LT1-LT4 Modifications 1993-97 Gen II Small Block V8

LE H/C Yes or No?

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Old Sep 10, 2015 | 11:02 PM
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Default LE H/C Yes or No?

My ride- 96 z28 m6 with 94000 miles. Car is well taken care of and burns no oil. Already has CAI, TB bypass, airfoil, 1le intake elbow. The intake side is taken care of! Car ran 14.2 @ 101 with a 2.3 60ft. @ 800ft elevation on a day that was about 60 degrees. Mac mid length headers, y pipe and high flow bullet mufflers going on this winter for sure. Question is???? How would my reliability be if I go with a LE1 package to go with my exhaust bolt ons? It is daily driven about 3-4 days a week. I would pick a cam around 215/227 range from lloyd and keep rpms below 5800rpm to keep the 94000 mile shortblock safe. Do you think its a good idea? I would get roller rockers and hardened pushrods too. Any ideas or suggestions? I would like to at least run a 12.9 @ 110mph. Lloyd said I would make about 360rwhp with theLe1 heads and small cam.
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Old Sep 10, 2015 | 11:44 PM
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Default LE H/C Yes or No?

I'd do it. Wait I did! See sig for details. I daily my car 110+ miles per day 5 days a week. My build is more aggressive than what you are looking at, and it has shown (broken valve springs).

Make sure your valve train is set up right and you should have no issues. Lloyd knows what he is doing, he'll set you up right for your goals.

One thing I'd do first is a compression check and a leak down check to see how healthy your pistons and rings are. Also, hook up a mechanical oil pressure Guage and make sure it's good too. This way you know if you'll need to freshen up the bottom end or not.

Last edited by hrcslam; Sep 11, 2015 at 07:20 AM.
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Old Sep 11, 2015 | 01:06 AM
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Default LE H/C Yes or No?

Just saying, you get a cam that small and you'll only wish you went bigger! 5800rpm is nothing
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Old Sep 11, 2015 | 05:23 AM
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Stock shortblock does not fear 6300.
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Old Sep 11, 2015 | 06:45 AM
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For a 5800 limit just give the stock cam fresh springs
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Old Sep 11, 2015 | 07:35 AM
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I'm sure this LE cam will pull to 6000rpm. The stock cam will make nowhere near 360rw. Do you have to change cam bearings with a new cam?Are the stock lifters up to the job?
It's a DD. I'm over 5500rpm maybe 1%of the time. I got the 1 5/8 mac headers to keep the torque curve low. I want the power gains between 1800-5500 !
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Old Sep 11, 2015 | 09:15 AM
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IMO since you are a 6spd, you need to step it up a notch or two cam wise....a little bit bigger won't hurt the low end much at all, and sound better doing it. Keep in mind stock LS1s can run high 12's....you wouldn't want to get stomped by a high school kid with a LS1 in your H/C car would you? If you really want torque....get some 4.10's.

My suggestion:

224/230 .573/.568 112 LSA. – 1700-6100 RPM
Largest emissions friendly cam. Pretty mild idle and still able to work with stock gears
and factory converter in F or Y body. Needs small stall and gears for B body. Comparable
to GM Hot Cam and Crane 846 cam.
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Old Sep 11, 2015 | 09:18 AM
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go for it!
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Old Sep 11, 2015 | 10:06 AM
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I intend to go with the LE2 setup for my 95 along with a 24x setup. When I do, everything is getting replaced, springs, retainers, RR, push rods etc etc. But I'm leaning more toward low end and mid range tq for autocross and give up 5000+ rpm power.

