Corvette Performance - Rebuild, New Build or Crate Motor?

Hey Folks,

So my 01 Z has almost 150k miles on it and I'm wanting to make some major changes. First being the motor. Obviously I'd like to get as much power for the money that I can. That being said, I have a few choices. Before I get into it, let me say that I am not a mechanic and this is my first Corvette that I have worked on. I know the basics and I read up on almost everything I do before doing it. To give you an idea of my knowledge this far, I have no idea about compression ratios, cam grinds, bores and a lot of the number values and ratios that are used to describe the inner workings of the motor. If anyone could suggest reading material or things of that nature I'd greatly appreciate it.

If I rebuild, I'm fairly sure that it's going to be more of a nightmare than the other two options but might save me a bit of money (re-using the stock block, etc.) If I build a new motor (which I have a very vague idea of how to do) I will want to use top of the line parts and try to get as much power as I can without worrying as much about the cost factor as it will be a much longer term project. But again, the extent of my knowledge is limited and this might be biting off more than I can chew (I see a lot of people start projects like this and then all of a sudden drop it and start selling off the parts). Buying a crate motor will ensure the thing works correctly as it's supposed to but seems to be the least fun of all and will end up getting me only a marginal increase in power over my stock motor as it stands.

I also want to look into forced induction (roots style) later on so I do want to take that into consideration as far as what I will need to be aware of in terms of parts to ready the motor/drive-train for that additional stress.

Overall, I'm looking to find out what my best option is to achieve a beast of a motor that will still be street-able (not DD, but will drive often) and not burn a gigantic hole in my pocket.. If that's even possible. If I had to say what kind of money I am looking to spend I'd say no more than 6-7k on the motor itself (not including a S/C as that will come much later on).

What would you all recommend?

do a compression check and see if the cylinders are within 15 percent of each other. If she aint using no oil and compression checks out. put a fresh set of springs on the motor and add the roots blower. Then run her like that and continue to save your money. The purchase a stock 6.0 short block that is 9 to 1 compression and put the blower on that and turn up the boost. You can do this in steps. At least this is what I'm going to do. I have 130 on my car and it make 420 plus at the rear.

A rebuild or new build allows you to customize the build to meet your needs. A crate motor is just a stock motor.

Before you can decide, you need more defined goals:

What power do you want to achieve?

Is the blower definite or a maybe? If is definite, how much do you expect from the blower? If it is just the icing on the cake, you build for NA power and add the blower later and don't run a lot of boost (typically). If the blower is the key ingredient, then you give up some NA power but leave the ability to run high boost.

Have you considered spending a bit more and going with bigger cubes? A 402 with good heads and a mean cam will transform the car's performance.

BTW, have you budgeted money for all the other non-motor items that go with a huge jump in power such as a clutch, fuel system upgrade, etc.?

Stay away from rebuilding unless you have someone to do it. You need a few special tools to line up the covers and oil pan or you will have leaks. As mentioned before I would run it until it breaks and than consider a shortblock.

wilddawg:

The motor chews through oil like it's nothing. I got an oil change and less than 3 thousand miles after that, it was reading low on oil. It then took 2 quarts of oil. I'm not getting the crazy oil spattering on the rear fascia near the exhaust like a lot of other people are getting from their 01's though.. Really worries me.

Ragtop 99:

I would like to make between 450-550rwhp. Probably more towards the lower end seeing as I've seen how much money people sink into their motors to achieve those kinds of numbers. The blower is a definite (love the sound especially) and will be the icing on the cake (would like to run fairly low boost with the option of running a little bit higher boost in the future). I should mention that I DO want to track it, but this will not be a weekly thing. I did consider a bigger block but that would cost considerably more than sticking with a stock ls6/ls3 block wouldn't it? I would love to get a lingenfelter 383 stroker kit, a fairly aggressive cam and toss a blower on it eventually.. Also, I plan on doing full exhaust (lg pros/b&b catback or Ti mod) and I will definitely need to replace the clutch. As for the tranny, I'm not sure what I want to do there.. I could buy a brand new T56 for 2300+ shipping or I could have someone beef up and rebuild my current transmission but I'm not sure what the better option would be there.. as well as how much it would cost. I foresee the entire project costing me 15-17k when all is said and done (paid 18k for the car itself..) But I'd like to keep the cost down to around 10k this year which pretty much tosses the idea of a blower out the window until next year. I'm not sure where I should begin..

Sigforty:

That's the impression I've had..

Ragtop 99:

In terms of fuel system upgrade I'm assuming you're just talking about injectors? What else would I need to upgrade in order for my car (bone stock) to handle a 450rwhp motor?

Ragtop 99:

In terms of fuel system upgrade I'm assuming you're just talking about injectors? What else would I need to upgrade in order for my car (bone stock) to handle a 450rwhp motor?

Your fuel system will be right on the edge with the stock 28 lbs injectors. If you want to up a little for safety I would suggest some SVO 30 lbs injectors. The stock fuel pump and system is good till around 500 rwhp and after that you would want to add a Racetronix wiring/pump setup.

I was making just over 450 rwhp with my stock 346, dart 205 heads, F14 cam, underdrive, LG pro headers, CAI, pulley and ported TB.

If you're already getting a lot of blow by stock it's only going to get worse once you add the blower.

I would look at buying a built motor based on what you're saying. A lot of sponsors are running sales right now.

I was actually looking at the katech stuff and I may end up just going with the 427 value long block for 12 and change.. But that still means I have to throw in a new clutch and have my transmission beefed up. Damn.. Looks like I can say goodbye to that .338 lapua I wanted to pick up this year.

You need to get some price quotes. If you go built motor, adding cubes via stroking isn't that much more if you are going to build a forged motor to handle boost.

The extra money for big cubes seems worth it to me. A good NA motor is very reliable and pretty consistent at the track. 550+ RWHP with lots of torque. A couple years down the road when you get bored with that, then buy the S/C. ;)

Crate motor. :)

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