I hate to tell you, but I wouldn't waist my time putting in the Hot Cam, with the kind of power that you are expecting to have. It will only put down about 330-350 rwhp WITH built heads. You can call Lloyd Elliot, or Advanced Induction. They will give you a bolt on top end package that can put down atleast 410 or possibly even more rwhp if you upgrade the fuel, ignition, and get it properly tuned. That is your best bet to make good power. Way more than that 400 hp mustang. You will have more hp at your rear tires than he makes at his flywheel. Hot Cam is a good little cam, that is very easy to drive around, but won't make the power that a custom grind cam will make.
If you're only looking to outrun that Mustang though, the Hot Cam and LE1 heads would do that all day long.

 

And to whoever said AFR heads aren't any better than cnc'd stockers?? That is far from the truth. Once those AFR's Trick Flows, Etc are cnc'd, they flow tons better. But they are too much for a stock bottom end LT1. Maybe that's what you were referring to.

 

Yeah call Lloyd Elliott or advanced induction for a top end package. They do great work and have great prices and can easily get you to 400rwhp. And are very helpful with all questions.

 

The LT4 hot cam kit is a no go if you want 400+ at the tires. When I was building my car I emailed back and forth with: Lloyd Elliot, Advanced Inductions, and T.E.A. My conclusion was that they could all get me where I wanted to go...
I went with Lloyd Elliot, his customer service is phenomenal and I'm very happy with my cam setup.

 

buy some good used afr heads, spend about 1500 in port and polish and watch the guys running stock heads ported and polished in the rear view mirror... if not running the cubic inch or high rpm stick with the stock heads ported and polished and spend money elsewhere...it is not how fast can you go, it is how fast can you afford to go

 

Especially near stock cubes AFR's "vast superiority" is more myth than fact.
Some folks can't quite comprehend the difference between a 383+ci pure race build that just needs a big hole to move air so they start with AFR227s and open them up more and a 6500rpm stock cube more street than strip build.
Ported stock heads have gone 9s NA on solid roller strikers and 10s NA even in a hydraulic stock cube motor or two and even done that in a 3800lbs Impala.
By the time you buy AFR and port them you have twice the money spent, if looking to push the envelope maybe that is appropriate. For most looking for a fun street car we won't ever wring the best ET out of there is little point.

 

Alright well here's my update! Before I start modding it the car went I to the body shop yesterday to get 100%. I feel really confident with my choice! I emailed lloyd elliot and AI, I talked to lloyd elliot on the phone and he was very informative and when I told him what I wanted he explained what upgrades I should get and why. So I am going to post his email to me on here, in the email he lists 3 different cams, one for stock bottom end, one for a 355 and one for a 383, I'm going with the 383. My question to you guys is, how should I go about making it a 383? Have my bottom end bored .30 over? Can I buy a 383 block that will be a direct replacemeant? I know they sell 383 kits, I just want the best, not the cheapest. Here is the email! (Also if you know where the best place to get the additional upgrades he listed air lid, headers, true duals ect please let me know!!)

We talked about the FULLY PORTED 21* TFS heads with upgraded 2.055/1.60 valves, dbl springs, 7/16 studs, guide plates, etc for $2300.

$300 custom cam

227/235 .565/.579 110 LSA cam for stock bottom end 350 -6300 RPM shift RPM

231/243 .571/.587 110 LSA cam for "built" 355 with good pistons, rods, balance, etc, that can handle 6700-6800 RPM *BETTER SET UP*

243/251 .597/603 110 LSA cam for "built" 383 with -5 cc flat top pistons and 6800 RPM shift RPM *BEST SET UP*

$200 FULLY port stock LT1 intake.

$100 UPS shipping with insurance going back to you.
----------------------------------------
$2900 total

You also need these parts

LS1 air lid
58 MM TB
1 7/8 KOOKS LT headers
3" True Dual kit
3" in/out Bullet mufflers with 4" body
dumps at rear end
Lunati Voodo 1.6 roller rockers
$100-140 pushrods
computer tuning

 

Llyod is a great guy and easy to work with. He knows his ****, but has no problem simplifying things to make it easier to understand for people who don't know as much about these cars.

Honestly with only 80k on the car I would just go with the stock bottom end setup for now until you learn more about these cars. Install the heads and cam yourself and enjoy your own built motor. A proper H/C build will surprise you anyway - you may end up with more then enough power for you. A 355 is nice if its an old tired motor, but with only 80k it is still fresh and can easily go another 80k if you take care of it.

