My buddy has been looking for a car and he's found one that he likes. it's a 97 trans am with a 6-speed. it's got the normal bolt ons, ported stock heads, small cam, and a procharger pushing like 8 pounds i think. i was wondering if anyone on here knows what these engines are like under boost. are there any do's and don't with this set up? he would be using it as a daily driver and race it some on the weekends. do you guys know if it would last long under those conditions or would it blow up pretty soon? thanks, any info would be appreciated.

 

If the motor is rebuilt with all the good stuff like forged pistons, rods, crank with the right compression ratio for a boosted motor then he should go for it. Otherwise tell him to plan on rebuilding it soon.

 

it is a stock block with stock internals. he really wants a daily driver that can hit low 12's high 11's and be reliable. is this combo the wrong one for that without having a built block?

 

Well, wanting & having a "reliable" low 12's/high 11's daily-driver that is supercharged w/ out a built motor are two totally different things. Honestly this isn't going to work out real well IMO if the motor is not built to handle it like the other guy just said (all forged internals, lower CR, upgraded fuel system, proper tune, etc.).

A stock LT1 isn't going to last long running 8lbs of boost (especially if you're racing the thing). So, if he's not going to beef up the motor to protect everything, he'll definitely end up blowing it all up and will cost him a ton to re-do it...

My advice, buy an LS1 and do all the bolt-ons (TONS of 11-second bolt-on only LS1's that are very reliable; if you don't believe me, go check out LS1Tech.com) if he wants a car that quick that is also very reliable. You could also drop in a descent cam too if you want a little more w/ out affectiving drivability much at all. OR, if he must have an LT1, he can do a heads/cam set-up + all the bolt-ons or just build an all-forged motor like suggested and slap on an ATI blower. However, that last option would cost a pretty penney. But regardless, stay away from this '97 unless he has the funds set aside for an expensive rebuild...

Mike

 

Maybe 12's, and he should expect to rebuild the motor in 30,000 miles or less.

Thing about blowing a motor through supercharging is, you can look forward to rebuilding it! It always kinda excited me, until i had to do it lol.

 

thanks a lot for the advice guys. i appreciate it.