Ok I just got off the phone with SD about convering to the vortec heads, hotcam, and their intake. By the time you have the vortecs modded to work with the hotcam...the kit is approaching 1800 bucks plus shipping. This includes GM Bowtie 1.6 roller rockers, SD vortec intake, Vortec heads modded to take the lift of the hotcam, hotcam, gaskets, new headbolts...etc I am wondering if there would be a better choice in heads. Ones that make comparable numbers in the 800-900 price range that will support the LT-4 hotcam.

Once this project bumped over $1500 I started thinking of the limitations that I am putting on future upgrades by using vortecs. I am looking for options that will make similiar power to the vortec, SD intake, and LT-4 hotcam. Anyone have any suggestions. Believe me the thougth has crossed my mind that for 2k more I could just put a procharger on the thing and be off to the races.

btw Their estimated power output with these mods (including headers) was 335 ish (possibly 350 whatever that means) at the flywheel. This just cant be the most economical way other than nitrious to add 100 hp. Please let me know if I am way off of the mark. As enticing as the vortec heads seem to be...if this is gonna approach $2000 it seems to me I would be better off to buy some AFR heads and a hotcam and call it a day. Then at a later date find a intake that really wakes it up. Heck if you dont have to have the vortec style intake...it seems there are plenty of affordable options.

Jason

 

What kind of car do you have, current mods, timeslips, etc.?
What do you want to do with the car, etc.?
What is your budget...spend all at once, or monthly, etc.?

If your looking for good, cheap power, Vortec heads are fine if you want to spend $450-$750 on heads including valvetrain, and you have a die grinder and some porting bits. The TPI system will be the limiting factor for horsepower potential.

Did you ask SD for their recommendation on what cam to use with their heads/intake, and your car? Why stuck on the LT4 HC?

 

The car is basically stock. It has a hypertech chip (came with the car), accell fuel injectors, and a set of A.I.R. headers by headman that will be installed once it reaches me. I am USAF stationed in Germany and the car is still in shipment....trying to get a jump on it getting here and have parts waiting.

Current plan is AFR's (maybe trick flows) with LT-1 intake and either a LT-4 hotcam or custom grind from Joe Overton. Have to give him a call on monday and see what he thinks. I want to shift the car at 6k. Don't want to get into rebuilding the bottom end just yet.

Thanks

Jason

Edit forgot to expalin car completely. 1988 Iroc with L-98 (headers, accell injectors think 24lb/hr, 3 inch exhaust, flowmster, and hypertech chip that will be replaced my custom prom when this is done) and 700r4. Will be daily driven. Want to keep it streetable and not rev over 6k. 12s on street would be nice. Prefer to keep the initial spend under 3k. Probably add a 2200-2400 stall either at same time or shortly afterwards.

 

Your getting the cart before the horse "so to speak".

If it were me, I'd at least wait until I drove the car, had time to get a feel for its needs before running out and buying a bunch of parts. A potential tuneup including filters, fluids, compression checks, etc. being the 1st on my list...no matter what mileage.

Having said that:
I'd go with the Holley Stealth Ram by grumpyvette (do a search)...and when getting in touch with him get his advice.
Consider Canfield heads
Get Comp Cams to recommend valvetrain and camshaft
Use ARP bolts when replacing such
Get involved in burning your own proms

You should start hitting 11s, not 12s.

Start thinking about driveline components and suspension. 6000 rpm shifts with power to go with it will make your tranny unhappy.

My $0.02

 

No, not really getting the cart before the horse. These mods need to be done shortly after the car arrives in Germany. My other vehicle (2003 Toyota MR-2 Spyder) will be sold as soon as the mods are completed. All of these parts need to be in place here when the car arrives.

All the fluids (radiator, differential, engine, tranny) and major scheduled maintenance (shocks, struts, pitman arm, radiator, plugs, wires, rotor, cap, etc) were accomplished less than 2k miles ago. Good point, a compression check certainly wont hurt and will only take a few minutes to complete.

As for deciding what this car needs, this is my fouth 3rd gen car, but it is also the first one that I am going to do any serious horsepower mods to. The performance of the car in stock trim is fun, but I want more.

I have done a good bit of reading about the Holley stealth ram. The clearance under hood even in a IROC seems pretty minimal. The difference between it and the LT-1 from the info I have been able to find appears to be minimal. From what I understand the HSR builds more torque down low, but this car is gonna be traction limited on the street with either intake I think. I still haven't ruled out the stealth ram. That is why I am asking these questions and doing all this reading.

I have never heard of Canfield heads. Where can I find more information on them? As for burning my own prom, that has been my hope all along. A friend of mine over here has a bit of experience in prom burning. The big hangup is finding a dyno in the area. I am sure that there is one somewhere, it is just a matter of what the costs over here for dyno time will be. Should be worth the money as long as its not hugely expensive. If so, track tuning can work to a point, or I can hopefully find someone with experiece that can get one that is "close"

I am going to look at several options when it comes to camshafts. Comp cams is on my list. (6 to 9 hour time difference makes contacting peeps a pain sometimes..esp west coast companies) Orginally I thought I wanted a LT-4 hotcam, but it seems that I can run a much better cam that that with AFR heads. If I had to purchase today these are the items that I would buy.

AFR 195s (1300 ish)
LT-1 Intake (400)
LT-4 hotcam or something simliar (175)
1.6 ratio roller GM Bowtie rockers (225 ish)
an Adjustable Fuel Pressure Regulator (75-100?)
a custom burned prom to make it all work (time more than anything as long as I dont break the engine LOL)
2200 stall (any suggestions on name brands...should i use 2400?)

These are installed or come with the car

B&M shift improver kit
Headman A.I.R. style headers
3 inch exhaust (installed)
flowmaster muffler (installed)
accell injectors (installed)

You are absolutely correct on the drive train issues. My biggest concern is munching the tranny. Buying a well built tranny from some place like 700r4.com (any other places you would recommend?) is not a problem....shipping it to germany is. Well its not a problem, it is just expensive. I dont really plan on putting drag slicks on the car and going to the track. Hopefully the stock rear will hold up for a while until I can replace/upgrade it. Do you know of any mods that a reasonably mechanically inclined person can do to the stock tranny to help it hold up? The car comes with a B&M shift improver kit that I am considering installing (ideas?). I am also going to put a 'corvette' servo in the tranny to hopefully help it out some. While I am at it I was thinking of adding the 2200-2400 stall at that time, but I am concerned it may cause more problems (ideas?)

If the motor munches the drive train too quickly, I will just have to find a 'beater' car to drive while I do my repairs.

After the tranny I am mainly concerned with the differential. I am unsure if it has the 9 or 10 bolt. I am fairly certain it has the 3.23/3.27 gears. The guy I bought it from is no car guru, he had his brother (gm mechanic) do all the work, this guy just supplied the cash. As such, this info hasn't been attained just yet. We pushed the dead line to get it on the ship so close (next one wouldnt get it here till late april if we missed this one) that I haven't seen the RPO codes yet. I have seen the window sticker, it list the car as having the G80 posi unit, but it doesnt list the performance axel which is why I am assuming it is a 10 bolt. If he is correct on the RPMs it runs at 80 MPH then the car is 3.23 geared (2400 ish at 80).

Thanks for the reply. Deciding which way to go with engine mods is always the hardest part. Any and all input is welcome. Once the car gets here and the mods are done I will post how all of this turns out. I didn't expect to be able to cut 2.5 secs off of the 1/4 mile time. These cars ran about mid 14's stock from factory with the L98 right? I was hoping for somewhere in the 12.7-12.8 range. Maybe I am going too far for my goal, but if it breaks into the 11's so much the better.

Thanks again,

Jason

 

Check out the Canfield head flow numbers in this link:

http://www.chevyhiperformance.com/te...98/index5.html

http://www.canfieldheads.com/


quality heads for a good price...have seen them in magazines for $700 bare...

A good post for LT1 versus Stealth Ram:

https://www.thirdgen.org/techbb2/sho...hlight=miniram

Grumpyvette actually offers a Stealth Ram intake that will fit under Corvette hoods, which makes the IROC Camaro a piece of cake...and he can offer it flowing 300cfm as well. Thats 550-600 flywheel horspower potential. Right where you want to shift at 6000 rpm.



Some nice links you may or may not know about, but can use to help figure out your entire combo:
http://www.geocities.com/MotorCity/7610/dyno.htm

http://cochise.uia.net/pkelley2/

http://www.eecis.udel.edu/~davis/z28/
http://www.eecis.udel.edu/~davis/z28/winter01/dyno/

https://www.thirdgen.org/techbb2/sho...ht=stealth+ram

Truly concerned about plenum height:
http://www.fasterdeals.com/garageindex.html

Scan software will help tremendously for tuning.
Track tuning to me is more "realistic" than a dyno.

AFR are great heads.
LT1 I personally wouldn't go with. To me it seems more of a "risk" since it has to be modified just to fit. If you did yourself and trust your work, I'd say ok.
LT4 Hotcam is a good cam (not sure that it will make your shift point at 6000, though)
A few bucks more and Comp Cams Pro Mags are the best.
FPR is a good idea.
Seems like a low stall for a stout engine...I personally would go with Vigilante if possible...and see what they recommend. Your combo needs to be figured out, though. They will probably ask you everything but your unborn childs name.

I can't offer much on tranny. A local guy built mine, and it holds up fine for now, but my power levels aren't what yours would be. My big block car uses a TH350.

You'll just have to figure out your rear once you have it. 10 bolt is easier on the pocket book in the states for mods and repairs.

Hope this helps

 

I'll tell ya right now you aint gona do all that in under a $3k budget. Don't forget to add in all the little crap b/c it adds up fast. Just put the voretc and Hotcam in my car. I also bored it out and put new pistons, full exhaust, torque conv, and everything. Mines easy over $5k.

 

I have all of the stuff minus this. My math says that I can do these mods for under 3k. I was only referring to the engine mods too as well..not trans, diff, torque converter...etc.

AFR 195s (1300 ish)
LT-1 Intake (400)
LT-4 hotcam or something simliar (175)
1.6 ratio roller GM Bowtie rockers (225 ish)
an Adjustable Fuel Pressure Regulator (75-100?)
a custom burned prom to make it all work (time more than anything as long as I dont break the engine LOL)
2200 stall (any suggestions on name brands...should i use 2400?)

1300
400
175
225
-------
2100

add in 300 bucks for shippin and still have 600 left for misc parts and poor guesses on prices...doubt i am off that much...Cam could be 350 if i get a custom grind...that leaves 425 ish...still should be able to cover the remote T-stat and associated hardware for that I think.
Helps that I can do all the work myself. Should have enough left over to get a stall veter...but now considering just buying a 2nd tranny with a new verter that will handle the power output rather than destroy my current one. That will be 1275 plus shipping. So yah...adding the tranny and veter pushes it over 3k.

Jason

 

Stealth Ram ~500-750
Canfield Heads ~1000-1200 assembled
Comp Cams equip. ~250 cam, + springs and rockers...~600
prm burning ...say~200
Some ARP bolts say ~150

Total:$2900+/- using some slop and maybe some cost error ...in the ballpark for a good start.