I have a 1994 Auto LT1 with 22k miles, stock, and I think I want to keep that stock. I will be in college soon, but a trust is paying for it, so I will take out a student loan on another vette (I know it's stupid, but corvettes are wose than crack) I'm looking for a black 1996, with an lt4, probably manual. If not an lt4 i want a later lt1, i was told they used some foreign metals or something in the block. I was wondering, do ya'll see a huge difference in the performance difference of a manual vs auto (i dont do manual, yet). Also, which is the best performance for the money? Supercharger, turbocharger, alcohol, or what? I think I can get the black manual vette for 10k, and the black gs wheels for another 1k, and ill want new header (700) and exhaust (300 a friend does it). I would like to spend no more than 16, 17 at the most. What do you reccomend? I looked at that SC silent supercharger, but I thought you had to have everything forged for superchargers?

 

Oh boy, where to start. First of all, every single LT4 off the production line is coupled to a manual transmission. But if you want more power I'd do a heads and cam package to keep it simple. That being the case you're better off starting with an LT1 and doing the heads and cam. Superchargers are ok, but with the high compression of an LT1 you'll have more reliable power doing a H/C setup. You can do a supercharger, but it'll cost you to do it right. Probably 5k or so. The heads and cam will cost you less. Put a 100hp shot of nitrous on top of it if you really want a good kick. And there are no "Silent" superchargers, some are quieter than other, but they are all noticable. As far as the later LT1's get a '94 and later. Nothing to do with the alloys, just some stuff they changed to make it nicer. Different Intake and the addition of a MAF sensor.

 

WEll put mn

Mo

 

I knew about the intakes, and I want raw power without nos, theres something about tboneing a tree at 150 and seeing flames that don't go well in my mind, and i dont like the fact i have to have a special fuel. to be honest, i was just saying the name of the sc, id actually prefer it to be loud as hell, i want it to hum. do you reccomend the ZR1 cam's? what can i expect to spend, and what gains? any specific sites?

 

Oh, and about the auto vs manual, which would be better over all? I havent driven a manual, but I learn things like this quick, but I dont want to be ruining clutches with the kind of power i want to make.

 

by the way, i would rather not cut to many corners, it seems like all parts affect each other, and if you skimp on one you skimp on performance on other parts.

 

I am absolutely not trying to bash here, or discourage, but i would start in the tech section for C4's and read at least the last 10 months worth of posts. obviously you're somewhat confused about different variations of the C4 if you are wondering about putting ZR1 cams in a LT4. which is nothing to be ashamed of, just means you should read some more in the basic tech section, once you have a better understanding of each car and have made your decision on building more power, you should then come here and read the last 10 months worth of posts on forced induction. all of us here are still learning as it is very much trial and error in this section for C4's as no one makes turbo kits for our cars, and few have deviated from standard supercharger kits to make real power. those who have once you have a more basic working knowledge of the base motors will be glad to help you understand more about forced induction and other key components which will need to be addressed in the build up. ultimately, you will be the one spending the money, so researching more about each year corvette will help you understand which engines will lend themselves best for modding. if you are set on FI, the LT4 is a poor candidate as the stock block and heads have a 10.8 to 1 static compression ratio.. this equates to very low boost tolerance, and even though they have a few extra frills, you will undoubtedly be getting rid of them to lower compression to make better use of the power adder you decide to go with. your budget of 16k is about 5k on the low side for a good well laid out FI motor and blower system and about 10k shy of a decent turbo setup. again I can't stress anough how much reading the tech sections will enlighten you. the power levels you are looking for may be well attainable with a heads and cam package which does work great in LT4 cars, and is far less expensive. probably a power/ET goal would be a good place to start and then search through peoples signatures to see how they attained that goal. then you have a preset working idea of what you will need to get there. again We will all be glad to help in anyway that we can, but i highly doubt any of us in this section are going to want to sit down and start from scratch when it has been written several times before in the basic tech section. read some there, then ask some here and we can help as best as we can!

Chris

 

I strongly suggest that you stay way from forced induction for the followings
1) don't have much knowledge in late C4
2) Will ruin your car for picking the wrong setup
3) please hang around here for a year to learn first
4) Or you can have a well known tuner shop do all the mods

Took me three year to read the forced induction forum before I went with supercharged setup and now I am gone turbo. Mainly because I did not want to make mistake, other people made that trial and erors.

Good Example, I start out with all forged internals parts and big injector and all the goodies.

Bad example, start out with 30s injector and stock motor with SC. Later found out you need 42s or 50s injector. that you just waste your $ on the 30s that you spent.

Bruce