i have a 1995 lt1 im new to the lt1's the bottom end has 80k on rebuild. just put new head gaskets port matched heads/intake and had heads reworked.

im looking 350 rwhp out of this lt1 but dont know where to start. i realy want to run a cc503 cam but woulnt make since with out headers and other bolt ons first.
where would you lt1 guys sugest me start?
thanks

 

catback exhaust, headers, cold air intake, tune, if u have an auto a stall would help. alot of people like to go w/373 gears also.

 

What you need to do to make 350rwHP will depend a lot on what you mean by "had heads reworked". What exactly did they do, beyond a good valve job? Do you have flow numbers? The stock LT1 heads can be ported to produce 400rwHP easily. But without knowing the specifics of your heads, its hard to say what you need to do to make your goal. Don't forget larger injectors.

 

js\ust a good valve job and heads and intake were just port matched to the gasket. would bigger injecters be needed for just that?

 

You didn't tell us what trans you have. 350rwHP will require anout 400HP at the flywheel with a manual trans (I'd recommend at least 28 #/HR injectors), or about 420 flywheel HP with the automatic trans (~30 #/HR injectors).

You could try running the stock injectors (24.9 #/HR) but you run the risk of hitting 100% duty cycle, and damaging the engine if it runs lean due to inadequate fuel.

 

I agree with the above mods except if you get a visual inspection only I would do away with the cat and remove the air ac and smog pump. Definitely frees some power up and only requires an ac bypass pulley which is around 14 dollars. Im not sure if u can do this with the 95 but in nys only 96-up have too pass emissions. My 93 has all the above mods and then some and I definitely noticed a difference with the emissions bs out

 

Smog pump removal frees up exactly zero power, all you gain is a weight reduction.

No doubt about it, you'll need more than bolt ons to get to 350 rwhp. With typical bolts ons..CAI, TB coolant bypass, 1.6 roller rockers, headers, you can be right around 300 rwhp. That extra 50 at the wheels takes a little more work....

 

It may not gain you hp. But id be willing too bet the vehicle runs better without it. And you definitely free up a little hp by removing the ac. I will agree thaat your biggest gain is from the weight reduction. The ac has to way 80 to 90 pounds with all of it's components. Would no cat give you any gain? If not it sure makes the car sound nasty. The smog pump acts similar too egr right?

 

Get a hypertech hand held. I know most of you will say custom tune but man is it nice too be able too adjust shift points at will. My buddy had a 95 and he kept eating up tranny mounts that thing shifted so badass. Guess this wouldn't matter if it was manual.

 

Dennis - I know you're going to think I'm picking on you but I'm not....


Removing the smog pump won't alter the way the car runs. It only operates at startup to supply oxygen to the cats for quicker heating to lower emissions. It doesn't do anything else.

The hypertech really isn't a good choice either. Many of us have tried them and found we lost power. The best route, and cheaper as well, is to send away for a mail-order tune. You can even send them the PCM if you don't want to download it and install it yourself. If you're in a hurry you can even have a loaded PCM sent and then return yours....

 

Dennis, just to reiterate some things bw mentioned.

He's right - deleting the smog pump will gain you exactly zero HP. The entire AIR system weighs maybe 9 pounds - that's about it. Since it is not pulley driven, there's no HP gain. And all it does is allow the cats to heat up quicker at startup, nothing more. The physics of the system just don't support your ideas.

Same with the A/C really. It is nowhere near 90lbs, maybe more like 20 or 30 tops. Not to mention the AC compressor acts like an idler pulley when the A/C is off, which takes about 1/10th of one HP to spin - essentially the HP gain here is not measurable.

No cats could provide you with a gain sure, because on some cars they would be a restriction.

I've also been down the Hypertech route, and they are a very poor investment, especially for the "power tuning" aspect. For a lower cost you can get a customized mail-order (or email) tune with twice the gains and flexibility than the Hypertech. And if you're competent with a laptop, a low-cost interface cable and free programming software, you can control those oh so important shift points however you like.

And I won't say anything about shifting so hard your friend broke transmission mounts...except

 

For some reason my custom tune by pcmforless isn't even comparable too the hypertech that was in my friends 95. U really think the a/c only weighs 20 lbs tops? Im sure you know more about this than I do. I know the smog pump is electric and not pulley driven i was underder the assumption that it and the air system acted the same as egr which from experience usually makes a vehiclle run worse . I have too believe even if you're only saving 50 lbs it is still a decent upgrade. I recently removed mine and will post pics of.total weight saved by.removing.

 

My bad egr is seperate. I guess the main reason we did these mods was easy acces to the headers,plugs and plug wires. Much. Cleaner engine bay. I apologize but I don't understand why that hypertech worked so well. Same goes for my nissan titan. With catback exhaust jba headers bdog gt tuner bdog cai firestone destination st tires and airraid tb spacer that truck would run lo to mid 13s also with transgo shiftkit and tru trac rear end. Take that bdog gt tuner out and it would fall flat
on.its face.

 

Like I said, it is incredibly difficult to quantify minute HP gains by feel alone. Hypertech's have been show to add negligible HP on the dyno, which is a real measure of horsepower. This has been common knowledge in the LT1 world since the Hypertech's came out.

 

EGR only makes it run bad when the valve sticks open. Again.... system only works when lugging the engine at lower RPM in the wrong gear. Doesn't function at WOT, doesn't function over 3,500 RPM. Has no affect on power when you are running the engine hard. In fact, it will help limit detonation when lugging the engine. Cleaner engine bay? You can't even see the EGR valve, its so far under the cowl. Does not interfere in any way with the plugs or wires.... isn't even close.

I tried the Hypertech in 1995. It made NO (zero, nada) difference in performance when measured with instrumentation. I have seen magazine dyno tests where it actually LOST power when the power tuning was used. The only time it gained power was when it was combined with the 160* t'stat and the fan on/off temps were reduced.

We're talking F-Bodys here..... not Nissans.