Hi guys I have an opinion based question for all of ya. As noted in my sig., I have a blown LT1 with forged internals. The LT1 is still a 350 and is running 9lbs of boost right now, with a custom blower cam. My goal is to sometime relatively soon reach a peak output of 500-600rwhp. Right now, I have close to 450hp at the crank. My question is, whats the best (cheapest & reliable if possible) way to get nother 100rwhp or so...not wanting to do nitrous. Should I do an LE2 head job..also swap cam out or what? Or should I drop the blower and just go with a h/c combo. Or should I just do a stroker kit and keep the blower? If I do a stroker it would be a 383. And one last question, can I Just change the crank and do a .030 overbore, instead of buying a whole kit when I already have forged parts?
Other mods: Pretty much full boltons, wanting to still do 1.6 rr next year.

Any suggestions and reasoning why would be appreciated. I have to know how much money to save up too. Thanks.
-Adam

 

>if money is no object then go with a better (bigger head unit) and as always more flow = more horse power so do a better s/c cam and heads.
I really like having N2O with my T-trim, but hey thats me.

 

stock internals? replace them and add more boost. low compression pistons and all forged internals would go a really long way...and be reliable. without knowing everything in your motor i cant really suggest anything.

we need to know if it's tuned, what injectors your running, intake, exhaust, throttle body, heads, rotating assembly, rockers/lifters, fuel pressure, ECM tune...and any other info you can give.

for now, a 355 blower setup will net you somewhere in the 600 range

 

All of the internals are forged, I have a 52mm throttle body, I believe 42lb injectors, stock heads and an fireall ignition box. I have a 4'' K&N conical filter, a borla catack, stock 1.5rr's and long tubes w/off road y-pipe....like I said almost full boltons. Everything is all setup to take a beating on the inside. I have a pully for 12lbs of boost waiting to be installed. I also had it dynotuned. I just like the lowend grunt of a 383. So I should keep the cubes 350 and do a head job keeping the blower?

 

deff. get aftermarket heads and port the intake manifold.go with a 58mm TB

 

Find out the compression ratio. That is the limiting factor on how much boost you can safely run. I'd get a set of Trickflows due to increased chamber(to lower comp.) and have them ported out by a respected head porter. 500 Hp is more than possible with a 355 and boost. Good luck.

 

ported TFS heads and a monoblade TB or 58mm TB.
bigger boost
keep the 350 as is.
1.6 rockers
bigger cam

that's about all you should need.

 

If you have low enough CR, simply up the boost.

If you can't because of the CR, or don't want to up the boost, changing from the stock heads to a set of fully ported aftermarket ones on your blower car will EASILY gain you another 100 hp.

 

What about intercooling and or water/alcohol injection so you can safely add more boost to your present setup?
Probably the cheapest and easiest way.

 

I have an intercooler already and for all those wondering aout compression, it is 8.8:1. I plan on running 12lbs next year and if there is any confusion, the 100hp i want is rwhp. Basically, I want to hit the limit of safe streetability in terms of traction on nitto 275 street tires....could do 315's but idk yet. I also was wondering if I should change the rearend out at the same time I do a head/cam job and last but not least, if 3.73 is too high for all that power, right now i have 3.23. Thanks
-Adam

 

Your traction vs. power is going to depend on your suspension.

I have Nitto DR's in the back, along with 590 RWHP on 3.73's. My suspension is set up perfect, and my cam doesn't really make the crazy power until the boost kicks in, and by that time I am already rolling. I still spin a bit, but if I heat the tires up well, and granny shift (meaning not taking it up to 7,000 RPM) then the spinning is almost non existant even with my near 600 RWHP.

Your CR is extremly low IMO (I am not sure why you wanted that low actually), so if everything is forged, you should be able to handle a SHLOAD of boost! I wouldn't stop at 12 #'s if you are looking for an easy 100 RWHP, I would find a pully to max out the boost. (BTW, what supercharger do you have?) You can finese power by fine tuning your suspension. I feel as though I am almost maxed out on finesing mine though. IMO 600-675 RWHP is about the most you will be able to control without loosing a vast amount of traction (at least for a street car) and thats maxing out on suspension goodies.

It all really depends on;
1. how much you want to spend
2. what kind of setup you want your car to have for the given RWHP (this will primarily depend on what you are looking to do. Is it a street car? Are you like me in the sense of just wanting max power for traction? Are you just looking to break a RWHP # for a dyno sheet?, ect.)

 

I have a vortec V-trim i believe (was on the car when i bought it) and the compression was already set that low w/ a dynotune. Boost is fun, but lacks the lowend grunt that a stroker or even a H/C combo might give. Idk how much boost the blower can put out reliably and consistenly.

 

I suspect there is a compressor map for the blower simular to turbos. you can see at what boost levels you are actually making more power or just heating the air...

 

Well, I am vaguely familiar with Vortecs blowers below the T-trim series, but I am guessing that if it is a "V" trim, that it is equal to ATI's P1SC, in which case the blower can only put out so much boost before it is maxed out (maybe 10-12#'s or so). Also, having a CR that low will undoubtingly hurt your low end performance, and also cause you more lag. The easiest solution to me seems to change up your cam. Possibly go with something custom to give you that low end you are lacking and still be able to perform decent up top (possibly a 230/234 cam). If you are looking for that 100 extra RWHP, you may want to get a good set of heads as well. This will take care of the power level down low, as well as add your total wanted ponies.

 

The CR is good! Low static CR + boost is the way to make big hp on crappy pump gas. I agree with the poster who said water injection + more boost. Water/alcohol injection is also very helpful making hp on the swill coming out of the gas pumps these days. Max out your blower at the desired rpm and see what kind of power it makes. What kind of duration on the cam and what blower?

Rich