Guy in cutlass wants to race my friends ls1

A friend of mine has a 1998 ls1 z28 auto.The only mods he has is a shift kit and 4:10 gears. He put down 280 something to the wheels. There is this guy that he works with that has a 1980's cutlass and has been giving my friend crap.
He has an lt1 motor with tranny at his house. He says he is getting pistons,rods and crankshaft and is going to drop the lt1 in once he installs the parts.They are going to race when it's done.I think the z28 should be able to beat the cutlass with those mods.

How fast will a cutlass be with an lt1 and those mods?

He also says during the summer he will be getting a heads/cam/Intake kit from a magazine.

I do see several problems that will limit his performance though.
First he has stock gears most likely 2:??
His is going to keep the stock rusted out exhaust on the cutlass.
He has some skinny p195 tires out back.
I also doubt he is going to tune the motor when finished. So it won't be running at it's full potential.


My friend wants to race him at the track but the guy in the cutlass also wants to race from a roll on the street.

Should my friend be worried about this cutlass?

if he's getting a top end that a magazine recommended, he's not the brightest, and may not realzie what he's saying :P

I doubt the Cutlass will win with those gears and it being untuned..

It's possible all depending on what kind of setup he goes with... with a good head cam package he could put down some nice #'s... hard to say who would win for sure though because we just have a general idea about what the guy is doing to his car....

that is all the ls1 has at the wheels? i thought the hp raating with the ls1 from 305-325hp where at the wheels? or is that at the crank?

crank, around a 20% drivetrain loss through an auto

damn drive train. That is not to bad though.

A-race on the damn track boys not the street :nono:

B-There are some cheap exhaust kits available for the a body cars. real cheap, and if he get's a hold of one, I almost have to give the advantage to the cutlass. Especially if the rear gets swaped. Reason I give it to him, weight and frame. it wouldn't be a landslide victory, probably a damn close race, but in the end :dunno:

all depends on what he does to the top of the lt1.

And dont be too put off by 280. 4.10 is steep for an auto with a stock cam but i bet he can get some good track times.

its not always about the peak power...