The title says it all. My father has a '95 LT1 corvette and wants 500 rwhp. So, should he Have forged internals and a blower installed, or Get a built LT4 stroker, or what? NO n20. He wants the power all the time and does not want n20 on his car. Thanks for any help in advance.

 

He would need a forged stroker and a blower.

 

If he wants a decent street mannered car he will need a supercharger... I'd reccomend a whipple or something similar... a little harder to do, but well worth it. 500RWHP would be a snap.

 

a whipple on an LT4 C4....????

How much does your dad have to spend?

 

Oh No

 

look just call greg at blower works

 

Guess I should have asked that.... of course if he wants 500+RWHP i figured he had some $$ to throw down.

 

You could always go back to a GEN I block and get a 427 or even a 454 from World Products. With the right heads and cam 500RWHP shouldn't be too hard. But an LT1/4 block can only safely go to about 396/409, and the 409 is really pushing it.

 

i'd go with a 427 block, you can now order the 7.0 liter from the new z06 for around 5grand, wouldnt take much building to get 500hp out of it, and it might be cheaper than a supercharger setup

 

call my friend Joe Overton over at www.LethalEFI.com he has the quickest NA 4th Gen LT1 FBody in the world and it's only a lil ole 388 running 9.30's in street trim

not even the LS1 boys with big ole 422+cid motors can keep up with Joe's lil ole 388

 

5 grand for the new vette motor i thought it was more than that.

 

bare block.

 

corvettes of auburn here in Washington told me 4800 bucks assembled,
it does sound low for being in a 65,000$ car

 

thats gotta be it!!

 

That'll barely cover the block, and only if you pay dealer cost. You can't get a C5R block (which is virtually the same) for less than 6K...the LS7 engine is rumored to be offered in the 12-15K area from GMPP...which is still a hell of a deal considering it's spec sheet.

 

Holy cow, you guys are suggesting some pretty exotic stuff to see 500 RWHP.

Pay a shop to build and install a budget friendly 383 with a mild cam. Call Greg and tell him what you want to do and buy the blower set-up he recommends. I would think 500 could be attained with some forged pistons, forged rods, and a cast crank. If I were doing it, these are the parts I'd use. Bear in mind that I am broke as hell, so this is pretty budget stuff, lol.

Probe dished pistons, forged
Probe foged connecting rods
Cast SCAT crank, 3.75 stroke. Maybe even stock stroke if it's on an extreme budget
Stock heads mildly ported, gasket matched
Stock intake
Some used longtube headers from the classifieds of this site
Assorted bearings and gaskets
Call Greg at blower works and use a super charger from him
A clutch from Carolina Clutch
Some Spicer U-joints
A professional dyno tune from a big shop ($500 or so)

That's what I would do. I think you could pull that off for less than 10k pretty easy if you built it yourself. That combo should make 500 with pretty low boost (6 psi or so), so you shouldn't run into belt slip issues. With a cog drive or 8+ rib belt set-up you could run more boost and make obscene power. The weak link in that build is probably the cast crank. If you forked over the extra cash for a forged crank in the inital build, I think that engine would hold 600 HP for a reaonable amount of time.

Another option a professional tuner. DRM, LPE, Davenport motorsports, etc... My Mom just had her 2001 WS6 supercharged by Davenport Motorsports with great results. 480 RWHP, dead reliable, 2 year warranty on the blower and all of it's components. It cost about 9k, but that doesn't include any motor work. I don't think you could make that power on an LTX engine reliably with just a blower and no engine work.

Let us know what he decides to do.

 

"street trim"

 

ZIX was talkin about early style 427-454 gen. 1, not new LS7, That new motor is being priced much, much higher than that I'd say more like 15K. There are other options, providin' you have the budget, I spent over 5k in parts to do top end w/ good ported heads, cam, intake and exhaust sys.to maybe get me a little over 400 at the crank, it adds up real fast. To get to those reliable 500+ #'s certainly you need a lower end w/bigger ci. and forged etc. and then I think choices become driveabiliy. Turbo'd ,supercharged would be good choices. Other considerations not mentioned is the rest of the drivetrain to support it JMO

 

What does he plan to do with it that he needs 500RWHP???

 

500 rwhp isn't that difficult... Particularly if you go forced induction. I second what everyone else has said almost to a "T"; call Greg at BlowerWorks and let him spec you a centrifugal system. I've built a ton of supercharged C4's and most have made well over 500 rwhp while maintaining good street manners and reliability. If budget is what you're looking for I would suggest a simple forged piston 355 utilizing most of your stock components. The factory nodular iron crankshaft will support this power level reliably (I would suggest having it cryogenically treated); we've used them for years in NHRA Stock Eliminators. Torque and RPM is usually what kills cast cranks. I would suggest stepping up to a good set of rods, though. Preferably 6" length attached to a good set of JE/SRP, Ross, Venolia (whatever your choice) dished pistons. For a STREET combination running 10 psi of boost or less 9.00:1-9.50:1 compression is a good level. If you want more boost drop the compression even more but at 9.00:1 you still have enough compression so the vehicle is responsive instead of lazy until the boost comes in. Stock heads should be machined for 2.00"/1.56" valves and some minor bowl and port work done; you don't have to go crazy with port work on forced induction applications. A good camshaft with lift numbers in the mid .500's" and duration around 220 to 230 at .050" and a lobe separation of 114 or greater will make an excellent blower cam an keep the rpm's at a useable level on the street. Use a 58mm t.b., a good set of 1.75" primary headers, and a GREAT tune! Forgoe the use of a FMU (fuel management unit) and get yourself a linear fuel pressure regulator (a boost referenced unit) and a set of probably 42 lb/hr injectors. Tune the factory ECU for that utilizing a two-bar MAP and you'll have a "fairly" budget 500 rwhp C4.

If you want more, build a monster stroker with killer heads, big cam, etc and pump more boost through it. The last 383 LT1 Vortech blown C4 I built made 683 rwhp/707 rwtq and maintains decent street manners.
-Jeb
PS- I'm a nitrous guy and if done right 500 rwhp with it is SIMPLE but not there all the time like a blower/turbo is.