We got the car running first on Sunday night. It started right up and we made a minor timing adjustment and it ran pretty well considering it still has the stock chip. This was also the first time that the new motor was cranked so it is still in the process of being properly broken in (about 300 miles on it so far). The car idles surprisingly well. I would've thought the computer (Speed Density) would have had a he// of a time idling with the Hot cam and LT4 intake. From the few pulls that I've made to about 3500 rpm it seems pretty strong. It likes to stumble a bit when I give it some throttle after about 2500-3000 so it definitely needs a custom prom to run right. As for the intake, the only problem I've had so far is a slight oil leak at the distributor. I was glad to see that there have yet to be any coolant or vacuum leaks. Thanks again to John Millican and Richard Rabine for all the documentation w/ pictures they did with the LT1 intake swap. I wouldn't have ever even considered this if it wasn't for them. As soon as I get my hands on a digital camera, I'll get some pics of mine up. I ran the coolant hoses slightly different than I've seen anyone else do and also, instead of mounting the coolant temp sensor in the thermostat housing, I drilled and tapped a hole in the back of the intake manifold like what was done in the front for the coolant hoses. I'll try to go hunting for a digital camera tonight to get the pics up.

Stephen

 

B|TCH'n!!!


I kinda thought the Idea of the coolant temp sensor was to be at your thermostat specifically? I mean.. your thermo opens up at say 180, so your ecm should pull data relating to heat at that part of the engine.. who knows I could be wrong. Seems the back of the block would always be a bit hotter than the rest.


Hope you get it dialed so i can hear how strong it pulls!

 

I don't see how the water would be any different in temperature. It's not like the water is getting any cooler or hotter (maybe a few degrees) as it passes through the motor. the only thing cooling the water is the radiator. So the water that is passing by the thermostat is the same water that was at the back of the heads seconds before. That's my take on it at least.

I literally can't wait. I need to get the Ed Wright prom, bigger injectors, and get my 3.73 gears installed. The rearend has been making some nice clunking noise for a while now so with the new motor, all it takes is one solid shift and I'm afraid the rear end will take a crap. Hopefully I'll get it dynoed when I have everything all dialed in. And of course, I'll be at the track the first chance I get.

 

Considering your engine is 0* when you start it, and 195* in a few minutes depending on how you drive im sure there can easily be a 20* veriant in different area's of the block, anywho....


How do you like the fast burns????

 

I have a mechanical temp sensor in the driver side head and the CTS in the remote t-stat I created. The head temp is always 20°F. hotter the the t-stat sensor.

 

Man can I call 'em

 

Well actually that could be right due to the remote housing. There is alot of rubber hose that the water flows through to get there so there could be a noticable temperature drop. But as for the location of the sensor in the stock intake, I can't see how it would be much cooler. That sensor is litteraly a couple inches from the front of the head. I don't know. Maybe I'm totally wrong.

 

Congrats. How long did it take you? I'm unfamiliar with fast burn heads, did you have to dremel the intake to get the ports to line up? Where did you get your intake?

 

Thats really cool... since fastburns are drilled for both standard and vortec style intakes, which did you go with?

 

Congradulations Steve !

 

The Fast Burn heads have the raised runner design of the Vortec heads(compared to a standard SBC head or an LT1 head). The LT4 intake also has slightly raised ports. When matching them up, I found out that the Fast Burn ports are slightly larger than the ports in the LT4 manifold. The good thing was that the bottom of the ports matched up pretty much perfectly. I ended up taking the die grinder to the tops of the ports in the LT4 manifold. I only had to take off about .1" of material. I bought a set of Felpro 1255 gaskets which have the Vortec and the standard bolt pattern drilled in them. They also have the Fast Burn sized intake ports. I gasket matched the intake to this gasket. I used the standard bolt pattern when I drilled the intake. There isn't enough material to be able to drill it for the Vortec bolt pattern.

I just got back from making a 5500 rpm run on a straght stretch of road and all I can say is.....WOW!! This was in 2nd gear and by the time I got to 5500 rpms I must've messed my pants. The car still had more in it. I can't wait till I get the custom prom and bigger injectors and get my 3.73 gears installed. Then I'll be able to find the full potential of this thing. can you say 6000 rpm shifts?

 

Oh yeah, I got my intake brand new from Scoggin Dickey for $180. I got a set of '95 fuel rails with an Aeromotive adjustable fuel pressure regulator for $100 from a guy on www.camaroz28.com . Me and a friend made the fuel lines at his dad's shop. Cost for that......$10 in hose.

 

Oh yeah, I got my intake brand new from Scoggin Dickey for $180. I got a set of '95 fuel rails with an Aeromotive adjustable fuel pressure regulator for $100 from a guy on www.camaroz28.com . Me and a friend made the fuel lines at his dad's shop. Cost for that......$10 in hose.

 

You're not surprised are you??

Great job!

 

Ok I wasn't too surprised. It did put a huge grin on my face though when I did it. Knowing that all the work paid off was such a relief. I reccomend to anyone looking for a new intake/heads combo to go with the LT4 intake and Fast Burn heads. Swap in an even bigger cam than the LT4 hot cam and there's no telling what it could do. Not to mention this combo on a 383 or even a 406. That would be incredible.

