I have a 94 camaro and i want to start adding power but i dont think my engine can handle it. It has over 120,000 miles. What should i do rebuild my engine or get a crate motor? Also i was thinking of making it a 383 or something any help would be appreciated?

 

ttt

 

I say do whatever you want to this one...the LT1 is a strong engine...there are many guys on here with upwards of 100K miles on their engine. if you are thinking N20...or boosting it or something...might as well run this engine till it dies. if you really want to do something though...extra cubes are always good. Nu-tek has a good rep. around the board.

 

There are no new LT1 "crate motors" or LT1 blocks being manufactured. So, if you decide to stay with an LT1, it will need to be "rebuilt" rather than a new motor per se. I would not subject a motor with 120,000 miles to much high performance modification, unless you want to just run it until it breaks and then rebuild it. The thing is, most significant modifications involve motor R+R anyway, and once it's out it's foolish not to at least do the rings, bearings, and a valve job along with anything else a teardown and inspection indicates is needed. The big exception to needing to do the R+R anyway is a basic blower install. But this would be maybe the worst mod to try to get away with on a nicely aged LT1 like yours.

As far as what mods to do, stroker vs. stock displacement, NA v. blower v. nitrous, etc. you really haven't provided enough info to make useful recommendations. Is this purely a street car, will it be road raced/auto-x'd, go to the drag strip, etc.? Is it an M^ or an A4? What is your budget? And a big question is how much are going to do yourself? This has a major impact on costs and thus can influence a decision about what route to take.

If you give more information you will get more useful responses.

Rich Krause

 

It is an m6 it will be a street car but i will drag race with it so it does have to be street legal and i plan on putting lots of money into this overtime? Including blower Nitrous hopefully more cubes and lots of stuff like that including the usual headers exhaust intake etc. I wil do alot myself because i am going to go to school at wyotech.

 

You need to decide upfront about using a SC as a power adder, the appropriate parts for a blower car are quite different from NA. OTOH, a good NA motor makes a good nitrous motor, at least up to a point. If are going to do this in stages, I'd suggest the NA build up now followed with an N2O system later.

Rich Krause

 

Nu-tek rocks, i highly recommend, they just finished my block. I cant wait to get it, and put it in.

Rick is correct, you need to map out your motor, cus for example a great n/a cam makes for a ****ty blower/turbo cam. Rod ratios are a huge factor. Blown Rod Ratios on a 383. like to have a 5.7 inch rod and a 3.75 crank stroke, where as on a N/a 383 they like a 6 inch rod on a 3.75 crank. This has to do will the piston staying near top dead center longer. this improve volumetic efficency, and high rpm stabilty (lighter pistons), but oil control becomes a issuse as well a other things, thats something to consider too.

 

I wanted t do sc and nitrous eventually and i want all forged I looked at nu tek and it says like 8000 is that just the kit or is it the entire engine

 

There aren't too many of us "stupid" enough to run the dual power adder setup. But if that's your goal, you want to set the motor up for the blower and then add the nitrous to that. You need a low compression setup with strong (and therefore relatively heavy) pistons. This is not compatible with the high revs and high CR needed to make big NA power. A decent shortblock for this type of setup is in the range of $5,000

Here's the parts (with approximate prices) that I'm using, to give you an idea of how this breaks down. You can easily spend more, I wouldn't recommend much less. Most of the other needed parts can be reused (oil pan, Optispark, water pump). There's some misc. stuff I'm sure I'm missing. The price is about the same for a 355, 383, or 396.

Callies crank ~$1,200
Lunati Pro-Mod rods ~$700
JE "blower" pistons ~$700
ceramic coating for piston crowns ~$200
bearings, gaskets, etc. ~$300
cam ~$300
GM HD timing set ~$400
block work, assembly, balancing, etc. (with 4-bolt caps, etc.) ~$1,000

The things you have to keep in mind include that if you bolted your existing heads to this motor, it would be quite a bit slower than what you have now. The desired CR is in the 8.5:1 range and the increased displacement (presuming you go for a stroker) will not compensate for this. So you then get into heads, exhaust systems, and the SC itself which in turn leads to needed mods in the fuel system, tuning, etc. Of course, you have to put all this power to the ground, so now you need a new driveshaft and clutch. If you go to the track you will need at least a 6-point roll bar for your new 10-sec car and of course, the street tires won't hook up so you need a set of slicks, which will break the rear end requiring you to buy a 12-bolt or 9", etc., etc. Then you need the nitrous system. Now your car is appraching 9 seconds and the tranny is inadequate. Probably time for a TH400 and 12-point roll cage. Did I forget the helmet and driving suit? You have now spent ~$30,000 on your little project, at a minimum. Your car has been undrivable for 6-12 months, BTW. I know all this because I've "been there...done that".

I don't want to discourage you, just want to inject a note of realism. This game gets expensive fast. I think you should go a different route. Start with a basic rebuild and then do the heads and a cam. Fun, relatiuvely cheap, you will learn a lot about your car, etc.

Rich Krause

 

Ok wow maybe i dont want to do that then i dont think ill pput 30 k in my car . I just want my engine to be able to handle more power and do a 383 kit. I guess i have to rethink my plan. Thanks for the help.

 

I guess I want to get my car into the low 11 sec range eventually but it will still be my daily driver. Any suggestions.

 

Probably not quite 11's but GolensEngineService.com has rebuilt 383 that might stand a 150 dry nitrous. With the upgrades to suspension, wheels and tires, and rest of drivetrain still looking at 15,000.00

 

What would be the most reliable and streetable way to do it?

 

If you look around you can find NOS LT1 shortblocks.