my friend is putting an LT1 in an older Nomad and tells me that 450+ HP is pretty uncommon to find in LT1's NA on pump gas. Is this true? I thought it was pretty common. I'm a former LS1 guy myself, but don't know much about what the lt1s are doing these days. Thanks guys

 

400+ RWHP LT1s are becoming more common if anything, the norm for a good head/cam LT1 at the wheels is around 360-390, with the perfect setup 400s are being had recently, not to mention the ~450RWHP/390RWTQ LT1 on the board, forget who. Why doesnt he drop an LS1 in there, with just ported heads/cam/boltons 500+RWHP is being done recently.

 

well, he had the LT1 sitting around from another swap, and just decided to use that. Not sure if he wanted to drop the cash on an LS either thanks for the response.

 

450 hp + is very easy to pull out of a LT1 , it just depends on how much you want to spend...

I can spend 2 grand on a bone stock car, that would include minor headwork, camshaft, and bolt ons. And would be able to pull off 450 hp. Especially now, when I bought my LT1, you would not have been able to do such a feat. Times are a-changin! Just do some searches and you will come across info that I am explaining.

I would be scraping that 2k pricetag very close, and be doing all the work myself of course, minus the porting work.

 

I dont know about $2g on a BONE stock LT1, maybe a bone stock LT1 engine, but not CAR, dont forget you need headers and such, but yeah in the engine itself, LE or AI heads, LE for the price, matched camshaft/supporting valvetrain + good oil pressure = good power...oh and gooooood tune

 

Well on my car I could have, being a slight factory freak, If I would have been smart when I got the car, and know the things I now know, I could have done it.

Okay maybe 400 hp, but definintely no less. Between 400-450 I could promise though.

 

FWHP no problem, but still thats a lot of RWHP for $2g into a whole car, not just engine, you may have been speaking FWHP though

 

i have a 355 inch lt1 it rears wheels 465 horse on the motor.its posible.

 

No Thinking about it once again, Yes I could atain 450 hp with 2k $$. Might be cheating a little, run a small shot of nitrous ontop of the mild head port work and cam. But making power is power, no matter how you do it. I would be using all stock components and have some down time of course. But 2k $ yes, I could reach 400 rwhp. That would be putting on bolt ons as well. It's do-able.

It is all about shopping around on what you get. I've picked up parts for 1/2 the price of retail, just saying you can do it.

 

Guilty. Wound up pulling 450/399.9. Still on 1.94 1.50 ported factory heads, stock bottomend. Now if I can ever get to the track and try the new converter out.
PoorBoy, tell your buddy to go with the LT1 if he already has it.
Steve...

 

450 flywheel horsepower is readily attainable. You don't see many 450rwhp all motor LT1s though, although with a well thought out combo it can be done.

 

452rwhp 399 torque to be correct ..
to bad its in a full weight 97 convertible....running 12.0's @117 mph at 3700+lbs isnt to shabby though, ecspecially on street tires..

 

That is very respectable numbers. Earlier when I said you can get 450 hp, that is @ the flywheel, not at the rear wheels let me clear that up. I have no doubt that you can hit 450 rwhp on a LT1 with head and cam swap. Do all your bolt ons, full exhaust, and a good tune. I would love to shoot for 450 rwhp on the setup I'm doing N/A. But I definintely know I can get 400 rwhp out of it, the more the merrier. You just have to carefully choose your components and pray it flows as well as you hope.

 

An M6 also helps out a lot in the RWHP shootout, 12% instead of what, 38% loss I think it is for an auto???

 

general rule of thumb is 15% - manual, 20 %- auto. Everything after that affects the numbers, aftermarket rear end, high gear ratio will take hp away on the dyno, big converter will drain the numbers, etc.