srp forged pistons and stock maybe ported heads... comp ratio is going to be about 10.4 to 1. i might go with the lt4 cam but if not then just a stock cam. i was wondering which kit would be the best bang for my buck, powerdyne or vortech.. anyone had experience with either of these kits? installing them and performance wise? also do these kits come complete like down to the last bolt? i wont need to search for little things like sensors for a year to get my car to run correctly, right?

 

Neither, your compression will be too high, it will detonate, and you'll end up tearing up your new pistons.

Run lower compression, you can supercharge it then, somewhat reliably.

Another option, if you want to run a higher compression motor, is to do a strong N/A set up with LE heads, and a milder LE1ish cam. It will make WAY more power then stock heads and the Hot Cam. And will be in the same powerband.

Or, rebuild using those pistons, a hot cam, and some nitrous. Nitrous isnt half as bad as most people think it is. Long as it is tuned correctly, its as reliable as anything else, and is only straining the motor when you open that bottle up. Definatly the cheapest way to go fast, and easiest to tune for.

 

My advice would be to research, research, research, and decide what you want to do PRIOR to building the motor or buying parts.

Once you decide upon high comp N/a, or FI, or Nitrous...then buy your parts and build your motor to suit that application. Good starting place is pick out a hard number of how much Power you're looking to make, and what's the purpose of the car...Weekend warrior, Daily Driver, Track Only monster, etc. These factors along with your BUDGET will quickly narrow down your options, and point you in the right direction.

There's ton's of threads comparing supercharger packages.

Common recommendation is Vortech or ATI period. My experience has been with Vortech, and it's great. Yes, generally if you purchase a kit properly suited to your vehicle it will be very complete.

Just don't be the guy that builds a longblock suited for N/a, then decides to go FI or Nitrous and pops the tops off his pistons because his ring-end gaps are too small. It sucks to be that guy.

Research, and Planning will save you the more time, money, and hastle than anything else.

Just my opinion.
-Andrew

 

^ Well said.

 

when you say that my comp ratio will be to high what do you mean? i thgouth that vortech superchargers were meant to run on stock lt1s, arent lt1s stock with like 11 to 1? if not, what should i go to? 9 or 8.5 to 1? and also would my stock crank and rods handle a vortech? are srp forged pistons ok to run?

 

SRP makes a decent piston for the price. A stock lt1 is 10.4:1 I think ??? And they are made to work with them, but their prone to detonation and will blow up sooner rather than later.

Your going to have to decide how much power/boost you plan to run before you can get an idea of what compression to shoot for. If you know you arent going any higher than say 8-10psi, Id imagine somewhere in the 9.5:1 area would be fine. But if your like me and intend on running a HIGH boost street motor your going to want to go even lower.

 

Answer these Questions: What are your goals with this car? What is it's application? What hp levels are you shooting for? What is your Budget?

There are multiple Vortech kits/head units available, so I cannot answer a question such as "will my stock crank and rods handle a vortech?" Until you answer the above questions.

Stock LT1's are 10.5:1 Compression Ratio. and all the ones I've torn down have had a top compression ring-end gap of .010-.012....too small for FI or Nitrous (IOW smaller than what you WANT).

It is damn near impossible to help you select parts or give out an opinion on "will it work or not" until you answer those above questions.

Hope this helps.