Old LT1 Days

[Neil350]

My buddy Jon94Z and I talk about this all the time, take it back to 1999 and the LT1 scence.

Long Tubes - No one had them unless the car was pretty sick, kinda a race only part back then, most guys had shorties. Macs and SLPs were common place.

Cams - CC305 and the LT4 Hot cam were the staples when it came to street cams. Couple guys had CC306s but that was radical back then.

Blowers - Other than Dave Diluca and Vince (Mchauley?) all the heavy hitters had blowers. Chris Sikora and Baxter had Vortechs, Ducote/Madman had a D1R. Most your super fast for then street LT1s were blower cars. P600Bs, S trims, T trims, and D1s cranked to all hell, no one really had YSi or any thing like that on a street car.

Nitrous- Diluca and Vince had the stout running nitrous cars. Big Rick's LT1, had a 424RWHP 383, CC306 and IRS heads with a wet kit. Fast nitorus LT1 in Houston built by MTI, Gary Neal, 94 TA 396 on gas, 10 second car, mainly street raced. Nick K's 396 LT4, made well in the 700s, ran 10s on one kit, also mainly street raced.

Turbos - Maybe one or two kits, no one was going fast. One was some peg legged jank kit GM High Tech installed on a black LT1 SS.

Shops- Internet Race Supply in Houston was a big staple in 4th gen mail order

Cat backs - Borla if you were rich, most guys had Flowmasters and Hookers. No such thing as Corsas or GMMG

Wheels - Fikses were hot, lot of OZs, Center lines and some ROHs. Nothing bigger then 17s. This was back when a 20" rim was crazy

Brakes - Baer brakes, if a car had those, you knew some one had some cash in it

[Chris]

God im young

[Formula383]

Good stuff Neil. Back in the 95-96 time frame, my old roommate in college had one of MTI's first 396 LT1's in his 95 Z28. It was mainly street raced but saw some occasional track passes. After we put a nitrous kit on it, there pretty much wasn't anything on the streets at that time capable of hanging with him.

[CamaroGirl]

God im young
you and i both bud

[AChotrod]

Thats awesome!!!! I remember running around in my hot cam, 125 shot, shortie header car with 3.73s thinking I was big shit in 99. Always wanted them damn Bear brakes but could never afford them. lol Fuck I remeber when the ONLY DR you could get was BFGs. I was so happy when the nittos came out and I didnt have to replace tires every couple months.

[Fastbird]

Great post Neil. I remember a LOT of that stuff though I joined the LT1 scene midway through 2000 and didn't REALLY start hammering into it until Spring of 2002. You hit the nail on the head though.

[AZ2ENVY]

Damn man those were the good ol days :)

[Wooshie]

My best friends 95 formula with hotcam and all bolt on's was king shit in my area untill I bought my 01 WS6. That was in 99 also. :secret:

[Joker Z28]

I hit the LT1 scene in 2006, I guess I missed all the fun.

[BLK95-Z]

haha I remember those days! I always had bolt on automatic LT1 cars back then and they were even considered "fast". My friend who had a better job than the rest of us at the time had a 95 ta m6 with a big tach, hot cam, hooker headers, 52mm tb, and a garbage mail order tune. We all thought his car was the shit :laugh:

[KissMyWhtSS]

sweet thread is sweet

[Neil350]

Computers - Hypertech Power Programer was hot back in the day. 93s there was an assortment of chips you could do. The thing back then was not many people even liked EFI. You had the really early DOS based Speed Pro (Current day Fast) and Accel Gen DFI but that was really all race car stuff. I remember reading about some yellow Trans Am, 93, they did a 396 and put a DFI on it. It also wasn't uncommon for people to fly people in to tune their personal car. A lot of the blower guys were killing stock bottom ends, the fuel systems and tuning really just were not there yet.


Heads - GTP was really hot, a lot of the big shops used them. Craig Gallant was his name, he was a staple in the LT1 head market.


Fast H/C LT1 - ChrisB, though Steve Quinn's Z28 was fast, believe the first in to the 10s, it was also kinda race car. Chris B had worked GTP LT4s, CC306 and was trapping an ungodly 122MPH. This keep in mind was 382 LS1 territory.

Shops

Lingenfelter - They put FM5s on all their stroker magazine cars. I look back now and see what they were trying to acomplish, they weren't after peak power monsters, but driveable multipurpose cars.
More Performance - They had Dellinger's old black 97 TA, blower car, GMHTP cover car.
ARE- Canada, Dave Dilucas old red sled, they got an LS1 in the 9s first, red TA.
Speed Demon - Houston shop, Chris K was the guy, really big in the LT1 scence.
IRS - Big mail order
MTI - Houston shop, one of the biggest, turned out a many stroker LT1s.
Morgan Motor Sports - CA shop
AS&M - Made throttle bodies, headers, cold airs.

[95formula383lt1]

i think i was in 5th grade in 99 lol and didnt learn about the lt1 till 7th grade when my buddy trevor brother put a 96 vette lt1 in his 70 short bed chevy with a 4 speed, big cam an idr what else was done to it.

