brownnote

well, as a current import owner, I have decided it is time to take the plunge and get some american muscle that I have wanted for years now. the import happened due to necessity, but soon became a hobby and modded it to a respectable built supercharged daily driver. I hit the track once or twice a month (depending on the AZ heat!), and am just not happy with the $ I have sunk into this thing building it for the kind of returns I have gotten. I am running a 13 flat in the 1/4 at 109 mph w/ 2.0 60', on street tires with my fwd import, which is ok. But having weighed the cost of parts to go faster plus the possiblity of breakage and sinking ungodly amounts into the vehicle just to pull off mid to low 12's, I am a little put off!

I have seen numerous ls1 etc hybrid vehicles, and it looks like this is the route I would like to go with my next project. I have always wanted the looks of a few cars... 1969 gto, 1st or 2nd gen camaro, or chevelle... probably I will go with the goat or the camaro. The plan was always to go with fuel injection for the increased mileage etc, but the things people are doing with the ls motors has re-fueled the fire... so I am actively looking and researching this as much as possible before making the actual vehicle purchase.

I have a LOT to learn about these motors, so be nice! Any suggestions and places to start with respect to drivetrain are greatly appreciated. I have heard little bits about going with x year motor, x brand clutch, x t56 tranny etc, but am completely uneducated for the most part. AT first, I would like to do the swap into a good donor vehicle with a relatively stock drivetrain, unless I can get my hands on a solid built drivetrain for the right price.... I would like to be able to go with what I have now eventually, a roots supercharger, or possibly vortech style supercharger (still prefer the roots but not sure if there is a better option over the other).

That being said, I don't know if I should try to source a good lq4 motor/harness/ecu because the compression ratio seems conducive to boost over some of the higher comp. newer ls motors, or not. Again, I have basically no knowledge of the pros and cons to the aluminum vs. the iron blocks and the differences between years etc, so any help is greatly appreciated again!

Ultimately, I would love to have a fully built drivetrain capable of serious pounding at my track with relatively strong times/ and as few broken parts as possible (wishful thinking right!), but still have a solid daily driver that isn't impossible for other people to drive like my current ride. My motto for now has been do it right the first time, and build it right the first time... so I would much rather spend more money (within reason of course!), to have a really solid strong setup, then go cheap and replace it soon anyways.

Sorry for the book of a first post, but I am super optimistic, and willing and able to learn. I just am a little overwhelmed with all the great info here, and don't know the logical place to start...

thanks for your help!