10's or bust (2000 SS)
 

What would it take to get my car in the 10's? I already have a rebuilt 4L80e (no trans brake). I want to keep the .323 (or close) gears for highway driving. I was thinking 9" rear with .325 gears could be in the future. I'm not sure I want to cut up my car to make an inner cooler and turbo (or Pro-charger) fit. I'm thinking about building an LS3-based stroker engine instead. I'm just not sure an N/A motor would have enough power to get my car into the 10s. It barely runs 12's with heads, cam, intake, exhaust, and a stall. I might have the slowest Gen-4 ever made. So, I want to change that. Is it realistic to think that a 416 CID or bigger stroker with an LS3 top end can make my car run the 1/4 mile under 11 sec? How much hp does it take to run 10s?

Better heads, bigger stall, Fast 92 or 102 intake, 373 gears or better and that should put you close to 10s.

Even with all that, the LS1 won't make enough power to run 10s. I was going to attempt this with a big cube LS3 based engine. I just want to know if it's possible before I spend that much money on an engine.

Yes it will... look at his sig, look at mine also.

Your car is an exception. Mine is slow AF. It ran a 13.0 the last time the track was open. The DA sucked, but still.

When it was dyno tuned a few years ago, it made 382 Whp. I probably need about 550 or more to reach the 10’s.

A well planned out 5.7 is very capable of running into the 10s. it's not just the motor part you will need to look at. the 60' is where you will really need it to shine all motor. that 4l80e isn't going to do you any favors off the line with a 2.482 first gear vs a 4l60e 3.059 1st gear.

im not sure how DA in NC vs San Antonio varies but its pretty easy to get a ls1 car into the low 7s 1/8 mile here.

Something else to consider is weight reduction. Think about what you don't need and get rid of it.

Yeah, my 60' sucks too. My best 60' was a 1.9 sec in Richmond, VA. Here in San Antonio it's been about 2.2 - 2.5 sec. Cars do seem to be faster up north. My suspension probably needs work, too.

I would love to have a 6L80e. That would be ideal. I read about a company that has a PCM/TCM and wire harness that will control the 6L80e. I might have to look into that. The other issue would be with the cross-member. I don't know if BMR make one for the 6L80 in my car. :confused:

I took the tools and spare tire out for one pass one time. It didn't change my times at all. That's all that I would remove from the car. I did notice that my car is faster with a full tank of gas than it is with a 1/4 tank. I think the extra weight helps with traction.

One of my buddy's car 4th gen Z28 with LS1, 230-236, 110 LSA, some of my ported 243s milled .020, Fast 102 intake with 102tb, 4l60, 3600 stall, 4.10s in built 10 bolt, modded suspension.bogarts, full weight, bad ass tune by himself in South Texas went 10.80s at 123. It's all in the whole combo and tune. Attached are pics of car, time slip, and some 799s with same port job I have for sale locally.
https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/ls1tech...2869feb94f.jpg
https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/ls1tech...b9b5090c50.jpg
https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/ls1tech...b94a6a5b88.jpg

I'm probably going to build a 418 CID LS3 based engine. I picked up an L92 for cheap. It had one bad head (cracked), so I will need another. I already have the LS3 intake and 92mm throttle body. 10's or not, I'll just have to live with what it makes. I did swap out the 4L80 for a 6L80 earlier this year. It has about a 3600 stall converter. There are no tracks open around here anymore, but my butt dyno says it's much quicker. lol. :burn:

The block and rotating assembly is at the machine shop. I'm about 50% done porting the stock heads. I just ordered a cam from Texas Speed. It's going to be a 239/252-111+2 (.649/.625). Since my last post, I installed some UMI 3-point sub-frame connectors. It definitely stiffened things up. I can feel the difference in the corners. Our local government officials are implementing some California-like regulations in 2 years. My car won't pass the new inspections with the current LS1, and definitely won't pass with the 418 I'm building. So, I will be selling the engine as soon as I finish building it. I will probably sell my car sometime next year. Living in a liberal county sucks. FML....:bang:

Is there no option for some alternate type of registration that would exempt you? Your car will be 25 years old next year, in my state that would qualify you for AV (Antique Vehicle) registration - which comes with an automatic exemption from any type of state emissions testing. Prior to doing this with my '98 (in 2023), I used to get the car exempted as a "show/sporting" car, which did require some paperwork and a special type of insurance, but it was doable.

If you haven't already dug into the various options your state might allow for getting an exemption, I would recommend doing so. My state doesn't specifically advertise any of these options, but they exist if you dig and/or if you have local friends in the hobby that can point you in the right direction.

Overall, it would shock me if the state of TX doesn't offer options to get out of this when such is possible even here in IL with all of the nonsense Chicago politics.

