Polar Jet

Hey all,

After being unsuccessful in finding the perfect C6, I have pretty much decided to hang on to my C5 since I still love it anyway and am now going to put some money into it and look at the C7 a couple of years from now.

My budget for any upgrades I do will be about $15,000 - give or take. My current mods include Vararam, AR LT headers/hi-flow cat/x-pipe through 1.5" modded Z06 Ti's. I also have a Yank SS3200 stall and a 3.42 diff. Obviously it is an automatic.

I am looking at either putting just a motor in or doing a motor with a blower. I have been looking at new LS1, LS3 or LS7 crate motors and A&A supercharger kits.

My main goals are to get as much power as I can possibly get within my budget and have the car be as reliable and trouble-free as possible. I don't want to complicate matters if I don't have to.

Any advice from the experts would be greatly appreciate.

Thanks,
Rob

$$$frumnuttin'

do the new motor....

cdkcorvette7

How much of the work are you going to be doing yourself? Makes a huge difference in cost. Is your drivetrain already built to handle the power you're going to be putting down. It'd suck to build a monster motor only to have it rip the transmission internals apart the first time you got on it...

If it were my $15K to blow and the drivetrain was sufficient to handle 600+ rwhp I'd probably do the following:

1. Tear down my current motor and rebuild it with forged internals. I'd rebuild it with the proper compression ratio for a blower. 99blancoss advertised a program for this: http://forums.corvetteforum.com/c5-t...h-program.html Then I'd order an A&A blower kit with a whiplash cam from England Green install it myself and let them dyno-tune it. Whatever money remained would go toward fender flares (so I could get enough rubber on the road to get traction), suspension (LG Coilovers) and C6Z06 brakes, then maybe a few interior upgrades if there was anything left in the budget.

If you want to stay N/A, take a look at this build: http://forums.corvetteforum.com/c5-t...ct-begins.html I have seen this car in person and it is a MONSTER.

Just my $0.02... Whichever way you go, if you drop $15Gs into this car with a mind toward performance it'll be WICKED fast when you're done.

Vetteman Jack

Rob - here's my thoughts for what they are worth. $15K is a lot of money to sink into a car for mods - knowing that in two years or so you will be looking to get a C7. Chances are that will be money down the drain when it comes time to sell (I speak from experience on sinking money into mods and then selling the car) - you'll most likely never see anywhere near that amount back out of the car. Yes it will be a beast to drive in the meantime and maybe that is sufficient reason for you to do it, but that $15K could be a great downpayment on the C7 too (unless you plan to keep the C5 and get a C7).

Obviously I don't know your financial situation and $15K may not be a huge hit on your budget, but for me it would be and that's why I say that. If you were going to keep the car a lot longer, then my comments would probably be different.

Now, if you end up doing this, I think I would go with the LS7 or LS3 motor with the supercharger - would be reliable and fast to boot.

Polar Jet

Those are the two choices I seem to be thinking of the most. The LS7 is a beast of a motor and the LS3/blower combo would be sweet too.

jetmech09

LS-3 / Blower is the way I would go .

FFIN90

Rob, give Champion Motors ( A Supporting Vendor also ) a call and speak to Rob, he can help you out with any questions you have.

0PartsTaxi.com

How about something different from the norm LS3/LS7. Take a look at the LSA crate motor out of the CTS-V. Comes with the supercharger. Basically a de-tuned LS9 for alot less money.

Kevin
www.PartsTaxi.com

Polar Jet

Absolutely. I have dealt with Rob before and this is something I will present to him once I make my decision.

Thanks for the advice!

Polar Jet

Thanks for the suggestion. I will look into that.