Hey All,

New here. Looking for your recommendations for a 1993 LT-1 cold air induction and any chip that may boost HP.

How much HP can I expect from a cold air induction kit, ease of installation etc... What mfgr would you reccomend? Any good chips out there? Mfgr specifics and performance specs much appreciated!

What type of increased HP can I expect from either or both?

 

Welcome to the world of C4s! They are GREAT fun to drive and even more fun to pull apart....until you have to put it back togeather :P

The intake on the C4s are generally good until you start hitting 500hp. Probably the best thing you can do for that is to go and get a K&N reusable filter. You'll love yourself for it every time you get to clean it instead of replacing it. There is also the "claw" intake if you really want to do that.

As for a chip... well, you can go to http://www.tpis.com/pages/efi and get the Level 2 tune for the LT1. I just kinda ups how much fuel and air the motor consumes. Generally, the easiest power comes from intake and exhaust. I say generally because...well....this isn't one of those cases. The exhaust on the LT1 is pretty damn good. In fact, most L98 guys go to a junk yard and pull the LT1 exhaust because it works so well and bolts up without much modification. The intake... you can probably find a superram for cheap somewhere. If not here in the "for sale" section, then on fleabay (Ebay. You'll find that it's called 'fleabay' a lot around here). As far as I know, it's bolt on and good to go as soon as you figure out where all the damn sensors go. Use the forum's search. You'll find something about it.

Good luck!

 

Yea,a new C-4 guy... All you can get out of any bolts ons 35 maybe 50 hp if your lucky and that's with a very good set of long tube heaters and a good tune and all the stuff you can think to but on the thing...The heads and cam will limet the power so it does not matter how many boiltons you add have go past heads and cam to get there.. Lot's bolts ons I say 35hp at best... and will need a real tune on the dyno to get the most out of it.. working 10 years on the LT-Motors been there done that.. If you want big power open it up you'll need mo money...I love mine....

 

A "cold air kit" isn't going to deliver cold air to your engine, and it won't gain you any HP over the stock intake system. Modify your stock intake to deliver air fron ahead of the radiator for free and save several hundred dollars.

Second, A chip won't gain you squat either. The chip can in NO WAY, increase the amount of air going into the motor. Airflow is the foundation for more power but is dictated by the hard parts. All the chip can do is alter the fuel and spark curves, and gains are dubious and based on the particular car. I know of more cars that have LOST power with "chips" than gained.

The SuperRam won't work on the LT1 engine. Stock intake Manifold is sufficinet for a stockish engine. You want more power for cheap on an LT1? Cam and tune = ~$500.00

But it would help us if you defined what "inexpensive" is.

 

yea everything north of the '91 line came pretty well "tuned" with all the "easy" bolt ons....


sadly I did not have that problem, I have a 91 which is an L98 engine. lols....


if cheap is a couple grand to you, you could pull the heads and cam. put a set of AFR's in there, and what is it the "zz4" hot cam or something? or something with about 230/230 duration on it... the intake manifolds are designed to breath a little better in the upper rpm ranges on the LT series so you could use stock intake. or port and polish it to a new set of heads....

and please stay away from air filters and stickers to increase your hp. j/k. but sorta not...

 

Save your money to spend on maintenance. You might check on gears to boost SOTP.

 

If the car is an automatic, a loose torque converter will give the best bang for the buck that you can actually feel and see on your timeslip.

 

First upgrade I would do would be gears. It's something you will feel right away.

 

Thanks for all the advice/info. Actually, I have about $1,000 - $2,000 to spend.

C4's are not my forte..... my other cars I hire out to wrench but thought there might be an easy/quick HP fix. As you can tell, I am not mechanically inclined - especially on a C4.

Thx - 40th.....

 

The C-4 just fun ride for the money no easy Hp..If you want easy Hp C-5 C-6..Not cheap but easy..Good luck..

 

Honestly, if you really want to to feel something for cheap, do the suspension. Torque and take off are fun, but these cars are a bit heavy and tend to have more body roll than you would think. My next purchase is going to include sway bars and some shocks. I don't know what you can do about the leaf springs, but apparently there are some out there that are "better".

Rear leaf spring. Has anyone used this? Reviews?

Tons of stuff. Look at the left side of the forum to see all of the sponsored links.
ADJ strut rods. Not sure how useful these would be to you without auto-x.

And here's some shocks!

 

OK, lets review, you have a 93 LT1 and $1-$2K to spend.

DO NOT SPEND ANYTHING on go fast parts yet!

Do you have an automatic?
When was the last time the coolant, trans, diff, brake, power steering fluids were changed? If Auto - the trans filter changed?

What about spark plugs, wires?

How many miles?
When was the water pump replaced?
When was the opti replaced?

If you haven't done any of these then use your savings to get the car in shape FIRST! It would really suck to do heads and cam and then the waterpump go and take out the opti!

good luck!

 

Its a little off topic and a little on topic. My 92 has the Z07 suspension. Bigger sway bars, stiffer springs the fancy shocks, j55 brakes.
The first winter I could do it I replaced all the suspension bushings (did not do the differential bushings) and replaced the crappy monroe shocks the PO put on. Its now got two full track seasons on the rebuild and here is my $0.02 to make the thing handle:

Goto a real 275 tire all around. 275/315 is ok, 315 all around is a little better, but not worth the class bump!

