A dyno tune is a great place to start, but I would have to say Nitrous for your biggest bang for the buck.

 

to a stock car-supercharger

 

No doubt Nitrous

 

why rely on 1 mod. Look for the right setup

 

Well, you have to have everything mentioned to "get the most out of it..."

If the question is strictly bang for the buck, nothing else is in the same universe as nitrous...

But then again, the best solution probably shouldn't just rely on bang for the buck...

 

Nitrous is the best bang for the buck, but from your list, I'd say a Cam. Sure, cams need all the boltons to do squat, but put a MS3, G5X3 or Trex in an otherwise stock engine, and you'll see 50rwhp at least, and a lot more with boltons. Outside of nitrous, nothing else you can buy will make that much power, besides a turbo/sc. Problem with a sc, it costs a lot compared to nitrous. Cam is even cheaper, with a tune and springs, it comes out even with a mild nitrous shot with a tune, and gives you a 50HP shot all the time... so what if it doesn't drive like a Cadillac??

 

For everyday bang for the buck, you need knowledge, and the will to labour. Remove your cylinder heads, do some light porting and increase the compression with a thinner head gasket or milling the heads or both! The cost of head gaskets and porting bits should cost less than $300. I would expect at least a 20 hp increase across the board, but you can get a LOT more if you know what you're doing, or get really lucky. It's pretty cheap if you do all the work yourself. Get the chambers and ports coated ($300), and even more power is to be expected.

Cams are worth a lot of power as well, but they require a lot more labor, and there are other parts that "should" get replaced at the same time. There are some very powerful "cam only" cars out there.

Do both, and you could get close to 430 rwhp without the other bolt ons. You'd need great port work and an awesome cam, but it is possible.

 

Are you for real.......... Yeah, just pull your heads, buy a grinder and some bits and just do a mild port job. I can't believe the crap on this board lately. leaftye, maybe you should pull your own heads and put your advice to good use and then let us in on how much power you made.... or lost.

 

 

90 droptop, that's exactly what I'm doing. I just received a set of 241 cores to work with. Do you want pics? Anyway, I'll be using cometic head gaskets so if it doesn't work out, I'll pull them and put on my 853's. I won't be doing any major porting, just clearing and possibly working on the lower radius. I'll get them milled if I can't get a gasket thin enough to get me to 11:1. There may be one thin enough, I just haven't checked at all. After that, I'll send them away for coatings on the chambers, exhaust port, valve faces, and exhaust valve backs. Assembly will be using Ferrea valves unless I can find z06 valves for the same price or less, Patriot double springs, Ti retainers, HS rockers with the c-clips removed and bolts upgraded to space grade hardware, custom length pushrods and Comp stock-type lifters with ARP 12-point studs to bolt it to my block. Over that will be coated sheetmetal head covers. I'll be installing the LS6 valley plate with new knock sensors under a LS6 or 78mm LSX intake manifold. The front of the engine will have a TSP Torquer (233/233 112) cam shoved thru it, a double adjustable timing chain, 2-piece timing cover, and a new oil pump that may possibly be ported, and an ASP underdrive pulley with alternator overdrive pulley to cap it all off.

I'm definitely putting my money where my mouth is. So far I've already bought and received the cam/springs/retainers, HS rockers, timing cover (to be used as a core) and heads. Today I'll buy the pulley, and probably the timing cover too. I bought HPTuners a long time ago because I knew a project like this was inevitable.

The rest of the parts will have to wait until the project progresses. Like I won't buy the valve covers, pushrods or head gaskets until I'm satisfied with my port job. I'm still up in the air about whether the porting on the oil pumps are effective, and I need to further evaluate my future plans before dropping a lot of money on the 78mm LSX intake.

Anyway, if I wus out, I'll get head gaskets, an oil pump, the LS6 intake stock valve covers and the crankbolts to put it all back together. The 241's are worth 5 hp, the cam may be worth another 40 hp, and the LS6 intake should add 10 hp more. $600 more and I could be done. If a stock LS1 puts out 290 rwhp, I'd be at 345 rwhp before considering the underdrive pulley, Vararam intake, high flow bridge, smooth coupler and Brisk plugs. I hesitate to estimate the power gains from the bolt-ons, so I'll let the dyno do the talking for me.

If you still think I'm BS'ing, that's fine. I really only care about my own project. If I can help a few people along the way, then that'll great too.

Eugene

 

It's not that I think your B.S.ing. The question at hand was best bang for the buck. And telling someone with no experiance to pull their heads and port them themselves is crazy. I hope your project works out.

 

Yeah, I just assumed anyone with enough gumption to pull their heads off would have some clue about what they're doing. It's definitely not a job for the timid or foolish. Whether or not I'm a fool will be determined by the dyno...and lots of $$!