Chevyman5436

Okay so I'm just a high schooler with a 95 Formula LT1 M6. I have been bouncing back and forth on my options/routes to go to make good power. Minimum I want to run is 12 seconds flat 1/4 and have a good power curve at around 450RWHP. What would I have to do to the LT1 to do that? I've looked into stroker short blocks, heads, carb intake, single plane intake, nitrous, turbo, supercharger, EVERYTHING. What would be the best bang for the buck? I was thinking either a forged 355 with ported lt4 heads and a modded single plane intake with 150 shot nitrous, stage 2 t56 build, and either 12-bolt or 9-inch rear. The other thing I was thinking about was buying a rear ended LS1 Trans Am and swap everything onto the LT1 car, do h/c/i exhaust, ect. and adapt the LT1 T56 to bolt to an LS engine. Basically, my question is, what is the best route to go with a 12 second 4th gen fbody on a budget? (Any and all smartasses and debby downers will be deleted)

Lawhead

iTrader: (14)

You looking for what you are WANTING to spend or what you will NEED to spend?

An LE2 Stock short block car is capable of 11's I had an LT1 and I switched to the LS platform I'm not going to sit here and bash LT1 as they are not capable of running 11's but Up here at Darlington a Bolt on LS1 A4 ran 11.995 with strictly bolt on's and pretty sure mid 12's is where most bolt on LT1's stand. We are going to need to know how you want to get to 11's albeit it boost, Nitrous, Bolt ons and weight reduction etc. And don't go carb its not needed for 11's and unless you just want it to be a more simple type motor with less wiring then go for it.

RamAir95TA

iTrader: (2)

Best bang for your buck? See signature, buy car!

90'SSBC

Your still in high school. Once you get the opportunity do full bolt ons first. Then cam it, head it, and spray it My experience with builds is they have there own stages you have to go through before you get to your goal.

z_speedfreak

iTrader: (3)

what is your budget? lets start there

tbird31

iTrader: (22)

you sound like me...10 years later. hahaha.

so yea, spray the **** out of it...or buy RamAir95TA's car or an LS1 car and start from there. You'll thank me later.......



and for anyone who says that you can build an LT1 car to do 11 second 1/4 miles...obviously, yes I know. But if he's starting fresh with an LT1 platform I'd recommend re-starting from an LS1 platform. Good luck...

TravisMcGill2000

iTrader: (2)

Full bolts ons and cam youll be in the 11s. As long as u got traction.

Rob94hawk

iTrader: (1)

And a rear end that will survive the M6 launches.

warriorcustoms

iTrader: (10)

^^^ this For starters Do full bolt ons & suspension Including a 12 bolt or S60 depending on if you know youll want more later 800hp & under do the 12 bolt its a little lighter Was one or 2 on here for sale If you do this route youll thank me later when you finally end up with a 383 or 396 LTx build It take a lot of time to do a full build with all the supporting mods Not to mention Cash!!! I bought a 95 T/A roller Its snow balled into a Restoration with a 396 LTx nitrous motor ,4L80E, S60 & everything else is touched or replaced!!! Not to mention stripped bare for Kandy Red paint LoL Do the first stages mentioned by a few of us Then find a shortblock to build youll be better off & keep the LTx car just that LoL if you want LSx buy one LoL 4.10 gears will help tooReplace the worn out stock springs helps too!!! When you go from stock to almost 500rwhp its a chunk of change & down time Buy a beater S10 or somethin to drive too

quik95lt1

iTrader: (7)

i just had a flashback lol..........that was me......my first combo ran its *** of and didn't cost jack to put together.........i ran 11.4x's at 119-121 with a stock crank, stock rod motor with a cheap speed pro piston......out of the box trick flows with a healthy AI cam and a stock ported intake....11.3:1 CR on 93 octane i did it when i was 19 just starting college.......got of college got a job and started my completely out of control spiraled into high $$ car i got now lol........i woulnd't reccomend that part

93M6Formula

Sorry for the long post in advance...

