Wheel Stander

Just now in the planning stage, so I'm looking for opinions. Right now, I'm leaning toward Karl Ellwein. Your thoughts???

WS

bogus

Convert to an LSx... seriously.

The LT1 is a good motor, but what you will spend on the rebuild won't even come close to the power of an LSx...

Wheel Stander

I have no doubt an LSx motor would give me more power, but how much could I expect to pay for a full LSx conversion vs the cost of rebuilding my LT1? For me, it's not about having the fastest car on the block. I'm also thinking about the "power-to-cost" ratio in choosing one option over another. More power cost more money, each extra HP becomes progressively more expensive and, sooner or later, you reach a point of diminishing returns. For a car that is almost exclusively street-driven, a fully upgraded LT1 should be plenty fast enough for me.

cv67

Depends on what you call a conversion

Some call it buying a junkyard motor and cobbling it in one a conversion
Doing it right..I bet double if not more

Sounds like youve been around the block a simple head/cam/header package wakes them up. Stroker cranks are about the same cost nowadays Id go that route. Dont get carried away on the cam get a GOOD head, headers/tune youll have more power than you know what to do with along with good manners.
Had good results playing with the LTx intakes theres more potential in them than most would think.

Like they say opinions are like....

WW7

I lived in Baltimore county for almost 45 years and the only speed shop that was worth a damn was Coleman bothers speed shop in Elkridge Md... For a big metropoliton area like this, there is a real lack of decent shops...You may be better off buying the motor from a trusted builder in another area/state , then having it shipped and installed by a local guy... If you hunt around on the net you can get some good deals from some very well known and trusted builders..You may want to get in touch with "Jim Barth" (tpi421vette), he's built quite a few motors for guys on this forum and I've heard nothing but good things about his motors..If you want a recommendation. this is it......WW

Wheel Stander

How about that? I also lived in Baltimore County (Dundalk) for many years. Back in the late '60s / early '70s, I had a motor built by Dennis Symazek. You may have heard of him. He built the small blocks for the Ewing Brothers 69 Z-28 Camaro ("Little Zipper"). Coleman Brothers and Ladd Porting did most of the block and cylinder head work on Dennis' motors. Occasionally, he would use Bob Wallace who was located in Essex. Bob has been gone for years now, but his son grandson still do a lot of excellent work on heads and short blocks. Normally, I used Carl Hobson ("Hobs" from Edgemere) for rear-end and transmission work, and Al Sadilek for carburetors and ignitions. Sadly, both Dennis and Ken Ewing passed away within the past few years. They both were great guys who absolutely loved working on Chevy small blocks. Each took a lot of knowledge to the grave when they passed. Ken's younger brother, Gary, drove the "Zipper" and has his own shop on North Point Rd. He and I used to be regulars at the Circle on Friday and Saturday nights. To this day, Gary is still in the racing game with the same car and has run some incredible times. I haven't seen him in years although we both live in Bel Air these days, so I couldn't tell you who is building his engines. I think he does a lot of his own work, but uses the Wallace boys for machine work. Small world, isn't it?

WW7

Yes it is a small world.... Did you ever go to the "Thunderbird Drive in" on old Eastern ave"? I remember the Circle Drive-In and also Gino's between Glenmore and White...I lived on the other side of town near Rt 40 and we had a Gino's there also..We burned up tons of gas going around in circles..I use to fish Bass Touraments out of Dundee Creek on the upper Chesapeake Bay, so I spent alot of time down your way......WW

PS..Do you remember a guy they called "Mr. 442"... "Johnny May" from Belair Rd area..??? I had a 67 Chevelle SS with a 427 L88 and beat him a few times out on the Boulevard......WW
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Wheel Stander

Ah yes, the old T-Bird. How could I ever forget? That is where as a young man I picked up my first female "conquest". That kind of **** stays with you forever!!!

I didn't travel much in the Bel Air Rd / Perring Parkway area, but I do remember a place called "Champs" that was (I think) located on Route 40 west just inside the beltway. The name Johnny May rings a bell, but I can't place him or his car. You might remember two custom '69 GTO's named "Vagabond" and "Gigolo" that were always up at The Circle.

A couple of years after Symazek built my small block, I and an old friend bought a '69 Chevelle (body only) and Dennis and Bob Wallace collaborated to build us a ZLX motor (basically a cast iron ZL-1, or a L88 with open chamber heads ... all pretty much the same motor). Now that car was one bad SOB!!! The brothers over at Champs had some nasty cars, but they didn't want any piece of the Chevelle. I guess the word gets around pretty fast, when you're running 10.50's with a naturally aspirated big block. Those were the days and I was sad to see them end, but now I'm getting back in the game ... well, just "dipping my toes in the water" as they say.