[ksmyss]

mid 12s and high 11s were fast too for a street car.

[GreenZ96]

Got my first car in 99, a faded red 87 Toyota Corolla GTS. It was then getting passed at the light by a iroc smoking the tires sliding sideways in town that I realized I had the wrong car for me lol. I barely even knew what a lt1 was and hated the front end of the lt1 cars.... now Ive owned 5 of em since.

[97Z28]

I was 10 years old in 1999, so the old LT1 days don't really exist to me. Haha.

[Formula383]

i think i was in 5th grade in 99 lol and didnt learn about the lt1 till 7th grade when my buddy trevor brother put a 96 vette lt1 in his 70 short bed chevy with a 4 speed, big cam an idr what else was done to it.


I was 10 years old in 1999, so the old LT1 days don't really exist to me. Haha.

Thanks for making me feel like an old turd, LOL!

[96LT1355Z28]

mid 12s and high 11s were fast too for a street car.

Yup I remember the NO2 cars going high 11's and N/A cars in the mid 12's were king of the street racing scene. I first heard Borla on a TA and wanted it so bad but couldn't afford it. If you had LT's and a cam that could idle AND drive right you were the shit! Like AC said BFG's were the tire to have and you were back in the market for some after a few months, forget going anywhere if it sprinkled! Catbacks, Hypertech handhelds, gears, TB's, CAI's, and shifters were the modded cars! Damn we've come a LONG way:D

[AChotrod]

I was 21 in 99 and my car was going 11s on spray. I was so cool! :cool: lmao

[KissMyWhtSS]

I was 10 years old in 1999, so the old LT1 days don't really exist to me. Haha.
Meh, I joined the LT1 scene in 2005, IIRC. Started researching them in 2003-2004.

[roadrocket]

I bought my 93 in April and it was delivered in July. There was nothing yet for it. No chip yet and few aftermarket parts. I started with an airfoil, KnN, and a flowmaster and well into 99 before i tore it down and got serious with a N/A forged combo.
By that time LT's were off road only but could be adapted with AIR fittings and custom exh to pass the emissions test.
Unreal the amount of money spent on parts in 17 yrs with no end in sight yet! lol
Not many computers around in 93, I don't even think cz28 was up yet so i read a lot of magazines.

[Phoenix]

i remember when the new Trans Ams came out in 93 and my buddy bought a red one. we would go out at night and just drive around looking for mustangs to whip up on...ahhhhh the good old days! hey wait i have a red Trans Am now and whip up on mustangs. some things never change...lol!

[Badbird_96]

Sadly enough im 21 and i remember the old days. Not just particularly the lt1 days but in general. I leaned about the lt1s when my aunt bought a brand new 94 z28 a4. She used to race just about anything that came her way and she only lost a couple times the next couple of years and it was stock beside flowmaster exhaust and the "whaletail" supra hoop looking spoiler. My grandparents still have the car exactly the way it was back then lol. But then again fast cars are far and few between around here anyways :( My ws6 is one of the faster cars around here and its barely over stock. Ive only lost twice both times to ls1 cars. Once to a modded ss and once to a modded ws6. I pulled on the ss till he sprayed :frustrated: and i held the ws6 door to door until i went into 4th and he started pulling me slowly. We do have one cammed ls1 ws6 around here lol. So if you guys want to hurt some peoples feelings come to this area and you will think your still in 99 lol.

[Tony Shepherd]

Great thread Neil! Let me try to remember back that far. I will reply in your quotes below.

My buddy Jon94Z and I talk about this all the time, take it back to 1999 and the LT1 scence.

Long Tubes - No one had them unless the car was pretty sick, kinda a race only part back then, most guys had shorties. Macs and SLPs were common place. I had Long tubes back in 1998.:devil:

Cams - CC305 and the LT4 Hot cam were the staples when it came to street cams. Couple guys had CC306s but that was radical back then. Installed my CC306 in 1998

Blowers - Other than Dave Diluca and Vince (Mchauley?) all the heavy hitters had blowers. Chris Sikora and Baxter had Vortechs, Ducote/Madman had a D1R. Most your super fast for then street LT1s were blower cars. P600Bs, S trims, T trims, and D1s cranked to all hell, no one really had YSi or any thing like that on a street car.

Nitrous- Diluca and Vince had the stout running nitrous cars. Big Rick's LT1, had a 424RWHP 383, CC306 and IRS heads with a wet kit. Fast nitorus LT1 in Houston built by MTI, Gary Neal, 94 TA 396 on gas, 10 second car, mainly street raced. Nick K's 396 LT4, made well in the 700s, ran 10s on one kit, also mainly street raced. I remember installing my first nitrous kit back in 1998-99 was a compucar 150 shot. Joel Perez helped me install it. Ran 10.90's with it, my home ported AFR 190 heads, 383ci, Long tubes, on 93 pcm. Chris B. helped me learn to burn chips.

Turbos - Maybe one or two kits, no one was going fast. One was some peg legged jank kit GM High Tech installed on a black LT1 SS.

