If thats all I need, then I would do that and be done. I was hoping to maybe get away with a cheap set of 5.3 heads (dont know why everyone is using them just yet), and a cam and be done. Everyone knows about 243's and for me they are a little pricy. Again, gotta do what ya gotta do but I want to make sure all avenues are exhausted before I have to step up.



Dooley noted, thank you sir.



Headers,no problem. Are you gonna pay for the custom exhaust work that goes with it? I will take a guess before you answer and say...... no!. I will look into the sale though, thanks.



I would rather save that money until I can get a cam or something (see further notes below).


Extra OP notes:

The car I "can" afford will have about 100k miles on it. I will be pulling the engine and shoving in new bearings and possibly rings like I always do on my older engines. I want to replace the rear seal and clutch *** (planning on a 6-speed) before shoving her back in the car, so, she will be out and can have her heads replaced then as an option or have the stocks ones ported and polished. Headers, the last option I am looking at (but will look at them if need be) can be put in at the same time.

My "main" issue is that since the engine will be out, might as well put the cam in "now" rather than try to f with it when it is back in the car. Thats one of the reasons I keep harping on a cam.


Added a bit later from something I just read "We engine dyno tested 1 3/4" to 1 7/8" headers and on a factory LS1 motor w/ a FAST intake. It picked up from 3000 RPM on w/ a peak of 7 HP w/ the larger primary"

Hmmmmm, THAT doesnt sound like a big return, lol. Yea, yea, I know, they go better with a cam, just jabbing you all.

 

While I am waiting on a replay, if I get one, lol, are shorty headers worth it? I see some cheap ones on flegay.

Had to say I saw some mid length headers also. So, we have shortys, mid and LT's? If shortys are worth while, then that would give me 3 options if I need to go headers. Would I have 3 or barley 2 "worth while options?

 

It's $489.99 for 1 7/8s stainless steel headers and y-pipe, includes all of the clamps and no extra exhaust work is needed.

Pulling the motor to replace the rings and bearing would be a pointless waste of time and money, these motors easily run for 250K+ miles with moderate maintenance and no bad luck. Your averaged DIY ring and bearing job will likely do more harm than good. With a 6 speed car I'd be much more worried about the transmission needing rebuild do to the junk clutch master cylinder letting the clutch drag on every shift which prematurely wears out the synchronizers. Oh and about that junk master cylinder I mentioned you really should replace it with a $325 Tick master cylinder to save the clutch and transmission from unnecessary wear and tear.

Also doing a cam swap the right way will cost close to $1000, and thats reusing the stock lifters.

You need to work on your reading comprehension skills, that 7hp gain was from switching from 1 3/4's Pacesetter headers too 1 7/8's TSP headers not from stock too headers and a Fast intake. That test was done to disprove the myth that 1 7/8's headers are to big for a stock internals LS1.

What this all really comes down to is this. Fast, cheap, reliable, you can only pick 2. The smartest thing you can do right now would be to buy the nicest lowest mileage car you can afford, spend what you have left on a Tick MC, any maintenance and repair items the car needs, and then starts saving your money for go fast parts. With you current plan you'll end up with a car that doesn't run right because it needs a tune, doesn't perform how you want it to because it doesn't have any supporting mods, and is likely to have problems from cheaping out and reusing vavletrain parts that should be replaced.

Nothing anybody has said is what your wanting to hear, and thats because what your wanting to do isn't a good plan.

 

$489 for everything isnt too bad then, depending on what it would give me if I stayed stock.

How would I do more harm? Been building and playing with engines for many a year. If I can rebuild an automatic transmission successfully, I "think" I can handle a LS1. Note that I said "think".

I thought keeping the MC flushed and drilling out the restricter solved all that? Hmm, something else I will consider then, thanks.

Cam swap $1,000??? Uhm, need to know where that comes from, lol. I do have a set of GM lifters if needed I got back in the day.

Its not comprehension skills, its attention skills. I just breezed that article. Got me wondering the diff between stock cam and stock mani's and stock cam and headers. Though, I have been reading stock motor with all bolt ons gets 345hp, so, that kind of tells me.

Lowest mileage car is about 130k miles, IF I am lucky. I only have 5k to spend tops and people horde them like gold around the VA area.

I dont really have a plan yet. I need all my stupid questions answered to see which route I will go. I am just collecting info from here and there and will eventually piece it together. Sure, it easy to say "put a blower on it, add nitrous, put in a viper V-12 if you want to do it right. If you dont want to do a viper V-12, dont do it!!". I am just checking my avenues. Like you said, work on the car first which I am doing. I will (should) have my "plan" by then.

 

Why would you rebuild the motor at 130k??? These motors do 250k-300 no problem that's a complete waste of money no offense man. Spend that money on other mods

The 1000 dollar figure is accurate to do a cam right..... You'll spend 200 on decent springs 400 on a new cam 100 on pushrods oil pump 125 and timing chain 50.... That doesn't count all the fluids and other misc things.

And not one of those things can really be skimped on for a cam swap especially at 130k. If you but a used cam you can knock a couple hundred off there. And 5.3 heads stock suck as they use smaller valves they need to be ported and opened up to outshine stock ls heads.

If you want a nice setup plan the 1k for the cam swap then 350-400 for a set of 243 heads and tune it for 400 more. If you can't afford that right now it's fine just do bolt ons and be happy at 350whp then build as you can

 

Agreed, don't bother with a "freshening". These arent the old POS small blocks of the last.

 

Okay, I hear you, but, I think I have really lost my rocker. I am now thinking of getting a blown V6 2000+ camaro and throwing in a LS1 . All LS1 car's I have seen go for $6k for 150k mile car. I can find fully dressed engine and trans for $3000. Was thinking of grabbing a V6 car and dropping a 75k LS1 motor and trans in. Would rather do that work (maybe) than pay out the ear for a $150k mile car.

Now, with that in mind and since your suggesting to replace all that, since the motor is out, why wouldn't I replace $200 worth of bearings and rings? Thats about all thats left to the engine once the heads, timing chain and oil pump and seals come off to be replaced. I would bet the rings are fine and just need bearings replaced, if anything. I would mic/gap check everything to see, but, dont think it would hurt??? Only thing to watch out for on the cracked rods would be to make sure you cant see the cracks in the rods before tightening them down. Well, unless I am missing something else.

I want to make sure this motor lasts another 150k miles when she goes in.

 

You better do a lot of research on that V6 swap plan, more often than not if you don't have a complete wrecked car to pull parts from it will nickle and dime you to death. There are also 3 problems with your rebuild it while it's out idea. One is that buy the time you buy rings, bearings, replace all of the TTY bolts, and gaskets your looking at around $6-800 dollars in parts. The second reason goes back to my you'll do more harm than good statement, you'll be introducing dozens of unnecessary chances for human error, will be unseating the rings hoping that the new ones seal as good as the originals, and the motor will have to go through the break in process again which is when it is most likely to fail. The third reason is that without having a machine shop hone it to the next piston size none of that work will do anything to extend the life of the motor enough to be worth the trouble.

As for not being able to find any cars in your area for $5k you must not be looking very hard, but the truth is you'd be better off finding another $2k to spend because the quality of cars goes way up then.
http://richmond.craigslist.org/cto/4668816598.html
http://richmond.craigslist.org/cto/4668816598.html
http://washingtondc.craigslist.org/m...654033255.html
http://delaware.craigslist.org/cto/4643302580.html
http://baltimore.craigslist.org/cto/4660777924.html
http://hickory.craigslist.org/cto/4644923079.html
http://tricities.craigslist.org/cto/4670485250.html
http://eastky.craigslist.org/cto/4655202797.html
If you want a project fix this one.
http://norfolk.craigslist.org/cto/4670066915.html

 

Hey, thanks for not flaming me, appreciate it, lol. Not too many people would take the time to just explain the reasons why not too without getting all squirrel. Also appreciate the time you took to dig up those links.

I have been searching all night and I have not found what I want. I really would like a 6-speed as I have a 200R-4 to go in if I go automatic and dont want to deal with the wiring, or, is that only computer? I have been out of it since 2006, so, my memory is a little fuzzy. I "could" go auto if i found a great deal as I have a 6-speed computer from my last car, but.....

Also, tha tlast link would have been me for sure but it is a 98 and they have computer issues of some sort and everyone advises to stay away from them and go 99+. I am sure thats not too big of a problem, but, if people say steer clear, believe it or not, I generally do.

Okay, I will take that refresh advice if I get a car, buuuuuuut, what about the rod bearings at the least? Love finding to the end of death, lol. Not really, but they DO take a hell of a pounding!!

Oh, and I dont think I could put 5k into a firebird, they are sooooo ugly to me, lol. But again, thanks for taking the time to point them out to me, truly appreciated.

 

The whole stay away from 98's is a load of BS. Yes the computers aren't as good but thats really not a problem unless your building a 800+hp FI car, also if it still bothers you I'm pretty sure you can re-pin the connectors to the computer to use a 99+ computer. The real truth is that you can add together the cost of changing all of the little things that you'll actualy never notice and they still wont add up to the cost of replacing a bubbling sail panel on a 99+ car, thats a $2-5000 job.

The reason everyone flames you about the V6 swap is because it's usually not an economically intelligent idea, there is a long list of little things that will nickle and dime you to death. Also using a non f body transmission can get pretty expensive, you'll need a new drive shaft, and a $400 tunnel mount torque arm.

 

Some of the tables are not as definitive as the later models, but work perfectly well.
A human will never guess the difference.
What's wrong with a 224/114? I like every aspect of its' performance, including the mileage.

 

Okay, first of all, I appreciate eveyones help, but, HOLD ON to yur pants. Are you ready? Wait for it.......... Wait for it........................................

Not going with a camaro and I will be doing a E36 / LS1 swap!

It will cost me the same either way and I like the E36 body style better than the camaro's. I have been studying the swap for quite a while, and, I am prepared for it, well, somewhat.Guess I will not need to swap in a cam for a while, that will be easy to do now since the whole front end of a E36 is removable. I just picked up a fairly solid 4 door. Not sure if I want to go with that as I want a 2 door unit but we will see. I think I can get her running good enough to sell her for $2k! That will be my LS1 motor, yea!!

Guess that gives me a little more time to figure out what to do for a cam.

 

FWIW we also have "drop in" cams as well along with bee hive springs that use factory retainers, locks, locators and all that is required aside from the springs is new valve seals.

 

I will take a look at the hot cam and see what ponies it will give me.

Thanks for the info Fry and Martin

 

Good to know, if I ever get to the point of putting a cam in my TA I think I'd be willing to give up the HP for something that doesn't require as much valve spring maintenance. That car gets close to 10k a year put on it and I'd be happy if I just changed the springs every 5yrs regardless of spring pressure just to be safe.

 

Well, I pounded around for hotcam info and think that may be a weeeeeee to much for me, lol. Man she has a heck of a lope though...