Hey gang, I have been considering the future of my car, specifically, her heart. I have spent the past three years getting the 1995 LT1 and 4L60E transmission to run in my car. It finally does run, and well. I have been considering a boost in hp, and I have gone down many paths; from strokers to super/turbo chargers to nitrous to a combination of the above. I want to stick with the pro-touring theme, but I am finding the parts needed to assemble a stout LT1 are pretty pricey. I am strating to think I could get more bang-for-the-buck by swapping in another engine (I big block, perhaps). I feel a bit sacreligious as I have invested so much into getting the LT1 to run well in the car. I plan on swapping the tranny to a 4L80E as well, so my transmission should be up to handle whatever I throw at it. So what say the experts? Should I keep the LT1 and make it into a monster, or would I be better served by going with a big block or something along those lines? I am looking for power levels somewhere north of 500. This car will used as a weekend warrior, so awesome fuel economy need not apply. That said, I don't want a dragster that passes up everything but a gas station and would be uncomfortable on long rides. As always, thanks for any input!

 

Last Ride- I have enjoyed my’95 LT1/4L60e conversion in my ’76 for a couple of years. It has more enough power for my needs. I’m not a serious drag racer. I prefer auto-xing and I have plenty f power for that. I more interested in continually upgrading my suspension. The 4L80e tranny should handle the power you plan on putting through it. It would have been much cheaper building a carb engine to the spec your talking about. I see your dilemma. Your looking at quite a few bucks boosting the HP in an LT1. I would love to see picks of your current set up.
Dan

 

Dan--
Pics of my install can be found on my website at http://www.geocities.com/silvershark.geo and then go to the second page. I must say that yours looks pretty good! My pics are not the best quality, and they are pretty old. I am trying to get updated pics, as I have changed some of the setup (the computer is now in the glovebox, for example). I will probably stay with the LT1 (unless the Ram Jet 502 goes on sale ;) ). I know what you mean about the suspension. I am thinking of going with the Vette Brake Performance Plus system with a Steeroids rack and pinion. Eventually, I might try a five or six-link suspension for the rear. I have also talked with some companies that would be able to custom build an 18" wheel for my car. The front runner right now is the Kinesis K58 (like the ones on the Tigershark Concept Car) in 18x8 front and 18x10 rear. The engine mods will probably come after this stuff, currently on the table for next year. Out of curiousity, what are you planning or have you already done with your car? It's nice to meet someone with ideas similar to mine! I really like the camera bar as well. I was thinking about trying to put in something like that when I put in a roll bar. Anyway, thanks for your time, and I look forward to hearing from you!

 

Last Ride-Good job on your install! My plan this winter is to do more cosmetics work and I hope to beef up the rear suspension. I already have VBP front mono-leaf suspension. I still need to add the upper control arm to increase offset and negative camber. The last auto-x my rear-end was fish tailing down the track. All my suspension is in the front. I currently finish the final details to the Shark Bar II ('78 thru '82 vettes) harness bar. I hope to have it for sale soon. I agree with your choice of suspension mods. I just can't swing the cash for them at this time. Where did you locate your fuel pump? How did you adapt your speedo? I fabricated a new sending unit cover and installed the fuel pump in the tank. I replace my stock speedo and tack with Autometer pro comps. The speedo accepts digital VSS signal from the tranny and converts it to an analog display.
Love to here more about your LT1 install,
Dan http://www.vetteworksonline.com
:cool:

 

383 stroker! :yesnod: