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

Newbie Mistakes

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Old 03-19-2006, 09:37 AM
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Originally Posted by LT1 Guy
I uh, I ... I mixed the "green" coolant with the "orange" coolant....
What difference would that make?
Old 03-19-2006, 10:56 AM
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Originally Posted by inaccord
What difference would that make?
Your coolant will turn to brown sludge and will take many hours of flushing to get it clean. I have heard of even having the engine torn down and block hot-tanked to get all of it out.
Old 03-19-2006, 02:41 PM
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Most GM cars require the orange coolant, it has some kind of extra protectant stuff that isn't harmful to the aluminum radiator parts and stuff, I think.

What am I figuring here that's incorrect?
You also have to figure in that the majority of LS1's are fully loaded [the WS6 and SS's anyway]. T-tops, leather, power everything, monsoon, 17" wheels ect. That adds on weight. You rarely see stripper LS1's compared to stripper LT1's.
Old 03-19-2006, 05:44 PM
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Originally Posted by Storms of War
Help a n00b out. Tell me if I'm right on the money, close or way off. This is why I'm not impressed with LS1's

LS1's have...

-Roller rockers from the factory
-An aluminum driveshaft from the factory
- A motor that weighs 100lbs less than ours, plus it's on the front which equates to less weight that needs to be transferred to the rear during a launch (simply put, better traction)
-WS6/ SS models have 275's as opposed to our 245's which helps them with traction
- LS1's have much lighter gas tanks. By up to 20lbs if I remember correctly.
- I don't see how stock LS1 exhaust manifolds are nearly as restrictive as our stock LT1 manifolds are. They actually look like short tubes to me. Not sure if they are or not
- Their stock heads outflow the bejesus out of ours
- Their stock intake is much better than ours
All of these added benefits and they still only run 13.5's on average, with the occasional freak that runs high 12's to low 13's. Our cars generally run high 13's to very low 14's. Something has to be wrong here. I have to be off on something, otherwise the LS1 wouldn't have such a huge following, right? I mean, they have damn near 150lbs less weight (more importantly they have less rotational weight), make around 50- 60 more horsepower stock, get better traction and they only run a few tenths faster in the quarter mile.

What am I figuring here that's incorrect?

Um we know this, Its thought that LT1s are so called much slower its a stero type. Thanks for adding to it, NEWB!
Old 03-19-2006, 10:12 PM
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Originally Posted by slick1851
Um we know this, Its thought that LT1s are so called much slower its a stero type. Thanks for adding to it, NEWB!
Yeah, why don't you read rather than being a smartass? I asked several times if I made a mistake somewhere, as in maybe they don't actually have roller rockers from the factory and I was incorrect. Or maybe their stock exhaust manifolds are actually more restrictive than they look. Good job on getting pissed over nothing though
Old 03-19-2006, 10:20 PM
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SOW , the three biggest things on ls1 vs lt1 IMO.

1) heads, flow WAY better.
2) Intake , flows WAY better, less heat soak.
3) Ignition system , sparks better.

PS all these can be fixed on the lt1.
Old 03-19-2006, 11:12 PM
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Here is a list of my mistakes.

1) Miss wiring plugs 3 times in a row
2) Cross threaded a few important nuts and bolts...
3) Saying "ill do it latter" never happens.. do the job right the first time
4) I got 373 gears instead of 411s
5) Doing so many mods to car at 1 time, That car does not run right and can not solve problem. ( STILL MESSED UP TO THIS DAY)
6) Throwing money at the problem (guessing and replacing parts)
7) Using a TOE BED SERVICE. TAKING CAR TO SHOP .. THEY RAPE THEM !!! (6K++ PAINT JOB DESTROYED)
8) Thinking i can own a 600hp car. People it cost lots of money. and lots of money to keep them together. The more hp is has the less u will drive it !!!!
9) Staring heavy mods on car when i still had 4 years left in payments.....lol.
10) IF U LISTEN TO ANYONE FROM A MESSAGE BD you will be in trouble. Find real life help and friends. To help
11) Installed a flywheel and forgot to put the little plate on with it, Cause very bad vibration. Says its balanced to factory specs.. THEY MEAN WITH THAT PLATE INSTALLED.
12) Switchig set ups will cost u lots of cash, So pick one and go with it.
13) lt1 clutch fork kicks my butt every time !!!!! The secert is its in when it dont feel like it is..lol
MAN IM DEPRESSED NOW..LOL..
And last but not least the car will never feel as fast as it should be for what u have spent on it.

