My 99 vert has 86K on it. The clutch is getting grippy at normal launch, I don't imagine it has too much life left in it. I've considered the A&A FI kit, which would probably kill it off in a few hundred miles.

I took the car to a performance shop in town and got a quote to pull the tired old LS1 out and do some heads, cam, intake, tune, and throw an LS7 clutch on it. They guy quoted me $30,000.00. Obviously he doesn't want to do the job.

Another guy who is independent and works out of a one man garage offered to do the work, wanting about $4G to pull and reinstall. That being the case, I wondered if it was a better deal to get an entire new engine with a warranty rather than working with the 86K mile 22 year old bottom. So I see GM has a deal on this crate specifically designed for retrofits.. has the 24x crank and 1x cam sensors already installed, and LS3 heads.
https://www.gmperformancemotor.com/parts/19370163.html

The price is right, if my guy is accurate with his labor I could have this engine and an LS7 clutch installed for under $10K. If this were your car, would you do this? Iron LQ9 block and all? I never intend to track this car, I only street cruise it on weekends, rub it with a diaper, etc. LOL. But is this enough torque to keep any rice burner from surprising me between the lights? The trusted guy suggested dropping the rear end to 3.73s to really make it hop out of the hole. I need some solid advice here... Anyone running this set up? Or what do you think otherwise?

D

 

Heck yeah Id do it.
30k is friggin insane

 

Yeah.. that guy was out of his mind. He told me to sell my car and go buy one with the power I want. Just to humor him, I was looking at C6 Z06s and some C7 Grand Sports tonight. The cheapest one I could find was $35,000. Most were over $50k. I could spend half that on my car and spank a base C7.

 

If it was me, I'm with you, I'd swap for the new motor. The only thing I would do differently is I would "upgrade" the cam in that block from a 204/218 to at least a 224/230 on a 112 or so and pick up the extra 50 horses (at least), putting you at a clean 500 horsepower easily. I also agree with your trusted guy and put in 3.73 gears. The car will feel like a beast after that. A little lumpy, but super fast.

 

86k is nothing. I’d swap heads/cam and new clutch and a torque tube rebuild.

 

I agree.


Otherwise toss in a GM crate LS3 from Summit Racing.

 

Well now... This is an interesting first post up top.

Be careful. Fools and their money, as they say, and we have the Corvette tax on top.

I highly recommend you make no purchases for 60 days. Read, watch, ponder during that time. First, what is your goal for the car? A hp # to brag? A trap time and speed of X.XX @ 1XX? From there you can back into what you want to do for build on the car.

Now I fully agree with above. 86k is nada on these engines. You can slap a blower on it as a stand alone mod and it will do fine. There are some smart add on mods to improve on some factory weaknesses like pac springs, Che or Straub bushings, a good (not just LS2) new timing chain, maybe a new oil pump. A cam is optional. When the clutch goes, LS7 is fine... It is... It for the labor cost if you're not doing the work, I'd suggest an RST for lighter than factory pedal with 800tw grip. Do the couplers while you're in there. Definitely add the Katech remote bleeder. And when you do the blower, the one main key is find a tuner who has done hundreds of these combos so you have some faith they won't nuke your engine with a stupid mistake.

There ya go. The path to 550 to 650 rwhp is before you with easy driving and maintenance.

Oh.and do an HPI diff mount and ECS trans/diff brace when all this is done.

Have fun and smile every day! All for probably WELL under 10k. Well, belay that be I have no idea what sort of labor you'd be looking at. Hook up with your local Corvette club members and ask them to refer you to someone. DON'T ASK THE RETIREES WITH CLEAN HANDS AND POLO SHIRTS. Ask the dudes who hit the track weekly. They'll know the right guys for the right price.
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$30k is ridiculous! I have pondered the same issue (forced induction, vs heads cam) when all is said and done, I decided to do nothing, my thought is if I really want more power ( in a car I hardly ever drive, and don’t come close to exceeding its capabilities) I’ll sell the C5 and find a clean C6 ZO6.
just my humble opinion, but which ever way you go, good luck, and enjoy!

 

like everyone is saying, that's way to high, since your a forum member il give u a great discount to do the work. hows 27k sound.

 

I say go with the A&A kit. I have one and am VERY happy with it. The 86K miles really is nothing. If properly tuned the kits are just as reliable as stock. The other great thing is the car drives like normal, and gets normal fuel economy until you smash the go pedal. Then all of a sudden, you have a beast. This way you still have a great cruising and touring car that goes like stink when you want it to. Regardless of what power adding option you choose, you'll want a good set of tires, and an upgraded suspension to help get all of that extra power to the road. Good luck with your build.

 

And if you're in the northeast, I'll do the work for you at a great rate to beat these others. I've installed three A&A kits so it is very easy now.

 

I see you are in Utah, maybe you could make appointment drive car to Oxnard, CA and have A and A install the supercharger and do the tune at their shop.

No idea if they would put in a new clutch or not, but you could ask, if so they could do clutch and check torque tube couplers etc.

Could make it a 2 for 1, get car upgraded and vacation, might have to rent a car or call Uber while Corvette is being worked on.

By the way my 1999 6 speed convertible is still stock and runs great, they say these engines can go 200-300 k or more.

Call A and A and see what they say.

​​​​​Edit, you say your LS1 is tired? Is not running good?

 

no way I would replace an aluminum block with iron. Iron is only needed if aluminum won't hold the power you are trying to achieve, or if you are found of old engines. The fear of milage is another outdated thought, modern ls series smog controlled engines are constructed to much tighter tolerances than the old motors with poor oil control and slop in the tolerances that would be played out at 80, 000 miles.

I am also a very happy customer running a McCloud clutch. (RST) Modulates perfectly, and has a smaller rotating mass than stock. Use caution when selecting an aftermarket clutch, most are sold to satisfy a racer, and the on/off light switch response is not a good choice in traffic where you might have to leave at the pace of the traffic around you. McCloud, back when he was first starting out, started painting his clutches red so guys in the pits could identify which clutches were still working, as some drag guys like to keep successful parts selection a secret for as long as possible. Now it is common for a clutch to be factory painted, some are green, but red is still the most common color, regardless of brand.