Hello fellow Camaro fans, I've been kicking around the idea of selling or keeping my 1997 Z28 30th Anniversary. I've decided to keep her and do rebuild and upgrade. It's mostly stock and A4 tranny. Only mods are cat-back, cold-air intake. I've decided to go true duals, and an EFI 24x(if I stay LT1) conversion..... So with true duals I'm feeling LT4 and 3:73 rearend with shift kit for tranny and a stall(not sure which stall) possibly supercharged at some point. Or do a LS2 swap. I want a good realiable 350-400 hp/tq range. So any other ideas that are better, or if thats a good start? It has 134,XXX miles on her. if need to know. Again any and all input is welcome.Anything that I am missing motor wise? I will be going brake and suspension upgrades too if that matters. Thanks in advance.

 

Headers, cam, ported heads, good quality stall like Yank, and you should think about a rebuild on the bottom end if you do something like a supercharger. You hp range is pretty easy to get to, it just depends on if you decide that it isn't enough and want more.

 

Yeah I was going to do the rebuild anyway. Plan on keeping her since I'm putting money into her. I've heard good things about Yank. What stall is good, because I've never used one. Still want drivablity. From what I've read 3000 is a solid one to get. Probably going to go with the Kooks full duals system including headers. Thanks for your input. Anything else I should consider?

 

from my perspective it seems you usually always want a little bit more. I would ask yourself do you want more of a daily driver or a track car or something in between. Ask yourself what longterm goals you may have for it because you dont want to just dump money into it and then find most of what you spent needs swapped out. If you plan on supercharger start your mods geared toward that. If you only need the extra power at times n2o is a viable option but plan to go that route and research well enough to plan on having the things that keep it safe to use so to speak as alot of problems can be prevented. figure what the max power you may want is and plan your build around that as different power levels require different fuel systems and exhaust. Consider what your budget may be. the numbers you put should be atainable with boltons and a good tune . A good cam and head package geared towards your goals would probably get you well past there. For me i want a daily driver that can still really deliever if put to race moode. So I have a streetable 383 with forged internals ported stock heads a comp 503 cam with grind to match the heads. Im going to use the lttc so have retard for my n2o and be using ls7 coils with it, ill have lt headers and true dual exhaust with xpipe. Thats my basic setup and i anticipate 460 at the crank and run a 200 hp shot of n2o. That should put me give or take 550 hp at the wheels when spraying, I also have a dana 60 as the rear end may need addresed for your power increase. pretty much try to make your short term plans work well with any long term plans and look for proven combos and group your mods to be effective with what you have. Sometimes its better to be patient and get what you want rather than rush and get what you get.

 

good points for sure. I want more streetable than track. My main goal is to just keep up with the new muscle out there. possibly even beat them. Never conidered N2O. So all boltons with LT4 and a good tune should do, with tranny, rear end, and stall. I'm considering the TCI 6X too. Not on a budget really just taking my time getting a piece at a time and doing the work myself. Yeah I really have to think about everything I want. Thinking about all this as i type may just be overall more cost effective to do a LS swap..... So Hard to choose.

 

if i was you (and im in the same spot) i would start with the exhaust, because no matter how far you want to go, a nice set of long tube headers and true duals and muffler eliminators seem like the most reliable set-up. its been done, just about everything has to these engines (refering to lt).

also my goal is to have about a 400 hp M6 LT1, and based off of this site the LT4 HotCam and springs will get us there. i dont think im going to buy the lt4 rockers though, so im going with 1.6' rr's. these are supposedly the specs for exactly that...

LT4 HOT cam and 1.6 RRs

Hows that fit the bill?

the 3.73 rear-end is where most camaro and corvette guys go..and as far as i know most guys looking for a quicker accelerator but doesnt compromise as much as far as top speed goes..

i will admit im all about LT, but i would never switch mainly because there arent too many differences between the lt and ls.

the lt is made out of a cast iron as opposed to the lighter material (aluminum) Ls. BUT, both lt and ls heads are aluminum as far as i know. i'll have to read up on this more however

heres a site about the ls2:

LS2 Engine - Specifications & Differences - Hot Rod Magazine

good luck with whichever you choose! hope this helped a little..

 

That's what I was thinking with the duals. Going to go kooks for sure. Thanks for the links. That's looking right up my alley too. I think Ive got it figured out. The order that I wanna go in anyway. Thanks again. Good luck with yours too

 

are we talking 400hp at the tires or at the flywheel? im not sure a hotcam will get you either one but it would be pretty close if your lookin at flywheel. A LOT of people run the cc503 as a street cam... that would get you really close if not more then 400 flywheel... If we are talkin 400 rear wheel hp your probably going to need ported stock heads and while your at it may as well pick up a custom grind cam. if you want ported heads contact one of these guys:
Advanced Induction Cylinder Head Development
http://elliottsportworks.com/

 

Close to at the wheels. I want to be able to hang with the new muscle out there. And maybe beat a few stock ones