BYE RICE

iTrader: (2)

I was perusing through the sponsors section looking at stage II heads/cam packages from various sources & noticed that LPE will take the car,pull the motor,port the heads,install their cam,& tune it for 6895.00.
I was curious if any one else here has done it & what their experiences were.I could get the advertised numbers (420 rwhp) much cheaper,But what sells me on the whole thing is the warranty & the reputation they have.

<small>[ December 09, 2002, 04:00 PM: Message edited by: BYE RICE ]</small>

GORDON

I had them do a head cam package on my 1998 c5 ended up with 320rwhp.

BAD ASS TA WS6

iTrader: (5)

I don't have any kind of experience with LPE, but I do have common sense. I would have to say for that kind of $$$ I would just go out and buy a lunati 382 stroker kit for 4k and send the the block out for machining. Don't get me wrong, I have nothing against the guys at lingenfelter but 7 grand is a lot for a stage 2 heads + cam package and tuning. What does everyone else think?

Pro Stock John

iTrader: (34)

$3500+ just for the 382ci rotating assembly FWIW.

BYE RICE

iTrader: (2)

Hmmm.Well I want to keep the car a 346.I'd like to make the power by improving airflow thru the heads.I don't trust anyone local to work on GEN III style engine.I couldn't warrant increasing the cubes without doing heads,too.
I'm worried about slapping a set of stage II heads on what will likly be a 90k+ mile motor.The idea of having the engine freshend at the same time really appeals to me.Bottom line.Is it worth the money?So far,the genral consensus is "no".
Would I be a "Label *****" going to Lingenfelter?

Tin Indian

[QUOTE:]"noticed that LPE will take the car,pull the motor,port the heads,install their cam,& tune it for $6895"

[QUOTE:]"The idea of having the engine freshend at the same time really appeals to me."

From your first quote, it looks like they only port the heads, install a cam and tune it.

From your second quote, you like the idea of the motor being "freshened". I hardly would agree that a head / cam change and a tune is a "fresh" engine.

Almost 6900 bucks is [way] too high for a cam and head change and a tune. Way too high!

I8COBRA

iTrader: (56)

</font><blockquote><font size="1" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">quote:</font><hr /><font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">Originally posted by GORDON:
<strong>I had them do a head cam package on my 1998 c5 ended up with 320rwhp.</strong></font><hr /></blockquote><font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">I hope you went back and asked them where the other 80 horses went?

14u2nv

LPE does good work on their engines but I they are designed for different purposes. LPE packages are designed to pass 50 state emissions testing and get decent fuel mileage and give great driveability. They certainly can do more wild packages and use bigger cams like the other tuners do, if the purchaser so chooses. LPE is a company not aimed at thw working man who lives pay check to pay check. Most of their clients are the type that drop off their C5/ZO6/LT5... usually not f-bodies and say, "call me when its done. Heres a check for $50,000 for half , call me later!" If all you want is a head/cam set-up I wouldn't recommend LPE. Go to:Rapid Motorsports,ARE,MTI,CARTEK,GTP,MMS, or JPR..(these are not listed in any special order). Any of these tuners can give you a H/C thats very mild to very wild, just depends on what you want from the car. Also remember that adding extra power can and will cause powertrain failure. I have learned that it is better to beef up the drivetrain first then add the power. That way you haven't spent a lot of your money building the power up only to have the car sit in the driveway/garage because you blew up the 10 bolt or stock clutch/tranny.

Z06PSI

iTrader: (33)

That way you haven't spent a lot of your money building the power up only to have the car sit in the driveway/garage because you blew up the 10 bolt or stock clutch/tranny.

Hey that's what I do. <img border="0" title="" alt="[Razz]" src="gr_tounge.gif" /> <img border="0" title="" alt="[Roll Eyes]" src="images/icons/rolleyes.gif" />

AlonzoVersion 1.0

To much money for LPE to work on your car.I would buy a forged shortblock with all the goodies and get some TEA heads and be done with it and still have 2500 bucks or so left over.You could probably come out with a warranty also I would contact speed inc as I know they carry short blocks and TEA heads.

warbird#2

agreed. i think ARE has a all forged 346 for 3 k & i would think for what u would have left (4K) u could get a nice set of heads & have a whole long block ready to go for less. I would not take a chance; stick with what is proven. any of our sponsers have had great success with these engines & can design an engine for what u need. i would start calling the sponsors & see what they can do.

Ed Potter @ LPE

iTrader: (1)

Wow -

Thanks for all of the fairness here guys!
seriously, the post asked for LPE owners to give their opinions, and correct me if I'm wrong, but I only saw 1 owner, the rest were experts trying to push that guy in the direction of shops they are loyal to. The 1 owner that did post said he only got 320 RWHP on a head & cam, that seems low to me, and I'm sure there's more to that story than we are hearing.
The thing I don't hear anyone talking about here is quality. I don't think you'll find anyone that questions the quality of our work, or our willingness to stand behind it, especially in the area of ECM tuning, which we all know is critical, and we all know that not everybody can do a good job. I'm not trying to say that we are perfect, and never have a problem, but when we do , we fix it BEFORE we give the car back to the owner. Look around the forum and see some of the stories that people have had to go through when they use a lesser known tuner to save some money.
I think that asking around and reading posts on the forum will give you enough solid information to make a decision, and if you truly think that someone else can do a better job, for less money, then by all means, send them your car, because you being happy with your car is what it's all about.

Ed

Pro Stock John

iTrader: (34)

Quality and warranty.

My friend Jason Werdrick has been bringing his 95 TA there over and over, because they do great work. No scratches anywhere. Turn the key and it starts right up.

fastlif

iTrader: (1)

I had a 383 LPE lt1 corvette a few years back. The car was 50 state legal, you couldn't tell the car was anything other than stock(couldn't hear cam at all). The car made 450hp on dyno. (engine not chassis) Looking under the hood you couldn't see a scratch on any bolt.

