May be acquiring a zr-1 to play with and wanted to know if anyone local has experience with building them. Thanks

 

my first thought would be hennesy. otherwise u might just wanna call lingenfelter. they are ur best bet

 

Agreed, Lingenfelter is the first shop to come to mind, same with Doug Rippie, both have a lot of experience with those cars and seem to turn out all the modified ZR1s

 

Lingenfelter and all the other "lt5 specialists" cost a small fortune though. Henderson performance in new braunfels and ees in LA are pretty close and they both specialize in the cars, but I was curious to know if any of the local shops have built any. Because I'm trying to figure out why a rebuild costs like 8k. I want to know if that is just the experts cashing in. Or if the parts and everything are really that expensive. Otherwise I will take the engine to mike ebert or Corey Henderson. I just don't want to be paying for some zr-1 tax.

 

well the lt5 is a pretty exotic motor. lotus and mercury marine both had thier hands in it. parts will not be cheap. if u can get a decent motor built for 8k, id say take it.
thats not bad for such a rare motor

 

Yes I know the story behind the engine and how rare the parts are, but the engine is already a lingenfelter 368. It just has some hard miles on it and I figure it wouldn't be a bad idea for someone to disassemble inspect and put back together with new bearings and whatever else needs to be replaced. Maybe nothing wrong with it. Those engines have very good durability. I'm just trying to avoid overpaying for something. When you can build complete engines from scratch for that price it makes no sense to me how a rebuild should cost that much when you are replacing normal wear items. But I'm no machine shop or engine builder.

 

there is nothing that special about a DOHC V8... if any shop is intimidated by that, find another shop.

 

Id give Doug Rippie a call. Everyone that has one of his engines pledges by it. He should give you a heads up.

 

Dennis over at Faerman racing engines could help you with the build as well, always worth asking around.

 

I wouldn't want to be anyones first. Most places won't say they're intimidated, they'll assure you it's no problem until they f*&k it up.

I'd look at lingenfelter, south georgia corvette, or someone that at least has some experience with them.

 

I can rebuild you the engine I have built a handfull of dual over head cam motors its not hard to do . just like people have said the parts are hard to find. and yes henderson in new braunfileds is good I know him personally . so its you choice what you want to spend the parts are going to be the same since there is no other aftermarket manufacturers for these motors if you have questions feel free to pm ..

 

I built an LT5 or two back in my glory days....

 

To this day nothing is cooler than a LT5 IMO

 

There is something cool about owning a car that only about 6000 people own. Plus the first dual overhead cam v8 from gm. Set a record for cruising at 175 for for over 24 hrs. And you can balance a nickel on it's edge on the intake of the engine. Just a really unique car built by gm. I like the idea of owning a piece of history. Cool cars at a very good price right now.

 

Exactly, I want the engine to be built by someone with a lot of experience with lt5's but 8k for a rebuild seems like a ripoff to me. I might be wrong but i'm just trying to figure out how much it's going to cost me to restore this car before I buy it.

 

I know finding mainbearings was an expensive endeavor last time I looked. A 95 zr-1 is probably #1 or #2 on my list of the top 5 cars I would like to own.

 

A lot of people think I'm joking when I tell them about the LT5. I am lucky enough to have seen one first hand in a C4 Vette at a car meet in Grapevine one night a good 8 years ago.

 

ZR1 with a 441 Stroker, they can make some nasty power




Nelson Race engines LT5

http://www.nelsonracingengines.com/v...niversity.html

 

I'm pretty sure 415 lt5's hit those numbers. That engine must have stock cams or something. Here is a lingenfelter 415 zr-1

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3ZrNv...eature=related

This one is stock displacement with top end porting and different intake cams.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SFNFOhGGlR4

This is a 431 cu in engine
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iSPY8...ext=1&index=19

 

If you are doing anything with an LT5 you should really look into Henderson Performance. You already know of him so I won't go into his credintials concerning LT5s. With any LT5 you are going to be paying a lot more than a standard small block rebuild. So good luck with your dicision.