IMO a properly built HCI setup can be reliable. Select the right (and quality) parts for your needs. It's when you add boost that things can get iffy.
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Old Sep 11, 2015 | 10:24 AM
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I would hope a le1 setup even with a small cam would destroy a stock ls1. 360rw that is in a usable powerband can be pretty potent. I'm not a fan of high rpm power because I don't daily drive at 6500 rpm. Now if I had the money to get a completly forged shortblock my story might change. Then I would aim for 400rw. I will look into that cam that is a step bigger though.
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Old Sep 11, 2015 | 10:46 AM
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Just call LE and talk to him about your goals. Cam is a result of your goals given the rest of the components used/chosen. Don't get hung up on "cam numbers".
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Old Sep 11, 2015 | 10:54 AM
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Originally Posted by 350 groundpounder
I would hope a le1 setup even with a small cam would destroy a stock ls1. 360rw that is in a usable powerband can be pretty potent. I'm not a fan of high rpm power because I don't daily drive at 6500 rpm. Now if I had the money to get a completly forged shortblock my story might change. Then I would aim for 400rw. I will look into that cam that is a step bigger though.
I dunno about destroying it, you would have to spin it up to at least 6K to shift to beat a comparable LS1 that also shifts at 6K IMO, the LS1 is just coming alive at 5K RPM....you don't want to be shifting at stock 5700 redline. Also assume most "stock" LS1s have some bolts ons of some sort as it's the norm. If you are worried about RPMs just invest in some ARP rod bolts and have peace of mind.
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Old Sep 11, 2015 | 11:11 AM
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Default LE H/C Yes or No?

Spin an LT1 to 6500. It's fun.
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Old Sep 11, 2015 | 02:37 PM
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Arp rod bolts are always a good idea. Most stock ls1' s run low mid 13s at our strip, I aint scarrreeeddd!! At the drags I shift around 5800-6000rpm with my stock cam and springs. Lloyds cams are the **** is what I hear. Making more power throughout the powerband than off the shelf cams. I'm guess I would go from trapping 101mph with stock cam to prob 110-114mph with LE1 heads and even a cam in the mid 220's duration. Plenty enough power to wave as I pass stock ls1' s. I guess it's a gamble with the shortblock but lt1's are pretty durable. Sounds like shortblocks grenade when ppl put huge cams in and rev to 6400-7000rpm. That's just shortblock suicide in my mind.
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Old Sep 11, 2015 | 03:01 PM
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Originally Posted by 96LT1Z
Spin an LT1 to 6500. It's fun.
If you ain't spinnin you ain't winnin!
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Old Sep 11, 2015 | 03:28 PM
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I would do new lifters as well. I tried reusing my original lifters with 30k miles on them, a long time ago and I regretted it. You don't want to skimp on valve train components, ask me how I know.
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Old Sep 11, 2015 | 03:37 PM
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Originally Posted by 4K+Converter
I would do new lifters as well. I tried reusing my original lifters with 30k miles on them, a long time ago and I regretted it. You don't want to skimp on valve train components, ask me how I know.
How do you know?
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Old Sep 11, 2015 | 03:45 PM
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If you do it, make sure it is a clean install. By that I mean when the timing cover and intake are off you have the intake valley and oil pan open to anything, cover them with clean shop towels. You're going to be scraping gasket, silicone and gunk off the block and the oil pan is one of the fist places all that crap will go unless you cover up. Too many times on these forums there have been those who've done a cam swap and then spun a bearing and instead of blaming it on a dirty/careless install, it was blamed on bearings having too many miles on them. If you still have good oil pressure then your bearings are just fine.
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Old Sep 11, 2015 | 05:27 PM
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You shouldn't need the cam or heads to run 12.9. The supporting mods should get you well into the 12's with the stock cam.
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Old Sep 11, 2015 | 06:09 PM
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12.9 with bolt ons? I wish! I know it has been done before though. Lets see im a 14.2 right now with a 2.2-2.3 60ft. Get that launch better and maybe I could muster a 14.0. Headers and tune maybe .4 tenths. So I figure 13.5-13.6 @ maybe 103-105mph.at best. Still better than a 14.2 though. Maybe with a mild cam and stock heads I could dip the old m6 to a 12.9.
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