zrsnopro97

iTrader: (1)

I recently picked up a 1993 Z28 hardtop for dirt cheap. I wasn't even in the market for an F-body but I couldn't pass up a running/driving z28 for $500.
Anyway, after I bought it I started researching the LT1 cars and found out the 93 was different than 94-97 cars, which doesn't really bother me that much but I need so advice and input on how to get the car to run mid 11's. Here's what I'm thinking for a setup, let me know what you guys think...

-Cam (will an off the shelf do, or do i need a custom ground cam?)

-Suspension (what are the best bang for the buck suspension mods to get an auto car to hook at the track and on the street?)

-Mickey thompson drag radials

-Transmission/converter (should I have performabuilt do a 4L60 or swap to Th350?)

-Pick up a used 3.42 rear 10 bolt for cheap

-Basic bolt ons- headers, cai, upgraded fuel pump, tbody air foil

- Delete A/C, delete air and EGR, Move battery to the rear.

-Nitrous 100-150 shot (dry or wet kit?)

-Tuning, not sure what to do here?? Does anyone do 93' tuning or am I in the dark on this?

Do you think this will be enough to run 11.50s or will I need a bigger throttle body/ ported heads and intake?


This is going to be a budget car and I'm going to try and find used parts where I can. And NO i do not want to LS swap it like everyone is doing right now. I just want a car that can drag the subaru kids around town that think LT1 motors are junk.

93Z2871805

iTrader: (5)

93's are different - EPROM based ECU, no MAF, non-heated O2's, non-vented spline drive opti, 4L60 (non-E), and A4 came with 3.23s. Also, no leather in 93.

A shelf grind will do the job, especially on N2O.

Solid motor mounts, LCA's w/relocation brackets, torque arm, better shocks/springs, sway bar.

Yup.

My personal opinion would be a TH400, but you can build either trans to hold the power. If you don't care about OD, TH400/TH350.

Or you can build a cheap 8.8 using the factory 10 bolt tubes and a 31-spline Explorer center section. Welding required.

Don't bother with the TB, I wouldn't bother with an airfoil either.

Yup.

Wet kit.

PCMForless does (I think they still do anyway). Or find someone that does TPI tuning, they should be able to burn cards.

Cammed and N2O should do the trick, although a set of good heads and a complementing cam setup can hit 11.5's. There are a few H/C Caprice/Impala cars that are running mid 11's.


LT1 motors are not junk. Just look around this section, there are a few people around here making them fly for sure.

zrsnopro97

iTrader: (1)

Thanks for the info! I'll have to look into PCMForless and see if they still do any 93' tuning.
Never thought about an 8.8 swap, Ill have to research that a little bit. I have a buddy who is a pretty good fabricator and im sure i can get an explorer rear from a salvage yard for cheap. Then again, if my car has 3.23's in it now I wonder if i could get the job done with those gears if the diff itself is in good shape? Still undecided about the transmission. I really dont care about overdrive or not, just looking for the easiest/cheapest route to get a strong transmission.

Do you know if I will have to change to a 95-97 vented optispark unit if I put an aftermarket cam in the car? Since mine is a spline drive and the later years are dowel pins?

93M6Formula

PCMforless no longer does 93 tunes. But Solomon at lt1pcmtuning does and does a great job.

zrsnopro97

iTrader: (1)

Good to know! Hopefully he is still doing 93 stuff by the time my car is ready.

duh

iTrader: (16)

My 93 has gone 12.99 without even touching the ecm.

Long tubes, and your choice of exhaust. You'll need to put in heated o2's. IIRC Fastbird sells the setup, or I can dig out mine and sell you them since I won't be using them.

I did an LS1 lid setup and bought a Sunoco Wide hood from VFN to clear without cutting the core support up. But you'll need a way of getting true fresh air to the engine.

Delteq with MSD DIS4 wasnt needed but I got it while fighting what I now know to be an ECM problem.
275/50r15 MT drag radials on 15" prostars with skinnies up front.
Only weight reduction was the back seat and spare tire, and a good cleaning.

I did the air foil since it was a $15 buy.

I unhooked the EGR, but left the solenoid hooked up so that it doesn't throw a code.
TB coolant bypass and an electric water pump with the stock thermostat kept it cool.

I didn't run it once the a/c was out, and I took some metal out, but I'm sure it would have been 12.90's all day thanks to the full tubular suspension and QA1's. The rearend actually slowed me down a bit because of going from stock 3.23 to a 9" but the 3.70's kept it about the same.

And u almost forgot the Level 4 FLT trans and 3600 RevMax stall. Since I wasn't digging into the engine I went with their cheap converter. According to mph and e.t. calculators the car makes an honest 300 at the tires in this form. 12.99@103 isn't bad for not touching the programming at all.
Your mid 11 goal should be easily attainable. Infact some MT tires, 3.73 gear in your rearend, full exhaust, a cold air, a basic tune and a 150 wet shot should get you there all day with a 1.7 ish 60' time.

