hey. I suppose i am still a newb to the Third Gen scene, but i know enough to get along and have been searching for the perfect 3rd gen for almost a year now. I believe that i am finally getting close to what i am looking for, and i am now starting to try and figure out what i want to do to have some serious speed.

As far as i see it, swaps are the best place to start. So i was wondering, whats the best engine for the $? my final absolute goal some years down the road is between 400 and 500 hp and or torque specs. Probably at the engine, since thats alot more if it was at the wheels. I have been looking at all kinds of options and am just not sure whats the best way to get there. This is because i am on a SERIOUS budget. Cars are my passion, but money is my downfall. On the plus side, i can do anything short of machine work. I just don't have the skills (or tools for that matter) to do that kind of work. I would have to pay someone to do it. Oh, and i have several junkyards at my disposal, so that always helps.

Anyways, some engines i have been kicking around include: well built, rock solid 355. Similarly rock solid 383 (vortec? idk. seems engines labeled "vortec" are good values), or some kind of BBC swap. I've also been pondering the merit of building a LT1 or LT4 (have a friend sitting on a LT4 right now. n ot really sure what hes gonna do with it, but it doesn't look like its going to go into anythign HE builds).

So could you guys please help steer me in the right direction? I'm just trying to establish a budget here and get all my parts in a line.

Cliffnotes:
no car yet, but soon
preparing the grand plan. 400-500 hp at engine?
unimaginably tight budget. counting the pennies here.
Not sure what engine is best for the money. Needs to be dependable, cheap.
Obviously in no rush. just preparing the blueprints/plans
355,383,BBC,Lt1,LT4 current ideas.
all comments welcome!


Thanks for any help you can give! Any advice at all is welcomed, positive or negative!

 

well on a budget, unless the lt4 works out, a carb is the way to go.

 

thats the general consensus that ive gotten.

Any ideas on the best way to go with a carb engine? Like i said, got plenty of junkyard rat buddies, along with a few other connections, and i can find almost anything if i look hard enough, i just dont know what to look for

 

looks like you are in the same boat i am in except i already got a car. So far my choices are ls1,6.0 vortec and 383 ramjet. People say carb is cheapest but it's hard to get any good gas millage of carb unless you really know how to tune them or have access to somebody who can tune it once a month or so. In the long run i would say fuel injected actually might be the cheapest depending if it's going to be daily driven. if reliability and millage is a concern i would say it's time for ls1, or that lt4 that your friend is sitting on

 

In Carb vs Fuel Injection, getting that much power will require replacing all injection parts with aftermarket stuff (TPI anyway), so would be VERY expensive and require custom tuning, and you would probably still miss your goals because the TPI is so restrictive by design. And LS1 with heads/cam/longtubes will get about 400+ RWHP, so would best suit your goals, but they are currently expensive and a hassle to install. An LT1 bolts in pretty easily physically, but the wiring, etc is not easy. It would also need significant mods to get you to your goal.

You also didn't specifiy if you need to pass smog regulations, this will also cost time. money and power to do so. The great thing about getting an older carbureted car is that you can swap a "good" and an "emissions compliant" carb back and forth very easily, and even if you needed to swap on a different intake manifold for smog testing, it's much easier than trying to get that kind of power out of a TPI system.

Just my 2 Cents

TA


TA

 

you could do a ls1 swap with a cam, i have a friedn that has a cam olny ls1 thats puts down 420+rwhp, thats with a 6 speed, if you get a donor ls1 and t56 all u would have to upgrade would be the rod bolts and clutch to support that kind of power. or you can search cz28.com or a simliar website and look for some built up lt1's. they have them everyonce and a hwile with about 500 hp for about 3 k, thats a steal

 

let see. where to start. fuel mileage isnt a issue.I just want to have a dependable rocket thats all. Tuning carbs is the least of my problems, trust me. And emissons isnt an issue,a i plan to register it as a "specially constructed vehicle" which exempts it from emissions.

I would love to do a full LS1, T56 swap, but thats just so so so so expensive. I'm just not sure ill e able to find one worth the price. Although if i can find a 98 LS1 fbody with a recently aquired "R" title, but with a surviving T56, and LS1, that may be a possibility. Im really not sure how much totalled 4th gens go for. LS1's that is.


also, could i have any reason to consider forced injection? just get a nice, strong, cheaper 350/355 etc and strap on a nice Weiand 142 or 144 and run up the boost. That should get me to my goals as well coudn't it? and as long as i made sure the compression was low enough, the engineshould be fine? Thoughts? i know very little about superchargers.

 

I had the same question over in the renovation forum and got pretty much the same reply, ls1 ls1 ls1.

I see where you are leaning and I am leaning the same way. I will probably drop my v6 and put in a nice reliable 350 that I can tune it up without chipping or worrying about sensors or none of that. Yes, it is old school.

But I understand your budgetary constraints. If it is like mine, it is trickle not 100% liquid right now. Plus I have time on my side. I can wait out life's little bumps etc until I get the car like I want it.