A 383 is nice, but to do it right is a LOT more expensive...I know it doesn't look like its that much more on paper, but you also have to figure that now you need better injectors, new fuel pump, better springs, better pushrods, more head work, etc to make it all worth it. The easiest route(not saying its the best or cheapest, just easiest for someone new to these cars) would be to purchase the heads, cam, and valvetrain from LE and then buy a 383 shortblock from somewhere like Golen. Bolt it all together yourself (realize you forgot a million things and go over budget nickel and dimeing yourself on stupid things you didn't factor in like gaskets, sensors, fluids, etc), transfer the accessories and stuff from your current motor, get it tuned, and enjoy it.

The last thing you want to do is end up going overboard with a project you aren't ready for and have the car sit for years or end up parting it out. Ask me how I know .

 

I agree with everything Puck said. Not trying to be insulting, but from reading this thread you have A LOT to learn about these cars.

Option 1: A LE2 stock bottom end LT1 will put down 410-420rwhp through an m6

Option 2: 21 degree ported trickflow 355 will put down about 430-450rwhp through an m6

Option 3: 21 degree ported trickflow 383 will put down about 450-470rwhp through an m6

Now you need to look at dollars per HP and figure out what makes sense to YOU for YOUR goals. Is it a track car, a daily driver, a weekend toy, are you willing to do some weight reduction? You can pull 3-400lbs out of these cars easy by removing the rear seats, spare tire and jack, HVAC, air pump, crash supports, airbags, carpet, stereo, and get it down to about 3000lbs. A 3000lb car with 420+ rwhp will dominate about anything on the street. Do you plan to spray in the future? If so you need forged pistons from option 2 or 3. What is your budget?

REMEMBER: No matter how much you sink into the car, it will NOT add value to the car. There are guys on here with $25,000 into their cars, running 10s and look like show cars, and they cant sell them for $9000. People would rather buy a stock car than a modded one, if you ever want to get out of it, you will pretty much have to part it out to get any sort of your money back.

Parts you need regardless are long tubes (pacesetters or some of the new cheaper stainless ones and an ORY are $400-500, Kooks are $1200, not worth it IMO, get the cheaper ones). The cheaper ones you might have to fight a little to fit in SOME cases, but the Kooks are expensive as hell. The shortys you have now are not going to cut it. Rest of the exhaust $400. 30lb injectors for Option 1 or 2 or 36-42s for option 3 are $300, Walbro 255 with the hotwire kit $150, ls1 lid or K&N intake is $50-150, dyno tune is $400, clutch is $300 for a competition clutches stage 2.5 or 3 which is fine for 420rwhp, up to $700 for something stronger for the 383, eurathane motor mounts and trans mount to replace your sagging 22 year old rubber ones so your headers dont hit the K member and give false knock $50, non self aligning 7/16 stud full roller rockers like Crane Gold, Comp Pro Mags (or Ultra Pro Mags), Scorpions, Crowers, etc for $300-400, 7/16 studs for $75, pushrods $100, guide plates $75, gaskets and fluids $150. Rear tubular lower control arms $100-200, torque arm $300-400, torque arm relocation mount $250, tires $400. Dont forget a good shifter, I like my B&M ripper, but the MGW and Pro 5.0 are good choices as well, so another $200. I would do all of these things first before you drop any money on the heads/cam, bottom end, just to get your feet wet in tinkering with these cars, and just with the above you can be in the mid to low 12s, I ran 12.3 at 111 with the above and the above weight reduction.

The stock 7.5" 10 bolt is said to be made of glass, GM value engineered it and pulled it from a 190hp S10 and slapped it behind these and they break with stock power and sticky tires. You can make if survive by babying it, but why baby a car that you just dropped $5000+ into? A 9" or 12 bolt or S60 is $1500-2500. And why have all that power if you can't put it to the ground? Also need a new driveshaft $300. Don't forget a 6 point cage if you are faster than 11.50 or you'll get thrown out of the track $500.

Option 1 is by far the cheapest. The LE2 kit is $1750. This plus the above costs and your pretty solid and 420rwhp in a 3300lb car will run fast, mid to low 11s.

Option 2 starts adding the machine shop costs $1000 plus new rods $400 and new pistons $700, and balancing $225. Plus the added $1000 of the trickflows, plus now you really need that 9", ask yourself if 20-30 rwhp is worth $3500. Also LE2s or AI200s would be fine here to save $1000. Will run low 11s, possibly kiss high 10s if you are a great driver.

