from mustang to camaro
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Joined: Apr 2012
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From: louisville kentucky
from mustang to camaro as the title says I was a mustang guy now im lookin at camaros and at the somerset cruise i saw some lt1 cars makin some respectable times for only having headers and intake mods...I was wondering since ill probably be gettin a lt1 what are some things i should watch out for. I know it has a issue with optispark anything else? also how much hp can the stock bottom end hold?
thanks
Dave
thanks
Dave
To be honest, optispark issues are generally the fault of the installer!
Be cautious of those that claim to have had the headgaskets replaced since they usually get replaced after the car has been hot many times!
Welcome to the F body, and to Ls1tech.....
Be cautious of those that claim to have had the headgaskets replaced since they usually get replaced after the car has been hot many times!
Welcome to the F body, and to Ls1tech.....
The optispark is often blamed for other ignition problems, such as bad wiring to the opti, etc. That said, the 93-94 is an UN-vented opti so it has more problems than the 95-97 models which have a vented opti to vent moisture out of the optispark. As far as power on the bottom end, what kills it is RPM's, as the stock crank and rods are strong, the rod bolts are not, and have a tendency to stretch. If you cam it, get a custom cam and keep it below 6300 RPM and it should live. Heads are another setback, stock heads flow terrible, LE or AI can make some great power with some ported stock castings.
First mods though should be headers, cold-air intake, exhaust, 1.6 roller rockers, mail-order tune, and gears. A 160* t-stat with reprogrammed fan turn-on temps will help the engine run MUCH cooler. If an auto, a good torque converter helps a lot as well.
First mods though should be headers, cold-air intake, exhaust, 1.6 roller rockers, mail-order tune, and gears. A 160* t-stat with reprogrammed fan turn-on temps will help the engine run MUCH cooler. If an auto, a good torque converter helps a lot as well.
TECH Regular
Joined: Apr 2011
Posts: 441
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From: Deep in the heart of Texas
First welcome, second used to cruise down to Somerset from Mt.Sterling several times a summer. I miss those warm summer nights. LT1's seem to handle alot of abuse well. In stock form they aren't as fast as stock LSX motors (unless the driver is on his game in a stick car) but with the right mods they come alive. They respond well to good flowing heads and aftermarket cam's. I've run anywhere from 50 to 150 wet shot on a stock bottom end for over a year and had no problems.
From my observations it takes a bolt on LT1 to run with a stock LS1. A cammed LT1 to run with a bolt on LS1. And when running squeeze make sure your packing 50 hp bigger shot than the LSX and you will have the LSX boys covered.
As far as Mustangs I like the new 5.0 but for 5000.00 you can pick up a solid LT1 F-body. Put 2500.00 in the motor and drivetrain and bust a 30,000.00 dollar cars *** and there's nothing better than killing a C6 Vette out of the hole and pulling him through 3 gears or so.
Drawbacks The opti but a lot of times it gets wrongfully blamed. Tune ups suck ***. plugs wires cap and rotor can eat up a whole weekend. If the water pump leaks you'll be changing the opti.
From my observations it takes a bolt on LT1 to run with a stock LS1. A cammed LT1 to run with a bolt on LS1. And when running squeeze make sure your packing 50 hp bigger shot than the LSX and you will have the LSX boys covered.
As far as Mustangs I like the new 5.0 but for 5000.00 you can pick up a solid LT1 F-body. Put 2500.00 in the motor and drivetrain and bust a 30,000.00 dollar cars *** and there's nothing better than killing a C6 Vette out of the hole and pulling him through 3 gears or so.
Drawbacks The opti but a lot of times it gets wrongfully blamed. Tune ups suck ***. plugs wires cap and rotor can eat up a whole weekend. If the water pump leaks you'll be changing the opti.
Words that should set off an alarm if the seller says these:
Hypertech - POS overpriced garbage
LT4 - probably lying, but possibly telling the truth if it has both heads and intake, which would be ok, LT4 heads and LT1 intake do not work together, and vice versa
LS6 or LS1 anything engine related on the car - only thing interchangeable is the LIFTERS
Edelbrock - All Edelbrock products for the 4th gens are garbage
Flowmaster - Chokemaster doesnt flow much more than stock
Shorty headers - Worthless mod
Eagle crank - if he doesnt say the word FORGED, run, dont walk, away
Other than that, if you can find a stock one or one with little mods (catback, shifter, long tubes etc) they are great cars. Check the front suspension bushings as they are probably shot if original on any 15 year old car. When test driving, floor it all the way to redline and then shift, and make sure it is smooth the whole RPM range. Any miss is more than likely ignition related, and more often than not, the opti. Also listen to the rear end, the 10 bolts are made of glass, and if it is howling, its only a matter of time until it goes boom.