Just wanted to let you know I'm voting with you!

 

right on!

my budget is indeed, a trickle.. at best. Only getting an extra $100 a week at the best of times for my fbody fund. over the last month or two of summer, money was pouring in (for me anyways.. $20 is big money.. american poor ftw lol) and it looked like things were gonna get done here, but then some things happened and my budgets tight now. and im just riding it out.


although i have given the LS1 alot of thought the last few hours.. perhaps it deserves more credit then i give it. Im wondering if i look long and hard enough that it wouldnt be the best choice... who knows.


whats the merits of LT1 v LS1 btw?? ive heard the argument thousands of times, just want another take on it from my perspective if theres anyone knowledgable out there

 

just to let you know, i'm on tight budget and decided on 383 ramjet because i can use existing tpi harness and trans that i have. ls1 was just turning out too expensive for me

 

where did you pick that up? costs? specs on the engine? I've also been looking at some crate 383's and wondering how yours compairs.


edit: im not sure, but i think i forgot to mention that i have a GM employer discount on most parts through my father. If that makes any difference that is

 

well if you just want a starter motor for a decent price then get the GM 350 crate motor. ya it's only 290 ft/lbs of tq but it's a start. It's also a two piece rear main seal but it runs great and has a guarantee.
Also I would say depending on the car you are getting that might change the set up too. like if it's TPI, TBI or carb. If it already has fuel injection then the wiring and computer take alot of the cost away. I say look online for a 383 if you have cash or a 350 with the idea of building it up later. LS1 and LT1 are too expensive for your application. They are nice but you have to pay for that nice especially in aftermarket parts to wake them up.

 

I recently went through the "what do I want?" process. I knew I wanted a manual transmission, with our cars that pretty much means T56. With a Gen I engine, that means LT1 T56.

Then, how about improving the current Gen I SBC? Heads, cam and intake could be presumed, so add up those costs. Improving exhaust over what I have would mean long tubes and some creative routing to maintain decent ground clearance.

I then considered LT1 - pretty good engine as-is, easy to improve.

My decision? LS1/T56 made the most sense. Probably not the least expensive, but certainly good as it comes from the factory, and improvements make a big difference. No doubt it is the platform of the future.

 

ive been thinking even more and would love an LS1/T56 swap, but i think the fanciest i could really get would be a Lt1/Lt4 T56 swap. LS1s just come with all kinds of fun nightmares of their own and are just too expensive.

and although i dont have a car yet, im playin' phone tag with a guy. car is a black 1989 IRoc-Z 305TPI T5 car with a hardtop. absolutly no rust. car was built in CA, and the no rust leads me to believe it only recently arrived in PA. aka, the rusty he11. issues with it are that it needs injectors and some electrical work done if i diagnosed it right. also needs cats cause he gutted them, but ill just go duel cats on the build up. other then that and some paint, the car is a very solid base. just some info.

also, have 2 parts cars coming, so i'll be stripping them foor some extra cash. somehow i managed to get both of them for absolutly free... ones even almost nice enough that it has me considering building off it..


oh, and one engine i was considering, besides LTX:
http://www.blueprintengines.com/star...pecs&sye_id=12

 

If you want EFI, and LS1 would be less expensive than Gen I for 397 horses.

You're going exactly where I was. My conclusion was if you don't stay Gen I, then LSx is the only sensible route (no offense to LTx'rs - reality bites). And, when you talk EFI, Gen I gets real expensive real fast - which brings LSx back into the picture.

Not to say there aren't viable Gen I routes. And certainly not to say LSx is cheap - it ain't. If you'll notice, though, there are a lot more ads in mainstream car magazines for established speed parts suppliers that feature LSx parts.

 

i suppose this is true.. ill just have to keep thinking it over.. theres so many ways to do it that its very confusing to me lol


edit: this could be intersting. it went off ebay last night for far less than i thought it would. less than an hour away. could provide a decent base and a strong enough engine to keep me happy while i save $.. maybe ill havta go see it in person since it didnt sell on E-bay... even though this is a swap board, thoughts?
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eB...ksid=p3907.m29

 

looks real nice from what i see (which is little). love the black!

And yes the LS1 has lots of fun stuff to deal with! and lets be honest the ignition is problem #1 and thats about 400+ bucks to upgrade.

 

found somthing interesting: http://tinyurl.com/2uvjn8


see this car everyday on my way to work/school/etc. nice car. could drive for a bit and sell for profit in spring maybe???


i have a question about the LS1 btw. what is the cost of parts and pieces for the entire LS1/T56 swap if i had.. say, a donor car?

 

Ignition "problems" were the Optispark of the LT1. I've never heard of an ignition problem with LS1.

 

wasn't the biggest problem with the optispark that it was tucked way deep down in some crevice of the engine??? and i think that it was changed on the Ls1 so yeah, no ignition problems..

/chalks another +1 up for the LSX