WW7

Your right , the place on Rt 40 inside the beltway was called Champs, it was Gino's for a few years before it was Champs, but Gino's wouldn't let the guys goof off like we did after "Champs" bought the place..Some of the cars use to pull wheelstands on the Champs parking lot....There was only one girl I remember vividly from those days , she had ("If you beat me, you can eat me") painted on the back of her car.. The strange thing is her car wasn't even that fast, but my girlfriend wouldn't let me race her anyway......I know what your saying about dipping your toes back in, both of my kids are now married and gone, so a few years ago I got back into the car game again.. I now have an 89 with a 383 stroker I installed a couple years ago, and I have been driving the wheels off the thing.. It's not like the old days, but I've been having one hell of a good time...It's been real nice talking about the old times/places with you..Take Care....WW

Wheel Stander

You said you lived in the area for 40 years ... where are you now? Do you ever go to Corvette car shows? If you're near Baltimore, we should try to hook up some time. I remember the girl you're talking about ... hell, how could anyone possibly forget ... didn't she drive a Corvette? Just within the past 24 hours, I decided to have Karl Ellwein (Southern Maryland) rebuild my motor. We're going with a higher compression 383 stroker. Lloyd Elliott (Texas) is going to do the head / intake machine work and also send us a more radical camshaft than the GM "hot cam" that I'm currently using. I bought my Corvette last winter and immediately had a local shop complete a few minor performance upgrades. It runs fairly well for what it is, but after driving it for a few months I realized it just didn't have the power I was looking for (or used to from the good old days). Hell, I've been driving Accords and Camrys for the last 25 years!!! Like you, my kids are married and on their own. I became a grandfather last January, so life sure has changed. This is my last rodeo with performance cars, so I intend to get my rocks off with it!!!

Nice chatting with you too ...

dizwiz24

Either build for boost or go home

A boosted ltx or lsx will make so much power you wont know what to do.

Now, all that said.....if you hate boost for some reason and insist on some n/a all motor, then id agree to convert to lsx.

To answer your question...will (rklessdriver) Is the person near you that id recruit to do my build if it was me.

jonecap

Dusty Blazing High Performance in Durham, NC builds great LT1s. He has done a lot of stroker LT1s.

www.blazinghighperformance.com

Wheel Stander

I contacted Will and he said because of the time he is devoting to his new business (some sort of consulting), he is now building only a few motors each year (mainly for former customers). He referred me to Maryland Performance Center in Frederick, MD. I did quite a bit of research which included conversations with Karl Ellwein, Lloyd Elliott and Ed Wright. Elliott and Wright both gave Karl their "stamps of approval" and strongly endorsed his work. Karl will be building the short block. The heads and intake will be going to Lloyd who has done quite a lot of work for Karl over the years. Ed has agreed to handle the tune and he is one of the very best. I don't need to have the fastest car on the block, and don't think the extra $6000 or so to install a blower is a good use of my money. I have no doubt a blower would yield massive power, but it's really not necessary for a car driven mainly on the street and which only sees the drag strip a few times a year. I'm not taking issue with you about the quality of Will's work ... I'm sure he is excellent. But as it turns out, Will basically told me to use someone else so that's what I'm doing. I'm confident when it's all said and done, I'll be happy with the final product. I do appreciate everyone's comments and suggestions, and have already learned a lot by reading information posted in this forum. You guys are a big help and definitely a wealth of knowledge. Thanks for your help.

MDstar2

I see you've made your decision already, but I'd like to throw one more name out there for you or anyone interested in a place that does great work and can do everything in house. Justice Racing Engines in Frederick built my sbc last year. Great guy to deal with! He has all of the line boring and balance machines in house and they fabricate all kinds of stuff down to the chassis. He builds the LS motors for Eric Miller (king of the hammers winner) . Just another option.

Wheel Stander

Thanks for the heads up. In this game you can never have enough reliable resources, so I just pulled up and bookmarked their home page. Justice must only be a stones throw from Maryland Performance Center (MPC) which is also in the Frederick area. What can you tell me about MPC? That's the place Will (rklessdriver) recommended to me.

l88rocket

to much money in converting to a lsx, have to change everything, motor, trans, etc not worth it, Blueprint engines, Golen engines have good reman engines for lt1's

Deakins

I personally don't see appeal of converting to an LSX engine in these cars. It sounds like for what you are doing you have a pretty good plan laid out. Just double down and ensure that the people doing the work are talking with the others; this will make sure that everything couples together smoothly. Just my .02

BacknBlack

A stock bottom end LT1 can put down well over 400rwhp with a simple H/C swap. Ask Advanced Induction. And that's plenty to get someone deep into the 11's. Plus, LT motors, along with traditional SBC, sound a thousand times better cammed. My '03, with a cam, sounded like it was cooking Jiffy Pop in the exhaust.

Wheel Stander

Thanks for the suggestions. The plan is falling into place. Ellwein, Elliott and Ed Wright have known each other and worked together on quite a few projects over the years. In fact, Ed basically taught Karl how to tune high performance LT1 motors. I've already had conversations with each of them and they have also talked among themselves, so I'm confident that we're all on the same page.

l88rocket

My 94 z28 makes 468 rwhp with a 358 lt1 n/a