I'm currently selling my 87 C4 but have been considering just keeping it should it not sell within a decent amount of time. If I did keep it, I would want to drop in a new engine and transmission for more power and torque. I would like to see about 350 horse and 350 torque or higher, and I know the ZZ4 is a great place to start but not sure how much it would cost converting it to fuel injection. Looking for advice as far as fuel injected engines go since I would want to also replace the TPI with something newer and rather not change over from carb to fuel injection. The tranny would need to be a 6 speed designed for street use since it wouldn't get tracked all that often if at all. My budget would be about 18 grand give or take.
Worst comes to worst, the car sits on the market until it sells.

 

Okay, well 18 grand is enough to get yourself a 400 ci. Unless you are paying someone else to do it.

Okay, so, buy the motor that you want, if you are going to do it yourself and your budget is 18 grand you will have a lot left over.

Now, find out what power range the motor was for. If it was low end power, look into low end power manifolds, you could even use the TPI on it for this, and the low RPM manifolds will look similar to the TPI.

If it is a mid RPM power range engine, go with the Super Ram.

If it is a high RPM power range, go with the Mini Ram.

There are also some alternatives to these but they are the most popular.

All you need to do now to convert it to fuel injection, is put one of those manifolds on, install your injectors from the current motor, install the fuel rail that comes with the manifold, or install your current one if the manifold doesn't require a different one. And don't forget your throttle body.

Install a Coolant Temperature Sensor, Install a MAF sensor, Install your Throttle Position Sensor, Install your MAT sensor, Install your EGR components, they can go right back in the position that they were before. (Note, the Mini Ram does not have an EGR port built in, you would have to make one, if you don't need to pass emissions, you can skip the EGR.) Install a IAC valve on your throttle body, Install a Oxygen Sensor, Install a knock sensor and finally, install your old distributor.

Then simply hook everything up to the wiring harness that's in the car and that motor will be fuel injected. You will also need a tune.

Now, you are probably going to want to make your gauges functional. With the stuff I gave you now, Coolant Temperature and Oil Pressure aren't going to work.

In the back of the motor by the distributor is the Oil Pressure Sensor, this has to be plugged in for the fuel pump to work also. Take the sensor out of the old motor and install it into the new one.

The coolant temperature sending unit, (they may have relocated it on 87), but on my 1985 , it is located on the drivers side block in the on the side near the headers. Also, on the passenger side of the block, between cylinders # 6 and 8, there is an auxiliary cooling fan switch, install the switch from the old block into the new one.

This is why I love the L98 being a Gen I SBC.

You can probably add some performance parts to it, such as a bigger cam, heads, headers, and make a ton of power, depending on the size of the engine you want to buy, all while staying under 18 grand.

The next thing to buy, would be your 6 speed transmission that you want.

I would recommend a ZF6 transmission, it is a 6 speed manual from the later L98 cars and the LT cars.

It should be a pretty straight forward swap, there are some guides on it flying around out there on the internet, and I believe you need a different clutch.

Good luck!

 

Your budget is healthy and enough to get what you want. Just get a short block ZZ4, install the cam you want, get a good new set of heads and then go with a mini ram with will take your injectors.

Or just jack up the license plate and buy a new 96 LT4 and bolt the license plate and drive away. That is the easiest and quickest solution. Or even move up to the C5. Sorry guys....but that is a good option and your still in the family just one generation up.

 

http://paceperformance.com/i-6255304...te-engine.html Horse power and the torque that you are looking for. Bolt in and go. All brand new, not rebuilt. No guessing on what cam or heads will work with, all designed by experts. I am not sure if the hood will close though.

 

An 03-04 Z06 would be in that price range. That's the way I would go. There's a 600hp LT4 in the f/s section here for 16000.

 

As much as I love my c4 if I had 18 large burning a hole in my pocket I'd be buying a c5 or a clapped out c6.

 

Yeah, I could go C5 to go with my C6 I guess for that kind of money. Didn't really think about that. The 87 is 27 years old at this point and a new engine/tranny would be nice and left over cash would go into other things like dress up and a A/C swap out for the R134 standards. I appreciate the help here. I would rather it sell then I could up the anti and get something better or the Passat TDI. Really just me deciding on what I want to do at this point.

 

Rebuild your current engine with parts that can hold high horsepower, get a zf6, and buy a turbo kit. Then make sure that your seat belts work. All for under 18 grand!

 

no real turbo kits exists, other than The Raptor/STS kit that is a rear mount.

*if you want to consider a supercharger, Vortech discontinued their kit for the late model c4 years ago (not sure if the earlier kit is still available), Procharger still offers a kit for these cars, but Blowerworks is the "go to" guy for a quality kit. No avenue will be cheap.

 

You don't have to spend every last dime of your budget. Keep it budget oriented, and you'll be a lot happier with the outcome. We have some reputable engine builders on this forum that can put together a combination that makes an easy 400+rwhp out of a 383. This doesn't have to be a fully-forged bottom-end "gold plated" monster. You can get quality parts intended for the power you desire. Get some decent aftermarket heads, and a good cam, and top it off with a variety of aftermarket intake manifold options.

the ZZ4 will work in a fuel injected application, you just purchase the long-block and transfer everything off your existing engine onto the zz4 long-block. then go from there (trying to make this easy to comprehend). My point is, you can have a better engine built for about the same price.

if you want a 6-speed that will actually work in your application, you're kind of limited to a few options which are all costly. The Richmond 6-speed was a kit, once offered (not sure if it's available any longer). The factory ZF6 6-speed, from the later cars. This trans will require all the complementary parts (such as the pedal assembly, if you have an automatic currently). Finally, you can reach out to Keisler (forum vendor).

I encourage you to reach out to a few reputable vendors for sound advise that meets your expectations, and use out of the vehicle. Such as "TPIS.com".