And if you need any parts, LMK since I'm re powering mine (smoking deal on a 6.0) so I don't need my LT specific stuff or my trans since I will be going to a built th350.

zrsnopro97

iTrader: (1)

Those are some good numbers for stock cam and no ECM tuning!
How did you like that level 4 flt trans?
I may be interested in some stuff once I get the car and title in my possession. I have to dig it out from behind a barn and file to get a title so it would probably be a couple months.

What about stock injectors? Are those good enough for my goals or should I upgrade?

Thanks again guys

lt1-xjs

pcmofnc is now the pcmforless that tuned the '93 cars.

duh

iTrader: (16)

I love the trans! Chuck went above and beyond working on it, since it had been a long time since he had done one. The worst part is the TV cable. If you break it, you're kinda screwed. I was able to fix mine, and he even got me a spare just in case.

Injectors will need to be replaced, since we only have 21lb/hr as opposed to the 24lb/hr that the later engines have. But SVO injectors are relatively cheap and perform flawlessly.

Puck

iTrader: (17)

Mid 11s are easy with spray, especially with an auto.

zrsnopro97

iTrader: (1)

Good to hear that! I figured I should set a realistic goal, now I just need to come up with a budget. What lb/hr are svo injectors ?

duh

iTrader: (16)

You can get SVO (ford Motorsport) injectors in a variety of flows. The big thing is they are rated at a much lower pressure (38psi IIRC) than what the LT1's run at. That means buying a 30lb/hr injector is like getting a 34-36lb/hr injector for a bit less. Plus if you use an AFPR to bump pressure up to an LSx rating of (again I think) 54psi, then you get even more fuel through them.

93Z2871805

iTrader: (5)

You can get 19lb orange tops (4.6 Crown Vic), 24lb blue tops (pushrod 5.0 Mustang, Explorers, IIRC), 30lb red tops (Terminators), 36lb brown tops (Thunderbird super coupes), and 42lb green tops (Lightning). All rates @ 39 PSI.

39 PSI on Ford/Chrysler, 43.5 PSI for LT1, 58 PSI for LSX, but yeah, close enough, lol.

zrsnopro97

iTrader: (1)

Good deal guys, thanks again. What size injectors are most cam/nitrous guys running?

93Z2871805

iTrader: (5)

You could always give it a try, and if you shear the teeth off of the pinion, you'll know for sure, lol. But, if you're going for hard launches and do in fact swap transmissions, you'd might as well swap the rear while you're at it so you only have to have a DS made once.


No, you can cut down the dowel, or in some cases, just tap the dowel into the cam (that's what I did with my Lunati). You can, and should, convert the cap to a vented setup though. Just do the MSD cap with an OEM/Delco base.

duh

iTrader: (16)

I was just talking about this with a buddy of mine, because he was looking at a set of used SVO 30's. Neither of us could remember the specifics but we had a long discussion over weather or not they would work for his new stock bottom end LE2 setup.

93Z2871805

iTrader: (5)

30lb SVO's would run @ 31.65lb/hr on 43.5 PSI and 36.55lb/hr on 58 PSI.

93Z2871805

iTrader: (5)

For $500 I would have snatched it up quick. Good find.

zrsnopro97

iTrader: (1)

Cool good info. Yea i think I got a steal for $500.. the car is a little rough here and there but its a black and it's a hardtop which I like. Plus it already has 17" zr1 wheels and a borla catback.

HellTeeOne

A good friend of mine has a 1993 hardtop Z28.

12 or so years ago when his car was still an A4, he did the following mods:

-internally stock untouched factory long block
-Hooker LT headers and off-road pipe, cutout and 3" catback
-Moroso CAI
-BMR subframe connectors and rear LCAs with relocation brackets (car was lowered)
-PI Vigilante 2800 converter and locally built 4L60 trans
-3.73 rear gears
-Walbro 255 fuel pump & hotwire kit
-NX wet kit jetted for 150hp
-MSD box with soft-touch rev limiter
-Nitto 275/40/17 drag radials on 17" ZR1 style wheels

On motor the car dynoed 290-ish rwhp and went 12.98 at 103-ish in decent conditions. On the bottle it was around 435rwhp and went 11.6-ish at 118 on the rev limiter (tire height and gearing was insufficient to finish the quarter mile in third gear with stock rev limiter). He had the N20 window switch cutoff set a couple hundred rpm short of the rev limiter. Even on 17" wheels, the car would cut short times in the mid 1.6s on a good track. The only dyno tuning done was just to dial in the nitrous, the PCM calibration remained stock. If he would have ever added a cam and some real tuning to his combo it likely would have tickled the 10s.
As it was, his car back then was what I considered to be a well thought-out bolt-on A4 car. It was still quiet and didn't lope and surprised a lot of folks on the street.

I like the 4L60 transmissions if you can find someone who knows what they're doing with them to build them. The steep first gear is nice to get things moving out of the hole.

The 1993 cars came with 22lb injectors. My buddy's '93 Z still had the factory injectors until he went with a blower setup years later.
I run the SVO red-top 30s with my current setup (400-ish rwhp N/A) at stock fuel pressure and they are more than enough.