Getting the itch again, what to do with my setup?
Getting the itch again, what to do with my setup? So ive had my LS1 swapped mustang "done" for about 8 years. I've street driven it about 6k miles in that time and thats about it. Just lost interest and didnt want to spend more money. Ive debated selling it but always waiver back and forth. So Im thinking im going to start working on it more. I've been out of the LS game for a while so Im not really sure what I want to do now. Im leaning towards keeping it NA.
My current setup is a 91 fox with an LS1/ lightly built 4L60e. stock 241 heads, 228r TSP cam, kooks longtubes,, 3200 yank SS stall, 4.10 gears. The car made pitiful numbers when it got tuned but its quick so i didnt pay much attention to it. Hindsight I ended up finding some possible electrical issues and fixed them so maybe that contributed? IDK. Anyways, my plans are still the same for the car, just a street car thats fun to drive and possibly the track on occasion. Im not against a turbo setup but ive been away from the LS stuff for several years. Whats some suggestions on reliability and bang for the buck? Im not looking to make 1000hp and i realize ill need to replace the 4l60 eventually.
My current setup is a 91 fox with an LS1/ lightly built 4L60e. stock 241 heads, 228r TSP cam, kooks longtubes,, 3200 yank SS stall, 4.10 gears. The car made pitiful numbers when it got tuned but its quick so i didnt pay much attention to it. Hindsight I ended up finding some possible electrical issues and fixed them so maybe that contributed? IDK. Anyways, my plans are still the same for the car, just a street car thats fun to drive and possibly the track on occasion. Im not against a turbo setup but ive been away from the LS stuff for several years. Whats some suggestions on reliability and bang for the buck? Im not looking to make 1000hp and i realize ill need to replace the 4l60 eventually.
Staging Lane
Joined: Feb 2020
Posts: 80
Likes: 19
Swapping out those 241s for a set of ported 243s would be a good budget upgrade. What intake is on the car? If it's a stock LS1, then upgrading to a LS6 would help as well. I don't have any experience with the 228R, but it seems like it would perform similarly to other cams in that range. A turbo or supercharger setup would be cool with a BTR turbo cam. Heads would definitely help that type of setup as well. Just a couple thoughts.
11 Second Club
Joined: Aug 2016
Posts: 478
Likes: 213
From: Indiana
First thing I’d do is more converter. The yank ss stuff is great but there seems to be a large difference after you go north of the 3200 stuff. I wouldn’t be afraid to go to a 4000. Second, I would redo the top end for 11.5-12:1 compression. Whatever fits your budget best. Good luck
First thing I’d do is more converter. The yank ss stuff is great but there seems to be a large difference after you go north of the 3200 stuff. I wouldn’t be afraid to go to a 4000. Second, I would redo the top end for 11.5-12:1 compression. Whatever fits your budget best. Good luck
11 Second Club
Joined: Aug 2016
Posts: 478
Likes: 213
From: Indiana
I’d keep the cam you got unless you want to drop the money in a better intake as well. That cam should carry well to 6800 which is where most are comfortable spinning the stock block and the trans will take it as long as solid trans tune. I hear AI is a good company to deal with for head work.
On The Tree
Joined: Nov 2013
Posts: 106
Likes: 3
From: Omaha, NE
Your 3200 converter is meh on the street? With your upgrades I would have to think you're within spitting distance of 400 wheel hp and the 228r should be building decent torque by 3200. I have a LQ9 with ported 243's and a fairly similar cam that does nothing but smoke my 285 nitto 555 G2's from a stop. I finally gain traction at 70mph well into 2nd gear and hit 3rd just over 80. This is with a 2800 stall and well built 4l60 and 3.73's in a pig heavy 1971 Cutlass. If this is a track car with good chassis setup and sticky tires then maybe a 4000ish stall would get you moving better. I agree with the above about compression and some good flowing heads as the next place to look. It's all how the car will be used
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11 Second Club
Joined: Jan 2003
Posts: 1,000
Likes: 134
I was going through some old threads on here and looking at a lot of combinations, particulary SBE n/a 5.7's and 6.0's just out of curiosity.
