Friend of mine just bought a brand new 2002 WS6 TA LS1-6speed. I'm stuck with my LO3-700R4. I thought of going with L31 heads, LT1 cam, suspension upgrades, rear(3.42)w/posi, and then start writing some PROMs to tune it but I son't know, those LS1's are tough. He'll probably take it easy for the first couple thousand miles(if he is smart). I thought a 400 block was as good as mine but my friend retracted his offer . So, I either have to get this LO3 hoppin, or start working hhard to buy that ZZ4 shortblock. Ideas anyone if the LO3 can be made to match and still maintain daily drivability?

 

my advice...look for a new car lol

Or...swap engines. The amount of money that would have to be put into making a 305 run with your friend's new ride would more than justify a new crate motor. Check out Edelbrock's Ram Jet 350. . . Fuel injected, LOTS of power/torque and about $5000.

AND/Or...invest in all the NOS you can get

Or...you could accept that our cars aren't going to beat everybody. Just depends on how much green you have sitting around I guess.

 

time for 383 TBI

 

HELL YEAH!!!! 383 all the way baby!!!!! With the proper buildup you can get 415hp and 500f/p out of that baby! When I do my swap next year, you'd better believe that's what's going in!

 

maybe some vortec heads and a bored out vortec tbi intake. 2" bores, 1-3/4 headers....

 

If you are talkin about the power figures from the 383 they built up in Hot Rod, that was some serious power. But the cam they used would never work with fuel injection.

You can make your Camaro just as fast as the LS1 and save $10,000.

 

Yes, if you want to run with his new car about $3000-$4000 will do it. Where I run the new ones run low 14's and high 13's on street tires, I am right there without even putting on my headers.

 

Around here most LS1's run low 13's.

 

yup.
LS1s run low 13s stock and high 12s with very little work.

 

Well, then it stands to reason if they are running low 13's then I would also run low 13's. Are these corrected times or are they straight times like mine? Do you know for a fact that these are unmodded cars? Really on street tires the suckers have about half the traction problems that I do and they run right beside me. Also maybe my track just sucks because my car feels a lot faster than low 14's on street tires. If you build something like mine, you will be able to beat the new LS1's if you will put headers on, I haven't yet. It doesn't cost an arm and a leg to go fast just reasonable, intelligent building. Good luck!!

 

http://www.ls1.com/forums/showthread.php?threadid=69497

 

You really can't compare the LS1 to the 1st gen small blocks. The LS1 makes around 350hp, gets great gas milage, and costs an arm and a leg to hop up. I just recently looked in the back of Summit Racing and was ashamed at the cost of the Lt1/Ls1 parts.
Anyways...LS1 = awesome motor but it's a PITA to swap into a thirdgen. The Lt1 isn't much better considering it's aftermarket is still pretty expensive.
Solution: Traditional small block 350 with vortec heads and an Lt4 hot cam = 422hp. That's good for mid 12 passes with traction.
383 stroker is nice but those stroker motors are still expensive. I hope to be running with those Ls1's after some traction/suspension work and some more tuning. I'll be short ~20hp on them but I think with some weight reduction I can handle em .
To keep daily driver status, make sure you go with a roller cam. More power with a better overall drivability.

 

That is what I call intelligent building, the engine suggested by JPrevost, not expensive, yet very powerful. I am not arguing with the numbers anyone else is putting up here, I am just saying that I have not seen a stock LS1 on street tires do any better than a 13.7, could be all bad drivers, could be a crappy track. I do not claim to be an expert, but I know that they are not much faster if any than my car, they run right beside me at the track. I have no reason to try and impress anyone here and that is not my intention. I am only here to help where I can and provide some intelligent input to some questions. If you build your car identical to mine it will be a fast sumb***h, however if you choose to do it another way fine, just pick your components to match your car and you will also be fast. My stroker altogether cost aorund $2200-$2500 to build, much cheaper than a crate engine and tons more satisfaction. Beating an LS1 shouldn't really be your goal because every year the sports cars get faster and you will always be behind even though they sadly quit making the Camaro/Firebird.

 

Really? I'm surprised you can get that much power out of that setup just because it took
:Fastburn Heads, Lt4 hotcam, as you stated, 1.6 rockers, improved intake to get the ZZ4 up to the ZZ430.

Not saying your wrong, but theres a few superior componets in the ZZ430 setup and you say you can make that much power. Heck I could but the L98 shortblock, then *** that setup, should be a nice setup for around $2000, maybe even beat that new 2003 cobra at the track
Or would it be worth it to go with the ZZ4 shortblock? Thanks for your imput guys.

 

Really...yes, really. Not sayint it's exactly 422hp but considering Hot Rod took the GM crate 330hp motor, machined the heads for larger lift, installed the hot cam and an RPM air gap for a 412hp on the dyno. Then they swapped on the Victor Jr. and made an extra 10hp.
The Fastburns are nice heads but don't forget that iron heads will make more power than aluminum versions of the same heads with similar compression.
Article part 1 Part 2
Yes it's a 355 and yes the compression was bumped up slightly (smaller head gasket) but I'd expect 415hp at least from the crate motor and that cam/intake combo.

 

At my track they run high 13's, low 14's, six speeds too.

A few guys run low 13's or high 12's but they got NOS.

 

Thanks for assuring me that I wasn't smoking a crack pipe or something Keith5.