Turns out that I need a rebuild and I was wondering if an LE1 package would be good for a daily driver? Not sure if I'm going with a 355 or just a rebuild, but I wanted to know what internals I should go with? I know alot of people are going to say to go with the hotcam kit, but I wanted something different. The motor is going to be NA and get about 250 miles put on it each week. I need something that's going to be fairly dependable. I'm not saying that LT1s are that dependable anyway, but they aren't bad. Any suggestions?

 

I'll be going with the LE1 package soon... I got a set of heads all ready to go to Texas as soon as budget allows.

I'm going to go with the LE1 because of the fact that it's a bit more mild and doesn't require steep gears/stall quite like the 2 and 3. My car isn't a daily driver, but it does do cross country runs that require it to be reliable, so that's what I'm going for.

 

you can check out my cardomain, my setup is about what you describe. It has the heads but dosent have the le1 cam, but its a close grind by comp with a tad more lift. All my internals were forged Eagle piece's and the pistons are KB forged -5cc flatops. Its a great daily driver that pulls mid/low 8's at the 1/8 mile on street tires.

 

I daily drive LE2 heads and a CC306 cam. My valve springs are worn out and I'm going to swap out to the LE2 cam.

 

Do I need forged internals? If so, could I just get forged pistons, rods, and leave the crank stock? I'm not trying to be cheap, but I'm in college and I have a tight budget.

 

Yes, you could go with forged pistons and rods (might as well in case your plans change later, it's not that much more $$$) and leave the stock crank. The stock crank can take quite a bit of power, it's definitely not the weak spot.

My 355 build is setup like that, and it is planned to take one hell of a beating here pretty soon under my LE2 heads and LE3 cam, and eventually at least a 150 shot.

LE1 would be *fine* for daily driving IMO.

 

We have an economy 355 package that would fit your application.

VRE 355LT1 Economy Shortblock-$2999.99 NO Core Charge
-Eagle 3.480” stroke Cast Crankshaft, Eagle H-Beam Connecting Rods, SRP Pistons, Perfect Circle Rings, Clevite Main Bearings, Clevite Rod Bearings , Clevite Cam Bearings, ARP Main Studs

 

Hmmm... I might just have to do that very soon...

 

I like to get a shortblock from VRE, but I don't have that much to spend. How many miles do you think I can get of of a LE1 package if I don't beat on it that much?

 

I have the LE1 package as my daily driver and it works out great for me. As far as how many miles you would get out of the engine would be greatly dependent on how well your engine is built. If you have good parts and a good builder the engine could last for quite some time. Probably 75K at least.

 

the LE1 was designed to be a daily driver.

Bret

 

You got some great numbers out of that setup.

 

Thanks, it took quite some time to get everything worked out at first. Now I'm going back and trying to squeeze everything out that I can. As we speak I'm putting on a ported manifold I got from Jordan Musser and I'm switching to an electric water pump. Once that's done I'm gonna get a dyno tune instead of the mail order I got from Ion. After this I think I'll be done messing around with it for a while.

 

I drive my car daily with a LE3 Package. No complaints here!! Eric and Nick @ Victory actually put it together!

 

The LE1 package makes a great daily driver setup. I receive compliments on the driving characteristics from everyone who drives it. The guy at the dyno loved it, as well as my friends, some of which have driven other cammed Z28s. Its my primary vehicle and it doesn't beat me up, even after long roadtrips. Can't go wrong with it.