woe is me.

[waggl1]

Ok so today I sat and stared at my car...not stoned or drunk just to clarify lol. I thought to myself where should I go with it. I don't know if I should go with a turbo or supercharger go straight motor or possibly nitrous. Kind of stuck in a mental rut about this for now.

[popo8]

So.... are you looking for our advice. Or just making a statment. LOL...

PS- If I was not a cop, Id prob say, try it again..... only this time be stoned, or drunk....

[Fastbird]

PS- If I was not a cop, Id prob say, try it again..... only this time be stoned, or drunk....

That is seriously funny.

For the op, my question to you is what are your goals with the car in terms of performance and driveability, power and track times, and how much are you willing to spend?

Posted from my Rezound

[95ImpySS]

I think the main determining factor of any build is. BUDGET. :)

[waggl1]

Well I'd love to get into the 10's if possible, I know that its possible seeing video's of some of the members here. Any advice and opinions will obviously get taken into consideration.

[95ImpySS]

Do you want power all the time? Ie, turbo, supercharger. They are not easily removed, nor cheap to get setup and running. I am a fan of N2O, I love the ease of it. Bolt it on and go. (roughly) And its always off until you need it. (safety)

Is the car in question going to be track only, or a daily/weekend driver?

[waggl1]

That's where I'm stuck I know Im pretty good at restricting myself on "hotrodding" but I feel like I may just kind of let that out the box. I have been thinking of n2o a little bit. It would seem like a nice middle ground for myself. Also itll be strictly a weekend summer car.

[popo8]

That's where I'm stuck I know Im pretty good at restricting myself on "hotrodding" but I feel like I may just kind of let that out the box. I have been thinking of n2o a little bit. It would seem like a nice middle ground for myself. Also itll be strictly a weekend summer car.

Lets start with BUDGET... what is your full budget estimate for the "build?"

[waggl1]

Well budget wise I'm still hammering that out. I say this because I'm about to start school and make around 1100 for just going then whatever job ill get I was thinking using college cash for car and the rest for bills.

[waggl1]

I feel dumb posting this but I just kind of wanted to see what y'all have done your opinons andwhat youve run into with your build, if y'all were in the spot I'm at right now.

[95ImpySS]

Budget, strapped for cash, and in school. OHHH MAAAANNN. Its tough out there. Here's what I am in the process of building. Its sort of a budget build. This should give you an idea of what it would cost to start pretty much new. I have a 95 LT1, Stock crank (polished journals), stock rods (refurbished), and new .030 over Hyperutetic Speed Pro pistons. I had the bock tanked, shot preened and baked. Then installed ARP main studs and had the mains align honed. New brass freeze plugs and cam bearings. 0 decked the block (11:1), new timing chain, ARP head bolts and a gasket set. Melling 155HV oil pump and ARP oil pump drive shaft. This came out to right around $2600.

I topped it off with a LE2 heads and cam package at around $1700, 1.6 RR's ($280), custom length chrome molly push rods ($90), GMPP guide plates and ARP 7/16 rocker studs ($80). With the stuff I listed and a few others I cant remember at the moment. I am at about $3200. Engine alone. This should be making right around 450 HP

[waggl1]

I see. Thanks for giving me a budget list of sorts to show where I could end up. Appreciate your input impy.

[popo8]

Well, here is what I can tell you. My build is a 385ci fully forged stroker. AFR 227 heads, Procharger P1SC/Intercooled....
Built 6 spd, Built 9" and some suspensions stuff.

I bought the car for $4,000 and my total build "investment" is about 25k.... and that was buying alot of stuff used, and with great deals on alot of stuff.

Thats my BOOSTED budget..... so far.

[waggl1]

Well, here is what I can tell you. My build is a 385ci fully forged stroker. AFR 227 heads, Procharger P1SC/Intercooled....
Built 6 spd, Built 9" and some suspensions stuff.

I bought the car for $4,000 and my total build "investment" is about 25k.... and that was buying alot of stuff used, and with great deals on alot of stuff.