Option 3 is the most expensive, it has the costs of option 2 but adds a $750 crank. If you've already sunk another $3500 into it, might as well do option 3 over option 2. Now you NEED the 9", and a better clutch and a cage. Can be in the 10s if you are a good driver.

So its up to you. I vote option 1, you only have 80k on that shortblock, it will live for a while.

Option 4 is refresh your shortblock with ARP rod bolts and new bearings and it will live forever, for an extra $400 over option 1, and you can spin it to 7000.

I would start reading other peoples threads and spend a serious amount of time exploring all of your resources on this site, ltxtech.com, and others and find someones build you like and copy it.

Other things you might not have considered are wearable items for routine maintenance that may need replaced. Your car is 22 years old and has 80k miles, your front ball joints, tie rod ends, control arm bushings, opti, waterpump, alternator, ICM, shocks, etc may be on their way out.

Or you could just buy RamAir95TA's car and convert it to a 6 speed, and sell your car and be into this whole thing for WAYYYYYYYYYYYY less money. This is who I mentioned who has $25,000 into it and cant sell it.

https://ls1tech.com/forums/vehicle-c...k-reduced.html

 

^^^Hit the nail on the head and went WAY in depth .

If you don't mind not building it yourself, buying RamAirs car will save you a cool $10k+ and you can keep your as a DD or sell it to offset some of the cost.

I honestly have no clue how his car isn't sold yet. I have more then his asking price in just my motor...and his is complete from suspension to trans to motor, and already proven and dialed in.

 

Gotta listen to these guys those last couple posts were def the blueprint for how to build a 93'. I recently picked one up and it takes hours of research to come up with a solid plan but I couldnt agree with whats been said. These cars are 22 yrs old. For example in the last few weeks I have upgraded the brakes shocks coil springs ball joints tr ends rims/tires. Under the hood it now has new lt headers heated o2s solomon tune cai plugs wires opti icm alt starter belt tensioner sensors etc and just get to a reliable running bolt on stage ive spent close to 4k. Something to be said for coming up with a budget and doubling it ! keep digging thru old posts on here to help along the way and wish you luck.

 

You all are awesome and give great advice that makes perfect sence! I am doing a lot of research! Every day haha I do understand the car is 22 years old I guess I did leave some info out, when I first picked it up, It needed a starter to run. So I dropped it off at my mechanic, and he knows what I'm doing with the car so he suggested I put a high powered starter in it to handle the horse power, so that's what I did, also it has a brand new batter, it's at the body shop right now because I want the car in like new condition before I start adding mods to it. So the body shop guy is replacing the floor plan and anything else that he could do, then once it get that done it's going back over to the mechanics to get the umi k member kit, all new suspension, the mgw short throw installed and a dana 60, while all that's getting done he is going to pull my intake off for me so I can send it to lloyd elliot for a full port job along with a money order for 2900 and I'm hoping by the time my mechanics gets everything done the heads and cam show up shortly after. The only thing I am hung up on is how to go about making it a 383, but I might just do the stock bottom end for now and see how it feels, if I want more out of it then I will order a golen 383 block that was mentioned above and order another cam from lloyd and swap all my parts over, and if I still want more then there always turbos and nos haha my brother has a 2002 trans am with a 408 in it, afr heads etc and it is nasty! My other brother has the fox body with the 306 fully built, my car right now with bbk headers is keeping up with his stang from a roll but from a dig I have no traction haha I end up leaving 75ft marks on the road in first then 10 foot marks in 2nd buy that time he's been in 3rd and 3 car lengths ahead of me. My brothers TA on the other hand, not even in the same class haha that thing is sick!!

 

Just an FYI...the factory starter on an LT1 is already a gear reduction starter for high compression, hope you didn't pay a lot for that "high powered" starter. I'm going to be honest, be very careful about what your mechanic is doing to your car. I see it everyday on car forums where someone takes their car to a shop to have them "build" the car but ends up putting unneccesary or wrong parts on it because they are "experts" and know what they're doing. I know it's about impossible to know everything about every car they have come in, but I advise you to relay the info we give you, to your mechanic since we actually know these cars and engines. Chances are pretty high that he is not very familiar with the LT1, few shops are anymore. This is why I learned to do things on my own years ago, not only to save money, but to gain knowledge and know it's done right.

 

He's a real good guy, he has a 95 ta of his own that he's building. He gives me his opinion but tells me to do my research on here and ask about everything. He doesn't claim to know everything but his work is clean, and top notch!