Mekanic

You don't mention how much money he dumped into getting it shoe horned in there.

Who are you anyway? What do you drive? And why are you spewing at this guy?

SurfnSun

Speaking of Nathan, he hasn't been on the forum in quite a while. Is he still posting here?

dchildress

How much of a performance gain will just the HotCam and 1.6 rockers give me? Should I plan on a retune after that?

I could do the cam first and heads later to kind of ease the hit on the wallet.

LS-Five

1. What kind of power can I really expect? I read 425hp, but how close is that?

When this kit was available the first time around, Pace Performance made the claim of 425hp. The small print said that you would also need 32lb injectors, lt headers, 52mm TB, and a tune. Without those mods, 380 to 400hp is more accurate.

2. What kind of driveabilty issues will I have after I get it tuned?

This kit has been installed on numerous street cars that I have personally driven and rode in, and usually they act fine. Your car is a 6spd so I doubt you would have any problems at all

3. For $2330 for parts is it worth the price?

Some people will argue that they are not worth the money, but I think that when you get right down to it, the bang for the buck factor is pretty good. You might be able to save a little dough going another route, but there is something to be said for having a kit that has everyhting you need in one box instead of tracking down each individual component as you go.

4. What other mods will have to go with it?

Nothing aside from a good tune, but to get the most out of it bigger injectors, a bigger TB and a good set of longtubes will help.

5abivt

get some good headwork done to the LT1 heads and go with roller rockers. Get a nice healthy cam to match the heads. forget the LT4 hype.

dchildress

Thanks guys. My mechanic buddy who is planning on working on the motor is pushing me to buy the GM Perf Parts kit, some Cobra injectors (32lb I assume) and the long tubes with some high flow mini cats. He is going to yank motor out do the water pump, opti, replace radiator, front & rear mains, flywheel & clutch, and even install my polished valve covers for $1000 for the labor & I buy parts. Only thing then is a tune and I'm set.

rocco16

From Summit: "The kits include LT4 cylinder heads with valves and springs, a red aluminum LT4 intake manifold, GM Performance Parts' hot cam with 1.6:1 ratio Bow Tie roller rockers, and all necessary gaskets. The result of all of these mods is 425+ proven horsepower! "

If a kitted LT1 w/ LT4 heads and HC makes +425 hp, then my stock LT4 would have to make 425+hp with just a HotCam.
Not possible.

Larry
code5coupe

___________
I ain't easily impressed....

LS-Five

True, but consider this: Most everyone agrees that the LT4's were underrated. Real world dyno numbers put them closer to the 350hp mark. Now add the Hot Cam into the equation. It is not unreasonable to see a gain of 40 hp above stock with this cam. That would put you just shy of 400hp (390hp). Now add the LT headers (10-15hp), injectors (5-10hp), and a bigger TB (5-10hp). That would put you close to the 425+hp that they claim. I agree that they, (Summit) misleads you by saying that by itself the kit yields 425hp, but Pace Performance used to spell all of that out in their ad.

dchildress

Now THAT is the answer I was hoping for!!!!! I feel I am a little more savvy in my purchases than a lot of other people. I generally do not fall for advertising hype, and since my wife does advertising for a living I know how much hype there can me. I have been reading up on the kit and was hoping all the mods I was going to make plus the kit would live up to its price tag and its hype.


If all goes well, Ronnie will have the motor out, fixed up,and back in around the first week of July. I feel like a kid on Christmas!!!!!

Coconut

Buy a great set of aftermarket LT1 heads. Don't spend the money to get LT4 heads, nor have yours ported. Check out the Trick Flow heads. The LT1 is a great motor! The LT4 is way over stated. As I'm sure you already know, the LT4 didn't come with the Hot Cam. Get a good set of aftermarket heads, put a good cam in it, with the long-tube headers, & roll.

Coconut

I'm not spewing on the guy. He wants to beat his wife's car. Excellent! I firmly believe he'd be better off building up his LT1 with great aftermarket heads, or getting an LS1, or buying a supercharger for his LT1. It's up to him & his budget. I'm just throwing out suggestions. The LT4 heads are good, but aren't worth the build up, though, when you can get a set of Trick Flows for $500 each bare, or $700 each assembled. They already have the 2.02 in & 1.60 ex valves!Use the aftermarket heads.
ALso, I have a 1982 Collectors Edition that has a narrowed Mark Williams Ford 9 inch with a 4-link, & a 540 blower motor that is street legal! If you use a blower or supercharger, you can drive a very fast car slow. But when ready to race, it's there for you. I also own a 1991 Corvette that I put a custom Stealth Ram on. The hood was molded like the new C6 ZO6 Viper-style hood for clearance. Recently, I sold the Stealth Ram, & have switched to a Carb. I'm no stranger to aftermarket. It just takes time. Not everyone has it, but it's always nice to know what options are out there, & to see what others have done.
DRIVE ON WITH THE LT1 AFTERMARKET HEADS!!! A great set of heads is the key to flowing your air pump (which is really what a motor is). Put the money in the heads. You can use your own intake, & buy the cam, rockers, headers, or whatever else you may want later.
Good luck with your decision (aftermarket, LT4, or LS1), it will still beat stock, & you can run with your wife's car.

rocco16

Well, coco', you obviously don't consider yourself to be in the "most everyone" category.
Good to see some non-sheep here.....

