Supercharging a stock LT1 Camaro

[LT1-CAMO]

ok so i drive a '95 Camaro...it is bone stock except for a short shifter more basic bolts ons soon to come...i have been looking into prochargers for some time now trying to learn as much about them as i can...and i was curious how running a low boost procharger like the P1-SC will work with my stock motor...i kno that if i start running alot of boost i will need to build up the bottom end and the rear end and the tranny but im not looking to put every penny i earn into my car i have school and all to pay for...just looking for a project for next summer...my goal is to have a fast street car not some rediculous track car that is a pain in the ass to drive around town...this car is my daily driver and im looking to up the power a little more without breaking the bank or my car...all opinions or suggestions on wut i should do are welcome thanks alot

[camarobird92]

I've always heard 5-7 psi of boost would be max on a stock bottom end. Not much for the investment. Have you thought of nitrous yet? The stock motor should withstand a 150 shot. Pretty good hp per dollar.

[KissMyWhtSS]

I wouldn't run more than 5psi, maybe 7 if its low mileage and/or good oil pressure, etc.

Like camarobird said, it's not worth the $$$, there's better bang for your buck out there right now. Either keep saving and pull your motor out for a forged bottom end then throw a supercharger at ~12psi on, or spend your money on bolt-ons/nitrous.

[BLOWNDFIZ]

Boost and Juice are both addictive. Most of us that run N2O or Forced Induction thought exactly what you are thinking. You will get bored with 5 lbs especially when a stock C6 keep up with you, or beats you on the street. You will eventually blow something up or at least break a piston somewhere down the road.

Trust me, I have two cars one with N2O the other with a T-Trim and I'm still wanting them to both be faster.

FWIW, if you do end up buying a Supercharger go ahead and spend the extra $ and get the D1SC. You will eventually upgrade to it anyway;)

[Camaro_94]

I was looking at a 95 Z28 Convertable that was for sale before I bought my current Formula. I knew the owner, and it had a vortech supercharger on it. It had just a few bolt-ons. I was very tempted to buy it from him, but I just didnt trust the car because it had stock internals. I think he was running about 5psi with it. I think it would have been fine for awhile, but who knows.

It can be done.. but its definately not the safest thing to do. If you do decide to go ahead and do it, definately run somewhat low boost. I dont think it would be worth it though unless you build the motor up to handle more.

- Mike

[Fire67]

When I first started messing with my TA, I bought a rediculously cheap Powerdyne SC from someone in town. (I think I only paid like $500) The non intercooled 6psi was barely even noticeable. So I pulleyed it up and it broke. Then I found a great deal on a used D1sc on one of the forums. At 10psi it was a noticeable improvement over the Powerdyne and put down 450 rwhp.

The thing is, it lasted roughly 30,000 miles of rough driving. It was my daily driver at the time, but we were racing the car every night for quite a long time. I melted a head gasket once, but it survived to right at the 30k mile mark. It finally broke on the track, but not till the finish line. At least I didnt lose to that Cobra. My point is, that if you spend the time and money to do the fuel system correctly and get a good dyno tune, it should last quite a while. Especially if you arent going WOT every time you drive it like I was.

[lt170chevelle]

i am at 8lbs on a turbo with stock internals.been almost a year now and am not easy on it. the three most important things when going fi is atleast a 255 fuel pump some bigger injectors and a tune with the timing and fueling adjusted accordingly.

[94blkz28]

5-7 psi is it no more and even then your eventually gonna have problems due to extra stress on rods and crank and if you get lucky you will just blow rings first. ok we did this just for fun at wyotech as a hey dont do this. my buddy had an extra lt1 block we straped a procharger on it at 15 psi i watched it throw the crank out in pieces main caps failed oil pan went bye bye it was cool to watch though. i am no stranger to boost i own a 4 banger pushing 27psi every day boost is addictive and i hate to say it ive only been beat twice and only one was a v8 but it was a big block a 405 horse all wheel drive cracker jack toy is mean by all standards pics of it are in my album

[boosted95z]

I am currently running a nonintercooled 8 psi on my stock engine. First thing that will go are the ring lands. I wouldn't recommend doing it, it's addictive, and you'll want to build a new engine to handle more boost. If you're trying to save money, do small mods first (full exhaust and cai) and see how you like that. Throw some RR's on there if you feel daring. :devil:

I wish I would've done the smart thing and built an engine first, and then put a s/c on it.

[Speed Kills]

I am currently running a nonintercooled 8 psi on my stock engine. First thing that will go are the ring lands. I wouldn't recommend doing it, it's addictive, and you'll want to build a new engine to handle more boost. If you're trying to save money, do small mods first (full exhaust and cai) and see how you like that. Throw some RR's on there if you feel daring. :devil:

I wish I would've done the smart thing and built an engine first, and then put a s/c on it.


This man speaks the truth.


That's how the stock Longblock in my car met it's demise. Broken ringland.

It's not fun when your car builds boost and blows every vacuum line off the thing..... :shame:

[94blkz28]

without a doubt the one we did was an extreme case main caps should have been splayed but the rings are usually what goes on a stock boosted car also i gotta say when i blew the rings on my talon not every vacuum line just the pcv valve or the oil dipstick would clear the tube but the vacum line thing has to suck

[Divine02]

I myself ran 15psi on a stock bottom end..... ONE time.