Last edited by 96SCTA; 03-20-2006 at 12:12 AM.
Old 03-19-2006, 11:26 PM
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14) Miss matching aftermarket ignition parts. Burnt out accell coil 2 times in 3 days.
15) Took trany out of car set it on my chest, and got wedged under car. Frined had to pull me out buy my feet. Was doing it on ice and creeper( long story short it will poor tranny fluid all over u)
16) Took motor to shop to get 383 all forged. Got inital quote of 3.5-4.5k. COAST ME 7K WHEN IT WAS DONE FOR A SHORT BLOCK !!!!!!!!! I GOT SCREWED.. WHEN THEY HAVE ALL UR PARTS AND THE MOST OF THE CASH. WHAT CAN U DO? DONT EVER BRING ALL UR PARTS TO ANY SHOP AND GIVE THEM CASH AT SAME TIME. !!!!!!!!! ACT BROKE AT ALL TIMES, OR U WILL LEAVE BROKE my bill was like 5 pages long.
17) Installed my moser 12 bolt, SPEND THE EXTRA 100 DOLLARS TO HAVE IT COME TO YOU FULLY ASSEMBLED, Spent days trying to press bearings and rings, and blah blah blah. Just spend the extra 100 dollars
18) Tuning with fast efi, Works great, If u dont use the ve table in reverse

want more casue i got them its been a fun 7 years on my car
Old 03-20-2006, 06:32 AM
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Originally Posted by 96SCTA
15) Took trany out of car set it on my chest, and got wedged under car. Frined had to pull me out buy my feet. Was doing it on ice and creeper( long story short it will poor tranny fluid all over u)
Thats just sounds funny, mabey not at the time but later down the road you could sit around with that friend and laugh about it
Old 03-20-2006, 07:50 AM
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Yeah that was part of the problem we were bouth lauging so hard we could not move.
Old 03-20-2006, 09:07 AM
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96scta man I feel bad for you, makes my woes seem easier.

Here is another one, dont **** people off they will put sugar in your tank and that is no good for the motor when you dont know and keep driving around. That cost a ton of money!
Old 03-20-2006, 09:29 AM
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19) Check all ur parts over very well before u install them, Even if u purchased top of the line parts. I went through 3 sets of head gaskets and installed head studs casue i thought i was lifting the heads and blowing the gaskets. Turns out my brand new Stage 2 heads were ported to far and they hit a coolant jacket. SOOOOOOOOOOO MUCH MONEY AND TIME WASTED .. CHECK UR PARTS !!!!
20) CHECK FOR PRDUCT RECALLS BEOFORE PURCHASING. 2 AREMOTIVE FPRS FAILED ON ME IN 1 SUMMER. LONG STORY SHORT I DONT USE THEM NOW.
21) Dont buy products when they first come out unless u want to be the ginny pig. The following did not fit on my car/ or failed after a short period of time. (Canton Oil pan, Center force dual friction clutch,)
22) Spent 600 on nice head unit for some sound and some speakers for the back. TO BAD I CANT HEAR THEM ANYWAYS. Car is to loud, Have to turn it up all the way and go deff to hear it.
23) Using lt1 edit, If u get any type of power loss, or if any other window pops up while using it, Ur scrwed, i lost 3 computers that way, 1 at track, 1 at work, 1 while in city, If u must reflash do it in the parking lot of a GM dealer ship.
24)Dont let anyone know how much u like ur car, Cause people like X WIFES CAN AND WILL BACK INTO THEM ON PURPOSE !!!!!
25) Your car can not be a show car and a race car, One will have to give, Cause they will destory eachother
26) Like said before do all the work u can ur self. Took car to shop to have front struts done casue i did not have the time. When i cam to pick it up i caught them bringing it back from a joy ride car full of guys from the shop!!!! I HATE HEARING FROM OTHER PEOPLE WHO ARE SUPOSE TO BE FIXING THE CAR . WOW UR CAR IS FAST !!! MAKE SURE U TELL THEM NOT TO DRIVE UR CAR !!! OR Do what i do now, Do a quick computer edit and set the rev limitor to like 3k. And turn the boost all the way down

