I have a 98 trans am convertible. Has the Ls1 and 4l60e. I am looking to do a fairly straightforward build I can for the budget I have right now. I have between 2500 and 3k to spend on the car. It's totally stock besides SLP intake, c7 stingray wheels with michelin sport cups. I am thinking cam, stall converter, long tube headers, intake manifold and tune. I understand with my budget I might not be able to afford to do all of these at once. Being fairly new to the LS game my question is what setups are people using and how do they like it? What can I afford to do with my budget? I don't want to throw a ton of parts on it that don't necessarily work well with each other and then hate how it drives. I am not looking to take it to the track. I want to make around 400 450 to the wheels if possible. I want it to sound good. I just want a gnarly street car. Can still drive down the road but can also get after it and scare me a little. I am also curious what things I should look at upgrading or replacing while doing a cam swap? I figured a timing chain wouldn't hurt at 175k miles. Should I plan on lifters, roller rockers, what all is worth doing while there? I am going for fairly budget when possible. Reliability is also key as I plan to drive this car to car shows and events and just mess around with it without any issue. I'm curious on specifics. Ls7 lifters, ls6 intake, speed engineering long tube headers into...? Texas speed magic stick 4 cam and 4k stall or something? Curious what specific parts you have gone with for a fun budget build? Car already has a ton of service suspension and steering parts too. So it handles pretty well and doesn't track or wobble or anything. Mostly interested in building motor. Feel free to move this post wherever but I have the money and I've been looking for the right input to feel like I'm making the right purchase. I want to start with at least a cam and then whatever else I need to support it and whatever else I can afford after that for the best results after I install everything and get it tuned.

 

You don't want cheap parts if you're looking for a reliable build that's fun to drive. A perfect example is the torque converter; ~$1k is the standard for a quality unit for your transmission (this is not an area where you want to go cheap).

With 175k miles and the intended build, I'd probably get a freshly built trans from a reputable shop (again, not cheap). You don't want to trash that new, expensive converter with a failed trans shortly after the build (which likely won't take long to happen with the increased power and higher shift points that will be part of the build).

Header fitment is hit-or-miss with the cheaper brands, sometimes it works out OK but you'll have to be ready for this if you don't go with top shelf brands (such as ARH or Kooks).

Tuning will end up being more expensive if you do these mods piecemeal (as several of them will require a retune), so that's why I would recommend just waiting until you can do it all at once.

Lots of might-as-wells and extras might be needed as you start to take things apart on a car of that age with that much mileage. You'll need some maneuvering room in your budget for such.

Assuming you plan on doing all the labor yourself, I'd still wait until you can at least double your budget (or quite a bit more if you're paying for labor).

 

If it was me I would build the Transmission first, install the Convertor you want then. Put a decent external Fluid Cooler up front too.

Then from there I would do the Cam, Headers, LS6 Intake, LS2 Timing Chain. If you feel like doing the LS7 Lifters then you can, if you have any Lifter noise now it's not a bad idea to do them. Heads off the Engine is easier to put the new Springs on. With 4th Gen Fbodies I've done major work like that by dropping the Kmember, much easier. You'll need to pull the Oil Pan to do the Timing Chain anyway, while you're there put a new Oring on the Pickup Tube.

Basically what I'm getting at is you do everything you want to the Engine that way you only need to get it tuned one time instead of a bunch.

On top of this all it helps to have a second vehicle to drive around while this one is apart so you can take your time. That's also if you are doing all the work also.

As mentioned you have a budget in mind, this isn't something that's going to happen over night so buy parts, stash them, do all the work at once. Triple that budget too.

 

I agree with the transmission first. I would also suggest spending money making sure the motor and cooling system are in working order. Then start modding. I would start with the exhaust and then move to the engine.

 

If you want an aftermarket cam you’re going to need a higher stall torque converter. I’d start there. Or if you want to be proactive you could have the transmission rebuilt first and get the converter at the same time. None of this will be “budget friendly,” not even the exhaust work and the gains will be minimal the all new exhaust and stock everything else.

 

Hey Sketchy Vert, Welcome. As the other posters mentioned, your budget could be eaten up very quickly as what you are looking to do will be costly unless you can and will do the work yourself. The price of a performance build 4l60E is vast in range of cost(as well as Quality). Do research. A quality stall converter will cost $1100. You don't want to skimp on a stall converter. Be honest with yourself, is the car a daily driver? The Magic stick likes 10.5cr look for head gaskets to help with quench and to up the CR. Maybe go with a little smaller camshaft. The factory injectors are going to be maxed out. There is mo money. A good tuner will most likely charge $700-$900 for a tune. I'm not trying to discourage you, just letting you know it gets expensive real fast. I did all the work myself including building the 4l60E. The tune is the only thing I paid for a service. I didn't add everything up...I don't want to know I know it is more than what you said you saved so far. Good luck, have fun with it. Keep us up to date

 

It should also be noted that the OP mentioned wanting "400-450hp" at the wheels; that's a tall order for an A4 car with stock heads. I mean, I'm sure some folks have done it, but it would require a max effort cam only setup which gets costly (forget the "affordable" LS6 intake...a FAST, etc., will be needed for sure), and might not be the greatest for driveability. I'd rather go with a smaller cam and do some head work to get a better balance of gains vs. driveability. If you just want the cam, you can probably get by on the stock '98 injectors as they are bigger than '99-'00 (comparable to 2001-'02), but with 175k who knows what their condition is.