IMO, start from the rear forward. Suspension, S60/9", Better driveshaft, built T-56(not completely necessary), Good clutch, Drag Radials, Headers, Full Exhaust, CAI, Weight reduction, quality 1.6RRs (don't do it twice), LE2 heads, Custom cam, Ported intake, And finally TUNE TUNE TUNE and run 11s.

Of course it would take lots of practice and setting up the suspension correctly to run 11's but you'll be basement 12s all day otherwise.

Anyway, this is how I believe a car should start to be built unless you can afford roughly $10K to do that all at once. Otherwise start that way because in my opinion, most people who want BIG power and think they're gonna run 10s all day long with their 500HP seem to forget that you can have all the horsepower you want but putting it to the ground is a whole other story.

This is sort of the way I started out. I did bolt-ons first but now I have suspension, an S60, and a good clutch. I only make 300HP now but whenever I do add more power someday, the components I have now will take the abuse and also put that power to the ground.

Put it this way... There's a guy in my town who just built a 700HP Whippled '03 Cobra. Now it's fast don't get me wrong but when it comes to the track, he ran 12's.....because he didn't even touch the stock suspension. It's just a waste IMO.

93M6Formula

Also....RESEARCH RESEARCH RESEARCH! No build has ever benefited from quick thinking and no planning. Find out what you want the car to do for YOU, Have the funds available, plan it well, take your time. There's a lot of factors. Going fast isn't cheap and don't let anyone tell you otherwise. I never start tearing into my car unless I have all the parts I want to add and the money available. I don't like my car sitting if I can help it.

turtle93

I cheated 100 shot long tubes tune and some what most people say are useless mods 12.2 @116 on zex with some tires I would have went 11's and with the new system might go 11's now find out soon

baycityrides

long tubes, upgrade to 1.6RR even on the stock cam, get a nice cold air kit (not the ebay short ram ****) a 4.10 gear in your 10 bolt, get a stud girdle for the back, and some Lower controll arms, and spray a 150 shot... 11's... and FYI i have a LT1 and never and i mean NEVER lost to a LS1 car... and FYI... ive made over 600rwhp on a 10 bolt... ive hung the wheels on a 10 bolt... im not saying a 10 bolt is great but for a high school kid to spend 2500 for something that he will see no gains from is a waste. as long as he takes it easy on the launch he will be ok... oh and the magic equation to a 10 bolt that will last... have the tubes welded... stud girdle, a nice mesh on the ring and pinion and use good bolts in it... eventually upgrade to a S60 or a 9 inch but for now... rock the **** out of that 10 bolt...



on a 10 bolt... and.... its still never broke to this day!!!

TwoFast4Lv

iTrader: (8)

Back in 1999.....

My car had a stock short block,
LPE 211/219 cam
K-motion springs
1.6 magnum rockers
SLP Shorty headers
Eibach Sport line kit
3.43s in ten bolt
first set of home made LCA relocators
GMPP CAI
Flowmaster muffler only

Ran 12.4s to 12.6s

Added 75 shot NOS dry kit and went 11.70s

blacktrans97am

iTrader: (6)

Don't take this the wrong way OP!!!

He is a high school kid and is not going to take it easy on the 10 bolt. It''s kind of a fact of life. My first trans am was an 85 and I beat the begeazes out if it. My 4th gen would have never lasted. The only reason my first one did was because it was an 85 with 180 hp at the crank and a 700r4.

bowtienut

iTrader: (1)

If you had an A4, I'd tell you you don't have to get inside the motor at all to run 11's NA. But it's unlikely with the M6, and a tougher rear would be pretty much mandatory to get the 60's required to do it with "bolt-on" power.
Always build the rest of the car to take the launches first, and THEN put money into making more power. When the rest of the car is right, a 100 shot on the stock motor will easily get you 11's.

94FBIRD

iTrader: (5)

Yep, I've hung the fronts on the 10bolt and also taken through a few hundred passes. Only upgrade is the TA cover. But it help having the factory 3.23 gears and an A4. But any M6 is going to have to upgrade.

RamAir95TA

iTrader: (2)

Huge difference between "popping" the fronts and actually carrying the fronts for more than a foot.