Hi I have a 1995 Caprice/Impala that I want to get to 400-500 HP or more naturally aspirated but I also want to put custom 22” wheels on so I don’t know how much power I want exactly for a summer driver with big wheels.

I bought the car for a decent price with a clean under body, solid body with minor dents & imperfection from Florida with a Impala SS Interior also all the Impala parts that are on this Caprice were from the previous owners wrecked Impala SS including supposedly an engine swap because the dash says 200,000 miles and the engine out of his Impala had 80,000 on it but who knows if he swapped it.

When driving it home it seemed to be under powered and the engine was missing so I heard it could be the Optispark, & tune up and was wondering what the best Optispark & rotor & cap was for the price & performance?

So far I’ve changed the rear end to the Impala SS disc brakes & had the body worked on a little.

So how do I find out if the engine has been changed is their a vin on it and if it hasn’t with 200,000 miles will it hold up with new heads, cam, etc for a summer street driver?

I was thinking of going with LT4 Heads, LT4 Head Bolts, LT4 Intake Manifold, GM Hot Cam Set with Roller Rockers, 58mm Throttle Body, 36p Injectors but I’m no mechanic and prices on this stuff is high and there are many companies out their like Patriot Performance that make their own stuff for cheaper.

So what’s a good quality setup for what I want to do and what exactly needs to be done besides the performance stuff if the car has high miles & better safe then sorry stuff?

If I opt to change the engine what’s a quality crate engine from a respected trustable company for a good price?

Please list specific parts for what I need because I’m a little over whelmed on what needs to be done from reading some other posts and I’m trying to get the mechanical stuff taken care of so I can finish the body to have it ready to go and any help would be great thanks.

 

You realize how small a pool of guys you are asking despite finding 4 different forums to post this on?

Since you are here though I will link you to some results posted here you may enjoy.

https://ls1tech.com/forums/lt1-lt4-m...s-429rwhp.html

 

First, an OEM AC Delco or Delphi optispark distributor is the best replacement for you. Just make sure you don't get a knock-off face opti. You can get one from "thepartsladi" on Ebay (http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/95-96...mZ390028196544).

Second, don't waste your time with the LT4 stuff, you will NEVER reach 400 rwhp with stock LT4 stuff, not worth the money. Look up a heads and cam package from either Lloyd Elliot Portworks (http://www.elliottsportworks.com/lt1.html) or Advanced Induction (http://www.advancedinduction.com/AiProductsLT1.html). You can get a decent package for under 2 grand.

Third, I would not put a cam and heads package on a 200k mile motor, and there is no way of telling if the shortblock has been replaced. If you are looking for a replacement engine, look at a crate engine from either Golen Engines (http://www.golenengineservice.com/html/lt1_lt4.html) or Ellwein Engines (http://www.ellweinengines.com/).

Research all of the websites I posted, talk to them, ask questions, get some info...do A LOT of research on the boards before you buy anything. Good luck man.