I want a daily driver for sure, but I want to be able to do a little bit of stop light/high way racing (safely of course) so basically a daily driver and street driver. I want my budget to be about $0-$3500

I feel ya so I may do a rebuild first we will see tomorrow

 

Ok sounds close to my budget. Whew lol

 

For your budget, a quality rebuild reusing the stock crank and rods, along with a mild cam and all the bolt-ons, might be a reasonable way to go. Only you know how far you want to take your project, but starting with a 189k car inevitably means you'll be spending a fair amount of money fixing a worn-out powertrain before you can hop it up and expect anything resembling a reliable vehicle.

 

I am going to start a top end build on my car this weekend and let me tell you...$3500 does not go far.

I spent a little more than that for everything. Your best bet is to rebuild the motor like everyone has mentioned. Depending on how much cash you have left over is really going to determine what you do for performance.

You can gain a lot of performance by doing simple stuff like a full exhaust and a bigger rear end gear. Also some suspension mods will give you a pretty quick car like Lower control arms and a better torque arm.

 

I am taking all this in, but what is an emission hookup? What does it have to do with longtube headers?

 

Emissions hookups are things like AIR injection and EGR (exhaust gas recirculation). Both of which attach to the headers if you want to keep these systems functional. If you don't need to pass emissions in your particular area, you can have these deleted and programmed out of the PCM.

 

With 189k miles a bottom end assessment should be in order. At the minimum the rings should be replaced along with honing the cylinders and every gasket/seal. Check local auto parts stores for short blocks. Autozone use to be able to get them, I don't know fit they still do or not. 20% off would be a great deal if you can swing it. The idea is that they come with a warranty and this might be a better option for you.

For the top end, check the parts for sale section. You can usually pick up a set of heads cheap. Once you get them, replace the valve seals the upgrade the springs and retainers. Toss on a set of roller rockers and upgrade the cam to an LT4 "hot cam" with LS1 lifters and hardened push rods.

After you get the long block together replace any consumable parts such as plugs and wires, etc.

with all that + CAI, cat back exhaust and a tune you should be able to put down some decent HP and TQ numbers.

 

thanks guys my list will be up soon

 

thanks ok this is what I got so far that was mentioned to do an engine rebuid/ Mod. Please let me know
Which things are not that necessary and which things are a must. Thanks guys. This is really helping me out.


Intake-K&N intake
Headers-Pacesetter longtubes
Exhaust-Borla
Lifters-Ls1 lifters
Gears- 3.73's
Tires- Nitto
Cam- LT4 hot cam
Porting- throttle body, intake, heads, and exhaust

The things in bold are things that I have no idea on the brand to choose nor the options.
I left them blank so those who know can fill in the blanks.

upgraded fuel pump-
Gasket and seal upgrade-
Roller Rockers-
hardened push rods-
Stall Converter-
bearings-
cylinders-
rings-
oil pump-
timing chain-
flywheel-
transition mounting-
intake manifold-
Shocks-
Springs-
Adjustable Torque arms-
Panhard bars-
lower control arms-
Heads-

 

Porting the throttle body isn't necessary. If you want to do 1/4 mile passes I would say go with 4.11 gears.

Unless you are getting wheels also, nitto only makes a drag radial in the OEM 16" wheel.

what do you want to ultimately end up with? You want brands or what?

upgraded fuel pump- should not be needed unless you spray or want to go forced induction
Gasket and seal upgrade- standard gasket kit should be fine
Roller Rockers- depends
hardened push rods- I have heard good things about trickflow
Stall Converter- daily driver or drag racer?
bearings- depends
cylinders- not applicable, cylinders are part of the block
rings- depends if you replace the pistons or use OEM
oil pump- stocker should be okay but replace it with a new one
timing chain- stock should be okay but replacing the chain should be a must
flywheel- the stock old one should be okay
transition mounting- ???
intake manifold- stock one will be fine
Shocks- daily driver or drag racer?
Springs- daily driver or drag racer?
Adjustable Torque arms- arm... daily driver or drag racer?
Panhard bars- bar... daily driver or drag racer?
lower control arms- daily driver or drag racer?
Heads- depends

 

i thought you were rebuilding the engine?

concentration my friend, stay focused on the engine..

if your rebuilding the engine, pick the cam you would want to run, then pick your stall converter to go with the cam, this combination is probably the most beneficial one on the whole car..

all depends,how much money do you actually have? or what is your initial budget?

Intake-cold air intake?look for used ones for cheap
Headers-Pacesetter longtubes, ehh, ebay stainless headers for $300
Exhaust-Borla-if thats what you want
Lifters-Ls1 lifters-good choice
Gears- 3.73's-good choice
Tires- Nitto- i think nittos are overpriced.. check out rikken tires..
Cam- LT4 hot cam, good solid performer but there are definetly better cams out there, lunati has some voodoo cams that look real good..
Porting- throttle body, intake, heads, and exhaust-dont know how you port the exhaust? if you have the money you can get the throttle body, intake and heads ported.. but that can be considered big money to some..


upgraded fuel pump-no need yet
Gasket and seal upgrade- included in rebuild kit, generally felpros
Roller Rockers-comp cams, or cranecams
hardened push rods-comp cams
Stall Converter-i used a local converter shop, 2500rpm stall for $150
bearings-included in rebuild kit, generally clevite or speedpro brand.
cylinders- have to wait to get the engine apart, to see if you need the cylinders bored
rings-included in rebuild kit, hastings or speedpro
oil pump-melling select, with high pressure spring
timing chain-cloyes single or double roller, i prefer double roller
flywheel-?--if you have an auto its a flexplate, stock works fine.
transition mounting- transmission mount, polyeurathane
intake manifold- stock
Shocks- dont worry about them yet
Springs-dont worry about them yet
Adjustable Torque arms- dont worry about it yet
Panhard bars-dont worry about it yet
lower control arms-dont worry about them yet
Heads- depends on how big your wallet is- stock heads are decent, if you have about a $1000 on a port job from elliotportworks go for it..

dont forget to balance the rotating assembly, generally $200

 

daily driver and I want to end up with a car that is capable of 13.5-14.0 and still be able to be daily driven WITH A/C lol

 

13.5 on the 1/4 is an easy goal to achieve with little upgrade.

I'd shoot for mid to low 12's

 

with a fresh motor and bolt on's you can get 13.5

with heads, cam, converter and gears you should be able to go 12's

 

really? that is def going to be my goal when all is said and done