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I have a 1993 6-speed Corvette and I want to bump up the power to at least 350whp. But I want to still be able to DD the car and not destroy the fuel economy, and my wallet. I don't want to have to spend too much. 400+whp would be even better!
What should I do to get to at least 350? I know an exhaust, headers, air intake, throttle body, etc. will improve power. I figured I'd ask you guys since a lot of you know more about this than I do.
Learn me somethin'!
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"Race car driving is like sex, all men think they're good at it." -Jay Leno
"Understeer is when you hit the wall with the front of your car, oversteer is when you hit the wall with the back of your car, horsepower is how fast you crash into the wall, torque is how far you bring the wall with you."
Cam
Heads (ported or replaced)
1.6 rockers,
headers w/ high flow cats.
Possible bottom end, depending on mileage, at least rod and main bearings to keep DD reliability.
Dyno tune to be sure
I mean I don't want to lose an arm and a leg on just 100 extra horsepower. I know it's not going to be cheap, but I want to spend the least amount of money possible on a quality build.
I mean I don't want to lose an arm and a leg on just 100 extra horsepower. I know it's not going to be cheap, but I want to spend the least amount of money possible on a quality build.
If max. power for least money, and a decent package is what you want. I would look into a set of Lloyd Elliott heads and custom cam. (your heads reworked) Buy a set of long tube headers, tie it back into the stock exhaust. Have it tuned (I use pcmforless) and call it a day. The aftermarket exhaust, bigger throttle bodys, cold air intakes etc, do little if any on a vette. Latter, you may want to put a set of 4.10 gears in there.
Edit to add, if it were mine, for headers I would go to ebay and get a set of the obx stainless headers for your car.
The easiest way to get 100hp with minimum expense and daily driver (DD) manners...add a supercharger.
The next approach that will put you right at 350rwhp...
- Ported Heads
- Port matched intake
- 1.6 roller rockers
- Aftermarket cat-back exhaust
- LT4 HOT Cam or something slightly more aggressive & modern
- Dyno tune
The above will be an easy car to drive daily. You could go bigger on the cam at the expense of mileage and manners...ie you'll battle cam surge, rich exhaust at idle, choppiness, etc.
For a DD that puts 400hp+ to the ground...stroker. You can search for my 383 build thread. It's ~450rwhp. My build was not cheap, but that was primarily driven by the use of lightweight parts, a different block (to retain the original numbers matching block), and AFR heads.
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Jim
'96 Grand Sport #007
A few mods here and there
everyone keeps saying heads and cam and blahblahblah, Wall I love a N/A street car..
you want 400whp, near stock driveability, and quick turn around... Buy a blower!
The trouble with a blower is 2 things IMO. First, a kit is going to be $7,000.00 and up. Second, compression is 10.4 on a stock motor.
Oh and keep in mind, his is a speed density car. Not to easy to get tuned.
lotta high compression stock motors running just a few pounds too get them up in power, SD and boost go together pretty good, if you search you can find a killer deal on a used v1 or something.
For what its worth, I had a 383, not good for daily driving, blowers, turbos, bolt on superchargers just drain your wallet and ask for maintenance. Have a good machine shop port your stock heads add an Lt4 intake, bigger cam which can all be done in the car, and absolutely long tube headers with high flow cat. Ditch the factory mufflers as they are very restrictive
For what its worth, I had a 383, not good for daily driving, blowers, turbos, bolt on superchargers just drain your wallet and ask for maintenance. Have a good machine shop port your stock heads add an Lt4 intake, bigger cam which can all be done in the car, and absolutely long tube headers with high flow cat. Ditch the factory mufflers as they are very restrictive
Why is a 383 not good for daily driving? It's all in cam selection. If it was just displacement, then I guess the C6s all need to be parked, especially the Z06 with its 427.
