ok as a few of you might have seen me mention in another thread, im looking to have my lt1 rebuilt in the spring. now let me first tell you this is more-so a daily driver than a race-car, but i still want something that will run really well for the occasional track nights. basically i want around a 400rwhp reliable motor. so then to my point in the topic, is it worth changing to an lt4 setup for more reliability or would ported lt1 heads be better? (i was qouted around 2500 for the lt4 setup, excluding any additional bottom end work) im really new to all of this, so whats the best route to go for a reliable 400hp car? would anything in the bottom end need to be reinforced or would the stock bottom end hold up well for this? (no trouble out of it as of yet). short version: whats the best/most cost efficient way to build a reliable 400hp LT motor. le2 package for the lt1 heads or lt4 heads with minor port work... also whats the difference between lt1 and lt4, and whats required for the conversion (other than the heads obviously )

 

Both LT1 and LT4 heads can produce 400rwhp reliably, it's the bottom end that could be made stronger to coupe with the increased power and revs. The LT4 heads need the LT4 intake to work.
IMHO the stock short block is strong enough just get the LE2 package.

 

thats good to know, but that makes me wander.. whats the difference between lt1 and lt4? anything really worth the swap? or is it without a doubt a better option to have the stock heads ported (probly LE2 package) and intake matched.

 

difference is the heads, intake, cam, etc. while its a good package, you can do much more with your money by getting the stock heads ported and a different cam. this coming from the guy that pieced together and LT4 swap and is now going bigger, something I should have done before.