Larry
code5coupe

___________
I ain't easily impressed....

pr0zac

i have an lt4 that i put a small lpe216 cam in and a 94 ta with full bolt ons and a hot cam kit and there is no comparison.. i like the vette a whole lot more than the trans am. i had a hot cam in my vette at one time and i am not near as happy with it as i am the lingenfelter cam. the lt4 heads are nothing to turn your head at but there are better. trick flows don't flow any better than an lt4 head and the trickflows have a bigger combustion chamber which will be a few hp lost if just changing the heads as apposed to the lt4's. but the lt4's are more money. my trans am is a fun car and has GREAT manners and good power for not a big price tag. you don't really need heads if you get a good cam and some bolt ons but if you really want to do heads i wouldn't overlook lt4 heads.. they are a good head for a reasonable price.

Coconut

Don't get me wrong. The LT4's are a good head. But with so many suggestions about buying them or porting heads, I think the money is best for a good aftermarket head, since they already have the larger valves. Also, there are around 3 different combustion chamber sizes available, now. And yes, I do agree about just getting the right cam, headers, tuneup, & etc. The LT1 is already pretty efficient. It will perform great, & save much money. The key is velocity, & not volume. It can really be a good, little street motor. The main thing is that this is YOUR CAR. Make it what you want it to be! You'll be happy with it, since you're driving it.

Coconut

"Well, coco', you obviously don't consider yourself to be in the "most everyone" category. "


Thanks. I don't too much in here Things are always considered differently in different places. I really don't want to sound mean. Sometimes things can really sound mean through a keybord, since the voice tones just aren't there to be heard. I really like the LT4, but like to see only the original LT4s built. Since, the intake & runners are different on the LT4, it's a unique motor. They are awesome when built up. But, I really like a good aftermarket build for the LT1. That little motor has potential for sure. I'd like to see that thing built, instead. That's all. If it becomes an LT4, then alot of the "uniqueness" of the build is gone to me, since it's a kit. However, it is a good kit that is already known, & proved for it's output. I guess that is probably the worst thing about a custom shop. I like each one different. But, it's a Corvette, & we can all agree that you can't go wrong with that. They are awesome cars. It will be cool whether it stays an LT1, or gets the LT4 transformation. That's what I like about this forum. You can see several people's views. No one person can be completely right or wrong. The owner just has to be happy with their own decision. I think these inputs are great. Drive on!!!

Mr. Peabody

Well let's give you some real answers to some of your questions.

1) you can easily have Long Tube Headers with hi flow aftermarket cats installed and with a little welding hook them uo to any exhaust that you choose. The LT1 stock exhaust is fairly non restrictive below 400 HP. If you opt for the corsa system (an excellent system) my belief is that you will gain very few addit HP but you will save probably 100 lbs over the weight of the stock resonator, pipes and mufflers.

On my 95 A4 I used SW long tubes with RT cats that they supplied along with custom bent extention tubes hooked up to my stock exhaust. It so happens that SW makes headers with 1 5/8" primaries and you give up absolutely nothing on the low end. My view is that shorties give you relatively nothing.

2) Recently I had the LT4 hotcam kit and the LT4 HD timing chain kit installed on my stock 95 along with new lifters and valve stem guides and gained approx 40HP using a professional tuner (TJ Wong)

On his particular dyno, the car has 292 RWHP a real wicked idle and revs super smoothly up to 6000 RPM. HP, well again you have to know if they mean HP at the crank or HP after the trans with all of the engine excessories attached or do they actually mean at the rear wheels..

I did not do any of the work myself and it is not inexpensive to have a professional shop do it.

The next step for significant HP would be for some Loyd Elliot ported heads but .... byt the time you do all this ..... you could buy a completely "built" 383 LT1 from Golen Engineering at www.golenengineservice.com .

Hope that this helps you.

jrp

The Corsa system is no featherweight either, and if I had to guess, I'd say it's actually a bit heavier (it's stainless steel). When I put the Corsa on, a friend helped take the stock exhaust down to the basement for storage. I couldn't have lifted it by myself because of the bulk, but with two guys it was a cinch.

I'd be surprised if my half of the load was much more than 50-60lb, and certainly it was not enough to leave room for a 100lb savings. Gut feel, though, since I didn't think to measure at the time.

corvette-pilot

So what was the final decision and outcome ????

5abivt

lesson #1. Don't believe everything you read


Are the LT4 heads worth the price to just bolt them on and add a hot cam? You have got to be kidding... NO.

If you are just looking for extra kick, porting your stock Lt1 heads adding larger valves and a custom cam to match are a better way to spend your money.

The LT4 heads are great. I chose them over the canfields because when they were all ported with huge valves they outflowed my canfields and I already had the shaft rockers for em. But I'm sure I can speak for many to say that most buy the LT4 heads when building an extreme motor and the extra 30-50+ hp over LT1 heads on a 500-600 + hp motor is worth the cost. To pay for them and just bolt them on is a dumb thing to do.

aboatguy

The numbers quoted for LT4 conversions are kind of like the old 1960s engine ratings everything was set up for high HP/TQ numbers, not setup like it would be in the car.

Mike