What i noticed is a lot of the very impressive 1/4 mile times, cars deep in the 10's, some light fox's even in the high 9's, were running single plane intakes (a lot of super victors) both carbed and efi and with both cathedral and square ports, and big converters, 4000 minimum.
I think the ls6 intakes kill a lot of HP and the ootb fast 102 still don't seem to flow enough for an all out effort, because the list of cars i noted were too quick with single plane intakes.
One 347ci n/a in a 4th gen camaro went 10.2's.
Another n/a 6.0 fox body with a sbe lq4 / l92s and super vic/780 holley ran 9.80's! And there's more like them.
So it all depends what you want. If you are looking for max effort 1/4 mile time, i think you should bypass all the plastic intakes and go to a super victor and yank 4400 converter and mill your heads to increase CR. I think that will give you a substantial performance gain, leaving all else alone.
In terms of fueling it seems that carburetor versus efi (4bbl TB) seem to run fairly comparable. EFI tb will give a bit more hood clearance, it may or may not be more time consuming to tune, depending on several factors.
What i noticed is a lot of the very impressive 1/4 mile times, cars deep in the 10's, some light fox's even in the high 9's, were running single plane intakes (a lot of super victors) both carbed and efi and with both cathedral and square ports, and big converters, 4000 minimum.
I think the ls6 intakes kill a lot of HP and the ootb fast 102 still don't seem to flow enough for an all out effort, because the list of cars i noted were too quick with single plane intakes.
One 347ci n/a in a 4th gen camaro went 10.2's.
Another n/a 6.0 fox body with a sbe lq4 / l92s and super vic/780 holley ran 9.80's! And there's more like them.
So it all depends what you want. If you are looking for max effort 1/4 mile time, i think you should bypass all the plastic intakes and go to a super victor and yank 4400 converter and mill your heads to increase CR. I think that will give you a substantial performance gain, leaving all else alone.
In terms of fueling it seems that carburetor versus efi (4bbl TB) seem to run fairly comparable. EFI tb will give a bit more hood clearance, it may or may not be more time consuming to tune, depending on several factors.
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Verdad Gallardo Your 3200 converter is meh on the street? With your upgrades I would have to think you're within spitting distance of 400 wheel hp and the 228r should be building decent torque by 3200. I have a LQ9 with ported 243's and a fairly similar cam that does nothing but smoke my 285 nitto 555 G2's from a stop. I finally gain traction at 70mph well into 2nd gear and hit 3rd just over 80. This is with a 2800 stall and well built 4l60 and 3.73's in a pig heavy 1971 Cutlass. If this is a track car with good chassis setup and sticky tires then maybe a 4000ish stall would get you moving better. I agree with the above about compression and some good flowing heads as the next place to look. It's all how the car will be used
Im not sure I really want a max effort car since its 90% street driven but if I can go that route and keep decent street manners, what the hell right? Intake wise, the Fast intakes were the end all back when i built this car so I have little knowledge of the difference or advantages of a super vic or the likes.
TECH Enthusiast
Joined: Feb 2018
Posts: 640
Likes: 297
From: Michigan
So my original HP numbers were trash which kept me believing something was screwed up. I was only putting down 325 to the wheels and lots of people with a similar setup were in the 380 range. The car runs fine and I had my tuner, who was well known around here, do a street tune and dyno tune and he said everything looked fine. Now the car runs strong and will burn tires from a stop with ease so I have chalked it up to just being a car that doesnt get along with dynos but shows what it can do on the road.
Im not sure I really want a max effort car since its 90% street driven but if I can go that route and keep decent street manners, what the hell right? Intake wise, the Fast intakes were the end all back when i built this car so I have little knowledge of the difference or advantages of a super vic or the likes.
Im not sure I really want a max effort car since its 90% street driven but if I can go that route and keep decent street manners, what the hell right? Intake wise, the Fast intakes were the end all back when i built this car so I have little knowledge of the difference or advantages of a super vic or the likes.
If you want to stay NA, go with a set of ported 243s or an aftermarket head, and a Fast 102 or MSD. You could also go bigger on the cam, but that's not going to get you all that much more power. Depends on your budget and how ambitious you're feeling. That's my .02