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Reviving my 1996 LT4 coupe

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Old 11-10-2013, 01:24 PM
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1996man
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Default Reviving my 1996 LT4 coupe

Hello everybody

I posted earlier this year about how my beloved 96 LT4 coupe spun a bearing at 200K miles. Unfortunately, I have had to let it sit but I am starting a decent job on monday and as of tax season 2014, am planning on getting her back on the road.

My plan is to do this fairly inexpensive. I have a good friend who owns a shop and he is going to do the majority of the labor as I myself am not to handy with a wrench. He is cutting me a deal on labor but I know it will add up quick. I already have an electric waterpump and opti ready for it as well as a couple other things. It already has longtube headers and full custom exhaust. it has the throttle body bypass and a cut open air lid with a K&N filter.

Since I am going to have to tear it down to the block to find out exactly how bad the damage is, I plan on having it bored over 30 thousandths assuming there is no other worse damage to the 4 bolt main block itself. This will put me at a 355ci engine and a good place to start to a budget build in my opinion.

Assuming my heads were not damaged themselves, I plan to reuse them but may have a valve job done on them assuming the valves themselves are all still in tact. I know the LT4 heads had sodium filled valves to reduce weight and I would like to keep that feature if possible. I dont trust myself enough to port the heads with a dremel but have considered trying to polish them up a bit myself. Any thoughts on this? I thought about doing the same to the intake. I dont plan on hogging out the runners or anything but thought I would lok into the gasket matching of the GM777 intake manifold gasket procedure I have heard about with the LT4s. Any input on this ?

I also want to bore out the front throttle body holes to 58m or so since I plan on installing a 58mm TB down the road. I know it wont be extremely beneficial to top end HP but have seen too many dyno runs that prove it wont hurt it and might even help out mid range a little bit and if nothing else, will give it a lot better throttle response. Again, this is not something I plan to do right away but would like to have the intake manifold ready for this mod in the future.

I am also curious about the fuel injectors and computer tune. I have heard that the stock injectors will handle a LT4 hotcam with the stock injectors and tune. How badly will this hurt me? I know it would be ideal to upgrade both and this is another thing that I would definitely plan on doing in the future but I would simply like to be able to get it on the road and driveable with the ability to do the several other little upgrades at a later date when $ allows. I would love to hear from other people who have had experience with this.

Please dont try to convince me to go another route such as LE or AI. I know those are both top of the line choices but I am trying to do this on a budget and am planning on purchasing the LT4 hotcam kit that comes complete with all the valvetrain. I am NOT purchaing the entire LT4 conversion kit as I already have the heads and intake but I AM buying the complete LT4 HOTCAM kit that contains not only the cam but like I said all the valvetrain as well. I know that I probably have the majority of this valvetrain in my stock LT4 heads but I would like it to be fresh.

One other thing I forgot to mention about the heads is if and when I decide to have a valvejob done, They are probably going to shave a small amount of the bottom of the head to make sure that it is true before it goes back on the block and I plan to do this in addition to using the Imapala head gaskets. From what I have heard, both shaving the head and using these gaskets will put my LT4 which was originally 1.8:1 compression to a new higher 11.4:1 compression.

That is all the details I can think of so far. I have not bought any parts as of yet aside from the opti and electric waterpump, OH, and heavy duty timing chain. The clutch was replaced with a slightly beefier unit along with a single mass (steel) flywheel right before I spun the bearing in the motor so the clutch setup should not have to be addressed with the new power. Tranny and diff are obviously the ZF6 and a Dana44 (both of which have had the fluid flushed regularly) so no worries there either.

Please feel free to chime in with any questions, comments, comcerns or advice. I would like to make this an ongoing thread. I will probably not start buying any more parts until after xmas but when it comes to my vett, I like to research, double check and triple check my information before I begin anything. SO I am giving myself plenty of time to change any decisions or iron out any small details. That way when it DOES come time to buy parts, I wont be left scratching my head.

Thanks in advance for your participation. You guys (and gals) are the best!
Dan Watson

Last edited by 1996man; 11-10-2013 at 02:33 PM.
Old 11-10-2013, 02:05 PM
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bassackwards
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I believe you will end up with 355 ci

Port matching is easy.

You have none of the parts in the Hotcam kit. You need the whole thing
Old 11-10-2013, 02:35 PM
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1996man
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Originally Posted by bassackwards
I believe you will end up with 355 ci

Port matching is easy.

