blackb_dz28

Hello.. ill get straight to it.. looking to rebuild my car very soon.. 94 z28 with t-56. pretty much bone stock other then a cai. and 383s... my budget its the tricky part.. im only looking around 2500 with parts. in my area thats not bad because labor wont be horribly priced.. but what im looking for is around 400whp.. ive heard all of these cam kits that do well.. lt4 with accompanied mods look around 350.. comp cam xfi kit with mods around 400 give or take.. im looking for something thats going to be ear catcher, responsive.. would melt tires when i want.. and would occasionally be on the track when i can get some tires.. i know about cars.. what i dont know is what duraction , things like that that would be in my ballpark.. truth is .. i just want something that i can drive alot that i would completely dominate a road.. until i can get it to the track.. .. and i know buying cam, lifters , rockers , everything seperately is more expensive so rather stay away from that.. and 1 more thing. if i do go with these cam kits. is going to 383. really that much better money wise.. and would i need to get new pistons as well. or stay go with a bigger piston rings... PLZZ HELLPP...

Of course heads and block will be honed\ ported.. possibly a bigger throttle body..

RamAir95TA

First of all with a budget of only $2500 and a goal of 400whp you can forget the 383 - you just don't have the money for it. To do a 383 RIGHT you're looking at the very least $6000+, and that's starting from scratch like you are. You have about $1500 in bolt-ons to do first. And the fact that you won't be doing it yourself will eat up about half of that initial cost in an instant.

Second, what's wrong with your current bottom end? How is your oil pressure? If there are no signs that it is on its way out then put your money towards something else more worthwhile. If you've got the HP bug with that budget we can steer you towards something along the lines of 350-360whp with something such as an AI matched-cam kit or LE equivalent.

Also your post is fairly confusing because you jump all over the place.

Dtimekw

You said you have 383s? Are those your gears? These usually have 3.42 or 3.73, are you sure about those gears?

LIke Joe said, if you are on a budget of $2500, a ~400rwhp 383/355 is going to be tough, at least a nice 383/355 will be tough. How many miles are on your motor now? If its still somewhat fresh, do heads/cam/TB and have fun with the car. The bottom end doesn't make the power, it just transfers the power to the transmission. Power is made in the heads/cam (I know, I know, pistons help too), just speaking generally.

Now, back to the budget. Did you check out the parts for sale section? A member here might have a used but good motor ready to drop in. There are also supporting vendors on here who can put one together or at least put a head/cam package together for you. The best advice I can give you is to do your research and ask questions. Do not piece-meal a motor, it won't be what you want. If you are dead set on making power, its going to cost money, period. Good luck with the build and remember, these cars are a labor of love!

parkers Z28

Lol. Everyone would like a cam ride !! including my self ....I have been thinking about this for almost a year. Joe has hit the nail on the head the the bolt on's will eat up half your budget !! the installation price on the cam alone will set you back another 700 dollars flowed by a couple hundred dollars for a tune .. And at that point you haven't rebuilt anything just a cam swap making around 320 hp
on stock heads

blackb_dz28

i guess i did misspeak .. i do apologize.. i was at work so wanted to put something on here quick.. yea they are 3.73s. not 383s

Back to it. the 2500 is Just for bolt ons. labor tune porting labor all of that is taken care of by another budget.. and to be honest the 2500 is flexible . its mainly for parts but can give or take on it as well.. .. but my bottom end now is shot.. i have barely any oil pressure. idles insanely low and for the love of anything cant think if its rings or oil pump.. that being said im most likely going to buy a buddys lt1 that has about a hundred thousand miles but ran absolutely perfect. and start from that . its got all internals but im going to do of course new ones with work done to heads and block.. i know what i was asking for aobut the 400 hp was a little up there. but im just wondering whats out there thats going to give me more bang for my buck.. more teeth in my smile. and more ppl to **** off if i race. it is going to be driven alot .. but never not babied .. but with a budge around 2500 or little more. whats a good set up that will get me up there. ive heard SOO much on the forums about the comp cams. and id like to try them and they have a nice full cam kit thats not bad on price. but i want to know what you guys think i should do.. whats good and then whats great....

