CAI, longtubes, cat-back or true duals, gears, stall, tune, drag radials, and a nitrous kit. And you wont even get close to 8k.

 

I want somthin to play around with street/stip, nothing that hits 200 just somethin that gets to 70-100mph quick lotta torque

 

You should be able to get a brand-new GM Performance Parts crate LS2 for about $6500. Ready to go.

Get a decent set of headers, and send your trans off to Frank Cahall (Cahall Performance Transmissions, 12SCNDZ on this board) for a rebuild.

Done. Your car will run 12's and it'll be reliable as hell. Plus, if you come into any more money, you can get HUGE horsepower out of that powerplant.

 

I'd say take the 8K put it in the bank once you dive into the black hole of car mod's.. your wallet will never be the same...

 

That's the TRUTH!!!!!!!!!!!!!! The only smily I can put back here is this one.

 

Hush now, why shouldn't he be broke too.

 

You will love the lq4 swap then. lq4's have gobs amount of torque (380 lbs). They are more reliable than an ls1. cheaper than an ls1. and it would be a relatively cheap swap. and the end result would be a better platform than an lturd1

 

Somebody's lacking in the math department... That totals $799.80... Not exactly a nice round number.

 

I say first step buy an interface cable and become familiar with your tuning options. Too many people can't tune their own car and the only excuse is laziness. Don't wait weeks for your mail order tune to come back. Tuning is something you will never escape,,, there is always room for improvment, and many different mods will need an adjustment.

The basics in sort of order: short shifter, CAI, exhaust, headers, gears, stall or clutch, subframes and your choice of suspension parts,

And I am a member of the "if it ain't broke" club. When I trashed my stock bottom end my heads, cam, valvetrain all survived - I moved them straight to the new motor. Thats not a for sure thing but if you have a running motor I don't see a reason to buy a new one yet.

And save some of the money.

 

I'd say sell the car. Take that money and put it in the bank. Use the $8000 for a ls1

 

then he will have no money and a 13 second car

 

I like the LS2 route too...problem is he'll break the $8k budget before turning a single wrench himself. My next swap for my Z28 will be a LS2/LS3 powerplant.

 

For those obsessed with an ls swap, look into the 5.3 truck motors. Complete motor, tranny, harness, everything has been seen for $2k before

 

you can get a dropout lq4 for that price.

6.0 > 5.3

would be an easier swap

and again, a better base platform.

 

theres a 6.0L truck motor in my paper with harness, computer, everything for 2k with 38k on it.