You have none of the parts in the Hotcam kit. You need the whole thing
Thanks, man. I didnt realize I had typed 455 instead of 355!
So you are saying the valvetrain in the stock LT4 heads is completely different than in the LT4 Hotcam KIT from GM? Good to know. I thought it was mostly the same. Good thing I am planning on buying the entire kit!
Old 11-10-2013, 02:40 PM
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bassackwards
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The hotcam kit I bought came with the cam, special high lift springs, and 1.6 roller rockers. That was in the 90s though.
Old 11-10-2013, 02:45 PM
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1996man
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Originally Posted by bassackwards
The hotcam kit I bought came with the cam, special high lift springs, and 1.6 roller rockers. That was in the 90s though.
Did you install that hotcam kit on a LT1 or LT4 out of curiousity?

The hotcam kit I plan on purchasing with the GM part number: 12480002
comes with what looks like an entire and complete valvetrain including:
camshaft
rocker arms
valve springs
retainers
locks
and possibly something else I may have forgotten.

When you say portmatching is easy, are you referring to portmatching the intake manifold to the GM777 gasket?
Old 11-10-2013, 04:05 PM
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l88rocket
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I have built a ton lt1's, currently my 94 Z has a 355 close to what your doing with a comp 230/236 cam(custom ground) and dart heads, 11.5 comp making 500hp. I have tried hot cams and always felt I shorted myself, ending up changing cams shortly after. The comp 224/230 is a good medium cam for street use and sounds really good also
Old 11-10-2013, 04:27 PM
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93 ragtop
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Originally Posted by bassackwards
You have none of the parts in the Hotcam kit. You need the whole thing



Not true on a LT4. You already have 1.6 roller rockers and the LT4 springs. In theory you only need the cam on a LT4. But FWIW I would throw in a set of new springs. 20 years they loose some of their tension.
Old 11-10-2013, 04:31 PM
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bassackwards
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Originally Posted by 1996man
Did you install that hotcam kit on a LT1 or LT4 out of curiousity?

The hotcam kit I plan on purchasing with the GM part number: 12480002
comes with what looks like an entire and complete valvetrain including:
camshaft
rocker arms
valve springs
retainers
locks
and possibly something else I may have forgotten.

When you say portmatching is easy, are you referring to portmatching the intake manifold to the GM777 gasket?
I put it in an L98 but the process is the same. You need those specific springs, retainers, locks to work with the 1.6 rockers and cam. Your springs will bind and something will break if you don't use the ones in the kit.

I portmatched both the heads and intake and blended them down as far as I could reach. Yes you use the gasket as a template. The heads will need more work than the intake
Old 11-10-2013, 04:40 PM
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93 ragtop
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Originally Posted by 1996man
Did you install that hotcam kit on a LT1 or LT4 out of curiousity?

The hotcam kit I plan on purchasing with the GM part number: 12480002
comes with what looks like an entire and complete valvetrain including:
camshaft
rocker arms
valve springs
retainers
locks
and possibly something else I may have forgotten.

When you say portmatching is easy, are you referring to portmatching the intake manifold to the GM777 gasket?




If you use the hotcam kit and not just the hotcam, you will need to change the rocker studs as well. The factory LT4 studs are a 10mm and the factory roller rockers are the non adjustable type. I would prefer the ones in the kit shown, they are 3/8 studs and adjustable, but if you are on a budget, again, you can do just the cam. It was designed to drop directly into that motor with no other changes.
Your injectors are 28lbs which will be fine.
If it was my car, I would plan on a mail order tune from PCMFORLESS to make it run right. They have this combo down pat. There will be very little if any gain from a dyno tune compared to their mailorder tune on this combo.
Also, if you have never ported, consider leaving it alone, or ask your machinist to match up the ports. You can mess up quick if you cut too deep etc. You will need a die grinder to do it , along with the proper cutters. Don't try this with a dremel tool.
Old 11-10-2013, 04:43 PM
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93 ragtop
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Originally Posted by bassackwards
You need those specific springs, retainers, locks to work with the 1.6 rockers and cam. Your springs will bind and something will break if you don't use the ones in the kit.


Again, not true

The LT4 already has those springs, retainers, and locks. The springs on your LT4 are the same spring as the kit has. Yours will not bind. Again, it would not be a bad idea to replace them since they are cheap and they get weak over time.
Old 11-10-2013, 05:15 PM
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mtwoolford
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nice thing about putting an Lt4 Hot Cam in an LT4 is that it was designed to drop in.

I installed an LT4 Hot cam in my LT4 an am very pleased with the results.

Now as to specifics, get the cam; get new LT4 springs (they're cheap) and new seals for the valve stems. Very carefully inspect the roller rockers and roller lifters for damage or wear, replace individually as needed or go for an entire set.

The stock LT4 uses a pedestal NON adjustable rocker arm; all aftermarket LT4 Hot kits use adjustable rocker arms.

