1985 Corvette

Considering for the price of a top notch, hydraulic roller 383/396 combo, intake to oil pan, you can pick up that 454 long block. That's a hard pill to swallow. It sounds that simple but I guess most guys piece their gen 1 stroker motors together over the course of time, whereas you would have to let go of 11 grand up front for a 454 LSX. Guess time takes some of the sting out of spending all that money....until you realize that similarly priced 454 LSX makes at least 150 more horsepower than a 383.

l98tpi

Can't wait to hear the final numbers on this one. And it is exciting to hear you were able to get your dash to communicate with your ECM.

chadls6

I had a lt4 383 Callie's crank, rods, je pistons, headers, ect. Made 422 rw with 4:10 gears and ran 7.2 @98 and 11.7 @125. That was in late 1990's! I couldn't get anyone to tune the old prom chips and without maf and wide bands it would never be as good as the new lsx computers. I had the car maxed out with what I had for street/strip. I wasn't going going to run a solid roller and superchargers were exotic and always breaking on my friends cars. I did run nitrous on the car and used it twice. Once on an R1 crotchrocket and he was in disbelief that a car could stay righ beside him from dead stop to 150. The next time was on a pro street 69 camaro that ran 6.60's in 1/8 and because of glide and flintsones rear tires he pulled me two cars out of the hole. I reeled him in and passed him right b4 finish. He trailered his car and I drove mine home with a/c on! My wife and I are blessed with great jobs and investments so $ wasn't an issue. I paid $9xxx for the 454 then cam and WCCH work, head studs, ect. The custom stainless works headers were a small fortune. The supporting parts cost more than the motor. This motor should make 250 plus more hp than the 383. If I had it to do over I would have bought the lsx376 b15 and added forced induction. 1100 hp with 22 lbs with a whipple charger. The biggest problem was making this motor fit and wired to where it looked like it came in the car. We used a mock up motor and trans before we even touched the lsx454. I am very picky and I went with drive by wire so I could run my cruise control. Everything on the car works except fuel mileage calculator. Trust me anyone can drop in a ls into a c4 vette but it takes time, effort and a lot of researching to make it looks like it belongs. I went thru 5 different serpentine systems b4 I found one that cleared everything. That's just one problem! Btw, I sold my lt4383 for $3600. Helped a little.

chadls6

Thanks! I can't wait either! He's doing some break in miles and road tuning then he will do some dyno tuning and then do the number pulls. I will have videos and numbers up ASAP! After I finish nitrous I will get those numbers up. I'm trying for the magical 1000 hp mark at wheels. Not bad for a 31xx lb car shaped like a bullet!

1985 Corvette

That's an even better deal on the long block. Sounds like you really did your homework on it. If I had to do it all over again, I'd probably do an LSx build. There was a time when you were damn near stoned to death in this section for contemplating an LS swap (back when LS1 and LS6 Vettes were the new hotness), now the attitude towards the swaps is totally different. I would definitely do a brand new crate LS like yourself...you never know what you'll get with a used one until you start doing surgery on it. Those LS2 w/ T56 trans combos sound like a good buy until you pop off a valve cover and see a valve cocked to one side.

sahhas

re:
"Btw, I sold my lt4383 for $3600"

when did you sell this?
of course I missed this one.
ug!

1985 Corvette

It was over in the for sale section about a month ago I believe, intake to oil pan, I believe. Someone got a great deal.

chadls6

Sold the lt4 383 3 years ago and it had new mad opti, coil, plug wires, re ceramic orated old headers, Callie's crank and rods, je pistons 11.5 comp, ported lt4 heads and intake, arp studs, complete serpentine system, ect. The buyer heard it run and I gave him dyno numbers and all paperwork. The money on these swaps isn't the lsx motor it's in all the supporting parts. Like headers, serpentine system, harness and computer, lots of labor!

chadls6

Totally agree! There are a lot of crooks out there but more good than bad but with the lsx 376 b15 at $5700, correct me if I'm off, it's a no brainier to buy crate. You get an lsx block, forged rotating assembly, ls3 six bolt heads and 24 month 50k mile warranty with 15 pounds of boost! That 850hp for $11-12k. Look at gm's machinery. Have you see the tolerances down to a micron or width of a human red blood cell or Nissan gtr building their drive trains in chambers void of any dust! Little shops can't compete with the 1/2 billion gm spent to tool up and design and make these engines. 30 plus years ago cars were done at 100k and you had to fiddle with a carb. Now 300k isn't out of the ordinary with proper maintenance. My aunt has an 01 suburban with 258k miles and has done nothing but fluids, tires, battery, rear mail and alternator. I'd say that's a damn good roi!

sahhas

gearz show has been doing a "cheetah evolution" show, they just aired ep 2 a few days ago, and the host decided to put in a LSX 454 engine in his cheetah evolution body. man that engine looked HUGE! certainly an impressive engine. would love to hear what one of those sounds like!!!

btw...just read this article over lunch:
http://www.superchevy.com/how-to/vem...-crate-engine/

chadls6

Sweet. Thanks for update.

illenema

Very Impressive that 454 in a c4 !!

chadls6

Thanks!

EVLGTO

Totally bad ***!!!!

0NitrousOutlet

This is an awesome build! Let us know if you need our help with anything!

chadls6

Damn Dave,
Do you not remember me bugging the crap out of you all the time? Meeting you at the mall with your family to drop gong parts after hours. Now that's customer service! I'm picking up the car tomorrow so I will be stopping by your place to grab a few little knick knacks I'm missing. Everyone goes bonkers over that black widow install on that Fast 102!
Thanks for all your help!
Chad

chadls6

Ok this motor was built for nitrous so it had a nitrous cam in it. Ill get dyne sheets and cam specs next week. Also I believe the dyne room was 109 degrees and the IAT was 172. Ill get confirmation on that next week and post it. I drove the car about 5 miles but had to take it easy because the brake hydraulic slabe cylinder has gone bad. The car will stop but the pedal goes to floor. I have new wilwood brakes and line lock to install as well.
OK for the hp and tq numbers at the rear wheels... 567 hp/550 tq no nitrous. All I have to say is I drove my 1997 Viper GTS the other day and this 454 corvette feels like a rocket compared, seat of pants. Its louder than Id expect. I can't believe how hard it cams for 115 lobe separation.
Here are some pics and videos....enjoy.

https://www.dropbox.com/s/ddn330qqga..._9316.mov?dl=0
https://www.dropbox.com/s/zhbq60ev08..._9311.mov?dl=0

STEVEN13

Great numbers and sounds mean!

Looks factory with the alternator and power steering reservoir in the stock location. You did some job!

Steve

chadls6

I wish I could take credit for the work! The shop that did it doesn't want to be named because he won't do another one. They are very **** and their work looks factory! If you look at my other pictures I built the 1969 Camaro while he was doing the '92 Corvette. Thanks for your compliments!

1993C4LT1