Hello All

This is, for the most part my first post here. I'm totally new to F.I. hotrod and have lots to learn. I have a 96 Lt1 TA. The Car was bought new by my Mom in 96 and only has 34,000 miles. She never drove it and it sat in a garage. Its not in perfect shape but not bad. Here is what I'm going to do and need a bit of help from you guys. I have used my search and pulled up everything I can find on areas I need info on. There are a few things that I just can’t find.

Here is what I have planed for the car. I'm going to spend about $20,000 on the project and hope to have somewhere in the area of 650 RWHP. This is not going to be a dally driver but I need it to pass ems. I'm going to drive it on weekends and a bit to work. THE BIG THING IS I WANT TO KEEP THE A/C too!

First off I’m having a local shop in the Denver area (Ridge Reamer) Building a 396 all forged stroker. I am dead set on running a Turbo and he is building at 9:1 with an F/I cam. He said I can run up to 20 pounds of boost at most. I think I will be ok, running a #50 injectors with this set-up, does this sound right?

Next up is my turbo
I have read, read, read and read more on this! Man, oh man different people have different things to say about front vs. rear. Price is not a huge part of what I will pick more based on keeping AC and passing Ems.
Front Mount:
I would like to use a front mount system but can’t find one yet, that will do all I need and want. I talked to Turbo Technologys and the kit they sell is only for the stock engine. Anyone knows where to go?
Rear Mount:
I really like the STS system. I have seen a few kits and took a ride in an Ls1 STS camero. I liked it VERY much! I don't care for all the piping that comes below the car but that can be cleaned up. My question is can a single turbo and the normal STS piping push more then 15 pounds of boost?

With that said is there anyone out there that can recommend a turbo kit with up to 20 Pounds?


Fuel Pump:
So far I have been looking at the Aeromotive 93 LT-1 F-Body Fuel System. Has anyone used this set-up and is it worth the money? I have been looking at the Racetronix kit but have heard they are only good up to about 500RWHP? Anyone out there have a suggestion for my Fuel system?

T56 6 speed:
I'm going to send the tranny to t56rebuilds.com for a full upgrade 1 A kit is good up to 700 HP he said.

12 bolt Rear:
New 12 bolt, new drive shaft, control arms and Torque arm. Not much else to do here.

Tune:
S0 far I have not found anyone in the area that has good LT-1 Tuning background. I guess I might need to send off for a mail order tune or something to get the engine started and the cam broke in. Is that the beast way to get started? Or is there anyone in the Denver area that has a good Lt1 tuner??( DENVER AREA GUYS)

There a few other mods I'm going to do as well. Ridge is going to call me in the next few weeks, so I can come take some pictures. I WILL POST THEM WHEN I DO!
SO PLEASE FEEL Free to add any comments or ideas on what I could improve on.

Where do you guys this I'll end up in the 1/4?


Thanks
Ross

 

well first dont forget chassis mods, sub frame connectors, prob want a 4 or 6 pt roll cage, and for tune madz28.com does lt1 tuning he could get you started with a base tune and then you would need to get it broke in and get the car tuned on a dyno. your engine shop i am sure can tell ya where to find a dyno tuning shop. as far as fuel i am running a racetronics setup and love it no problems and i have heard of running a dual pump setup for higher HP applications so you might wanna look into it. and have you consider a supercharger to the turbo you could run the boost you want with a procharger without a problem. and it would be front mount and you could run a big intercooler in the front as well i plan to do that to my blown 94 z28 this winter.

 

Thanks Hardtop94

Yea! dead set on a turbo. I have looked at the Prochargers and they are nice!!! I just don't feel like the power curve of a S.C. is for me.
Thanks For the info on the Racetronix system!

Ross

 

i've got a serious set of heads you might be interested in. they are the AFR 195cc lt4 competition port heads. flow just over 290@ 600 lift. they are an emmissions legal heads. i've got the port matched lt4 intake to go with it. both are brand new, and all work was done in house at AFR. hit me up with a pm if you're interested

 

First off.

Racetronix for the win. Twofast4lv (ellis) his car makes in the upwards of 750tq and 600rwhp on the Plug and Play kit from Tronix.

Second.

For a race car, or so you say, look into an Auto, T-400, and if not auto, then Try www.t56rebuilds.com, They have some of the fastest 6-speed cars around. And IF that fails you, call up G-Force Motorsports, you want a trans that will hold ANYTHING, then they will build it.

Tony.

 

Wow... Ok this is gonna end up pretty long.

