New to LT1
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Teching In
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New to LT1 Hello everyone, let me start by saying I'm not new to cars. I've been around SBC all my life. I've built, raced and broken my share of stuff, so why am I posting this?
Well, I'm new to LT1 now here's where it gets scary. I'm a Cadillac guy so, I have a 95 Fleetwood LT1 which as you know is no slouch to begin with, however, being a car guy, I want to know what I can do to make more HP.
I don't want a big budget supercharger because unless it's twin screw, or a big Weiand it's not a real supercharger.
So, what are my options? Are the 58mm TB worth it? Do they make headers for the Cadillacs? The car is already full dual so no problem with space.
Should I do 3.73s in the rear?
Is looking for performance heads to much? Intake? Anything?
Tell me, what are you thinking. Fire away
Well, I'm new to LT1 now here's where it gets scary. I'm a Cadillac guy so, I have a 95 Fleetwood LT1 which as you know is no slouch to begin with, however, being a car guy, I want to know what I can do to make more HP.
I don't want a big budget supercharger because unless it's twin screw, or a big Weiand it's not a real supercharger.
So, what are my options? Are the 58mm TB worth it? Do they make headers for the Cadillacs? The car is already full dual so no problem with space.
Should I do 3.73s in the rear?
Is looking for performance heads to much? Intake? Anything?
Tell me, what are you thinking. Fire away
Last edited by codewize; Jul 13, 2016 at 10:01 AM.
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From: Thibodaux LA
id do a nice stall, cam, 4.10 gears, roller rockers, and maybe a wet shot. those are the usual mods and not to hard to do. dont bother with a bigger tb. you need a tune for an auto. and the stock one will support over 400 hp
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Budget is flexible within reason but I'm not a big fan of nitrous. Can we fiddle with the cam and not upset the PCM?
I think stock it makes 295 right so if I could get 350 - 375 out of it without breaking things and doing a bunch of internals I'd be pretty happy. Cam and rockers are fine with me. Cost effective and easy to do.
I think stock it makes 295 right so if I could get 350 - 375 out of it without breaking things and doing a bunch of internals I'd be pretty happy. Cam and rockers are fine with me. Cost effective and easy to do.
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Budget is flexible within reason but I'm not a big fan of nitrous. Can we fiddle with the cam and not upset the PCM?
I think stock it makes 295 right so if I could get 350 - 375 out of it without breaking things and doing a bunch of internals I'd be pretty happy. Cam and rockers are fine with me. Cost effective and easy to do.
I think stock it makes 295 right so if I could get 350 - 375 out of it without breaking things and doing a bunch of internals I'd be pretty happy. Cam and rockers are fine with me. Cost effective and easy to do.
350-375 flywheel horsepower is easier to get to, but you'll probably end up needing a tune there too.
Headers, cat back, roller rockers, CAI, tune, etc. Basically full bolt ons usually get the LT1 to 260-300rwhp depending on how healthy the motor is. That's right in your range power wise.
If you want more, LE (Lloyd Elliot) and AI (Advanced Inductions) make some very good packages that can easily surpass 350-375 rwhp.
First thing I'd do is a solid tune up though. And a full health check. Compression check, leak down check, spark strength, fuel pressure, etc. See how well the engine is running. If everything looks good a heads/cam package from LE for about $1600 (budget $3000 to be safe for misc items; pushrods, tune, supporting mods, injectors, etc.) should get you to 350 rwhp easily.
If you're looking for faster acceleration, stall and gears.
Do you have the factory 2.93 gears?
If so, I would imagine a good torque converter and gears would by in far be the absolute best mods for your car, especially considering the weight of it. I'd start with those then whatever is left in the budget start with the horsepower adding bolt-ons (cold air, full exhaust, rockers, tune etc).
If so, I would imagine a good torque converter and gears would by in far be the absolute best mods for your car, especially considering the weight of it. I'd start with those then whatever is left in the budget start with the horsepower adding bolt-ons (cold air, full exhaust, rockers, tune etc).
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Teching In
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No sure, it may be 3.23 because it's a Brougham. I know my other one is 3.23s. I'll check today. What RPM stall do you think works here?
I'll look around for cat back as well. I'd love to do full headers but I'm not sure that's going to be an easy find
I'll look around for cat back as well. I'd love to do full headers but I'm not sure that's going to be an easy find
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Verdad Gallardo Really depends on how you're going to be using the car. If it were me I'd be targeting a 3200ish stall speed for a daily driver or car that sees primarily street duty. For a street/strip setup I'd then probably go up to a 3600ish. Track only, even higher. Converters can get pricey but it's worth it to buy a high quality unit. I'd also want a tight converter if the car is being driven primarily on the street and also due to the weight of the vehicle. Definitely toss in a trans cooler too otherwise that tranny is gonna get hot and start shitting the bed.
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From: Tucker, GA
A good set of heads is where the most un-tapped power potential is, sans going to forced induction. A cam is a nice little bump, but won't get you close to what a great pair of heads coupled with a nice cam will bring to the table. A head/cam/tune change is where you'll eventually land for 350-375 rwhp.
