I dont have to worry about labor costs- my freind has his own shop- so labor will cost me zero Its good to have a mechanic friend!!

What does a heads/cam package run? How much money?

 

check out lloyd elliott www.eportworks.com

 

Agreed, call the guy, he'll hook you up. Best bang for the buck, but make sure you get all the supporting mods too, including 1.6 Pro Mags. Shawn or Nightrain should be posting here soon with specific kit information.

-Dustin-

 

I agree! That is very good advice. In light of that you may want to pick an N/A cam (like the CC305 or something roughly equivalent) that will be good to use with a blower later and have someone like Lloyd Elliot optimize the heads for supercharger use. Somthing like the CC305 would be a good choice due to the 114 LSA and exhaust bias being a good match for supercharging. You can compromise with the compression ration with something like 9:1 with forged pistons and run pretty well N/A along with being able to handle in the neighborhood of 12 PSI later on. 550+ rwhp is easily achievable with 12 PSI on a well matched 355 or 383.

Also, I wouldn't waste money on an LT4 intake. If your stock intake is bored for a 58mm throttle body and port matched to the heads, it will flow plenty well enough. I just don't think the expense of the LT4 intake is worth it.

Comp Pro Magnum non self aligning 1.6 RR's with guideplates would be better than the LT4 RR's IMO.

The Hotcam is not an optimal design for torque (not much lift relative to it's duration, ramp angles not very aggressive), it's a decent cam none the less and works ok with a blower but I wouldn't use it on it's own personally. It's a bit of a "poser" cam with an idle that sounds meaner than it really is. You hardly ever see LT4 cars at 114+ in the 1320.

 

If you have the money for the S/C, larger injectors, computer tuning required to make it run correctly and the multitude of other misc. parts that will be needed yet you never actually read about in the catchy adds for S/Cs then I say go for it! It will also make more power... just maybe not for as long.

 

Another thing to consider is that with all things being equal; let's say two different motors (one N/A and one SC) have the same peak HP at the same RPM. The SC motor will ALWAYS have more area under the curve and in theory should just about always win heads up all things being equal. It will probably have around 10-20% more lb/ft of torque at lower to mid range rpm's compared to the N/A motor.

I really think a decent option is to go with a used Vortech and start out with 6 PSI. Get the most you can out of it with bolt on's and tuning and see how you like it. Then if you want more it will be time to rebuild, and you can sell the blower to help fund a nice N/A build or just build the motor for both if funds are providing. Just be cautious with the blower route on a stock motor and make sure it has a safe tune, plenty of fuel pressure, a fuel gauge, and a knock/scan gauge like the Scanmaster. Educate yourself on it well before starting, search around in here or ask questions.

 

It's obvious the original poster isn't going for max power here. No offense but it seems like he's still a little new to this stuff. I'm also not convinced that I'd put a blower on a stock bottom end car and expect it to last. These are the reasons that I suggested the NA route.

I'm not disputing the fact that a blower could make more power, but I think we need to look at this guys situation before suggesting a one size fits all answer of "yea, a blower is better, do it!"

First of all I would never put a blower on a stock bottom end of one of these cars without having money set aside for a rebuild and also be able to make arrangements for transportation while the car is down. It is my personal opinion that the NA route is much more reliable.

I don't know why everyone likes to bash the LT4 stuff nowadays. The HOTcam used to be the way to go. The LT4 heads have always been a good upgrade. As far as the upgrade kit coming with an intake, assembled heads, complete cam kit and gasket set I'd say that $2300 is a great price for it. Add to the fact that it will make good power and you won't have to spin it to 6500-6700 like some bigger cams results in less chance for a spun bearing or other engine damage. Can you get different components and make more power? Sure. Does that mean the LT4 kit is bad and not worth it? Not at all.

You're never going to be the fastest one out there, especially with a stock bottom, so end why sacrifice a lot of reliability for marginally better performance? Plus with the HOTcam you get a nice cam lope to it. You'll already have the LT4 heads, so if you want to upgrade later, just have them ported, match a bigger cam to it, upgrade your internals if the motor needs it and you have a stout setup.

I'm not trying to put down anyones opinions in this thread, just giving some reason why I gave mine.

 

I've always been curious, if you bought the lt4 top end kit from gmpartsdirect, would it come out cheaper then the kit from summit?

 

No offense taken. I am a bit new at this stuff. I dont need crazy power at this point. Honestly, i dont need any of this stuff! Its not like I can go 100MPH on the streets of brooklyn, NY Its just good to know that you have the power should you need it. Also nice to know ure from the more powerfull cars out there

I did exhaust work and all the other begginner stuff. Im ready for the next step. So I think Im going to forget about a S/C for now. I just gotta figure out wheather to go with heads/cam or do the LT4 kit. Decisions decisions, life is hard

I do appreciate all of youse guys opinions. Thanx!!!!

 

I didn't think of that, but I just checked GMpartsdirect and they have the '95-97 style LT4 conversion kit listed for $2,091.16!! I could not find a listing for the 92-94 style like Summit has listed(that the original poster would need I guess). Looks like they are beating summits price by a few hundred dollars. I'll be Dal or Jason Cromer could get it for even cheaper.

 

I didn't know that. That's good information

 

Think about this for a minute.....the lt4 kit is a little over $2k. The le2 kit from lloyd is $1650. That is heads and cam. Comp pro mag RR's are around $270. Pushrods and guide plates are around $100. Porting the lt1 intake is $150. With this setup from lloyd it is $2170. I'm not saying that the lt4 kit is bad. I also think the hotcam kit is the best upgrade for the money that makes good power and has a good sound......but.......why would anybody want to spend $2100 for something that won't even come close to what llyod can do for basicly the same price. The le2 package will make way more power than the lt4 kit.

 

The LE2 setup is nice, and very reasonably priced in my opinion. However, I suggested the LT4 conversion for this guy because it will be easier for him to get all the parts together and still get good power- less hassle so to speak. As you said, you would still have to piece together the rockers, pushrods, guideplates, and some things you didn't mention but would need is a gasket set, timing set (I don't thin Lloyd includes that), and head bolts.

With the LT4 conversion all you really have to track down is a timing set and head bolts.

As far as I'm concerned either one of them would be a good choice.

 

Actually the lt1s have forged rods and crank to where as the ls1 only has a forged crank.... so in all reality the lt1 is better for blower aplication.

 

Link to this information?