Thats my BOOSTED budget..... so far.

Now was this your last engine in just curious? I remember you told me you have gone through a couple.

[popo8]

Im not even figuring in the cost of damaged stuff.........

The original LT1 in the car with 120k on it was removed for the PARISH ENTERPRISE STROKER. (see whats left of that thread for more info.)

Allegedly "forged" PARISH motor broke after 5 k (that was 6g gone)

Pulled that motor out, stripped it down, went another .010 over, new FORGED rotating assembly,reused cam, had heads worked, and reused intake. (another 5g)

Fought that motor for tuning issues... made decent power, but on a dyno pull, popped a valve spring. Instead of replacing spring.......

BOUGHT an heads, cam, intake, shaft mounted rockers and misc.... that was another 5g.........

SOON that motor will be back in the car.......

Hope that explains my cars ENGINE history....

[AdamG]

I think it really depends. I can only talk about my experience.

When i started building my car i wanted to go with a supercharged 383 with about 8-10psi of boost. Being that Im not the most mechanically savvy guy I decided I would let and engine builder do the work. After pricing out the engine ($7000+ ), supercharger kit ($5000 +), supporting mods like tq and tranny was at least another 700 and 1500-2000g, you are going to need a new rear axle which for a good one is like 2500 and then suspension work and then tuning as well. those are really ruff number and a few years old .I'm by no means saying you cant do it cheap or it wont cost more either. I thought it was a big wast for me to spend 15-20g and for a car that might see the track once a year if it is lucky. I also know there will always be some one faster. So i decided to do a mild NA build with a 12-12.5 second goal. I should add the fun for me isn't the speed but working on the car.

So the question is what do you want to do with the car? how are you going to use it? how much can you spend and how much are you actually willing to spend? And is it something you thought through? plus to you look at guys who build these cars and a lot of them have a lot and i mean a lot of time into them.

[zooguy]

do full boltons, stall, gears, tires, and it will be a fun car to dd all day long any time ... and get low 13's high 12's

add a cam if you want too mid to low 12's and spray in to high 10's

add a 150 shot and it will come alive but only when a pesky mustang is looking for trouble or at a track.

[CamaroZGuy]

if you are thinking about boosted, then by the time you are done you will be a proud member of the <$25k club.....

[96LT1355Z28]

do full boltons, stall, gears, tires, and it will be a fun car to dd all day long any time ... and get low 13's high 12's

add a cam if you want too mid to low 12's and spray in to high 10's

add a 150 shot and it will come alive but only when a pesky mustang is looking for trouble or at a track.


^^This, given your situation. If you try to get into it too deep and run out of money you won't be able to enjoy it and it will just feel overwhelming. Make it enjoyable now, you can hit it with a small shot and as you save you can upgrade parts and the NO2 system for more power. Bolt on cars with good suspension are stupidly fun to drive. Throw a 75-100 shot on that and your return of enjoyent vs. investment is about as good as it gets!

My current setup I have a little over $4,300 in the short block. I just paid $3,400 for new heads, cam, rockers and guides. Ad in intake portwork and the several thousand in supporting mods (headers, TB, CAI, EWP, hours of dyno tuning) to handle making the power and put it to the ground (9", CM rod end suspension, M6 upgrades, 4 DA shocks, SFC's, roll bar, safety equip.) you get the point. Then factor in the $11,500 before interest I paid for the car in 99 and I'm well over $20K. That's not counting the setups I've tried and parted out to get to this point. That's all $ for doing it N/A and this setup should finally put me in the 10's.:doh:

[95ImpySS]

All very good info. Gives you an idea how big of a money pit cars are :). To be completely honest. I had more fun with my car mostly stock on a 100 shot than I have had in years and thousands later.

[zooguy]

To be completely honest. I had more fun with my car mostly stock on a 100 shot than I have had in years and thousands later.

i think that is the case with most builds cause once you get past all the "smaller mods" and are in the low 13's high 12's range it starts to cost a lot more to go any faster