 

*sings*

Did I ever telll you you're my heerrrrrrrroooooooooooo
You are the wind beneith my wingssssssssss

hehe j/k

Anywho, I'll be the next for the swap (LT1 tho) and i'm going to be putting it on a 383 so we'll REALLY find out if the way of routing the coolant is effective or not.

 

Do you think a stock L98 would hold up to an LT4 and Vortec heads? If not, what do you think I would need to replace to have it work? I think I would at least need to get the rotating stuff balanced.

 

traxion i believe is in 12's on a stock bottom end

and you wont hit 12's with vortec

 

Hey, congrats on getting it going. I still have to deal with an oil leak, but I'm pretty happy. BTW, the name's Bob (Robert) not Richard

 

You've almost thrown me a curve ball....

I was heading the AFR 195/LT1 direction on my 383...

But fastburns, hmmmmm.....

 

Oops! Sorry Robert. Not sure why I called you Richard. I've been to your website a bunch of times and it says your name right there on the top. By the way, when do you think you'll have the rest of your website up? Is your oil leak at the distributor also? I need to do something about that ASAP.

I'm really impressed with the Fast Burns. For one, they're made by GM so the quality and reliability is second to none. They use proven parts like the LT4 springs and valves and out of the box flow very impressive numbers. With minor porting and some bowl work there's no telling what they could do. Also, the Vortec raised port design is a proven horsepower maker. The LT4 intake almost pefecly matches up to the ports. Only slight gasket matching on the top of the manifold ports is needed and the rest is exactly like modifying the LT1 intake. The FelPro 1255 gaskets make it a breeze. They are thicker than a standard gasket so that may also account for the bottom of the ports match up perfect by raising the intake very slightly higher up. Sill not enought to pose any sort of problem for sealing the intake to block at the front and back. I just put a nice big bead of silicone and let it tack up for about 30 minutes before I bolted the intake down. I've had absolutely zero problems aside from the small oil leak where the distributor mounts (apparently this is common). If you're going with a 383, I'd love to see this combo on top of it to see what it's capable of. I'm able to keep pulling to 6000+ rpms with my combo. Oh yeah, I'm still looking for a digital camera to get some pics up. I'm pretty sure I'll be able to get some up by tomorrow night.

Stephen

 

Glad to see it done makes we wish I wouldnt have stoped piting it on mine well mabe later Ill finnish the convertion I cant wait to see the pics and a dyno sheet I will have to get my car dynoed so we can compair. We almost have the exact same set up.

 

I had a friend take some digital pics of the motor today. He'll email them to me tonight or tomorrow. I'll post them as soon as I'm able to. Earl 87gta...I'll be taking the car to the dyno as soon as I get a chance after I get the custom prom and bigger injectors. 300+ hp numbers to the wheels is what I'm looking for. Maybe even as high as 330ish. We'll just have to wait and see.

Stephen

 

I think you will see more then 330. I cant wait to see the RPM range of that set up it would be nice to see some thing past 5500. Are you burrning your own chips are having Edd Wright do it.

 

I'm gonna go with an Ed Wright chip. I don't have the time to learn how to burn my own proms whule I'm in school. Maybe I'll try to learn over the summer. Who knows.

The 330 horsepower I'm talking about is at the rear wheels. That equates to about 400 hp at the crank with about 18% drivetrain loss. If I'm able to get around 430 hp (what the ZZ430 is rated at which is basically the longblock that I have) then I'll be getting about 350 hp to the wheels with the same drivetrain loss. Wow.

 

You may want to build your rear end up a little if you have the 10 bolt stock rear if you ever run a set of slicks you may break an axle I had it hapen to me once know I have the 9 bolt until my new 10 bolt is put together.

 

I have a set of 3.73 gears and a Torsen posi unit that will be installed very shortly. I'll also get a rear end support cover around the same time. I don't plan on ever using slicks, only drag radials.

 

Did you have to do any clearancing for the TB or any of the sensors on it like listed on the guy's page who did the LT1 swap first? Any other little problems you ran into?

 

Other than the slight porting of the intake to match the Fast Burn heads, it was exactly like the LT1 intake. The two are identical on the outside so yes, I had to do some slight clearancing for the distributor and on the front accessory bracket for the IAC and TPS sensors.

 

I was wonduring If steve would like to convert a LT-4 intake for my fast burn heads and how much would it cost?
E-mail me at mrfuman14@aol.com

 

Sorry Ed. I don't think I'll be getting into the business of converting the intakes for others. I just don't have the time.

 

just curiouse .... I have a friend that was reading this thread and he was woundering if the lt4 would bolt up to a set of standard iron vortecs.....he has a factory vortec engine in his truck and is interested in this topic but i do not really know what type of bolt pattern is in the iron heads. I believe the fast burns are drilled with both patters.

 

You're correct that the Fast Burns are drilled with both bolt patterns. In order for this intake to work on the cast iron Vortec heads, they will have to be drilled with the standard bolt pattern.