Bolt-on only cars run low 13s, with some weight taken out and a good driver, mid to high 12s.
Stock bottom end can take up to a 150 shot of nitrous, guys are successfully getting up to 425 rwhp NA through a 6 speed which is around 500 crank hp. Generally thats about as far as youll see. Stock LT1s are not boost ****** like mustangs.
Hypertech - POS overpriced garbage
LT4 - probably lying, but possibly telling the truth if it has both heads and intake, which would be ok, LT4 heads and LT1 intake do not work together, and vice versa
LS6 or LS1 anything engine related on the car - only thing interchangeable is the LIFTERS
Edelbrock - All Edelbrock products for the 4th gens are garbage
Flowmaster - Chokemaster doesnt flow much more than stock
Shorty headers - Worthless mod
Eagle crank - if he doesnt say the word FORGED, run, dont walk, away
Other than that, if you can find a stock one or one with little mods (catback, shifter, long tubes etc) they are great cars. Check the front suspension bushings as they are probably shot if original on any 15 year old car. When test driving, floor it all the way to redline and then shift, and make sure it is smooth the whole RPM range. Any miss is more than likely ignition related, and more often than not, the opti. Also listen to the rear end, the 10 bolts are made of glass, and if it is howling, its only a matter of time until it goes boom.
Bolt-on only cars run low 13s, with some weight taken out and a good driver, mid to high 12s.
Stock bottom end can take up to a 150 shot of nitrous, guys are successfully getting up to 425 rwhp NA through a 6 speed which is around 500 crank hp. Generally thats about as far as youll see. Stock LT1s are not boost ****** like mustangs.
Thread Starter
Registered User
Joined: Apr 2012
Posts: 10
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From: louisville kentucky
The optispark is often blamed for other ignition problems, such as bad wiring to the opti, etc. That said, the 93-94 is an UN-vented opti so it has more problems than the 95-97 models which have a vented opti to vent moisture out of the optispark. As far as power on the bottom end, what kills it is RPM's, as the stock crank and rods are strong, the rod bolts are not, and have a tendency to stretch. If you cam it, get a custom cam and keep it below 6300 RPM and it should live. Heads are another setback, stock heads flow terrible, LE or AI can make some great power with some ported stock castings.
First mods though should be headers, cold-air intake, exhaust, 1.6 roller rockers, mail-order tune, and gears. A 160* t-stat with reprogrammed fan turn-on temps will help the engine run MUCH cooler. If an auto, a good torque converter helps a lot as well.
First mods though should be headers, cold-air intake, exhaust, 1.6 roller rockers, mail-order tune, and gears. A 160* t-stat with reprogrammed fan turn-on temps will help the engine run MUCH cooler. If an auto, a good torque converter helps a lot as well.
First welcome, second used to cruise down to Somerset from Mt.Sterling several times a summer. I miss those warm summer nights. LT1's seem to handle alot of abuse well. In stock form they aren't as fast as stock LSX motors (unless the driver is on his game in a stick car) but with the right mods they come alive. They respond well to good flowing heads and aftermarket cam's. I've run anywhere from 50 to 150 wet shot on a stock bottom end for over a year and had no problems.
From my observations it takes a bolt on LT1 to run with a stock LS1. A cammed LT1 to run with a bolt on LS1. And when running squeeze make sure your packing 50 hp bigger shot than the LSX and you will have the LSX boys covered.
As far as Mustangs I like the new 5.0 but for 5000.00 you can pick up a solid LT1 F-body. Put 2500.00 in the motor and drivetrain and bust a 30,000.00 dollar cars *** and there's nothing better than killing a C6 Vette out of the hole and pulling him through 3 gears or so.
Drawbacks The opti but a lot of times it gets wrongfully blamed. Tune ups suck ***. plugs wires cap and rotor can eat up a whole weekend. If the water pump leaks you'll be changing the opti.
From my observations it takes a bolt on LT1 to run with a stock LS1. A cammed LT1 to run with a bolt on LS1. And when running squeeze make sure your packing 50 hp bigger shot than the LSX and you will have the LSX boys covered.