Last edited by 96SCTA; 03-20-2006 at 09:36 AM.
Old 03-20-2006, 10:51 AM
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Originally Posted by urbanhunter44
You are right, but there in are the LS1's strengths, in that it comes like that. They respond very well to mods (so do LT1s) and they can make GREAT power on stock parts. Once you start modding though.. lets just say that the worlds fastest LT1 and the worlds fastest LS1 are only .1 second apart.

However for the buy in cost to get an LS1, I'd rather go with an LT1 and mod it. Hell I paid $5500 for my '97 Z28, M6 car. She had 53k on the clock. You can't get an LS1 for that price at that mileage, no way in hell.

Besides.. they sound like crap

So that's another good newbie mistake.. buying an LS1 when you could buy an LT1 and make it FASTER!
I am slightly pissed. My first Fbody was a '97 SS M6 bolted on from hell, running high 12s with 95k I paid 9k for it. I wrecked after 30 days. Not my fault, really, but it still sucked. First mistake.

I then bought a NA '90 300ZX M5 with 130k miles for 4k. It looked good and sounded good, but the best it could do was 14.8 @ 94. Ick. Second Mistake. It's currently for sale.

I know own a '95 Z28 M6 with 78k miles that I bought for 6k (that's why I'm pissed, you lucky bastard...). It squeaks and occassionaly makes a weird noise form the rearend (like a chain dragging or something) that I can't pinpoint. I wouldn't call it a mistake, but I am in debt until I get the 300ZX sold.
Old 03-20-2006, 12:37 PM
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I then bought a NA '90 300ZX M5 with 130k miles for 4k. It looked good and sounded good, but the best it could do was 14.8 @ 94. Ick. Second Mistake. It's currently for sale.


14.8 in a NA 300ZX? Thats pretty damn good if you ask me, there not really light cars. Ive been drooling over TTs for years one day ill get one.
Old 03-20-2006, 12:37 PM
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Originally Posted by Storms of War
Yeah, why don't you read rather than being a smartass? I asked several times if I made a mistake somewhere, as in maybe they don't actually have roller rockers from the factory and I was incorrect. Or maybe their stock exhaust manifolds are actually more restrictive than they look. Good job on getting pissed over nothing though

Your right, I just skimmed over it and didnt look at it completly
Old 03-20-2006, 07:54 PM
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Originally Posted by BOTTLEDZ
Above all else The biggest mistake i ever made when i got my first F-body,was that it was my only car and I use to beat the **** out of it. then i decieded to spray it.
I guess my only bit of advice would be that if you have a car and your going to mod it and beat on it have a back up veh, because when it brakes you are up **** creek with out a paddle.
buy a $400 dollar car something that runs good gets good gas milage but look like **** So that when not if you throw that rod or drop that valve you will be able to get to work to make money and fix it.Trust me i learned the hard way.
learned the hard way , threw a rod driving the speed limit 15 months ago...been down that long, bought a beater and an Xbox, lot of Ramen Noodles and saved $$, always have a backup.