Shocks - Bilstien sport or HD / or QA1 adjustable. I'm going to try the HD (stock FE1) shock next year and see how it handles vs the rebult fx3 shock I have on now. If I don't like it I'll dig out the piggy bank for the QA1's

Springs/sways - on some tracks its a little too stiff, others its just right. Charlotte, Road Atl, VIR, Roebling, NCCAR its just right. CMP its a little too stiff. Find some take off Z07/Z51 springs and sways or get the VBP stuff.

Front end - Get as much neg camber as you can! I can only get 0, hoping offset bushings can get me to -1.5 in the front. I'd love 2 or even 2.5

Good luck!

 

Thanks to all for the valuable feedback.

I have not done any of the afore mentioned. I have a 40th convert. The car has a little over 30K on the OD. I was thinking of the heads/cam but now thinking of adding the above mentioned before anything else.

The chassis has been reinforced etc........

Thx again!

 

absolutely get all the basic stuff out of the way first. for the first year and a half i owned my 94 convert i did all the basic stuff i could think of. its easy to do, easy on the wallet, and when it comes time to do the big mods, you dont have to worry about the stupid little stuff

 

I'd put 100 shot on it, absolutely the best bang for the buck.

 

I have a '93 with a Borla exhaust dualed all the way. I have a chip(400-220 MA/CLOUGH-93Y-A4-273 Level II-F34D) and a Throtlle response switch from Mid-America. Less back presure means more air intake and with the increased fuel HP increases. Any body that loses HP with a performance failed to research the compabibility of the 2 units. Increase air and fuel and you increase HP and torque. Check with any engineer. The stock intake has ripples and plastic parts inside. Any engineer can explain that airflow increases across smooth surfaces expentionally according to how well they are machined. If you know someone that can replace the plastic air deflector with a stainless steel unit you will be surorised. It is pretty simple more air more fuel equals increased HP. If you really want to go extreme cut a hole in your hood and fabricate a short duct to the air intake on the manifold. If you want to do street legal drag racing install some cut outs right behind the exhaust manifold and open them when you get to the track and remove your air filter. Just make sure they are well hidden if you live where they test exhaust emissions. Ther are also some great plug in deals that are simple to install that will enhance your transmission results. Don't let folks tell you that you can't make cheap gains in performance with the properly matched bolt ons. I have added 35 to 50 Hp and 75 pounds of torque without opening the engine. That is the great thing about modern hot rods as opposed to the old school stuff. You used to have to tear an engine down, bore and stroke it, add a 3/4 racing cam, new pistons and piston rods, valves and lifters, modify the manifold,install a four barrel, a new fuel pump ,coil, hot wires and plugs to get 50 Hp. Now you buy the proper chip, improve your intake, add a hot coil, wires and plugs to carry the load, open your exhaust and you are there. I had a 318 Mopar that I added a performance chip, hot coil wires and plugs, raised the throttle body, put an old school K&N filter , install a Mopar hood scoop to make room, ranch shocks ,and a stabilizer bar. It had concave pistons so I didn't have to open the engine. It ran 20 degrees cooler and I picked up 75 Hp and 100 pounds of torque and never had any competition in my class. Of course you should do all the routine maintenance that other guy suggested but that should be a given if you own a Corvette.

I have 75,000 miles on mine and I am just replacing the Opti. My water pump has never leaked but I am replacing it just because of its' age and I don't want to take a chance on it leaking and ruining my new Opti. Stay with OEM AC Delco parts instead of the hyped up off shore custom crap. The engineers in Bowling Green do more research and testing than anyone else and if you have a problem they will help you solve it.

 

I'd say headers are a good way to go, I didn't see it mentioned above.

That's all good advice above, there's no "cheap" HP to be had on an LT1, but there is definately "reasonably priced" HP to gain. Cam and heads are certainly the best way, but that's a lot of wrenching if you're not experienced. Headers and a cat back is probably less than $1500 and should get you a noticable gain.

Or buy my forged 383 that I'm selling to put in an LS6

 

Really.



3/4 cam was a term that hasnt been used since the flathead engine.


You an old timer by chance or a young person?

 

Bear in mind you have a nice low mile vert.Major deviations from stock can hurt the value.
A cut(or open) lid for the airbox and a K&N filter is the extent of needed mods on that subject.
Past that be prepared to spend money.
If the car is for cruising leave it alone.Toss some magnaflow mufflers on it if you want some sound.
A chip is not needed for either of those.If ya burned a chip and tested(and retested) it on a dyno until it was perfect it would pick up a few hp but not worth the expense on a stock motor.
Gears will give you a big boost in acceleration.3.07 is great and 3 .45/3.54 will make it real fun from a stoplight(do verify which gear is in your car now).
A converter will make it accelerate faster as well but I would do the gears first.With a converter do run an auxillary trans cooler.
Best thing you could do now after a full assesmemt/tuneup would be to install a 180 degree t-stat and get the cooling fans to come on sooner.