I have finally graduated college, gotten a job and saved up some money to get my car back on the road again. My car hasn't been legal or driven much in ~3 years. I couldn't afford the insurance, gas, tires, ect while in college so to keep it I just stored it.

I'm making this post to get advice on what way I should go with building my car up. I bought a Vortech supercharger kit years ago back before I went to college but I never had the money to have it installed. I've sold that kit but I still have dreams of going FI. Now I can do all the work to the car. I went to an automotive college and I have been working in a dealership for ~6 months. I'm no expert but I shouldn't have any problem as long as I don't have to fab stuff up. In other words labor doesn't need to be considered in my price range.

My "dream" is to have 800+rwhp in a street car, 10's on drag radials, Full weight+ car, with a 6 speed, AC, and streetable. I'm guessing this would take around 25k total, I have ~10k saved now and I'm ready to start the build up but one of the main problems I'm having is that I want to drive the car now and I want it to have more power.


My plans were to buy a Procharger kit with the upgraded F1A head unit and run it with the biggest pully possible. I was hoping I would be able to drive it around and have some fun with it over the next year while I build up the rest of the car. After talking with EPP this sounds like a bad idea, the person I spoke with through PM's doesn't think the engine will stand a chance even for a short time. I'm not overly concerned about blowing up the stock engine but there is no point in wasting this stock shortblock if its not going to last 6-8 months.


I'm not set on going with a procharger, nor am I dead set on my hp goals but I don't want to be disappointed and I only want to do this once. I would really like to drive my car now with more power than it has now. I realize it is best to build a car up backwards and save the engine mods for last but it is hard for me to spend everything I have saved and have the car be no faster.


What would YOU do with the car in my sig and 10k? Keep in mind you want it on the street asap and you have a 25k limit, starting with 10k adding 1.5k a month.

 

Thats a shitton of money!

Go turbo!!

 

10k alone...I'd go turbo too. I'm in college right now and it really is taking it's toll, I understand where you're coming form and now wanna do it all. I have hopes of the STS kit in sight, with 10k to play with, I'd do that.

 

I would do whatever EPP said. Barring that, I would build an mild-cam, LS2 402 with L92 heads. Gunna need a 9" and a tranny that will hold it, though, and they rob power.

By the way, APS has a new twin turbo kit for the F-Body. They are a sponsor.


But, it sure as hell doesn't take 800 hp to go 10's on DR's. Have you ever driven an 800 rwhp car on street tires on the street? Why not build it to 500 or whatever crazy number and see how you like that first. With 500 rwhp, you'll do 10's in street trim no problem. An LS2 w/L92 heads can pretty well get you there with a 9" and built tranny with hella mid and low-end power. Take a look in the dyno section for good combos.

 

I'd start with a forged short block. 402, 408, 418... Whatever. You can pick up a forged iron short block 408 for <$4k. Now you have the basis for some serious forced induction, which is the way I'd also go.

 

Its really not when you consider all the things needed to set up the car properly.

5k for a shortblock
2.5k for nice heads
2.5k for rear end
1k for suspension
1k for clutch
2k for fuel system upgrades
8k for forced induction kit able to support 800+ rwhp

22k, figure another 3k for safety equipment and smaller things I've left out. It wouldn't hurt my feelings one bit if I spent less but I think this is the realistic cost of a fully built high hp FI car.

 

lose that god damn body kit on that beautiful SS......

 

No, I have never driven a high hp car on the street, there are none around here but that doesn't stop me from wanting one. My car with the mods in my sig doesn't really excite me anymore. Fun from slow speeds but it feels slow after it hooks up "on street tires". I'm sure 500 rwhp would be a blast for a while but I would eventually get used to it and want more. I've had street bikes before and it was the same with them. I always wished I had a bigger one after a few months.

I'm not really all that new to this web sight, I've seen what these cars can run with a lot less hp but most of those cars are light weight, on slicks, and huge stalled autos. My car is going to be heavy, cage, FI kit, probably a couple subs in the back... don't know if you saw where I said 6 speed. I go to our local track almost every weekend and I have only seen a few cars in the 10's.

 

I was wondering how long it would take for someone to say something like that. Keep this thread about performance please. I'll post up pics in the appearance section so everyone can hate on it. I won't be taking it off though

 

alright, fine. take that damn body kit off, sell it for about 500 bucks and buy *insert go-fast part here*

 

your looking at a 3800+ lb raceweight, id say anything shy of 550 RWHP wont get you in the 10's. talk to Amber at Six Speed Inc (t56rebuilds.com). your going to need one helluva transmission to hold all that without going with a pro shifted one. i think the LS2/L92 setup would be sweet for your combo. with your weight, your going to need low end torque to move it out of the hole, and still need high end power to keep you accelerating. and this is one case i am going to say go 9 inch, if you were putting light weight mods in your quest to go 10's i would say 12 bolt. but i think the extra 800 lbs will put more stress on the rear when you launch it.

 

Interesting Thread....

I'm keeping my eyes on this..!

 

You're just out of college....
I'd say take it slow for a while.
Don't blow all your money at once.

This advice is coming from someone who's been laid off twice in the past 6 years due to one company downsizing after the dot com bust and the other almost disappearing.

 

What sponsor would you recommend for the LS2/L92 setup? I've been looking at shortblocks but the only 400+ CI ones that I have seen for under 4k are recommended for under 700hp.

It would be great if people could include more details. Instead of just saying go with a turbo or go with a 408 it would really help if you could say what sponsor has the turbo kit you think I should go with and why. Or what sponsor has the 400+ CI shortblock for the least amount of cash with the best components. I'm looking to buy what I can to get started on this within the next couple weeks. I know what I would like to do as far as the engine, rear end, clutch, ect but I need to know where the best deals are right now.

 

Good advice no doubt but building up this car has been my motivation to go to an automotive college, on my mind as I went to school for the last couple years, and my motivation for getting up and going to work every day since I graduated. I highly doubt anything will be able to stop me.

 

All your answers are solved right here man. Spend the rest on appearance or stereo.

https://ls1tech.com/forums/lsx-parts-sale/688459-testing-waters-complete-tt-drivetrain.html

 

That looks like a very viable solution.

 

i dont think id blow 25k on my car right away....you've saved it for a while, 15k and you could have a badass car....invest the other 10k

 

ok you seem to be reaaallly power hungry...first off...i know a guy here in ark w/ an 02LE SS w/ a forged 402, V jr intake/elbow, FI and hes makin over 800+rwhp w/ only 8psi(Garret T88......i think) ...before he upgraded his turbo he was only makin around 650ish and he wished hed kept it that way(so many more complications now)....i understand u got a job and u PLAN to spend 25k...but lemme tell ya...u ARE GONNA BREAK **** and spend more than u ever dreamed of. i dont care if u do have a 9", forged tranny, whatever. U make that much power and its not gonna be to "street" freindly. he has spent sooo much time in tuning and seting up suspension to hold the wieght, makin sure fuel trim is right, etc....**** IMO thats too much work just to go hop in and drive down the street in.....i say H/C w/ a 200 shot and u should be more than happy

 

93formto98T/A, that setup looks great but I would like to keep my AC and I really don't like the idea of buying used.

Staringback05, I don't have 25k right now. I have about 10k to spend right now but I can save around 1.5k a month to put into this. So +-15k over the next year. If you have a suggestion for making a bad *** car for 15k then by all means let me know what components you would buy from what sponsor so I can get started.

SStheBest, I AM really power hungry. I want something I can never get used to. Something that never leaves me thinking I want more. I know I wouldn't be happy in the long run with a heads and cam setup. I would probably run the times I want with a 200 shot of nitrous on top of heads and cam but to spray a 200 shot I would need a pretty nice shortblock, rearend, clutch, safety equips, basically all the same stuff except a 2k nitrous kit instead of a 7k FI kit. I would rather save up another 6 months for the FI kit. You do have me questioning my hp goals though. You say he had no problem with 650rwhp but he keeps breaking stuff now that he's in the 800's? I didn't realize another 150-200rwhp would cause that many more problems. I mean it has to be built up either way.