blindman23

iTrader: (1)

i recently bought a 95 camaro, with a rebuilt 355,
stock ported heads,
comp cam,
Block bored +.30
Stock Crank polished
Eagle Forged 4340 I-beam rods w/ ARP rod botls
Keith Black Forged -4.8cc Flat Top Pistons
Chevite 77 H-Series rod and main bearings
Total Seal Plasma Moly Race Ring Set- File fit
fel pro head bolts
Sealed Power Oil Pump
SA Gear Double roller timing chain
Comp Cams 918 beehive valvesprings
ARP rocker studs
CNC-Motorsports Alum. 1.6 S/A Roller Rockers
Comp Cams Mag. 5/16" chrome moly pushrods
Comp Cams HE lifters
Bret Bauer Custom Grind Comp Cam.
Pace Setter Long tube headers and Y-pipe
Mufflex 4" exhaust
New GM Delco Opti-Spark
March underdrive Crank and Alt. pulley set
SLP TB Airfoil
!AIR & !EGR
TB bypass
CSR Elec. Water Pump

all this stuff and i have had it two weeks, the motor only has 2000 miles on it. in one week it used a quart of oil, and it started missin so we replaced the bad plug wire, i broke a push rod, we replaced that. all the lifters were loose, and so when we went to adjust the lifters all of them were loose, but the problem is two lifters are completly flat. you could basically breath on them and they just push down.

so my question is this, should i just pull the motor and start over or what? was this a good set up or what, if im pullin this motor im gonna get better heads and cam, so i wanna kno what i should do performance wise, whats a good set up i want around 450 at the wheels.

BsGreenZ

pull it, clearance the bottom end and turn her into a 383 and throw some bad *** heads on it and a bigger cam.. lol i know thats not all he needs so lets not play the newb game on me here ok guys, thanks lol..

ckyconan2003

iTrader: (2)

thing with the lifters is that you may have some sort of deposit left by the roller part of the lifter, replace all lifters and all pushrods. Make sure all the rockers are properly tightened down. Do the engine running method, also check for any major oil leaks, but the lifters and such could easily cause the loss of oil. Replace the lifters, and push rods.

96capricemgr

iTrader: (1)

Please explain to me how lifter failure could possibly cause a loss of oil?

If you think you can get 450rwhp out of what you have sitting there then there is little hope of helping you.

You first need to understand that most of the people who are going to try and help you are not qualified, they mean well but if they had the experiance to back it up their mod lists would look different and there would be performance numbers in signatures.

BsGreenZ

I dont have numbers or times cause i think my car hates me thank you lol.. every time i try to do any thing with her some ting stupid goes wrong, like a feul pressure regulator going out 4 cars back form racing... lol... and the Dyno guys leaving my e brake on while on the dyno and that seemed to cause my head gasket to give out on the dyno lol..

blindman23

iTrader: (1)

i was askin what a good set up would be for me to get those kind of numbers, what heads, cam, etc. and just wondering if i should pull this motor. i appreciate everyones feed back.

mullenh

iTrader: (1)

I don't know either, but if he has collapse lifters it will make a hell of a lot of racket. I wonder who built it and did they use the stock lifters. If they changed the rockers are the pushrods the right length for the cam/rocker combo. Have any valves hit the pistons? All of the problems you are having I am suspicious about the quality of the build. First thing I would do now would be pull the heads or get a pro to look at it.

450 at rear wheel is possible but will invlove a lot of work and modification, example sheetmetal intake, 383 kit larger throttle bodies, ......

myltwon

iTrader: (1)

you sure the car's not just leaking oil?

if that thing's burning a quart a week you'd be fouling plugs left and right

BsGreenZ

sorry but you dont need a sheetmetal intake to get 450...

mullenh

iTrader: (1)

lol you may be right but the gen2 camaro that i knew of had an lt1 transplanted into it and it had a beautiful sheetmetal intake that you would slobber over if you saw it. It would run too.

Rocky70304

iTrader: (4)

I agree, a lot of work (but more importantly money) to get a N/A LT1 to 450 horses... Not unrealistic, just not cheap. I agree on pulling the motor with what you are saying, I would be worried about the workmanship that went into the rest of the build....

redchevcam

iTrader: (2)

wow, very biased and UNTRUE OPINION. you signature does not reflect how much you know. i know quite a bit. and i learn everyday. but this is a total slam. i dont like this kind of opinionated post that slams people. seriously. i respect the fact you know your stuff, but you cant judge ANYONE, its not your place. and i wait for the day that someone who comes along and you bad mouth them , and they end up showing you up

thirdgen327

iTrader: (8)

Blindman23 is asking for help, and for those arguing in his post about how much they know or dont know is disrespectful. This happens alot on these boards and its rediculous.