I have a 383. 500+hp, 22mpg, idles comfortably at 800 rpm, dead reliable, zero leaks. With a tiny bit smaller cam, it would have zero cam surge vs the minor amount it has now. It would be fine as a DD if not for heavy clutch that doesn't go well with a commute that at times has me spending 60+ minutes in stop & go traffic.
__________________
Jim
'96 Grand Sport #007
A few mods here and there
[QUOTE=Jay7199;1581764428]lotta high compression stock motors running just a few pounds too get them up in power, SD and boost go together pretty good, if you search you can find a killer deal on a used v1 or something.[/QUOTE]
Jay, no disrespect intended, but how much experience do you have with adding a blower to a LT1 in a Vette? Just a few things to let you know, first off, the blower has to be a reverse rotation. Belt slippage on the vette is a problem, with companys such as Blowerworks doing some workarounds to help, but again not cheap.
The kits are unique to the vette as compared to a f body. They usually are on the pass. side in the vette.
Just a few lbs of boost is not going to give him 350 rwhp on a stock motor. Most of the base kits ($7,000) build around 6lbs and even that is not enough to outrun a decent heads, cam, headers car.
1. To make the car faster.
2. For the strip!
3. To take it down to the strip, and to make the car more fun to drive on a daily basis.
4:10 rear end gears (assuming the 93 manuals had the dana 44)
I am suprised that no one has mentioned these yet. Especially if your looking for straight line performance. The rear end gears may not add horsepower, but they let you use more of what you have, sooner.
With the two overdrive gears in the six speed, these will not take too much from your MPG's at normal cruising conditions
Nitrous no engine mods needed
Bring a broom dustpan and bucket just in case though
You cant get without giving
More power usually means less mpg
None of this is cheap youll have to dig into the motor
Budget build....many have tried but lol
lets be real cheap is the buzzword here
just do exhaust/tune/gears get what ya got save your money and slowly build up something you really want on the side while still being able to drive the car.
Last edited by cuisinartvette; 09-07-2012 at 11:15 AM.
lotta high compression stock motors running just a few pounds too get them up in power, SD and boost go together pretty good, if you search you can find a killer deal on a used v1 or something.[/QUOTE]
Jay, no disrespect intended, but how much experience do you have with adding a blower to a LT1 in a Vette? Just a few things to let you know, first off, the blower has to be a reverse rotation. Belt slippage on the vette is a problem, with companys such as Blowerworks doing some workarounds to help, but again not cheap.
The kits are unique to the vette as compared to a f body. They usually are on the pass. side in the vette.
Just a few lbs of boost is not going to give him 350 rwhp on a stock motor. Most of the base kits ($7,000) build around 6lbs and even that is not enough to outrun a decent heads, cam, headers car.
None taken. Of course whatever I do will include a ton of research before. I don't have any experience with blowers on LT1's.
Plus, I'm sure that I can get a body kit, big rear spoiler, racing stripes, chrome engine parts, lightweight battery, and a FWD conversion for pretty cheap. I heard that stuff breaks dynos!
Last edited by VeryUnoriginal; 09-07-2012 at 02:18 PM.
Reason: Forgot to answer question
4:10 rear end gears (assuming the 93 manuals had the dana 44)
I am suprised that no one has mentioned these yet. Especially if your looking for straight line performance. The rear end gears may not add horsepower, but they let you use more of what you have, sooner.
With the two overdrive gears in the six speed, these will not take too much from your MPG's at normal cruising conditions
Right here, is the reason I asked the questions I did. Since you are primarily concerned with a street/strip setup you can build to suit that best. Gears are a great idea and will really wake the car up even in stock form.
AT the HP levels you are wanting, I'd upgrade the clutch, u-joints, change out the transmission and rear end fluids for something better than stock like Redline or Amsoil.
Before you get bigger ideas than you can support I'd learn how to drive the car STOCK and do it well before adding HP, that way when you do you'll be that much faster.
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Want more power out of my LT1
