i'm going to use new induction on a rebuilt 355 for my '83 zee..i know the tpi has issues with top end hp and was somewhat corrected with the lt-1 and it's short runners....but is it worth the hassle of swapping in the lt-1 intake on a gen 1 small block? with the reverse coolant flow, omni-spark...is it really worth the trouble?....guys?

 

Opti-Spark, non Omni-spark. Sorry, it's nitpicking I know.

From my understand of the LT1 intake swap, a hole needs to be drilled into the intake for the distributor and a shim to have it sit correctly. An external coolant ( I forget the name, I am sorry, too early in the morning I guess )......LT1 intakes don't allow the coolant to go right into the intake manifold.

As for the gains, for reasons unknown, no one has dynoed a stock car with just the LT1 intake. I think it would be a invaluable to this club if someone would. With an intake like the stealth ram which is very similar to the Lt1 intake, you lose lowend torque but gain a ton of upper horsepower. Now it might be worth it, but you would need a new cam and heads to take advantage of the extra breathing or else your car will only be a couple tenths faster and you would lose those precious foot pounds of torque that the TPI produces.

Basically, you are only a tad faster, but the car isn't as fun off the line.

 

Lt1 is hardly worth struggling with. I would go heavily ported tpi and enjoy hellacious torque. Or stealthram it and enjoy.

 

Intake vs. intake, LT1 will shine in the HP dept.

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