Again, much bigger budget needed for a proper build to suit the goals here. There's nothing worse than turning a running, driving car into a project and then having the car apart and undriveable for an extended period just because you're waiting for funds to finish it. So either break it up into various stages (such as trans + converter, then engine work later) or just wait until you can at least double (if doing the work yourself) or at least triple (if paying labor) your budget.

 

I just started a build on a 00 trans am with a similar hp goal. I haven't added up everything but it's quite a bit more than what you want to budget. Things add up fast! A cam may be under $400 but the supporting mods like springs, pushrods, trunnion upgrade, etc add up fast. I just ordered my cam kit from texas speed along with fast 36lb injectors and ls7 lifters with new trays and it was over $2k. A 92mm fast intake and matching throttle body will set you back another $1500. All that's worthless without longtubes , a good stall converter and a dyno tune. After that the stock 4l60 won't be happy so that will need some upgrades. I literally just ordered my trans last night a stage 2 build capable of 700whp. That's another $2600. Not trying to sway you into not going through with your build just trying to give you a better idea of what it will cost to reach that goal. Lots of little things add up too like new 02 sensors, a catch can, trans cooler and you'll probably want a couple gauges to monitor things like trans temp or afr.

 

Thanks for the input everyone. Lots of good info so far. As I have stated I am very new to these engines. I plan to do all the work myself besides a tune. I was hoping to do more to the car but my budget shrunk more than I had hoped. I was hoping within my budget I could do a cam and stall converter just to have some change out of the car. I know I'd need a tune after this. I was just hoping to do something to the car while I have the money. I suppose I could start buying parts. As far as transmission goes I don't want to "waste" money on a nice stall converter just to destroy the 4l60e and possibly converter with it. If and when it does eventually go I was planning on a t56 swap as a manual would be a lot more fun. I am pretty mechanically inclined but haven't done much engine building yet. I want to use this car to teach myself more about engine building and fabrication and stuff.

I'm not totally set on the magic stick 4 cam. I have no idea what to be looking for or expect so I just have been doing lots of reading. Is there a better or more reasonable cam option? I was definitely planning on doing some stuff while doing the cam. Ls7 lifters and whatever else should or needs to be done. I feel like the engine may have some lifter noise is part of my concern to build engine now rather than later. It is not my daily driver it is my fun car. It has a spot in my shop that it can sit while I build it. I don't have to make any certain power goals those are more hopes and dreams. I figure if I just did stall converter and cam plus lifters and roller rockers and trunion upgrade and stuff like that for now that I wouldn't make my goal. But I do want to address the slight top end noise I think I'm hearing. And I do want the car to have at least some change with the money I have. I know if I had a **** load more money it would be better but end of the day I do still have a few grand to spend on the car.

I have also considered doing heads and a cam all at once. The prc 225 heads can be bought in a kit with several different cam options. I know that would easily eat all my money. But depending how busy I stay with work this winter I can maybe plan to slowly build it over the winter as money comes in. I'm not opposed to it sitting for a little while. Or accumulating a ton of parts and then tearing into the car.

I'm pretty open to input as far as parts. What cam do you have? What else did you do? What would you do differently. I'm not opposed to the idea of buying a transmission as stated in replies above for 2600 or something down the road. If I can rock a cam for now on a stock 4l60e until it decides to give up and then have some money for a built transmission rather than spend the 5k to t56 swap I would consider that. I'm open to lots of different options with the car I just know that I need to address the top end noise and make SOME changes with the money I do have. Even if I just accumulate some parts. If I don't spend it on the car the wife will figure out how to spend it for me.

 

Yup there's that triple the budget part I mentioned..

Best thing I can say is if you're going to go T56 eventually then do it now and get rid of the 4L60E, no sense in putting money into something that you'll get rid of.

However, you want to go T56 the whole Rear will have to be upgraded. I put a 9" in my MCSS when I did the initial build I did with the T56 because I'd scatter the 7.5 before even leaving the driveway.

Auto is more suttle on the drivetrain so if you want to stay auto you'll save there at the moment, 7.5 will last longer.

Build what you want and get it done all at once, it won't happen over night. Stack the parts now and take your time. I don't have a wife so can't give any advice on that one, I just built a few cars over the years.