96capricemgr

iTrader: (1)

Just to be clear with what RamAir95TA said. Stock castings can be a great starting point if handled by someone competent. The LT4 intake has ports SMALLER than some of the LT1 intakes and if you machined above the runners to make it fit the LT1 heads you ruined it, it is just a red LT1 intake now. Unported stock LT1 intakes are good to over 400rwhp.

The average heads/cam stock shortblock engine is probably 11.2:1 compression, anyone so completely incompetent as to build a 10:1 NA LT1 probably doesn't do anything else right either.

I can not grasp doing a 52mm TB when you had the intake off and it would have been nothing to open it up to 58mm.
The MSD opti is NOT known to be good.

Far as "daily driver" that is just a copout for putting together a pile of ****. If you strap that thing down and dyno it I bet we find bolton cars that make more power.
Buy GOOD parts and keep the cam tame enough for a high mile daily driver 380rwhp should be nice to drive by any standards, if you like a hotrod and don't mind a lumpy cam that number goes up.

Sounds like you were not happy with a 3600stall, but also sounds like stock gears with 3.73s planned? The gears were the problem. With 3.73s any decent 9.5" converter is daily drivable at 3600stall in Oklahoma weather, hell a friend has a 3200 in his wifes cammed daily driver Caprice and he has a 3400 in his heads/cam Caprice here in WISCONSIN with all the weather that implies.

Before you get too upset with me understand I have been at this awhile 9 years ago my Caprice was a stalled/cammed year round daily driver, been through a few rounds of mods since. The 4.10s, big TB, high compression(throttle response) and 3800 stall make it a handful in snow but it has seen snow. A day of racing means over 300miles and I can do that all on one tank of fuel at over 4200lbs. I know what the limits are for a comfortable street car I have power everything and AC etc.

k_stewart_21

iTrader: (2)

1st I was wrong about the compression, I meant its 11:1. Not 10:1. Hell stock lt1 is 10:4. 2nd, the intake hasn't been ported or anything, it's the lt4 intake that they put on some camaros, read about it. 3rd i could go the cheap way out and get nos and easily be in the 10s but I want my car to last a lil while. But ur right, with my college budget and being the only vehicle I had at the time, I had to go the shity way out. Now I got a pretty good job I am wanting to make it better. As of now I can smoke new camaros and challengers all day long. And still get 18 mpg.

RamAir95TA

iTrader: (2)

Your inexperience with these cars (and performance in general) is very apparent, fortunately. There is absolutely zero benefit in running an LT4 manifold on LT1 heads, not to mention the ports don't even line up properly.

A car/engine "lasting awhile" is a function of the QUALITY of the parts and the QUALITY of the machine work/assembly.

NOS is a brand. Nitrous oxide is a gas.

And if you're so concerned with your 18mpg and bragging rights in saying so, perhaps further modification isn't for you.

k_stewart_21

iTrader: (2)

I never said i was the lt1 guru. Im new to this and thats why im asking questions. You need to learn to read. I said I'm ready for more mods now. Like I said the intake is lt4 that came with the the engine. My engine is was built for what I wanted at the time. Now I want to see how far I can go with it. It was out together with quality parts by a quality guy. I know what nos is. And once again like I said, I have more than one vehicle now and I was wonder what to do next as my post states. Now do u not agree, with 373 gears, and it seems a higher stall, and suspension work, than my car won't run in the 11's with the same engine that I have?

96capricemgr

iTrader: (1)

I think your car will struggle to make the power the top bolton cars makes.

FWIW I have a mid 11 second Caprice I still get 18-19 be it my rural commute to work or highway trips to the track including the racing. Even if your car is heavy by f-body standards I still have 500lbs on you.

Funny you say "read about it" for the LT4 manifold. The LT4 manifold has the same small trapezoidal ports of the late LT1 intakes with extra material left above them to seal to the taller ports in the LT4 heads. The early LT1 intakes like what your car probably came with actually had larger more rectangular ports. That said the trapazoidal ports actually match unported heads better so there is no performance loss with the smaller port. If you had the intake milled above the ports to make it fit the thicker LT1 valve cover rail you removed the extra material that could have been used to port match it and seal to a taller port head. If you had the intake mounting surface of the head ground taller up into the valve cover rail then the intake could still be good and might even fetch you a nice price if you sold it to someone with aftermarket heads that need the extra room above the port.