To do it correctly, you can add $1k+ just in support-pieces for the job. Tune, full roller rockers, hardened steel pushrods, lifters, gaskets, timing chain and gears, etc. Its worth it though. You can also do it in stages, but were it my $ (and I did this last month) I'd take the plunge all at once.
Of course, without touching the bottom end, you could have bad luck (like I did) and have your bearings **** the bed once you've added 100+ horse to the old shortblock.
Edit: and get a premium 3k+ stall. Yank, Vigilante, Edge etc.
To do it correctly, you can add $1k+ just in support-pieces for the job. Tune, full roller rockers, hardened steel pushrods, lifters, gaskets, timing chain and gears, etc. Its worth it though. You can also do it in stages, but were it my $ (and I did this last month) I'd take the plunge all at once.
Of course, without touching the bottom end, you could have bad luck (like I did) and have your bearings **** the bed once you've added 100+ horse to the old shortblock.
Edit: and get a premium 3k+ stall. Yank, Vigilante, Edge etc.
Last edited by atlantadan; Jul 12, 2016 at 12:31 PM.
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Well here's the thing. I actually have 2 of these cars now, one of which I don't really need so you can imagine all the crazy things I'm considering. Of course, we all have budgetary constraints.
The last time I was considering a TC upgrade was on my 01 and I was working with the folks at Edge Racing? They seemed very knowledgeable. So at this exact moment in time I'm going to say I want the car to be driveable. Not a daily driver but driveable. I'd like to see a bit more 'snap' and more passing range HP.
So you're cruising along at 50 ish and you want to go out for a pass on a 2 lane. That's where I want my performance. I want strong launch and decent top end response.
The last time I was considering a TC upgrade was on my 01 and I was working with the folks at Edge Racing? They seemed very knowledgeable. So at this exact moment in time I'm going to say I want the car to be driveable. Not a daily driver but driveable. I'd like to see a bit more 'snap' and more passing range HP.
So you're cruising along at 50 ish and you want to go out for a pass on a 2 lane. That's where I want my performance. I want strong launch and decent top end response.
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From: Tucker, GA
Entirely doable, and easily doable, with heads/cam/tune. Even a cam change with supporting valvetrain stuff (rockers, etc) and a tune would be a nice kick in the pants, but you won't get the full deal unless you also dig into the heads. Advanced Induction and Lloyd Elliot are two outlets that do great work re-working OEM heads.
Edge makes great converters, but from what I've been told - Yank runs tighter to specified RPM's.
Edge makes great converters, but from what I've been told - Yank runs tighter to specified RPM's.
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OK, noted. Thanks so far. I need to look up the gearing and try to track down some exhaust goodies
EDIT:
So the folks at Advanced Induction tell me the valvetrain components are completely different between the iron heads and the aluminum head LT1s. So, they have no answers for the D Body cars. The 95 Fleetwood is considered D body, correct?
EDIT:
So the folks at Advanced Induction tell me the valvetrain components are completely different between the iron heads and the aluminum head LT1s. So, they have no answers for the D Body cars. The 95 Fleetwood is considered D body, correct?
Last edited by codewize; Jul 12, 2016 at 02:24 PM.
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The engine doesn't care if its an aluminum head or a cast iron one, and neither does the car. If you want high perf. cast iron heads on your car, then your options just got smaller. You can put aluminum heads on your Caddy, regardless.
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The engine doesn't care if its an aluminum head or a cast iron one, and neither does the car. If you want high perf. cast iron heads on your car, then your options just got smaller. You can put aluminum heads on your Caddy provided you've got the right support-items to go with them.
For a converter fti, circle d, yank, edge, or vigilante are all good choices. There are other good brands but these are pretty well regarded for 4L60e converters. Remember that a loose converter plus a heavy car equals alot of transmission heat so a quality built trans and good stacked fin cooler will go a long way.
Also two things to consider with iron lt1 heads, straight plug and pressed in rocker studs. You will need to get the heads tapped to upgrade the rocker studs. A company like AI uses cnc head porting and their programming and tooling is set up for machining aluminum heads and likely will not want to machine iron ones.
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OK got it.
So if I were inclined to spend the cash, I could very well buy aluminum heads and go for it
I'm thinking now more along the lines of keeping stock heads, maybe doing a cam and valvetrain, TC and gears and calling it a day.
Question then becomes, which cam for stock heads. Someone tell me I'm not crazy
So if I were inclined to spend the cash, I could very well buy aluminum heads and go for it
I'm thinking now more along the lines of keeping stock heads, maybe doing a cam and valvetrain, TC and gears and calling it a day.
Question then becomes, which cam for stock heads. Someone tell me I'm not crazy
For stock heads one of the best choices is the CC503, that is with a 3400lb fbody though. In a much heavier car a bbody person would be better suited to recommend. My choice would be contact Lloyd Elliot with your goals and vehicle info and he can spec you a cam for barely more than an off the shelf grind.