There's endless debate as to what kind of a timing chain to use should you desire to replace yours, and if it's stretched, it probably should be replaced. The stock style single roller LT4 timing chain should suffice its an upgrade over earlier LT1 link and pin timing chains. There's probably no need to upgrade to the robust (and expensive) LT4 Extreme Duty timing chain.

In any case, removal of the crank hub, which allows removal of the timing chain cover and access to the timing chain, if done correctly, is both simple and cheap; if done wrong...well it simply can't be done and an extended attempt will only ruin both the nose of the crank and the crank hub.

On a last note, my 96 LT4 with a stock tune, an LT4 Hot Cam, a good tune up, Bosch III injectors and functional cats, breezed through California smog. (Google "LT4 Hot Cam versus California Smog, the results are in")
Old 11-10-2013, 05:57 PM
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bassackwards
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Wow I guess lt4s came with some good parts. You can still port match with a dremel, a grinder seems like overkill on aluminum. Grinder is for cast iron.
Old 11-10-2013, 08:03 PM
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93 ragtop
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Originally Posted by bassackwards
You can still port match with a dremel, a grinder seems like overkill on aluminum. Grinder is for cast iron.

Here are some pictures of Will (rklessdriver) port matching my LT4 intake to my AFR LT4 heads. He is using a grinder which is what all hand porters that I know of use. They make cutters for alum. or steel depending on which one you are porting. Notice in the pictures, he is having to use 2 hands to control the grinder.
Are you saying you have done this with a dremel or is it you believe you could? The dremel tool I have wouldn't begin to do this work. Again, have you actually done it, and if so could you show some pictures? Otherwise Im calling BS on that.




Old 11-10-2013, 08:31 PM
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Yes I actually did it myself with a Craftsman dremel that I still own. The intake was a TPIS Bigmouth and the heads were ZZ4. Since you have never done it yourself how could you possible know what works and what doesn't?

Looks like http://www.prostreetonline.com/s/too...ting-tools.asp thinks a Dremel is good enough, that's all they sell.



I didn't take pics, it was in the 90s.
Old 11-10-2013, 08:44 PM
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did you watch the video you posted? At 3.06 he states he is not trying to enlarge the runners. If you look at the 3rd picture I posted, you will see you have to enlarge the runners to port match them. Polishing and porting are 2 different things.
As far as my experience goes, you are correct that I have not ported an engine before. I do own a dremel as well as an air die grinder. I have opened up the throttle body openings to 58mm before. I have enough experience to know BS when someone says that it is simple to port a motor with a dremel.
Old 11-10-2013, 08:53 PM
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Hmmm.....
Not positive I want to attempt port matching myself at this point. I trust myself to widen out the holes at the front of the intake manifold to fit a 58mm TB but Im not sure I trust myself to gasket match anything else on the intake manifold or the expensive LT4 heads.

I will be using the entire GM LT4 Hotcam KIT so I will be using their new adjustable rockers and springs that are included in the kit. I will definitely want to do new valve seals as well. I dont think I mentioned that before.

When I did the new clutch, I put on a new electric water pump, heavy duty double roller timing chain and a new opti. So I dont have to worry about those and my mechanic is very profficient at working in that area with the correct tools so I am not worried about that either.

Lifters is something I had not mentioned yet. I think it would be wise to go with new lifters. I hear most people are now running LS7 or caddy lifters when they replace them? Can I get some recommendations and/or part numbers on these?

I didnt know there was that big of a difference between the 1.6 rockers on my stock head which I am now being told are non adjustable compared to the 1.6 adjustable rockers included in the LT4 hotcam kit. Will this cause any compliance issues as far as everything fitting correctly? I am now also being told that the studs need to be different? If I need to buy different studs, I will buy ARP but what size do I need to get? Why do they need to be different?

As far as the Hotcam being a mild choice, keep in mind I am doing this as a budget build. I am not looking for all out power. If I decide I want more power down the road, I can either send the heads and intake out to be professionally ported and polished and/or I could take off the springs and rockers and put on 1.7 rockers with a new set of springs. Lots of people have done this with the hotcam with great results but that is a conversation for another day.

As far as the tune, yes. I plan on PCM4less reflash my computer to acknowledge all the new changes and to get it to idle, run and perform its best while still getting the best mileage possible. This is yet another reason I am going with the hotcam. tuning for a hotcam in an LT4 has been done a million times and as stated a little earlier, even a dyno tune wouldnt gain much more than what I can get via mail. I am looking for reliability, ease and modest budget here in this build first and foremost so it just makes the most sense. I am actually told that a stock LT4 computer will handle a hotcam surprisingly well before even being flashed. Although with all the other mods, I am sure a tune from PCM4less will make an even bigger difference.

One last thing I should probably mention, I live in Florida so I am not worried about smog or passing sniff tests or anything like that.

I appreciate all the input, guys! Keep it coming!
ANything else I am forgetting?

Last edited by 1996man; 11-10-2013 at 08:58 PM.
Old 11-10-2013, 08:53 PM
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93 ragtop
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Originally Posted by 1996man

One other thing I forgot to mention about the heads is if and when I decide to have a valvejob done, They are probably going to shave a small amount of the bottom of the head to make sure that it is true before it goes back on the block and I plan to do this in addition to using the Imapala head gaskets. From what I have heard, both shaving the head and using these gaskets will put my LT4 which was originally 1.8:1 compression to a new higher 11.4:1 compression.


Dan Watson


Years ago, when I did my ported stock heads, and hotcam conversion, I went with the impala gaskets as well. One small problem it may cause, with the heads shaved and the thinner gaskets, the intake may not fit and will require shaving the surface of it as well, in order to get it to fit. Its really no big deal, but just keep it in mind when you start reassembling the motor.
FWIW IMO headers, hotcam and heads are one of the best bang for your buck combos out there. Not sure if you have gears yet, but a set of 4.10's go real nice with that combo as well. Good luck.

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Old 11-10-2013, 08:55 PM
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Originally Posted by 93 ragtop
did you watch the video you posted? At 3.06 he states he is not trying to enlarge the runners. If you look at the 3rd picture I posted, you will see you have to enlarge the runners to port match them. Polishing and porting are 2 different things.
As far as my experience goes, you are correct that I have not ported an engine before. I do own a dremel as well as an air die grinder. I have opened up the throttle body openings to 58mm before. I have enough experience to know BS when someone says that it is simple to port a motor with a dremel.
It is simple if you work on engines, terrifying if you have someone else get dirty for you
Old 11-10-2013, 09:05 PM
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93 ragtop
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Originally Posted by 1996man

Lifters is something I had not mentioned yet. I think it would be wise to go with new lifters. I hear most people are now running LS7 or caddy lifters when they replace them? Can I get some recommendations and/or part numbers on these?

I didnt know there was that big of a difference between the 1.6 rockers on my stock head which I am now being told are non adjustable compared to the 1.6 adjustable rockers included in the LT4 hotcam kit. Will this cause any compliance issues as far as everything fitting correctly? I am now also being told that the studs need to be different? If I need to buy different studs, I will buy ARP but what size do I need to get? Why do they need to be different?

As far as the Hotcam being a mild choice, keep in mind I am doing this as a budget build. I am not looking for all out power. If I decide I want more power down the road, I can either send the heads and intake out to be professionally ported and polished and/or I could take off the springs and rockers and put on 1.7 rockers with a new set of springs. Lots of people have done this with the hotcam with great results but that is a conversation for another day.



ANything else I am forgetting?



I am using the LS series lifters on my present motor. They work great and are reasonably priced.
The problem with the rocker studs you have now are they are threaded 10mm on the rocker end and 3/8 on the head end. You will need to change them to 3/8 by 3/8 studs. Its no big deal, they just screw into the heads.
Personally I really liked the hotcam when I ran it. With a set of reworked LT1 heads, ie ported, bigger valves etc. the stock bottom end, hotcam, , 3000 stall converter, and 4.09 gears, I ran a best of 11.71 at 117.3 mph. It made 362rwhp and I think it was 380ft.torque. That combo you will be running will be very quick but very streetable.
Also, I installed a 52mm throttle body, and I had done back to back runs at our local track with a stock 48 and the 52, and to be honest, I could not see any difference. There may be a few hp that would show up on a dyno though But again, I couldn't see it at the track.
Old 11-10-2013, 09:06 PM
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1996man
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Originally Posted by 93 ragtop
[/B]

Years ago, when I did my ported stock heads, and hotcam conversion, I went with the impala gaskets as well. One small problem it may cause, with the heads shaved and the thinner gaskets, the intake may not fit and will require shaving the surface of it as well, in order to get it to fit. Its really no big deal, but just keep it in mind when you start reassembling the motor.
FWIW IMO headers, hotcam and heads are one of the best bang for your buck combos out there. Not sure if you have gears yet, but a set of 4.10's go real nice with that combo as well. Good luck.
I didnt think about the intake not lining up exactly. I am glad you brought that to my attention. Now I wont be freaking out when I go to put it back together! Did you just have the same machine shop shave the intake that shaved your heads?

I dont have gears yet but it is something I am definitely going to consider in the future.

You said you did a hotcam, ported and shaved heads as well as the thinner gaskets.
Can I ask if they were LT1 heads or LT4?
what was your final power?
Did you port the heads or have someone else do it?


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