Before I begin sorry for this long a$$ post. I've been doing a ton of research about engine stuffs and I think I'm at the point where I've learned as much as my amateur teenage brain can handle by myself and now I need more direct answers to figure out what I should do.

Ok so after having my car one the road for a little less than two months now its apparent something needs to be done about the engine situation. Its the stock 5.7L TPI with...wait for it...180,000(ish) miles!

Already in the last two months I've had to dump about $1500 into it because of various problems that pop up while driving it and its still not running right. It makes me sick thinking about having to throw more money into this tired old engine so I've been researching about a new engine.

At first I was thinking about just rebuilding my engine maybe making it a stroker and try to get around 350hp and I would have been happy with that but then I thought an LT1 or LS1 would be a better bang for my buck. For some reason I like the LT1 (thats not a mistake!) better than the LS1. Maybe because its cheaper or because it seems like a more straightforward swap (at least from what I've read correct me if I'm wrong) or because I'm in love with the sound after I saw a 4th gen LT1 with a magnaflow drive through a parking lot I was in about a month ago but I just like it more for some reason. But then after that I decided that that just wasn't enough because I'm sick of my friend in his procharged v6 Saleen Mustang (about 500hp) just mopping the street with my car and making it look like Prius lol.

So now I'm determined to turn my car into a street monster like his and be able to beat him for the sake of all Camaros and now I'm wondering how I should go about this. I know my tpi is pretty much out of the question. Could I make an LT1 get that much power? What if I make it an LT1 383 stroker? Or would the LS1 be a better route? Or should I just buy a crate engine? Which kind of crate engine would be best?

As for my budget I don't really have one right now because this won't be happening for a while at least next winter but truthfully I could even wait till next spring to save up more money because I'll be at college anyway and wouldn't be able to drive it much. I'm just trying to figure out a gameplan so I know what to save up for and how much to save up because I know this won't be cheap. Starting next week when schools out I'll have a full time job and two part time jobs all summer then back to a part time job again during college and I also have my high school grad party too. My sister got almost $4000 at hers (we have a big family and a lot of family friends lol) so if I get anywhere near that that will help a lot. So by the time I'm ready to do this I should have a decent chunk of change saved up but I'm still trying to do this as cheap as possible.

Also I don't want to have a procharger supercharger turbocharger or any other kind of charger on it (at least not yet)

So if you guys that are pros at this could help me me decide which route to take, parts I need, perspective price and what not I would appreciate it so much.

And also if you wanna post pics of your engine swaps/rebuilds with what you did and how much you spent and how much power you get with your setup feel free I'd love to see it so I could possibly get some new ideas and also because I know you guys love to show off your hard work as much as possible

Thanks again for your help!

 

Cheapest thing to do is to Rebuild the engine in your car (350 Tpi)

If you're not looking to do that and want more power/gas economy, LS based engines are the way to go. Great engine/s that are responsive to mods.

Get a 5.3, and an intake to fit a carburetor, or just go with the fuel injection(more work) but I think you'd be happy with that.

 

To make that kind of power out of a LT1 or an gen I small block, youd end up needing a large cam with a rough idle. And if you do it it wont be cheap. yeah sure you could build a 383 with cast everything but at 500 hp I wouldnt trust it to run for long at all. I happen to know that you can build a fully forged 383 stroker putting out 500-520ish hp for roughly 5600( I only know cause I have been pricing out a motor) LS1's you can build that power and tune out most of the cam if you get someone who is good at making a tune.And if you want to run that kinda power you can kiss your t-5 bye bye, the 10 bolt wont last too long either.

 

Are you really going to build a "beast", or just pussyfoot around?

http://sdparts.com/details/mast-motorsports/mms113-402

Plus another ten-fifteen grand to handle the power.

Now THAT would be a NA "beast".

 

For the 383 when you said it wouldn't last long do you mean mileage wise or run for long at one time before overheating or something else? As for tranny right now I have an automatic but I knew that and the rearend wouldn't be able to handle something like that so I was thinking I would get a T-56 and a 9 bolt. I almost feel like the LS1 is out of the question because people are spending up to $10k to swap a stock one and then there'd be the price of building it up to get to 500 hp. Is it just unrealistic to think I could do this for anywhere south of like $10k? Because my endgame to these questions to see if by next summer I could have a car that would beat my friends Mustang.

 

Haha that would definitely be the beastiest of beasts but I'd have to win the powerball to be able to do that. Or maybe one day when I'm rich and famous for something I've yet to figure out yet

 

I'm sure he spent more than that on the Saleen.

T56 conversion - ~$1500-$2000 (assume new flywheel & clutch, along with pedals, hydraulics)
9" (or S60 or 12-bolt) - ~$2500-$3000 (don't forget brakes, driveshaft)

That leaves you $5000-$6000 for the engine build. A 500 horse 383 will probably cost you more than that if you want it to last, but it could probably be done if you find deals and do as much of the work yourself as possible.

Personally, I'd go 6.0 LS with automatic. 500 HP more likely, auto less expensive than manual (and often quicker).

BTW, girls always get more than guys, so plan on working longer to save up the funds.

 

Yeah he spent about $30k on the Saleen its an 08 I was just saying I want to keep what I spend around $10k and be faster than him in the end.

I think you're right and I should just stick to automatic for price reasons and I just looked at some 6.0 ls2 swaps real quick it seems like it would be about $8k for the swap total. Does that sound about right? More/less? Also if I would swap it in how much more potential does it have hp wise with bolt on stuff that can be put in later with the engine already in?

 

LS2's will probably be more expensive than an LQ4 or LQ9 from a truck. You'd have to change intake, oil pan, and accessories to f-body pieces if you start with a truck engine, but that would still cost you less than the LS2 would.

The big expense with the LS swap vs. SBC is exhaust. Inexpensive headers just aren't out there. Unless you know someone who would give you a deal on exhaust work, that's another expense (nothing bolt-on really out there). I'd plan at least $2k for good exhaust. The other small stuff to get it in the car will run you about $500 (assuming you do the wiring yourself). That means you'd have to find a 6.0 and transmission for $3500 - possible, but that wouldn't leave anything for higher stall torque converter or cam, which would be needed for the power levels you're talking about.

Bottom line: It's not easy to outrun a $30k car by spending less than a third of that.

 

No truer words have ever been spoken.

 

Yeah that's becoming increasing apparent to me now lol. I'm slowly starting to revert back to my original idea to just be happy with a LT1 and accept the fact that I'll never be able to beat his god damned v6 Mustang

 

With you going to college next year, and trust me on this one, You won't have money to spend on major upgrades for your car, let alone an engine capable of out performing your friends saleen.

 

You may be right but I certainly hope not because I'll still be working 4-5 days a week.

 

Also I think I've decided what I want to save up for: LT1/T56 maybe ported heads and an upgraded cam and then I'll have a fun as hell street car. Any thoughts?