I also sold the car for nearly $10k over what a same year stock vette was selling for at the time. If you do the work yourself or even have a big name like MTI do the work, value will go DOWN! LPE has a name people will pay for.

Just my $.02

Shawn

I8AFORD

iTrader: (4)

LPE= good work
I have been there several times nice place.
I havent had them do any work but my freind had them do a head cam deal and tuning and he got 370rwhp out of a auto I think that is pretty good.

95 Lt1 Z is what the car was

LPE SS

iTrader: (3)

AKA snaksknr here - had to re-register to make sure I could respond to this from work!

Wow. I can't believe what I'm reading and how you guys are giving the big middle finger with a 'BS' flag tied to it, to a sponsor, not to mention one of (IF NOT 'THE') top tuners in the industry. Shame on most of you know-it-alls that have not researched what this package actually INCLUDES. For those of too lazy to look it up, here you go:

Package includes:

Engine removal, inspection and disassembly
CNC porting and polishing of cylinder heads
LPE valve springs and titanium retainers
Stainless steel intake and exhaust valves
Three angle valve job, correct setting of spring tensions
Custom designed LPE hydraulic roller camshaft
Professional installation, testing and tuning
Ported throttle body
Port matched intake manifold
Borla stainless steel exhaust system
Low restriction air filter housing and K&N air filter
Chassis dyno report
2 Year/24,000 mile warranty

Now that we've done our homework, hopefully you can see that this is not JUST Heads and a Cam. This 'package' is a tuned 'combination' not some nickel and dime consolidation of parts that I often read about in these forums. Yes, you are going to pay a little more for it, but whats the differance if I pay for it all now or a little at a time when shop 'X' fails to back up what they've installed? For some of us that want a piece of mind as well as performance (there are only a handful of shops available to do this) LPE was able satisfy all my requirements and then some. For 12 months I looked for a shop that wasn't interested in selling me every part on their shelf like many of the sponsors here tried to do - LPE wanted to sell performance and talked me out of MANY parts I didn't need recommended by other shops. <img border="0" title="" alt="[Mad]" src="gr_images/icons/mad.gif" />

Sooooo, BYE RICE, yes, I have had some work done by LPE. I'm sure if you give Tim a call over there he'll be able to answer all your questions. If you would rather email me (look me up as 'snaksknr') and I'll do what I can to answer any of your questions as well.

<small>[ December 10, 2002, 03:26 PM: Message edited by: LPE SS ]</small>

Tuan Le

</font><blockquote><font size="1" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">quote:</font><hr /><font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">Originally posted by Alonzo:
<strong>What I wanna know is why do you guys charge so much more for your products for example your stage 2 heads and cam and new short block?Okay I can get a 346 forged block anyway that I want it for $2600 and a pair of excellent heads for $1800 and tuning etc.. and still have a warranty and a good $2000 left over.Why the huge mark up.</strong></font><hr /></blockquote><font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">It calls supply and demand, my friend. <img border="0" title="" alt="[Wink]" src="gr_images/icons/wink.gif" /> When people run a business, they're in it for the money and of course they will charge as high as people willing to pay for. And I really doubt that LPE is short on work right now so don't expect their prices to come anytime soon.

LPE SS

iTrader: (3)

</font><blockquote><font size="1" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">quote:</font><hr /><font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">Originally posted by fastlif:
<strong>I had a 383 LPE lt1 corvette a few years back. The car was 50 state legal, you couldn't tell the car was anything other than stock(couldn't hear cam at all). The car made 450hp on dyno. (engine not chassis) Looking under the hood you couldn't see a scratch on any bolt.

I also sold the car for nearly $10k over what a same year stock vette was selling for at the time. If you do the work yourself or even have a big name like MTI do the work, value will go DOWN! LPE has a name people will pay for.

Just my $.02

Shawn</strong></font><hr /></blockquote><font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">EXCELLANT point Shawn. While I'm on the box here...why don't we discuss the return on investment. I know this NEVER comes up when we are writing the checks but....

Two cars for sale with H/C with virtually the same amount invested. One is done by Joe Blo the back yard mechanic running a 'performance shop'. The other done by the shop Motor Trend did an article on regarding a 9 sec (and now a sub 9 <img border="0" title="" alt="[Big Grin]" src="gr_grin.gif" /> ) TT Vette? Hmmmmmmm, who do you think is going to get there money back (not all of it of course, but most)? How many of us have dumped HUGE amounts of money into our toys just to watch it go up in flames or down the road into someone else's hands? I understand that we don't have this hobby because of the economic advantages, but why **** it away unnecessarily? Just another thought I guess <img border="0" title="" alt="[Wink]" src="gr_images/icons/wink.gif" /> .

<small>[ December 10, 2002, 02:51 PM: Message edited by: LPE SS ]</small>

Ragtop 99

iTrader: (7)

Clearly you need to look at it including everything LPE supplies. The other parts alone probably add a grand.

This is a drive out price, tuned and emission compliant, something many shops do not offer.

Even once you equalize all services, LPE may not be the cheapest price, but warranty and resale value count for something.

IMO, If they deliver the advertised 420 rwhp w/o headers, then you have received your money's worth.

Ed Potter @ LPE

iTrader: (1)

so Alonzo -
does that answer your question? I can give you more if you need it, but LPE SS hit the nail on the head.

Thanks LPE SS (snaksknr) I couldn't have said it better myself!

Tuan Lee - you're my hero for other reasons! I'm a big fan of yours on the Corvette forums! keep up the good work!

Ed