[uncool]

BOOST IS ADDICTIVE!!!!!!

I can't give you advice on the LT1 other than keep it low if it is stock. I will build a 383 one day and run some form of boost.

My truck is a good example, stock it was 17psi from the factory. 25 with a mild chip, 30 with a hot chip. 66mm turbo 35 psi. Bigger injectors 40 psi. 70mm turbo 48psi. 72mm turbo, huge ass injectors and dyno tuned, 58psi on the stock bottom end. Now my injectors are too big and I am stepping up to a compound setup. 92mm over a 66mm charger, should break the 750 RWHP buy the end of this year. Then I will have to build a new motor for it.

[Divine02]

Hey just thought i'd let you know I have a Vortech V1 for sale in the sales section for 2000. It has around 2,000 miles on it. It would work great on your stock engine.

[CALL911]

This question has been brought up numerous times before by others wanting to boost their stock bottom ended LT1 (or LS1 for that matter). Here's the skinny;

Your stock bottom end LT1 is a non-forged internal, high CR car (not meant to handle boost). True, you can put boost on it, even if you stay with the just 5-7#'s of boost you wanted, that still is going to put heavy wear on a motor that it was not designed to handle. Eventually it will go boom on you, and you will be looking at a costly rebuild. It might make it 25,000 miles, or it might not make it 2500 miles, but every time put the hammer down you will be rolling the dice on if this will be the time it goes on me. You can help your odds by doing meth injection, intercooling it, adding the appropriate fuel, ignition and tuning that FI requires, but even then you still are rolling the dice, and when it comes down to it for what? 5-7 lbs of boost is not really going to net you that much extra power. Even if you do it as safe as you can by doing all the supportive mods, you still will be out thousands by buying the fuel upgrades, tune, ignition, meth injection, intercooling, this is to say nothing of the thousands that the head unit will cost you either.

Just my opinion, but you would be much better off just doing a killer heads, cam, and intake combo. It would gain you a good amount of power, be more reliable (and not nearly the level of damaging to your motor), and cost you MUCH less. This is ideal as well as you said you are pinching pennies as it is.

There's a reason there aren't Turbo and Supercharged F-bodies everywhere. It's because to do so costs a lot of $. To go FI the correct way, you will not only need the head unit, and all the supporting mods, but you'll need to build your motor to take the boost. Dropping the CR, getting forged pistons, 4 bolt mains, ect. Once you've built the motor to take the boost, then you can really take advantage of going FI and run more in the 15-20#'s of boost range and see RWHP numbers in the 500-700+ range. But then you also have to consider the other things you'll need to withstand the power like tranny/clutch, driveshaft, rear, and God help you if you want to be able to use the power (traction), then you'll need a ton of suspension work. All together your looking at $12,000-$20,000 to do it right. $12,000 would be saving some money on doing it cheep by purchasing from companies like Eagle, or Summit. Or you can get the bullit proof stuff like I did and go with companies like Lunati, and Oliver and your price tag will be closer to the $20,000 mark.

[Fire67]

Call911 - Very well said. Lots of valid points! Only thing I would like to add for people who may not be swayed by your points and cost estimates... The cost estimates are exactly that, Estimates. There are so many variable things a person looking to go the FI route could choose from that there is no actual cost range. Someone could spend less than $12k on a basic forced induction setup. Just as someone could easily eclipse $20k. I personally fit into the latter group of people :)

[CALL911]

Call911 - Very well said. Lots of valid points! Only thing I would like to add for people who may not be swayed by your points and cost estimates... The cost estimates are exactly that, Estimates. There are so many variable things a person looking to go the FI route could choose from that there is no actual cost range. Someone could spend less than $12k on a basic forced induction setup. Just as someone could easily eclipse $20k. I personally fit into the latter group of people :)

I guess it would be possible to get used parts (like the blower itself), a very cheep block, and pinch pennies here and there, but for the average guy who wants to buy at least "new" cheep parts from Summit and Eagle, he would still be in the range of around $12,000 invested, whereas others of us who want the more powerfull rock solid setups who spend the coin in parts like Diamond and Oliver will still have the $20,000 range. But, "yes" it is an average.

This is all to say they still are doing it the "right way" by purchasing everything they need to safely run FI. Of course they can just slap a blower on the car for cheep without doing anything else, but that gets back into the possibility they will be investing in a new motor before their first oil change.

[bricez28]

what^

[tomsws6]

what the hell is that????????????

[Z28pr0jekt]

just stupid spam, don't worry I reported it

[Fastbird]

Taken care of.

[hotrod96z28]

I have a 96' z28 with a procharger on my lt1. you will need to get an msd ignition, second fuel pump to keep enough pressure up so you dont run lean and blow ur engine. youll also have to a aftermarket fuel pressure regulator. then theres the gages for air/fuel mixture, boost, fuel pressure and a tranny temp so you can keep an eye on things.

[boosted95z]

My car made it maybe 3k miles with 8 psi. Granted it was a fun 3k miles, but now I am in the middle of a costly rebuild. I stick to what I recommended with building the engine first. :doh: