I have a stock Lt1 engine in my 96 camaro. I dont have much money right now and im trying to figure out what to do to this thing to give it more bite. Any ideas would be nice.

 

I did 1.6 on my Z when i had a CIA and exhaust and honestly i didnt really ffel much except maybe a little stronger top end, not much though..

 

The 1.6rr would probly get you 5hp. Most noticeable power is after long tube, cold air intake and a tune.

 

Your buttmeter cannot tell you if you picked up 2-3 tenths!
1.6s are good for 9-13 rwhp........
7/16 studs will pull a little extra since you will have less stud flex,if you do change to 1.6s get them in 7/16 and buy new studs,plates and hardened pushrods to optimize your gain!

 

so to thread jack here:

how much hp would you pick up with 1.6 rrs if you had full exhaust/intake and a tune vs. just putting 1.6 rrs on a stock car

 

1.5 vs 1.6 rr add .030 to the lift of the cam and thats what you'll get on the cam lift, not much for a stock cam so it the same for the power increace. your better off spending the money on better improvments

 

Also, consider 1.7s or 1.8s. I picked up over a tenth and 2 mph going from 1.6s to 1.7s. I'll be doing R&D on the 1.8s soon. Full exhaust is going to cost you ~$750. Rockers will be $~225. Supporting mods(springs, guide plates, hardened pushrods will run another $~150. So, $375 and you get atleast 15 rwhp. There was an article in GMHTP about rockers and they picked up 12 rwhp going from stock stamped to 1.6 roller tipped and then another 8 rwhp going from roller tipped to full roller. They picked up 20 rwhp, so 15 should be easily attainable.

 

Back from the dead..

Trying to figure if i should do 1.6rr, 1.6rr and a cam, or just stop tossing cash at the car and be happy with a 3600 stall and 3.73 gears..

 

stall/gears

 

I thought so..

but how long would it take to do pushrods,springs,lifters,rr's? the parts aren't that expensive, i'm sure if labor isn't too bad it might be worth it..

 

im sure a shop will get you for at least 8hrs or so. the reward is not worth the cost unless you cam it

 

Unless you do the work yourself.. which you should do.

 

9 bajillion horsepower

 

you'll be much happier with a stall/gears

 

Even if you do the work yourself the reward for 5rwhp and 5-6 hrs of work and still no gain in track time or seat of pants reward. Stall/gears will reap you big rewards if you pick the right combo. And not everyone can do a top end correctly, and the cost of doing it incorrectly is not worth it in the long run. so like i said unless your doing a cam upgrade 1.6rr upgrade on a stock cam is worthless and also puts the stock springs very close to coil bind. Good luck with what you decide

 

Lol it is not worthless on a stock cam. The stock springs need to be replaced though.

 

stall and gears would net you on a safe bet 5 to 7 tenths, possibly more. Id love to see roller rockers on a stock cam net anything close to that.

besides, stalled autos are sooooo much fun to drive. 1.6rr on a stock cam, not so much fun.

save em for when you do a cam, youll be way happier with stall/gears. I would start with stall tho for sure, not saying that just to say it, saying it because i did start with a stall first lol.

lt1's shouldve come from the factory with 3 choices....3500stall...4000stall...and T56 lol.

 

I have a TC and gears waiting to go in, but I need to also do intake gasket, timing seal, plugs, wires, and optispark. I am just trying to figure out if I should do my top end and maybe a cam at the same time. If I don't do it now I'm not going to do it unless i need to rebuild later

 

I agree. Just switching to a full roller rocker is worth it. Whether it's 5, 10 ,15 or 20 hp it all adds up.

 

Its worthless to do if your not upgrading the camshaft as well. i have installed many many rockers over the years on many difrrent types of cars and the lt1 might show 5hp on a dyno but it does not improve ET and only nets you 1mph at the most. I understand less fristion more power but all that work and not swaping the cam is WORTHLESS! Swap springs,add rockers ect ect and then later down the road do a cam is non sence do it all at once and save money, enjoy a better combo and a new car feeling. or spend all that time and money and the car feel the exact same. i try and tell these young kids that bring there car to my shop all the time how to do it the right way, some listen and some end up paying for it in the long run when there not patient and do it the right way. So if switching to a full roller is worth it then maybe he should switch to a lt4 full roller timing set as well LT!_XJS? that might net him 2hp and like you said everything helps.... well maybe in a bracket class where all the cars are so close that every hp/tq increase helps win the race. 5hp for just rockers in my opinion is not worth the time, but saving the rockers and buying a bigger cam, and new pushrods, and springs and doing it all at once would be the most benifical. But i would still say STALL/ THEN GEARS then a cam.