Shops- Internet Race Supply in Houston was a big staple in 4th gen mail order . I was a big purchaser from this company until they burned me on some Lunati Rods. Dennis was a nice guy until the last year the doors were open.

Cat backs - Borla if you were rich, most guys had Flowmasters and Hookers. No such thing as Corsas or GMMG. I had a Borla kit but I was far from rich!;)

Wheels - Fikses were hot, lot of OZs, Center lines and some ROHs. Nothing bigger then 17s. This was back when a 20" rim was crazy .

Brakes - Baer brakes, if a car had those, you knew some one had some cash in it. I ran stock brakes from 1995-2006.

[jakesz28]

Man back in 99 this car was my wifes driver. It had 4.10's, a small stall, catback. Didn't do to bad for what it was I had a 65 chevy II. Then I got my old ZX9 and didn't mess around with any other cars for a while. I think it was about 06 that I put a cc306 and nitrous on the camaro.

Now it got a little carried away but the car will see some streets again next year. Considering putting a 3 speed auto in it with 2.73 gears. Be able to run the 1/4 in first and second and cruise down the highway in third.

[Z8's]

I picked up my LT1 on 6/6/96 I already had a s-trim and set of wheels and tires waiting for it in the garage.I was the first person to get an OBDII car running with the Vortech after many many hours on the phone with Crane (for the Hi 6 ) and Ron Zimmer at Z Industries for programing. I pulled the car out of the garage On the 4th of july 96 for the first time with the blower on it ,the car had 211 miles on it:| In the mean time I researched and bought a set of AFR 195's that I had Craig at GTP do a port job on for me and before the end of the summer I had installed them and cam/rockers/ASM 58 TB and mid lengths/ 373 gear /centerforce clutch/and a compucar kit.Fall of 96 the car ran 10.33 @138 on a 1.58 60ft. I thought the car was slow ! I meet ProStock John at a local streetrace spot that fall and he about shit himself when he heard how fast the car was I wasn't impressed.It's been all downhill since then.:devil:

[n2ocamaro]

A friend took me for a ride in his stock 94' Z in 97. At the time it was the fastest car I had been in. I was hooked. Traded in my 91 RS Camaro 6 months later on my 95' Z. Put a Flowmaster catback on it 2 months later. Eventualy had all the bolt-ons plus 1.6 rockers and a Nitrous Works kit. over the next year and a half. Drove it like that (everyday) until fall 03. Bought a beater car and only drove it on nice weekends until spring 04. Rebuilt the motor to the 383 that is in it right now.

[F.G.]

This is a great thread, in 99 I was 9 years old, and my sister owned a six banger camaro, and dramt about an lt1 camaro.

[popo8]

ophhhhh, lets see....


I was driving in 1992, and I saw the pic of the new LT1 TAs and Camaros.... I thought the TA looked like the batmobile and shouldve never gotten away from KNIGHT RIDER...... The camaro I though looked like someone stepped on a GEO STORM and made it lower and wider... HATED IT......

THen going to the usual cruis spot, I just kept getting beat by those Damn LT1.s

5 Years ago I bought the one I have now..... and since then have owned 2 others which are now long gone....

[BIGT94z]

some great history here :hmm: man i feel young now. i cant even remember '99 i was 11 lolz

[popo8]

some great history here :hmm: man i feel young now. i cant even remember '99 i was 11 lolz


Can we lock this thread.... It makes me feel OLD!!!!

[razor02097]

I was a freshman in high school in 1999 :laugh:

I didn't get my first Camaro (third gen) until 2003. I didn't get my Z28 till 2006... it really sucks because as soon as I was able to afford mods the new Camaro comes out and the 4th gen aftermarket declines that much more :cry:

[Firebat]

In 1999, everyone either had a thirdgen camaro or fox body mustang around here. Not til 2002 did the local cruisers or street racers start getting 4th gens.

[Rob]

I joined the F-Body lists back in 95. Missed the first F-Body event in 96 because my car wasn't delivered yet. Hit up 97-98 in Memphis with the WS6 though. 98 had the HOT cam, SLP shorties, and Borla/SLP cat back. Was running crappy and Dennis from IRS gave me a couple plug wires because they burnt on the drive down there. Did some beta testing for Hypertech in 97 for their OBDII stuff. Ended up going with one of Mike's PCM's from Modern Muscle car to get the car in the mid 12's.

There were quite a few Texas cars that were pretty quick back then. Cajun SteveD was also pretty quick. Back in MD, I remember Ray Bohatz(sp?) building a 383 for a local dude's Z28 back in '93. That was the fastest "new" car around for a little while.

Around 99 or 00, the message board craze started taking off and the F-Body lists starting dying out.

That was some fun back then. Sold the WS6 in '01 and went back to turbo Buicks when I bought my 89 TTA. Sold the TTA and got the GTO in '04. Then last year, bought back my WS6 from the guy I sold it to. He only put 2500 miles on it in 8 years, so it was like a time warp.

Anyway, just my memories...

[spina74]

I got my first LT1 in 08, I was still in elementary school during the LT1 production years...but I thought mustang gt's were the bees knees back then...