ABA383

iTrader: (1)

I've been actively following the antics of my old Formula and its new owner in the quest for 10s n/a since I sold the car last year. After countless 11.20s @ 122 with 1.48 60's the new owner has just reported that performance fell off dramatically and he has no oil pressure at idle...It comes back as the motor is revved, but he's also got some noise which he thinks is from the valve train. After 17 years it seems as though its time to do a tear down and rebuild. I can't believe that the motor has lasted for 17 years of racing and street driving. The bottom end has remained as Lingenfelter built it in 1995 and even the valve springs are from the original build. 17 years on the valve springs!

Anyway, It's going to be interesting to see what direction he takes with the car. I'm going to steer him towards Ai to have the LPE/E.B. Porting heads freshened and have them spec a larger cam, maybe a solid roller as the car is track only now. I still think the ported stock heads can support mid/low tens n/a which is what he wants to accomplish. He's going to pull lots of weight out too so its going to be interesting to see the results.

So, anyway, it seems as though the Lingenfelter 383 is only good for 17 years I'll update everyone as to the findings when we get the car back to the shop. Watch it be a bad oil pressure sender and a couple of worn out valve springs! lol LPE sells the Comp 977 springs that are on the heads now for $140 and its already got titanium retainers...It may be a quick freshen, but after 17 years I don't think anyone will complain if we have to do a full rebuild.

--Alan

bowtienut

iTrader: (1)

Those LPE heads have been low 10's in at least one F-body I know of.
Freshening them up and bumping the cam up, along with a healthy bottom end, will definitely pick him up.

ABA383

iTrader: (1)

Yeah those LPE heads have been fantastic over the years...in 2005 I had Eric Bradby do some hand porting to help make the heads even better. He said that they were some of the best stock ported heads he'd ever seen. And the cam in the car currently is a just a weenie by most standards Joe Overton (Erson) grind that specs out at 226/234 .568" lift on a 111 lsa...I wanted a small and nasty cam for the street and some strip. It replaced the even smaller LPE 211/219 cam which also worked very well.

Now the new owner is going for track only so now the gloves can come off...I'm excited to see how far we can push the car into the 10s n/a. I'm just happy he's sticking with the old underdog LT1...

--Alan

96lt1m6

iTrader: (31)

That's awesome Alan! You are still affiliated with your Lt1 I wish you still owned it but hey..

ABA383

iTrader: (1)

There's times I wished I still owned it, but my life has taken a different turn over the last few years with the end of my 2nd marriage and the re-evaluating of what's important. Truth was that I hadn't driven the car like I should've and the new owner does. I definitely could not have survived financially over the last year without the money from the sale of the car. It's all good. The old Formula was a great piece of my history, but it's just that, history. It's still nice to be consulted as to the direction of the car, but I wouldn't have the funds necessary to properly move the car ahead at this point in my life.

I do have my eyes on my dad's 2003 Lingenfelter 383 Corvette, but I think that's a ways off...

--Alan

96lt1m6

iTrader: (31)

Fully understand bro, cheers to new horizons

ahritchie

iTrader: (1)

How many miles were on it when it died? Was it a track only car or DD when you had it? Just wondering what sort of durability to expect out of a properly built hi-po 383 LT1 build compared to stock as mine just got rebuilt!


Looks like you sold it just in time!

ABA383

iTrader: (1)

Well the car has 55,000 original miles and the motor was installed at 219 miles...When I owned it it was daily driven for a little bit then relegated to the occasional driver with racing on the weekends, and tons of street stop light to stop light stuff. I'm sure there's 500 passes on the motor if not more. When I sold it last year it became a track only car. The car was definitely not babied as my goal was to flog it all over the place. I've been incredibly impressed with the service of the motor. Lingenfelter uses top end parts and extreme attention to detail in machining and assembly. The bottom end is a Lunati forged crank with Oliver billet steel 5.85" rods and JE pistons. And the valve springs are Comp double spring 977s with titanium retainers which are also original.

Remember that we still haven't verified what's wrong with the motor. There's still a chance its not broken, but after 17 hard years it doesn't owe anyone anything. I'd never hesitate to use LPE again. They're not cheap but its been flogged for 17 years!! Thats crazy to me.

I also think running a smaller cam and only spinning the motor to 6500 doesn't hurt either. Remember it was originally set up the be a street car with some track use. If it does need to be rebuilt it'll be interesting to see what direction the owner takes. Ai seems to be pioneering some nice LT stuff so we'll see. I've been in touch with LPE and they were excited about how long it has lasted and John himself actually helped in the assembly and building of the motor. Maybe they'd cut the owner a break on a rebuild of the bottom end...Low 10s on motor would be sweet...we'll see what happens..

--Alan

BADHAWK51

iTrader: (1)

I still look forward to hearing stories about your old ride Alan.

glad to hear your still involved.