400hp LT1

Well I got lucky and bought me a LT1 block for $150 fully remaned and bored .040" over. It was out of a 95' Impalla SS. I decided to go with the LT1 over the LS1 because from what people say if you building a LXX engine from the ground up go with the LT1. You see im gunna be on a tight budget and a LS1 could throw me another $1000 over. As well as LT1 being iron are strong runners if I use it as my summer car instead of a track car. That and allthough it would be awsome I dont really need a rocket car with a LSx under the hood.

But here is what I WOULD like. I dont really want to stroke it, even though this seems to be the way to go. Im thinking of dual exhaust (with or without cats?), ported heads and intake, single flange throttle body, forged pistons, rods, crank and ram air. As well as adding higher flow pumps. Id like to atleast hit the 400hp mark. Which from what I hear is not all that hard? This hopefuly will go into my 95' 3.4l firebird.

I know there is tons of info on building a LT1 from the gound up. But what would you guys suggest? Or do any of you know of a good book with the whole LT1 project in it?

400 hp at the wheels or at the crank? Well, I guess it doesn't matter, because if you get the right flowing heads with a big enough cam, plus all the supporting bolt-ons, you can get there. If you come up a tad shy, nothing wrong with a small shot of the juice to get her where you want her.

People say to stay to a .540 lift is it safe to goto .600? No NOS. Ill run premium not rice.

The stuff I have done to my car is estimated at 400hp (crank). That might give you an idea to go from

nitrous does not equal rice. nitrous was being used in drag cars long before that era. anyway, you don't need forged internals unless you plan on forced induction. the LT4 package guaruntees the kind of power you're looking for. if you do go with forged internals with forced induction whether it be supercharging, or turbo charging, you'll easily see more around the 600hp mark.

Look into the Lloyd Elliot H/C packages, they provide proven power at a reasonable price. And I've heard he's a great guy to deal with.

im in the middle of building a 396.... my best friend just finished his..we are using the same set up only difference is he swaped in a 6 speed and im keeping mines auto with the stall.... he dynoed at 467 440...they are tq monsters..... the only thin is building a lt1 and stroken it out and getting heads and everything flowing the way u want, u may end up spending more cash than if u had a ls1 or whatever... heres what u have to think about...now and days u can get a ls1 for pretty cheap...u figure block work sroker kit with forged internals u bought a good ls1 and maybe a t56.... then we will go to heads...lt1 heads are expensive as hell..its the reverse flow gimmick or sum crap i 4get but our heads cost alot of money...las1 heads arent bad.....u figure after the money u spend u will just be keeping up with a small camed and ported head ls1 with a ls6 lid, stock exhaust with a decent tune..we are both gonna spend all this money and we wont get 500hp at all..a stock ls1 u get 290-310 to the wheels...small cam..good lid and just porting the heads along with a tune u can get the damn car up in the 400's its so easy to get power out of a ls1..the parts are cheaper..hell im gonna be spraying on top of the 396..because to be real i need at least 500-550 for all this damn money im spending. right now..i have my stock lt1, stock heads, i have a slp exhaust that came stock on my car that is now dumped..not cats, no nothing lol shes loud as hell...and im spraying a 120 shot on her which is going up to 150 after i get my new injectors....if i blow it up so the hell what i have the 396...i havent dynoed her at all with this set up but stock she was 256-260.....and that was on a weak block...now shes been rebuilt new gaskets oil leak fixed new seals new tranny lol..so i have no clue what im running now..but dollar for dollare ls1's are cheaper...they dont need much work to get the power..we have to build the shit outta our cars to get that same power....but im sure u will be happy i know ill be fine!

Wow thanks for you input. espessaly phill. i have been doing research on parts for a lt1 and it seems like the better parts cost a lot more then the ls1. it dosent seem all that hard to get to 400hp at the wheels but maybe it would be easyeir with the ls1. after all time is money. and it seems like there is more bolt ons for ls1's

In the end, you will pretty much be spending the same amount of money. With either engine, you'll need the same parts...bolt-ons + H/C if you want 400 N/A.