animuL

I just had a new 408 built by Texas-Speed and am in the process of getting it ready to go in my 98 Coupe, automatic. The old engine is out of the car and I am wondering if there are any must-do, or nice-to-do things while the engine is out. Both the cam designer and Texas-Speed independently estimated about 625 horsepower for the new engine and I'd like to be able to run up to a 200 shot once in a great while. So are there any weak components or problematic parts that I should change out while its easy to get to? The transmission and rear end are built and not of concern to me. A friend of mine mentioned something about the torque tube couplers? and the plate with the starter gear on it? Anything else I should look into?

Thanks!

waddisme

Definitely new motor mounts!

If you have the tranny out, go ahead and get some kind of heat insulation because it will be hotter.

Remote clutch bleeder and probably the Tick mc if not already.

The al couplers are mostly for road racers, but only do the rear one.

I have the TSP 402. It has been bullet proof for almost 5 years now with numerous track days. Enjoy.

animuL

Any advice on what motor mounts to get? Stock hydraulic, solid rubber, poly? This is a daily driver so I don't want the engine to be transferring a lot of motion or noise into the frame.

MStrahan

I'm having a 404 put in my car and we went with the motor mounts from Hinson Super Cars. Give Brian a call and he'll make sure you get what you need.

waddisme

I put the Hinson reg size in mine. Cheaper than Pfadts and they look well designed and made. If you are going with the FAST 102, they make a shorter one that will help with the fitment. HTH.

animuL

Is there any down side to running the shorter ones? I don't have a 102mm intake now but I like the idea of having it set for that when I do decide to upgrade. But if the shorter ones cause other issues then I'll likely stick with the stock height.

Also, someone was telling me about going to an LS6 PCV instead of the 98 LS1 style. This seems to be a good idea. Any thoughts???

EDIT: Called Hinson, they said there is no down side to the shorter ones so I ordered them.

waddisme

The PCV system will take some looking at as the stroked motors will have more blow by and crankcase pressure. I started with LS6 system and have had some issues with oil getting into intake and oil blowing out breather cap onto motor during track days. I now have the older LS1 valve covers with d/s port and 2 on the p/s. All are run together into 1 breather can including the valley cover port. The intake port is blocked off so nothing is run back thru the motor. Unless you are tracking your car for 30 min sessions with a lot of wot/deceleration it probably won't be an issue. Check out this thread for a lot of discussion on this method.

http://forums.corvetteforum.com/c6-t...an-needed.html

animuL

Thanks for that, its a lot of info but a good read. Only problem is it doesn't leave me with a definitive decision. I don't like the idea of sucking oil thru my new engine but I do like the idea of having the vacuum on the crank case. Seems like a catch can is probably the best compromise, although I prefer a clean OEM look under the hood.

waddisme

Remember, it is Positive Crankcase Ventilation, so you don't really need a vacuum to pull it out. Before my current config, I had valley cover=> PCV => catch can => breather. Still with intake port capped. Pretty much like Spinmonsters except with catch can. It would be a good start to go valley cover=> PCV => catch can => intake. Just watch your catch can. If you are not getting a lot of oil there then motor should be OK. No way I would run it without catch can until you see how much oil will be coming that way though. Not a big deal to remove if it is not an issue. That way you won't get bogged down in all this unless you have to.