Whats your opinion ??? When does does horsepower becomes a issue in a LT1 where the car starts having heating problems in heavy traffic , stalling , transmission can't handle the amount of horsepower the engine makes or you can no longer afford to
put gas in the car if you took a long road trip ...

 

It really depends on your modification scheme. I deliberately kept my car streetable even with a higher power output I don't have any issues on long trips. Last year I drove the care from FL to PA and averaged over 26mpg and ran the whole distance at 10 over. Then, 3 weeks ago I got stuck in bumper to bumper traffic in Miami for 2 hours. No hassles, no overheating....just a guy tired of looking at tailights.
You can have more power and drive the car...just about anywhere.

 

450 rwhp lt4 no issues

371 rwhp to my ls1 no issues

 

How much horsepower did it take to rip out the driveshaft ?? Seriously how many
do you think I will be ok with a LE1 heads cam package with the amount of mileage on my car
not going to see the track much however I do get a little spirited some times
both of you guys look like you have fun rides ...I just don't won't to regret doing this

 

The LS1 aluminum driveshafts aren't all that strong. They were changed to aluminum to get rid of the harmonic vibrations at critical frequency that the non-1LE LT1's suffered from. A lot of LT1 owners switched to the LS1 aluminum units to get rid of the vibrations, then broke them with modified engines.

 

It depends on the mileage and condition of the engine, trans and rear and whether or not you are na, forced induction or spray. High hp/tq require stronger rotating assemblies (crank, rods and pistons) 4 bolt mains with billet caps and/or a main girdle etc. HP cost money how fast do you want to go, plus you have to beef up the clutch/converter, trans and rear as well as chassis and suspension work.

 

The car is excellent shape well taken care of .. I really don't have a budget I'm prepared
to spend 3,000 dollars if its more its just more time I'll have to wait
does anyone think I should rebuild the engine ???????????

 

My two cents.

I would recommend forced induction if you want more go from your ride. You can add a supercharger kit to your stock engine and get significantly more torque through out your existing power band. You won't need to rebuild the engine (with a nice low mileage car like yours) because you can leave the stock rev limit in place. You won't need to rev the heck out of the engine to get the horsepower. Corky Bell has written well about turbochargers and superchargers and notes that forced induction can work very well with a "good stock engine".

Good luck with your car!

 

Previous posts have said that the trans (stock trans) can take up to 400hp.My02.

 

Whoops,Auto trans.