OK, I have been racking my brains and catalogs to find an affordable alternative to the stock gear on my car. First I need shorty headers that are C.A.R.B. legal, second, I want your opinions on my propsed heads/cam setups.

setup no.1

LT4 heads
lt4 intake
cc305

I'd like to go with this because I have heard that the LT4 intake is significantly better than the stock LT1. The heads I want because they flow better and have more potential for porting than stock LT1 (both of these statements were given to me by a shop in Rancho Cucamonga named Don Lee Auto). And finally, everyone seems to really like the cc305 and claims it is streetable and will pass emissions.

setup no.2

Edelbrock LT1 heads
Edelbrock LT1 cam

This one is a little weaker. When I looked at the Dyno chart that edelbrock uses I noticed they started with a Vette LT1 that was putting out about 350 hp. The gains from the heads/cam put it around 400hp. Would the gains be the same for a 97 lt1?

I have decided that the LT4 conversion kit is absurdly expensive so I'd like to find some more options. Both of these setups would cost around 1.5k I think. Thanks in advance.

 

what about afr heads they seem to flow the best of anyones and they are reasonably priced

 

Yeah, I would check out AFR. If you get LT4 heads and intake that is going to be a whole lot of money and not much more gains from them than the LT1's. Look at AFR.

 

actually, if I buy GM LT4 intake and heads it is signifcantly cheaper than a set of AFR heads. In fact it's about $600 cheaper.

I will look into the AFR heads. I'm not looking for huge gains... but with heads and cam would it be absurd to expect about 80rwhp/rwtq?

Also, nobody mentioned anything about headers. I really need sorty headers.

 

bumperoo

 

if you don't mind spending the bucks, get JBA or AS&M headers, ceramic coated, and for the price it's hard to beat an LT4 kit. however, i wouldnt mix and match the LT4 stuff (other than just the intake) with other combos. For stock cubes it's fine, they claim 425 hp with the heads/cam/intake. if you want to go bigger later i'd go ahead and do it, you won't regret it, but if you wanna stay emissions legal then go the cheaper way and get the LT4 stuff.

 

DAMN! those headers are freaking expensive I was thinking spending about $500 on shorty headers, not $1200!

 

get some mid length headers like macs or slp's they seem to gain almost as much as the long tubes are relativly cheap and are emissions friendly

 

I happen to know this is good for 346rwhp with some ignition issues with a few other bolt-ons.m Some guys get better numbers, some worse.

 

thnkas for the info. That gives me some confidence that it is a decent setup. Was that the rwhp on an m6 or a4?

Also, guys. Shorty headers for around $500 that will pass California smog. I can't have mids. I have to have shorties.

 

bump

 

why do you have to have shorties?

 

350ish rwhp with stock untouched LT1 heads has been done. There are a couple on this board who've been there. rumair did it with the cc305, there's someone with a user name gregg something that hit 355 with stock heads and the hotcam. There are others in this ballpark, I'm sure, I just don't know them all off the top of my head.

Point being - I'd get the stock LT1 heads done (p&p), keep the stock intake manifold (there's nothing wrong with it compared to the LT4, that info you got on it is absolute nonsense), and get a custom ground cam for the heads & emissions requirements. You'll probably spend about the same or less with this set up as compared to LT4 heads, intake, and an off the shelf cam but will blow that combo out of the water power-wise across the powerband.

Bang for the buck. I'd go that route.

 

-i believe it's significantly better looking than the stocker but performance wise there's little to no gain with the swap of the manifold.

- but the lt4 heads do have more potental, and will flow better than stock (lt1's).

- and I agree with jkipp84's suggestion!

 

e-mail these 2 guys Phil@advancedinduction.com (Phil Odom aka SkarodoM) and or nighttrain66@msn.com (Lloyd Elliot aka nighttrain)
screw the LT4 stuff
you can have more for less from either of those guys

headers, AS&M are about $750 for a set (not $1200) coated with y-pipe (prolly the best mid/shorty style out)
also there are MAC midlengths and SLP stuff too all are ruffly the same design, cept the SLP and AS&M are 1 3/4" while the MAC's are 1 5/8", not that big of a deal tho

LT4 stuff is cool to have for bragging rights but in most 90% of the cases, stock ported LT1 castings will be more then enuf when ported by someone with a competent steady hand

search this message board and i guarantee you will see what i just typed repeated 10,000 times over!

good luck with it

EDIT: oh and they both can set you up with a nice cam for your combo!