What fuel are you planning to run? 20psi on pump gas with 9:1 will seriously be pushing it... Turbos seem to like 8.2-8.5:1 with 20ish psi and pump gas (93octane)

50lb injectors wouldnt supply the fuel unless you jacked your baseline pressure way up untill they flowed like 72lb's.
Better off going with big low impedance injectors and a VersaFueler.

Your fuel systems gonna be the hard part $$$ wise. The Aeromotive kits not gonna work because of the stock lines. And the fact that the pump is forced to 'pull' the fuel to it, rather than have a gravity feed like it should by design.

To give you an idea of what your fuel system may need to consist of... Here's my setup, keep in mind though that my car's supercharged and has a different BSFC but was built with the same RWHP goal
.
*Sumped stock tank
*-10an feed line to aeromotive Y-block
*Dual -8an lines feeding dual Walbro 255 lph pumps
*Dual -6an lines to aeromotive Y-block
*-8an line to fuel rails
*Feed splits to each rail with additional Y-block
*Rails plumbed in parralel with custom AN fittings welded to ends
*Aeromotive -6an 1:1 regulator
*-6an return to tank at stock pickup location
*75lb-hr injectors and Versa-fueler on the way

Since your BSFC is different but goals the same your system will need to be really close. My pumps will be borderline when fuel pressure rises with boost pressure.

For a Turbo on an LT1, all I can say is patience is a virtue, so is lots of time, and PTK/PTS all the way. Their kit is THE nicest Ive ever seen for an LT1 F-body. I can snap some pics of the kit we're assembling for my buddys car if you like. Right now its assembled on a mock-up motor minus turbo, downpipe, and cold side plumbing. A/C stays, true header design, and Im pretty sure they'll set it up with the required emissions fittings/High-flow cat...
As for STS, no comment

Transmission, do what you want... Depending on how much strip activity it will see of course. For a strip car, my preference is an auto.(See sig)

Rear end... 12bolt can hold it, just dont launch off a trans brake on slicks with it. If you might ever want to do that, just go ahead with the 9" or Dana.

Some handy tidbits:
-As rail pressure increases, pump flow diminishes, and injector/line flow increases
-A 1:1 "boost referenced" regulator will not increase injector flow due to the boost pressure 'fighting' the fuel trying to exit the injector. 1:1 will only keep the injectors output steady no matter what boost pressure. So base pressure and injector size needs to be set depending on desired fuel flow at peak demand.
-Injector lb/hr times 8 = pump minimum flow @ peak psi
-650rwhp with a 15% drivetrain loss is somewhere around 750fwhp. Better figure your fuel system for at least 800fwhp @ your approximate BSFC (Ive been told .55 for turbo motors) to be safe.

-FWIW, dont put your faith in a Racetronix twin... They'll support decent power in N/A or N2O apps, but boost is a whole different animal and demands alot of fuel supply. Dont risk using stock lines or stock rail configuration. Call Aeromotive, they wouldnt even recommend their 'bolt-in kit' to you because of this. Everyone's got their own opinion on this subject it seems, but Id rather be safe than sorry on this subject.

 

BIG THANKS! Well I guess I should take another long look at a Supercharger! My biggest problem right now is finding a tuner here in the Denver Area.

Thanks
Ross

 

honestly, for the HP level your looking for..I dont see any reason why you need to WASTE money on a 396. Any of the turbos to get to 650 would be too small..and it would be pointless to run a t88 at 8psi to get to that hp level. Your much better off going with a 355/T76 saving your self a few thousand. With a good built 355/T76 youll make 650 prolly at around 12psi..which is still low boost. Your not going to need 15psi nor 20.Your hp levels are very low for a turbo car. Also, 50# injectors are no good..go with no less than 60#s(sorry if this was said im not reading.Also for the fuel pump you can get a race tronix dual intake setup. However I knwo someone making 713rwhp on a single and a kenne bell BAP. Your going way over kill with your car. With that motor and the right turbo, your going to average at least 800hp in my opinion. Also if you say money isnt an object get the PTK front mount kit. They keep everything stock. I have their hotside and let me tell you about quality. This **** is beautiful. They seem to be getting their act together cuz I ordered pipes from them twice and didnt get dicked around at all.

 

www.dragonrace.com give them a call and let em know what you wanna do, with $20,000 pete and the guys can have you with more than 650rwhp no problem and have it all done, tuned and all. they're off the US 36 in broomfield

 

WELL MONEY IS FOR SURE A OBJECT! But... who sells the PTK? As far as the engine the builder told me 383 and 396 are the same price. I looked at just a 355 build, but his quote was only $800 more to go 396. Just felt like its crazy not to go bigger inches for close to the same price. Thanks for the great input!