ANYWAY....

If you have the time and energy, I would tear it down and go through everything. Buying used leaves you with no idea whats been done right or wrong. Once you see what you have, I would go from there. 450 horse 355's are not that hard to build. If you need help or suggestions, feel free to pm me..

Good luck

pmbmax

lost the first reply so here goes again. First what oil you using? second if they hand fit the rings and got carried away or set the engine up for 20/50 and you use like synthetic it will run thru it like water. also look at the lifters that loose pull the push rods and make sure they are good and then look at this chart.
1843 6572
6572 1843
what number cylinder is the bad rocker on.? this the compaion cylinder method . if it is 6 you want to set watch 1 and when the exhaust closes and intake opens ( rockers will both be rocking ) adjust 6 . because there are two cylinders in the exact same place at all times just on diff strokes one on top dead center compresion the other top dead center exhaust . i hope you dont have a cam going down. Look at the oil on white paper in sunlight you can see how much metal is in it. and for the bashing keep it to yourself.

kinglt-1

iTrader: (26)

Caprice is like that to any person on here that asks a question! He needs to tone it down a little for sure!!!

blindman23

iTrader: (1)

well it looks as if im pullin the motor. its barely running now and smoking, and makin some horrible noises. i might as well get it out and get it done right.

ABA383

iTrader: (1)

Thats the problem with buying stuff already done, and it may not be what it appears unless I'm off the mark and you knew the owner, etc...Anyway, it sounds like you should go thru the whole thing and have it done right.. I will make this suggestion and that is do not let yourself get hung up on dyno numbers...While dynos are great tuning tools, they are not the gospel and can easilty be manipulated...Theres lots of folks with big dyno graphs and terrible trap speeds in the 1/4...

Pick a goal for the car and find a reputable place to go to for advice and a motor build...If I were in your situation I'd start over and make 383 out of the thing using high quality parts, the stock heads ported with the "big" 2.00/1.56 valves, a small to moderate duration cam with big lift, etc...and go kick some ***...I'm partial to the 383 because, when built right, the hp and torque happen at lower rpms and make for a great street/strip car...You'd laugh at my dyno numbers, but my track numbers (mph) suggest otherwise...I've shown my tail lights to quite a few people with "happy" dyno numbers...Good luck and have fun...

--Alan

96capricemgr

iTrader: (1)

I didn't say every single person I said most. For example someone told him bad lifters would cause oil to disappear, still waiting to hear how that works. There are knowledgable guys with no numbers in signatures but the only way to sort them out is TIME and getting to know the people who post here. Don't think he wants to do 3 months of reading to figure out who has a clue and who just means well so that he can then figure out who to listen too.
Most of the guys with respecable numbers in signatures have them because they know what thy are doing even if we sometimes disagree that can be chalked up to more than one way to skin a cat or Mustang if the opportunity arrises or maybe a late model bolton Goat like the wife did the other day.

450rwhp NA is not a realistic goal for a newbie or novice even, it can/has be done with LT1 castings both heads and intake. Also as Alan is saying dyno numbers are not a real goal set a performance goal. Saturday I beat a f-body with the plates "NX LSX" and he did a riceby after the traps, then I beat another f-body so badly the tower guy was making a big deal over it, the wife walked all over a new GTO with at least some boltons and there was a blown Merauder that wanted to play till he found out what my car ran because I would have beat him by half a second despite his 410rwhp dyno sheets.


My dream NA LT1 would be a Compstar Speedpack from Advanced Induction or Ellwein Engines, would like a stroker but part of me worries about hooking a real stroker on streetable suspension. My idea of streetable is fairly concervative as I actually drive my car, saturday alone I put 300+ miles on just to go racing, I do about 8K a year on it and it still wears an occassionally use trailer hitch.
Advanced Induction is in my opinion the best place for heads and cam, the 15K miles in 1.5 years I have had their parts and the performance I am getting is what has convinced me. My car is putting down the numbers it does without revving all that high, I tried 6250rpm shift points and after saturday's datalog I now see that is too HIGH. Something is happening right to get these numbers out of a 350 at that low an rpm. Imagine what is possible with a shortblock you trust at 7000rpms?