Andrew6.688

Hi there, I've been lurking for probably a year or so, and about 10 months ago I bought a LT1 powered 94 A4 Trans Am. My dad had a maroon 89 firebird with a dealership optioned gta ground effects package when I was little, but sold it when my younger brother was born after he realized that 2 child safety seats in a firebird was kinda ridiculous.My familys always been fond of F-Bodys, and with my 4th gen entering the fold my immediate familys owned a good variety of camaros and firebirds, except sadly no first gens... yet!

The Lt1 in my cars in pretty decent shape, and it was a one owner, 3000k a year car before i bought it. While it was taken very good care of, it wasn't owned by a very proactive woman, and its not in the best condition under the hood. Its got what I've now discovered are pretty normal oil leaks, that are however totally driveable. stop leaks worked wonders for me...
I drive it everyday commuting to college and all over town, and I don't have a lot of disposable income at the moment (although I'm trying to get a job at the local autozone, although i have only very basic skills).

Anyways. My cousin is a engine mechanic, although he lives about 500 miles away. I asked him about doing the leaky seals and cleaning out the lt1, and he said itd be no problem, he does engines for a living, although hes never personally worked on a Lt1. So anyways he and I got to talking and we started thinking that while the engines apart there isn't a better time to beef it up a little to try and squeeze a few more ponies out. I know that theres not a cheap way to get a high performance engine, but what would your advice be for just upping the seat of your pants feel on a budget. The cars not driven to hard, its my baby, but when a v6 mustang is putting down 305hp and my v8s rated at 275 theres a little envy. Any advice is welcome, as i have very little experience, and am currently just formulating a plan for the future.
TLDR: I have a bone stock Lt1, its a daily driver, but the seals are leaking oil. in the future i plan on dropping the engine out with my mechanic cousin and redoing the gaskets and whatever else needs to be refreshed, and while its open i would like to squeeze a few more horses out without having enough power to break the rear, or spend a fortune. its not a racecar, id just like a little more fun.

I know some of yall reccomend a bigger stall converter for a seat of pants feeling car, but im really just looking for suggestions for the engine.

Slo_Bird

iTrader: (2)

If it were my car, I would start with bolt-ons. Intake, headers, catback, throttle body, elbow, gears, etc. Since you plan on pulling the engine at a later date, I'd enjoy the car with the bolt-ons until that day comes. Then, I'd gravitate towards an LE or AI heads/cam combo and a stall while it's out and everything is easily accessible.

93M6Formula

Like I and most others say to stock LT1 owners looking for a bump in power.

Cold Air Intake, Long Tube Headers, Full exhaust, 3:73's, A quality 3000+ stall, and maybe a tune in that order.


Welcome to the site btw.

93M6Formula

Also you will want to check what your local emissions laws are so you know if you can remove the cats or any other emissions related garbage.

96capricemgr

iTrader: (1)

You NEED to do stall, headers/catback, CAI and gears before you even consider engine mods. Trust me, I did a cam first and even a tiny cam offered no benefit without those supporting mods.

The cam I had back then was 208/221degrees and I saw no gain with stock exhaust/gears/stall, but as I gave it those supporting mods the performance dramatically increased. Even that baby cam desperately needed those things.

I would not consider pulling the engine, leaks are likely only timing cover, oil filter adapter and maybe the rear of the intake manifold, it is not reasonable to drop the engine for any of those repairs.

Andrew6.688

yeah my local smog laws say cars 25 years and newer get tested to be street legal, mine passed with flying colors stock. I did forget to mention that I do have a cone air filter on a CAI that puts the filter down in the wheel well. Chromeintakes on ebay if anyone was wondering the brand. it was cheap. it looks pretty, and im not to sure how effective it is, although it seems to look like it must be at lest as good as most intakes ive seen. and ive felt it a few times after driving, and it seems to stay cool even if it isnt a plastic intake like the K&N ones.

Thanks for the engine advise too, caprice, ill have to check what the mechanic said was leaking, but he may have been mistaken (just found a few threads about misdiagnosed oil leaks)

One last thing i forgot too mention was that i have a few camaro buddies all with lt1s as well and id like to be able to have an edge over them, were all mostly stock at the moment.