Very true!
Give me performance
Thread Starter
Advanced
Joined: Jun 2005
Posts: 54
Likes: 0
From: San diego Ca
Give me performance
i have a 87 with with a stock l98 that has 92,000 miles on it. the previous owner didnt take very good care of it soon and i think that the engine is going to need to be rebuilt soon so while it is getting rebuilt i would like to get some performance stuff done to it but im not all to sure on what to do. i would like to get around 400-450 horsepower and torque would stroking it get me there or boring it out or what. anyone have egines around these numbers and what did you do to get it that way and i dont want to use nitrous.
Advanced
Joined: Jul 2004
Posts: 98
Likes: 1
From: Maple Grove Minnesota
There's lots of options, but how big is your budget? It's going to take a fat wallet to get to those kind of numbers. Your best bang for the buck would be to stroke it to even get close. Count on new heads, intake, porting and polishing, camshaft and lots more.
Team Owner
Joined: Dec 2000
Posts: 90,675
Likes: 304
From: SE NY
Cruise-In II Veteran
Start out by stroking & boring to 383 or 396 cid, using hardened & balanced bottom end parts.
Add a set of nice heads with maybe 190cc runners; flow porting will increase flow. The valve train should have rull roller rockers.
Next comes an appropriate cam; it should match the power band of interest.
You will need to modify the intake:
-an Accel base with AS&M runners will retain low end torque with better top end flow
-a SR intake will shift the power band to upper rpm
Install FL headers with dual cats in a true dual exhaust system.
Larger fuel injectors will be required.
Finially have the system tuned with a custom chip.
The key is to chose components that work well together to maximize air flow in the rpm region of interest. Do your homework, chose quality components, have a good shop do the engine work and tuning and you will be very happy with the results.
Good luck and enjoy the project.
Add a set of nice heads with maybe 190cc runners; flow porting will increase flow. The valve train should have rull roller rockers.
Next comes an appropriate cam; it should match the power band of interest.
You will need to modify the intake:
-an Accel base with AS&M runners will retain low end torque with better top end flow
-a SR intake will shift the power band to upper rpm
Install FL headers with dual cats in a true dual exhaust system.
Larger fuel injectors will be required.
Finially have the system tuned with a custom chip.
The key is to chose components that work well together to maximize air flow in the rpm region of interest. Do your homework, chose quality components, have a good shop do the engine work and tuning and you will be very happy with the results.
Good luck and enjoy the project.
Race Director
Joined: Dec 2002
Posts: 13,345
Likes: 230
From: SCMR Rat Pack'r Charter Member..Great Bend KS
Fat budget is right.
I'd say your wallet will be about $10K lighter when you finally have a reliable, driveable 400-450hp, non-nitrous engine.
Larry
code5coupe
I'd say your wallet will be about $10K lighter when you finally have a reliable, driveable 400-450hp, non-nitrous engine.
Larry
code5coupe
Team Owner
Joined: Sep 2001
Posts: 62,102
Likes: 1,724
From: Athens AL
C7 of the Year - Unmodified Finalist 2021
C4 of Year Finalist (performance mods) 2019
That amount of power isnt cheap, unless you go with the juice, in which case you'll still need to redo tbe bottom end to handle it.
Superram, 219 cam, 383, and much better heads are needed to get that far, N/A. Thats what i'm doing anyway.
Superram, 219 cam, 383, and much better heads are needed to get that far, N/A. Thats what i'm doing anyway.
Last edited by vader86; Aug 5, 2005 at 12:14 PM.
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Take your time, do your research and make a plan. Estimate the time and money it'll take. Now double the money and triple the time and you'll be about right. That's if everything goes well..... 
Excellent advice here so far though. As already said, you want to build it as a balanced package.
Excellent advice here so far though. As already said, you want to build it as a balanced package.
Race Director
Joined: Feb 2004
Posts: 12,517
Likes: 19
Alot of us, myself included, did not have the luxury of the corvette forum when we dove into our motor builds. Lots of good advise here. Make a plan, stick to it and do your homework. The search button is an asset for this. Ask lots of specific questions and you will get great replies. I also believe in finding guys who have done it well, and do what they did. Most guys run into problems when they try to reinvent the wheel. We have alot of do'ers on this forum. Find these guys and pick their brains. I am very fond of the 383 stroker package. I also like spray. I feel this is a tough combo to beat. I usually try to build as much mid range torque as possible on the l-98 stuff.