94z28L I need to go back and talk to them there. The last time (first time) I stopped in Pete the owner was out. At that point I was just looking for a good shop to tune a STS on a stock engine. They looked very up to par! The quotes the guy gave me where pretty high. Guess I need to stop by there again. Have you had him work on your Tune/Car?

Thanks
Ross

 

just a word of advice on the transmission. if you're even remotely thinking of going auto in the future, DO IT NOW! once you spend money on re-building the T56 and a clutch, you can almost pay for a turbo350. i learned the hard way. i love shifting gears, but seeing how much fun the auto'd turbo LS1's are having, i think i made the wrong choice. i'll be selling this tranny setup before next season. if you have any questions and want to talk to somebody who's done everything the hard way, hit me up. here's my setup BTW:

9.1:1 compression 383
T76GTS (many say it's too small for a 383, but it's working for me)
3 1/2" DP through spintech muffler (don't do a chambered muffler)
1 7/8" custom headers w/ 5/8" flanges
Walbro dual intank (awesome setup, but wish i had gone sumped)
Stock feed and return lines (soon to be upgraded before going up on boost)
Stock rails
72# injectors
Boost refrenced FPR
FAST
MSD digital 6 w/ 2-step
MSD coil
MSD plug wires
NGK TR6's
Apexi AVC-R boost controller (stay away from this!)
Spearco I/C
TiAl 42mm BOV and WG
Moser 9" w/ strange alum. center section, 3.50 gears
BMR subframe connecters
BMR k-member
BMR extreme duty torque arm
BMR adj. LCA's
BMR adj. panhard bar
Strange single adj. rear shocks w/ BMR springs
Strange double adj. front coilovers
Strange brakes front and rear
T56 w/ viper internals
McCleod "street twin" (awesome clutch)
Chromoly yokes on both ends of the driveshaft (already broke the stockers)
6 point bolt in cage (went cheap here)

 

When going all forged for the bottom end, the cost should not be any different from a 355, 383, 396... When Port Pros quoted my motor Harold gave me a price with no mention of c.i.... So when I asked he was like, which way do you want to go. I told him it depended on price and he said either way, same price.
I went with a 383 because I didnt want to over do the stroke for durabilities sake, and bigger is ALWAYS easier to make power with.

A turbo'd 355 will make the power your going for, a 383 will do it easier and then some, a 396 would be a bit overkill for your goal and consume more fuel at the same power level as a 383.(read bigger injectors, bigger pump, same power, more money)

PTK is Pro Turbo Systems, Inc
These guys make absolutely the finest turbo kit for LT1 f-bodys!!! Hands down, Ive never seen nicer. At first (years ago) they had some issues with extremely long turn-around times that started earning them a bad rap. The company underwent a change in management and now has extremely fast turn-around times with a product quality that you would believe took months instead of weeks. My hats off to PTS/PTK

In my experience, getting your power goal would be cheaper to do a 383/396 with a supercharger and nice flowing heads. That would also leave you alot of room for more power in the future... Ya know, in case you get bored with 650rwhp

 

yeah they did the exhaust after i got the headers on, god i love it lol, they did an emissions tune for me too and it aced the sniffer first shot. erik has a turbo lt1 right now and dear god is that car sick. pete can tune with the best of em and the numbers on their website are on a mustang dyno, might be a little pricey but in my mind the best shop in colorado for lt1/ls1

 

Sometimes a bargain you found turns out to be crap, and it would have saved money to pay more up front just to not have to do it twice.

 

OH! DON'T GET ME WRONG! I'm will to pay for good tuning! Just hate to dump cash then find out they suck!

Thanks
Ross

 

no problem man, another person you can ask about em is goose, shoot me a pm and i'll send you a link to the board where alot of us local guys hang out.

 

THANKS MAN, PM sent.

Well Just off the phone with forcedinductions.com. They do not make a street kit that will pass Denver Emm. Test!

I have a call into PTK. Hope to hear from them by tomarrow.

Getting Closer! Hope to find my F/I kit in the next 7 to 10 days! Still want to run a turbo but might end up with a S.C.

Thanks
Ross

 

very wrong. a 355 is much cheaper than a 383 and a 383 is much cheaper than a 396. Theres alot more block machining and clearancing to do with a 383/396. You have to make the crank fit.

 

and while a 383/396 might be maybe a grand more...then you will need to go with a custom turbo setup. the biggest turbo you can fit on a ptk is a T76..and a t76 is way to small for a 396. A 355/t76 will be more than youd ever need in a street car. You can make almost 1000rw on a t76

 

you'd be surprised at what they can get cars to pass with on em with just a small tune