As far as Mustangs I like the new 5.0 but for 5000.00 you can pick up a solid LT1 F-body. Put 2500.00 in the motor and drivetrain and bust a 30,000.00 dollar cars *** and there's nothing better than killing a C6 Vette out of the hole and pulling him through 3 gears or so.
Drawbacks The opti but a lot of times it gets wrongfully blamed. Tune ups suck ***. plugs wires cap and rotor can eat up a whole weekend. If the water pump leaks you'll be changing the opti.
thanks for the help most kids i know around somerset just have lt1s so Ill be able to run with if not beat them since they DD their cars so they stay away from the juice, But yes it is beautiful and I have alot of fun especiallyy when you dont need to worry about a cop givin you a ticket unless ur on a bike or in a diesel. and thats how i felt with the fox body bought it for 4k but within a summer of doggin it (what its made for) i had to replace transmissioni twice (shitty t-5) aand the rear end is out now so i decided to part it out. th 350s will outlast a sbf anyday but thats a given..IMO. Ill have to look into this optispark to make sure im not one of the idiots doin it wrong. Thanks for the input.
Words that should set off an alarm if the seller says these:
Hypertech - POS overpriced garbage
LT4 - probably lying, but possibly telling the truth if it has both heads and intake, which would be ok, LT4 heads and LT1 intake do not work together, and vice versa
LS6 or LS1 anything engine related on the car - only thing interchangeable is the LIFTERS
Edelbrock - All Edelbrock products for the 4th gens are garbage
Flowmaster - Chokemaster doesnt flow much more than stock
Shorty headers - Worthless mod
Eagle crank - if he doesnt say the word FORGED, run, dont walk, away
Other than that, if you can find a stock one or one with little mods (catback, shifter, long tubes etc) they are great cars. Check the front suspension bushings as they are probably shot if original on any 15 year old car. When test driving, floor it all the way to redline and then shift, and make sure it is smooth the whole RPM range. Any miss is more than likely ignition related, and more often than not, the opti. Also listen to the rear end, the 10 bolts are made of glass, and if it is howling, its only a matter of time until it goes boom.
Bolt-on only cars run low 13s, with some weight taken out and a good driver, mid to high 12s.
Stock bottom end can take up to a 150 shot of nitrous, guys are successfully getting up to 425 rwhp NA through a 6 speed which is around 500 crank hp. Generally thats about as far as youll see. Stock LT1s are not boost ****** like mustangs.
Hypertech - POS overpriced garbage
LT4 - probably lying, but possibly telling the truth if it has both heads and intake, which would be ok, LT4 heads and LT1 intake do not work together, and vice versa
LS6 or LS1 anything engine related on the car - only thing interchangeable is the LIFTERS
Edelbrock - All Edelbrock products for the 4th gens are garbage
Flowmaster - Chokemaster doesnt flow much more than stock
Shorty headers - Worthless mod
Eagle crank - if he doesnt say the word FORGED, run, dont walk, away
Other than that, if you can find a stock one or one with little mods (catback, shifter, long tubes etc) they are great cars. Check the front suspension bushings as they are probably shot if original on any 15 year old car. When test driving, floor it all the way to redline and then shift, and make sure it is smooth the whole RPM range. Any miss is more than likely ignition related, and more often than not, the opti. Also listen to the rear end, the 10 bolts are made of glass, and if it is howling, its only a matter of time until it goes boom.
Bolt-on only cars run low 13s, with some weight taken out and a good driver, mid to high 12s.
Stock bottom end can take up to a 150 shot of nitrous, guys are successfully getting up to 425 rwhp NA through a 6 speed which is around 500 crank hp. Generally thats about as far as youll see. Stock LT1s are not boost ****** like mustangs.
Thanks for all the help
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Joined: Apr 2012
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From: louisville kentucky
yea chevy has everything covered for the most part besides the terminator. I just like cars in general besides dodge. Im not for one specific brand anything really besides slow rice and dodge.
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The Terminator? Ha, the Terminator is 03/04. The C5 Z06 is a 01/04 car and would dust a Terminator without a Supercharger.
The best line I've ever heard is
"Fords are like small penises, they need a ***** pump to impress anyone".
Also the Terminator is a Dual Overhead Cam setup. Its funny GM can blow away DOHC Ford setups with technology that is as old as internal combustion engines themselves. IE Overhead Valves OHV.
The MSRP for a 03 Terminator is 38,xxx. A C5 Z06 is 42,xxx.
