Maverick_997

i want hp and reliability and i have 5000 bucks to spend, what should i be interested in buying. have 130,xxx miles on the car, and i havent changed anything but the water pump and head gasket

1996camaroSSclone

Heads and cam package.

LSWHO

Pull motor, build bottom end up, HUGE spray shot.

Nitrous can be turned on and off, drive similar to stock or open it up for ***** to the wall.


Or.... Full bolt ons, Heads/cam, small shot nitrous.

Or... Ls1 swap with cam

Or... Head/cam/stroker

I could do this all night.

What I would really do is find a good rust free 68 firebird and transplant my LT1 in it.

Maverick_997

how long would the engine last with a h&c swap should i worry about anyything else to increase reliable/longevity

LSWHO

Depends on how well the work is done and how hard you push it day in and day out.

1996camaroSSclone

If done right and depending on the abuse you put on it are big factors. The amount of hp you intend to produce could affect reliability and longevity as well.

Maverick_997

how much hp could i get out of a h&c swap, any suggestions on what kinda cam and what kinda heads i should look into?

LSWHO

You could get up to about 420ish WHEEL horsepower. About 500 crank hp.

Personally I'd go LE3s with the money you have. But you need things like a bigger throttle body and some bigger injectors and a tune. maybe more. Easily under $5k though.

Maverick_997

should i invest in gears or keep them stock

Dave1980

If your going to mess with rear end, I would upgrade to the 12bolt or 9 inch or dana, and not mess with the 10 bolt rear end.

2000GTP

If you are going to be pushing more power, then you probably want to upgrade your gears and also look into a stronger clutch down the road. Also, a heads/cam setup with all the bells and whistles will easily clean up that 5K budget. With a shortblock with over a 130K, I would be a little uneasy about that and would be planning for a rebuild down the road as well.

scott5

LS2 drop out

LS1 drop out

Build bottom end / stroke / Spray

Heads/Cam/ Spray

pcgamer4life

I'd take $3,000 and invest in a small car daily driver, and spend the rest on building the motor however you choose. That way you don't have to worry about reliability

For what it's worth, I wouldn't do an LS1 swap. For the power gains you'd see vs cost, you'd be better off modding your Lt1.

slomarao

i would go with a 3.73 or 4.10 gear depending on trans and what the main purpose of the car is. Like already said, 5k is only going to take you so far. I would buy every and i mean every bolt on before you dig into the motor.
With a complete bolt on lt1 you should be around 320rwhp and run mid to low 12's, so its not like its going to be slow. Than do the motor since your going to need a rebuild with that many miles on a h/c setup.
Do intake/full exhaust, rear end gear, subframe connectors, lca's and panhard rod bar, a aftermaket torque arm, drag radials, shocks and maybe springs, any anything else you can think of. Next think of what you really want out of the car and go for it.

cas0484

Glad to see another 25th out there. Nice car! I agree with everyone else in going the full bolt on/H/C route. It all depends on what you want to do with the car. Is it your daily driver or not? Do you want wild or mild? I got a CC503 gettin ready to go in which is very mild but its exactly what I'm looking for in my DD. I say you decide on a final goal and people on here will be more than willing to help with suggestions on how to achieve that goal.