Once I had been tooling on my buddies lt1 for 18 hours we were down to hooking up the wires, it ran like *** popping/stuttering and turns out I had all but two wired in correctly to the opti ...I was thinking 1,3,5,7 top to bottom on the drivers side opti, same logic on the passenger side...anyway I read the book and duh saw it, fixed it, ran fine...felt kinda dumb
Old 03-20-2006, 09:26 PM
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Not investing in a $4 can of pb blaster and having to buy $100 in case harder drill bits to drill broken bolts out.
Old 03-20-2006, 09:47 PM
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Originally Posted by slick1851
Your right, I just skimmed over it and didnt look at it completly
No harm done. I know I skim over stuff quite frequently. Sorry if I responded like a *****

Here's my addition, though it's similar to what's been said already-

Don't get intimidated by your car if you want to work on it. Everything looks so hard and complicated. I nearly brought my car to someone to have my short throw shifter installed because my mom and stepdad told me I'd F it up. That would have been extremely embarassing.

I just changed my serpentine belt today. Again, my stepdad (who's been working on cars since he was a teenager) told me I wouldn't get it on right. I was scared $h!tless after that. It looked so complicated. Glad I didn't listen though. After I found the right size socket for the idler pulley, it literally took me 4 minutes (if that) to change the belt.

Granted these are very minor things, but I feel better now knowing that I can do it after being told I'll fail so many times. Now I actually look forward to getting dirty working on my car because I like proving to myself that I can do it. Not to mention how much you learn and how much money you save along the way.
Old 03-22-2006, 06:21 AM
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Originally Posted by 97blkz
Here is another one, dont **** people off they will put sugar in your tank and that is no good for the motor when you dont know and keep driving around. That cost a ton of money!

dude that sucks! i lock my gas cap every time, lol i know my town and wayyy to many people like to siphon gas =0
Old 03-23-2006, 12:23 AM
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Last year, I hooked up a cheapo mechanical oil pressure gauge (with the small, white nylon oil line) just to have a reading until I put back in my little gauge cluster.

I temporarily attached the gauge to my emergency brake pedal, which doesn't get used.

Additionally, I had some oil leak problems, and had just put some flourescent dye in the oil to trace the leak.

Well, one day I caught my shoe on the edge of the gauge and twisted it a little. Stopped and got gas, straightened it out, and got about 1/2 mile from my house, accelerating a bit, and I feel my left sneaker getting warm. I look down and there is a little freakin firehose of bright yellow 10W-40 oil shooting onto my almost new sneaker. Like a half-quart of oil already and it's coming out fast. I try to put my finger over the end but there's good pressure and IT'S HOT. I pull over and reach down and grab the line and bend it in half to close it and then I drive back home with half my body hunched under the dashboard holding this oil friggin artery.

Took 3 hours to get the carpet, driveway and sneakers clean, and they still feel slick.

Don't F&*% Up like I did. If the car had been running longer, it could have caused bad burns.


Other Lessons I've Taught Myself (by screwing up):

- If you do any wiring, get the right tools and materials. Buy an inexpensive meter so you can check your work.

- Don't assume an oil leak comes from where you see it drip. Hot oil can and will travel around. I've worked on 'fixing' leaks that ended up higher on the motor, like the back of the manifold.

- Don't bring your car to garages. Generally the people there are stupid, lazy and greedy, and don't give a **** about your car. If you find one of the rare honest, good ones, cool.

- Just cuz 'Uncle Sal' had a '42 DeSoto, doesn't mean he is qualified to give you advice.

- Drinking is fun when working on the car. Too much drinking while working on the car yields work that does not look good the next day, and primer overspray is expensive to get off your neighbor's Mercedes.

- Use extra jackstands when doing heavy pounding under the car. That big sledge can and will move the whole car.

- Puke and milk are 2 smells that are REALLY hard to get out of your car.

- Find out why the fuse blew. Putting in one double the size can lead to smokey wires that go to hard-to-reach places.

- Know what your friends can and can not do before you let them work on your car. Volunteers are hard to blame for bad work or fuckups, and you can't kill them legally.

Good thread!

Jim


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