The only exception I have found is for vehicles made before 1996. They didn’t have OBD ports back then, so they don’t get OBD inspected. I think they still have to pass emissions though.

So, we went from a $7 a year state inspection, to about a $26 a year county OBD inspection and emissions test. So far, it’s only the counties with the big cities. Those are also the only places I can work, so moving is not helpful.

I'd be willing to bet there's plenty of other guys in your region who have late model (96 and newer) modified cars that won't pass emissions..there has to be a work around, start talking to guys at car shows near you and someone will have a solution. Also not sure how your emission testing is done in TX but here in IL there is no more "sniff testing" so all they do is plug into the OBDII port and check for "system readiness" and depending on the model year you're allowed either 1 or 2 systems to be "not ready". So with a good tune, really any big cam, aftermarket head/intake car could be tuned/ tricked to pass emissions regardless if its a 5.7 LS1 or a stroker LS3..seen it done many times here.

:nod: All of that, exactly.

I'll just add that the only reason I've ever gotten any of my '96+ cars exempted is just to avoid the hassle of going to the test center, and not really wanting them to touch my car. But getting these cars to pass an OBD scan test, no matter what level of modification, is not a problem. I did my own tuning on my '00 car with a cam, LT headers/no cats, etc. It did pass just fine the one time I took it.

Only problem I could see is if you've eliminated the factory PCM in favor of a fully aftermarket system, in which case you would need some sort of exemption option. Does TX not offer any kind of AV or "collector/historic", etc., type of registration? Seems like most states have this, and many of them come with an emissions exemption.

Yes it does.

What are the rules for antique plates in Texas?
Vehicles at least 25 years old will be issued one Antique plate to be displayed on the rear of the vehicle for a five-year period. The fee is $50 if the vehicle was manufactured in 1921 or later; the fee is $40 if the vehicle was manufactured prior to 1921.

Do antique cars have to be inspected in Texas?
Antique vehicles are entirely exempt from safety and emissions testing. Classic vehicles must undergo safety inspections, albeit with the special consideration of some inspection items depending on the car's age.

I’m not sure how they are going to do the emissions testing. This is all new. Texas has never had these sorts of testing in my lifetime.

I thought about the antique plates too, but it is only supposed to be driven to places like car shows. I think there is a yearly mileage limit of about 500 miles a year too. I wouldn’t be able to drive it to work like I do now. Like I said, this is all new. I hope there us a way around this B.S. we shall see.

I put antique plates on my Formula this year. $35 got me a plate that expires in 10 years. While it's true that you're technically only allowed to drive to shows, etc., I think the likelihood of getting pulled over for them to check where you're headed is pretty unlikely. Plus, you're allowed to take it to be repaired, and I'm certain you can take it to get gas in it. There's always a show or meet going on somewhere, if you Google what's going on in your area. Me, if I ever get pulled over, I'm just going to say I'm out street tuning it for a meet at the drag strip. I only drive it during the months that the track is in operation, so it's not like my excuse is total bullshit. It's also not my only car, and it's never been my daily driver. It's a toy, as is my SS. My registration says "Not for routine transportation", and considering how I use it, I'm within the definition of "not routine". I think the antique registration is the way you should go. I'll also note... I'm in Michigan, which is much less of a police state than Texas, but I can't imagine them giving you a hassle either way. Hell, awhile back I saw a 95 S10 driving around, completely rusted out, one door a different color and sagging, bed a different color, frame bent... and IT had a historical plate on it. If that guy can get away with it, I think you'll be fine, lol.

^ Similar rules for AV plates here in IL. Only supposed to be driven to shows, service, etc. Although we now also have an "expanded" AV plate that allows daily usage during the months of March through November (but is still emissions exempt). That plate is more expensive than a basic AV plate, but it's available if wanted.

There is no mileage limit here though. Realisitcally, you could end up driving a car a TON just going to shows around here as there are daily events in my area all spring/summer/fall, sometimes many different events on the same day. And, as mentioned above, servicing the vehicle is still allowed and this will, of course, require a road test. So, unless the same cop were to see you day after day, in the same spot at the same time, there's really no way to prove how the car is being used. I guess if it really is your daily driver and you actually do travel the same exact roads at the same exact time every single day of the week, maybe you might encounter an issue. But, like LS1Formulation above, none of my toys are actual daily transportation for me so I've never really worried about any of this. Each of my "toys" only sees about 300-1000 miles per year at most, and that's almost exclusively going to car shows/cruise nights, plus some pleasure drives here and there. I don't actually daily drive any of them; it would be impossible to keep them nice in my climate if they were daily drivers so that's not even a goal or desire of mine.