Years ago GIZMO posted this pic to help dispel the myths about the LT4 intake, this community prefers myth over fact though so no matter how many times it is posted it is ignored.

ElkySS

iTrader: (6)

just throwing this in there, i daily drive my car. its my only car. it put down 502rwhp on a mustang dyno. it has a 236/242 cam. i get about 16-17mpg with a rich mail order tune. if the combination is right, theres no reason a car with a fairly radical cam cant daily drive.

ElkySS

iTrader: (6)

also the only camaros that came with the lt4 intake were the ones with lt4 motors, which very few were made

k_stewart_21

iTrader: (2)

Guess I will find out. After I do the 373, stall, and suspension work, If it ain't what I like, I got a 4 bolt on stand by. I'll keep ya updated

96capricemgr

iTrader: (1)

It just keeps going. The 4-bolt isn't really worth worrying about till making big power and by the time you are looking at big power you should be using aftermarket caps. By the time you pay a premium for a 4-bolt block and then pay to fit the new caps it is usually cheaper to have started with a 2-bolt block which can be bought cheaper initially and put the new caps on it. It is the SAME BLOCK anyway just machined a little different at GM.

https://ls1tech.com/forums/lt1-lt4-m...lt4-block.html
Now if you got the 4-bolt block for $100 good for you, if you paid a premium for it it is just another example of your inexperience.

jaycenk

iTrader: (1)

never mind didn't see second page. Post removed

k_stewart_21

iTrader: (2)

Good thing it was free then huh

MasterTomos

iTrader: (15)

If 11's is what you're after-full bolt ons, ported factory heads/intake/cam, fuel pump, injectors, stall, and suspension mods will get you there. You should be in the 400rwhp range with that setup.

And if you buy a quality converter like a Yank, Circle D, or Vigilante brand, they say you can't even tell there is an aftermarket stall until you hammer on it, even with stalls as high as 3600. Buy a $200 autozone special, and this won't be the case.

Also, have your heads/intake ported by someone that knows what they're doing, like Elliot Portworks or Advance Inductions

k_stewart_21

iTrader: (2)

Thanks for ur expert advice though. U should write a book on how to build the perfect motor.y does ur car only run in the 11's? If it does still even run...

quik95lt1

iTrader: (7)

ill chime back in............depending on budget you've got alot of options......if you want to dive in a bit heres what id do........

on a strict budget jsut get that cam out of there.......id run somethiing along the lines of the AI 230/238 in the car..........

if u want to spend a few more $$ have the heads ported in addition to that cam......sell that LT4 on ebay you'll get good money for it and take some of that money and go with a basic inlet ported LT1 intake.....take the rest of the money and put it towards a good tune.......pair that with a 3.73+ gear and a good stall 3600+ and you'll have a fast car....

good luck!

k_stewart_21

iTrader: (2)

Ok thanks tomos. I traded some corvette wheels for the stall so idk what brand it is. I'll look into what u said though

k_stewart_21

iTrader: (2)

Ok about how much would it cost. Rough estimate?

quik95lt1

iTrader: (7)

just to give you an idea also of a well setup/designed 350ci combo........

3 years ago when i had my 355ci in my car ......it was stock rod stock crank forged piston......11.3:1 out of the box TFS 23* heads (flowed 260cfm~)......stock ported intake and the same bolt ons u have......with a AI HR 236/242 and the car at 3450lbs ran 11.4x @119-121 all day long and was a good car on the street also.....it was a very budget build that ran and drove great

k_stewart_21

iTrader: (2)

That's sounds pretty interesting. Thanks for the info. I got money to do pretty much whatever I want. But I was just gonna max this motor out.

quik95lt1

iTrader: (7)

at that point sell the heads cam and intake..........get yourself a set of the AI 200cc CNC GM heads........a custom spec'd HR similar to the one i had and a ported LT1 intake 58mm TB.......get that CR up to the 11.8-12 area and knock urself out......just be prepared to dig into the pocket book the more you get into this........money goes realllll fast....

bowtienut

iTrader: (1)

Wow.......did he offend you? If you're truly on here trying to get good advice, rather than get defensive you should thank somebody that tells it like it is, even if he doesn't stop to stroke your ego. Get your car down in the 11's with about 600 lbs added to the hatch before you try to slam that guy .........pretty weak
You're all over the map. Settle down and soak up the info you're getting for a good long while before making any more plans. I just skimmed down through this thread and, from where you sit right now, I see nothing but good advice in all the posts.