Last edited by F0x Slaughter; May 2, 2012 at 07:31 PM.
I love true Mopar, late 60s early 70s. My dream cars are Mopars.
The Terminator? Ha, the Terminator is 03/04. The C5 Z06 is a 01/04 car and would dust a Terminator without a Supercharger.
The best line I've ever heard is
"Fords are like small penises, they need a ***** pump to impress anyone".
Also the Terminator is a Dual Overhead Cam setup. Its funny GM can blow away DOHC Ford setups with technology that is as old as internal combustion engines themselves. IE Overhead Valves OHV.
The Terminator? Ha, the Terminator is 03/04. The C5 Z06 is a 01/04 car and would dust a Terminator without a Supercharger.
The best line I've ever heard is
"Fords are like small penises, they need a ***** pump to impress anyone".
Also the Terminator is a Dual Overhead Cam setup. Its funny GM can blow away DOHC Ford setups with technology that is as old as internal combustion engines themselves. IE Overhead Valves OHV.
. I wouldn't **** with one NA unless I was packing one mean *** setup...they make stupid horsepower just looking at them wrong, and its damn near impossible to tell if the cobra next to you is stock or has 600+ HP to the wheels.I'm the farthest from a Ford fan that you can get, but I give respect where its due
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If you happen to run into one of the 4 stock termis in the world left then kudos to you . I wouldn't **** with one NA unless I was packing one mean *** setup...they make stupid horsepower just looking at them wrong, and its damn near impossible to tell if the cobra next to you is stock or has 600+ HP to the wheels.
I'm the farthest from a Ford fan that you can get, but I give respect where its due
. I wouldn't **** with one NA unless I was packing one mean *** setup...they make stupid horsepower just looking at them wrong, and its damn near impossible to tell if the cobra next to you is stock or has 600+ HP to the wheels.I'm the farthest from a Ford fan that you can get, but I give respect where its due
I mean look at this list. This is N/A Stock chassis cars.
https://ls1tech.com/forums/drag-raci...-n-any-cu.html
The Terminator is by far the best car for has made in a long time.
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Joined: Apr 2011
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From: Deep in the heart of Texas
Thats the thing. Stock for Stock they get beat. So mod a Terminator and Mod a Z06. Or even better level the playing field and boost a GM engine.
I mean look at this list. This is N/A Stock chassis cars.
https://ls1tech.com/forums/drag-raci...-n-any-cu.html
The Terminator is by far the best car for has made in a long time.
I mean look at this list. This is N/A Stock chassis cars.
https://ls1tech.com/forums/drag-raci...-n-any-cu.html
The Terminator is by far the best car for has made in a long time.
Just for reference though, some of those cars have over $25,000 just in the motor. Counting supporting mods like transmissions, fueling, and suspension I can see that number getting dangerously close to $50,000 into just an "N/A" build. Not complaining, since those are some amazing cars and I've especially had a huge interest in the famous SAM car, but just making sure people don't even think for a second that "Stock chassis/Stock suspension" means it is anywhere near something that can be driven around on the street. It just means its not a back-half or tube chassis car and has stock style suspension and not a 4-link.
Price out a C5R block build lately? Last I checked just the bare, empty, block was around $9,000...more then most LT1s spend on their complete engine
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From: louisville kentucky
stock for stock is cool but if you buy a mustang camaro or vette your not going to leave it stock...ford did it right with the cobra can handle 700whp before doing internal work on the terminator engine and the t56 with ceramic coating on all the forged shift forks is a pretty brillant idea for a car in 03...you dont have to build the motor to get hp you just add boost or whatever you wanna do.
i hate the 01 cobras theyre jokes in my opinion. But that is impressive with the lt1. i met up with a mutual friend and he had a lt1 it had the t56 which brings uup a whole new game and more decisions to be made on a 6 spd or a built auto. leaning towards the 6 spd now
Don't count out the old LT1, on a 125 shot and my mods. I put away my buddies 03 Termi Vert. Ported blower, 2.81, pulley full suspension, exhaust and tune. In almost stock form the old LT1 smoked his 2001 Cobra, on tune, exhaust and DR's. A picture or two of the victim.
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Thread Starter
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From: louisville kentucky
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From: Indiana
.Co-workers bolt-on 2003 made a whopping 245rwhp...and its a manual LOL!
. I forgot the TQ but I know it was considerably under 300...like 270 or something.