97C5inSD

Well as some of you may have read my motor ventilated itself this past weekend at the track on me. It has a nice hole comeing outta the block on cylinder #3 but since i don't have the funds to get a new setup right away i felt it's a good time to research and save some money.

My old setup i really liked it made about 425hp and 435tq on DRM dyno. Forged LS6 short block 382ci, Eagle crank and rods, Diamond pistons,
11.47:1 comp, ARP head studs, block studs, and SS header
studs, FFHP hand finished LS6 heads, very mild Comp cam Duration @ .050 (224/228) lobe lift (.3420/.3460)
Jesel SS rockers, TBody ported by Janzer, AMW catch can, ATI Super Damper, Blackwing intake, Kooks header, no cats,
3" x-pipe into stock Z06 Ti exhaust, LG motor sports Silicone water hoses Ron Davis Radiator with Engine oil cooler.


Keep in mind when you answer this car is pretty much 98% track and autocross oriented but still would like to street drive it on occasion.

So what i'm wondering here is what are some of the possible pro con setups what i'm thinking other then a cost point.

one thing i feel i would like is to go to a dry sump setup. on any of these three motors. combinations since i feel it will help the motor survive longer or give it a better chance. Only down side is i would lose a/c on the ls2 and the ls6 but with a crate ls7 i could still maintain it.

Motor 1. 382cu. Ls6 a basic copy of what i had. Since i really liked the power and how it felt was great for autox and such. but add a dry sump since my track time is increasing and i have been running R-comps pulling 1.4+ G's. Con i see is loosing A/C

Motor 2 412cu. Ls2 a forged and stroked out ls2 pushing around 550hp. So a substantioal Power increase. So i don't know how the driving manors would be but would like a good power band and steady pull. Con is loosing A/C. Is there anything else people can add to this?

Motor 3 427cu LS7 Crate motor. In the end stock form puts a bit more power out then my previous setup. From what i know and drivin of the new cars i don't know what to think of the extra little kick at 4000 rpms. But i suppose a cam and tuneing can change that. Big Plus for me is it comes with a drysump and keeping a/c but i'm not familar enough with this setup to know if the dry sump is good enough or needs to be improved. Also other then doing the 24x wheel is there other things i should consider doing to the motor before i put it in the car, since this is the only motor i would be getting that is crate and won't have all the forged stuff.


So i'm looking for any and all opinions and insight on this i have the summer to save money and research some more but i figure it would be great to get some insight from the fellow corvette community.

I have already sifted through many threads and still plan to up till when i do a motor.

Thanks for looking and for any advice you can offer.

AU N EGL

or buy three LS6 create motors for the price of one LS7 + dry sump and beat the living chit out of each LS6.

any time you start adding HP, run time drops plus engine needs refreshing often. Costs go up.

if your vette is a dedicated track car, a mod most ppl dont what to think about but need is a roll cage

HP is very sexy, but a roll cage is saftey

roll cage, coil over suspension or even a T1 suppension, StopTech or AP Racing brakes and proper set up with a LS6 create motor, You will go faster though corners then any BIG HP car,

gkmccready

Since you loved your DRM motor, why not call DRM and discuss it with them? I can't see them steering you wrong, and you know you like their stuff, and you can try to tie prices to the decision points.

sothpaw2

How long did the forged LS6 last on the Rcomps?

I would go with #1 since the LS6 has a very good reputation for durability. More cubes builds more heat, I wouldn't bother w/the LS7. If you get a crate LS6 and cam it a little, can't you get to 10-20% less hp as you had before? Making a sacrfice on hp will help cost & longevity, IMHO. I don't think the pistons & such really buy you much; better to keep the oil cool and maybe do the sump thing.

Can you get any kind of warranty on the crate LS7 or LS6?

GrantB

Any idea what caused the motor failure? If you pull it apart and the bearings look great, starvation may not have been an issue at all (which would be the biggest reason to go to a dry sump).

Is anything salvageable from it? Many of the rods and pistons may be good, as well as one or both heads, etc.

sperkins

0Randy@DRM

The one that went away was not one of our engines. We dynoed it this past winter when the car was here for other work.

We are going back and forth, I'm glad to see Todd is doing more research. Informed customers are a good thing!!!

Randy

95jersey

Your going to pay big $$$$ these days for a new LS7 (if you can get one). LS2 sound like an interesting proposition and probably cost effective for the power.

Timz06

I would go with an ls6-you wont have any problems. If you want a bit more power, just put a bigger cam in as mentioned above. Do you want to drive the car, or work on it all of the time?

Tim

97C5inSD

Ok well guess i shoulda gave a bit more background with this whole setup

My car why it dose not have a nascar style cage it dose have a 6 point cage with removable door bars. DRM coilovers, Hotchkin sway bars, Stock Brakes with Better Pads right now and Braided Lines. and of course Fluid.


The car was perviously Russel MONKS car owned and Built. which i have done some things too myself and hopefully improved it some. I have owned the car for 3 years and Russ ran it for 2 years + while he researched and developed the car.

The motor setup has around 15,000 miles Russ put 2000+ miles on it with Track and Autocross I myself have put over 10,000+ miles on it which about 6,000 of them where street miles the rest where Autox and Track time miles. Other then on the street i am on Kuhmo V710 tires on the track or autox.

In SCCA autox the car was Built for SM2 or now SSM so allows for the extra poney.

As for what happend with the Motor there is a Hole in the block on #3 cylinder. I have not pulled the motor yet just because i don't really have the funds for another motor at the moment. we did find chuncks and also a piston ring.


if there is anything else please ask and please contiune with the opinons and other options.

Wicked Weasel

Ls3.

AU N EGL

15,000 miles stoker on a motor with out it being refreshed is a lot.

However, to get in the 425hp and 435tq range and LS6 or LS2 short block with afr 205 heads and a 224/228 581/588 112+4 cam, Fast90/90 combo will get you in the low to mid 400s.

http://www.schwankeshortblocks.com/ Schwank builds many racing motors. Look at there short block list

Wicked Weasel

My ECS built 346 with G5x3, 205 AFR heads and headers I was 460 rwhp / 401 rwtq. I would have liked the tq numbers a bit higher, but at the time the car was built for street/quarter mile (hence the reason I had 4.10s for the first few months for RR )

I would still have it if not for the timing chain going on turn 7 at WGI. Probably could have fixed it, but decided the power of the LS7 is what I needed in my C5

dvandentop

ls6 & see what you can save from your olde block + bigger cam/possible heads and you are in your power range you want. spend the rest on accusump and some big brakes up front if you plan on doing more road course stuff then auto X IMHO.

PA Z06

I agree with Dave, you like the power of your old car, and this is a cheaper option that might get u on track faster.

97C5inSD

Thanks for all the input guys i really appricate it Still have some thought and research granted i have to admit the more thinking and stuff i do i may be going back to my 382 stroker setup. along with adding the dry sump. It just kinda a bummer i had planned to rebuild this motor after this season. Guess i shoulda stepped it up a season. Guess i will know better now.

I must admit the more power dose sound nice. But the only places i really can use it for is the open road races and shootouts But for the autox it may be a bit of handful to control with my old setup it was a really good balance on the autox course. And i had just gotten a good hand on it. As for the track the the power is really only nice in the straights but corners it's only good on exit.

Brakes would be a nice upgrade but with all the 17in wheels i have i would have to sell them. and go to 18's So i may look into better calipers like the LG kit down the road when i actually get to that point.