RamAir95TA

It sounds to me like you're being wishy-washy. You have a $2500 budget but have an entire "other" budget? You want to rebuild your current motor but want to rebuild your buddies 100k motor instead?

What is your TOTAL budget for this project? When you type out what you type out it makes sense to you but to us it's hard to understand your end goal here.

I think you should slow down just a bit. You should definitely exploit the SEARCH feature here because you'll learn more doing that then what you'd receive in one thread.

blackb_dz28

yes i am all over the place . to be honest it is because i am very lost in what i should do.

The Entire rebuild my budget is $4200...
My goals are:
-more then stock hp( to the wheels.)
- possiility of daily driver
-great sound( possible electric cutouts from a new set of headers)


I want everything i can get out of every dime..Just looking for best options.

RamAir95TA

Okay, so assuming you do not have a working bottom end to work with let's just rebuild yours. There's no reason to spend money on another shortblock that will likely need rebuilding anyway. Here's what I would do in your situation.

Reuse the stock crank and rods (recondition and refinish) and go with a good forged budget piston (Mahle, SRP, etc.). Expect the recommended machine work and assembly to cost $2000 right there. At this point your bottom end is built and will take just about anything you can throw at it (reasonably).

With the remaining $2400 look into a cam kit from AI. They include everything you need to do a cam swap - EVERYTHING - and it is all matched. That will eat up another $1300, so you're left with $900 which will just about cover the exhaust.

At this point it's obvious your budget is still coming up short. Find an extra thousand somewhere and you'll have yourself a mid 350whp RELIABLE daily driver.

slick1hunting

I like the direction Joe pointed you in. I would add a couple other comments. First you should watch in the classified section of a couple forums for parts that would be worth using that are used in good shape(things you cant really go wrong buying used many of the "bolt-ons") . There is a risk in that but also a reward. I saved a nice chunk of money getting a few slightly used items in my build. Got burned once so to speak but would be able to recoup my losses if I re-sell the 2 cats I bought(guy didnt ship them for 2 months)................ 2 I would do my best to get the heads cam package from AI or LE, if you dont you may rorever regret not doing it. Yes it may delay your build several months plus you already would be at or past your budget with cam only.

redline9570

buy a crate motor.

blackb_dz28

You did give me great way to go.. I did a little more research.. called my logal machine shop asked for a estimate on doing the block to 355 and pressure testing the heads after i port match them. only 400 .. that being said if i was to go with the ai cam full kit.. what s a detailed list of parts i will need for this rebuild. ( assuming there arnt parts ill need to replace because their broken\unusable

redline9570

My upper rebuild cost me 2700, if I wanted to redo the block with arp studded caps that would of cost another 1200. Figure this build is good for 450hp 430tq, the stock bottom end will be good for a while. Will add frame connectors and a HD clutch. Also plan on beefing up the rear in the future.
My build:
Stage 3 port 200 cfm +- 1-2% flow variation.
Ported intake and gasket matched
Comp Cam 280-lt4 style
#36 injectors
Adjustable fuel preasure regulator
Headers, Y-pipe
New Roller tip rockers 1.6
Roller lifters
Behives springs
Egr/air block off plates(with lt4 cam you can do this)
Tune
C.A.I.
ARP head bolts

and a lot of cuts and bruises to go with it, if I had to do it again I would drops the whole front end by unbolting it.

Injuneer

That would appear to be a typo.

redline9570

I now elliots flow 195cfm with stage3...the guy told me it should be 200 and he actually called his port and bowl work to be a 3.5.

Injuneer

Stock LT1 heads flow 210 CFM on the intake. Very well ported LT1 heads can approach 300 CFM. You are quoting the exhaust flow.

There is no standard definition of a "stage 3" port.... it's just advertising.