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Ok heres my story.
I have done many project cars in my 21 years of existence. I did a 1970 chevelle SS with my pops, a 2003 silverado while I was in high school, any more that I cant think of off the top of my head. I took a dip into the corvette world after reading all you guy's enthusiasm towards em and picked up a project 1997 c5. Basically I want it to be fast, real fast. I don't give a d*** about high end horsepower or what kinda numbers it puts out. I want low end, seat of your pants, put your brains in the back of your head torque. I was thinking of making the ls1 a 383, changing the heads and cam, changing the intake manifold, putting an intake and exhaust on it to make it breath, and maybe even doing electric cutouts. Can anyone advise me on this? Would this cause my eyes to roll into the back of my head when I drove it? I NEED A FIX, AND THE ONLY SOLUTION IS....MORE POWER!
well that is a tough question....I would say anywhere from 2-3k. Dont take labor into factor as there is an engine shop in my immediate family. Whats gonna give me the best bang for my buck?
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$2-3K, even with you doing your own work, is not going to go far. H/C will eat up a lot of that. Still won't make your eyes pop out, but will give a noticable improvement.
You will need to triple your budget to get the rip snorting throttle response you want out of that baby. You want TQ off idle then slap a Maggie on her they are good down low where you say you want the TQ. The other option is to build a LS2 402 with some Trick Flow or comparable heads with one of England Green's thumping cams
ok lets forget budget! there is no budget, what would everyone recommend for power I could feel... its a daily driver but if some rice-grinder comes revving up on me...hes going down. Thats what I use it for.
Last edited by largeitalian; Jun 22, 2007 at 01:47 PM.
"...its a daily driver but if some rice-grinder comes revving up on me...hes going down. Thats what I use it for."
Glad to see you are going to be using your car for what it was intended for and in a responsible manner. You sure as hell don't wanna be embarrassed by any "rice-grinders"! Just don't be to upset when a 600cc Japanese made crotch-rocket blows your doors off!
ok lets forget budget! there is no budget, what would everyone recommend for power I could feel... its a daily driver but if some rice-grinder comes revving up on me...hes going down. Thats what I use it for.
Then either option I mentioned will work and if there is no budget a DS1C on top of that forged 402 will for sure wake you and everyone up or some TT will also fit the bill, to many options out there, you need to have goals in mind or lots of money, no you need to have both
well you know what I mean im not using it for straight street racing. I want to get it to about 500hp/tq because I dont want to spin and i dont plan on upgrading the drivetrain. I just wanted some suggestions because im a vette-noob. Ive always wanted a vette but what pushed me over the edge on getting one is seeing how much everyone on here loved theirs and loved talkin bout em, now I just want mine to have a little more umph...im a responsible driver though had my license 6 years and no accidents and only 1 ticket....of course that ticket was 63 in a 40 in a chevelle ss trying to get my girlfriend to practice on time...
Then either option I mentioned will work and if there is no budget a DS1C on top of that forged 402 will for sure wake you and everyone up or some TT will also fit the bill, to many options out there, you need to have goals in mind or lots of money, no you need to have both
K my goals are to be around 500hp/tq . I dont want to break the bank but I have a lot of hooks so I can get around costs is what im trying to say here. What do you think of those mods I said above? 383,h/c,intake,headers,cutouts?
You can get there with with either a 383 or a 402, H/C, intake, headers and the right tune. I've seen both configurations in the hp/torque range you're looking for. I'm not so sure I'd want to do cutouts on one of those engines though. I'm thinking I'd want it to breathe all the time.
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AFR or Trick Flow heads, a mid 23x/23x cam around .600' lift on a 112+4, American Racing or LG Pro LT headers, a ported FAST 90mm manifold, ported 90mm TB, and a dyno tune will get you what you want.
Around $6K in parts/tune will get you close to the power you want. Add a couple hundred for an intake and exhaust and you are set. This is assuming, as you said, that the labor of this swap(most shop charge about $1500 for this) is free.
Mine puts 475 to the ground, and cost about 5 grand. This factors in some parts were carefully scrounged used, and I sold all my stock parts, which were more valuble LS6 stuff. The most expensive part were the heads, but now I have the power, I need to address driveline, clutch being the first thing. About $1300 for that, and might need upgraded output shafts,etc. Far easier to go with some form of FI, and IMO, a centri type will give you the most bang for $$.