germ79

Hello to all! I have recently found this forum and am VERY excited to see that there is so much information on the LT1 cars available here!

I have always loved the '93-'97 TA's and have recently decided to pick up a cheaper one and build an engine for it, have it painted, do some custom interior work, etc. My wife and I sold our Honda S2000 not too long ago and I've decided I'd rather have a project car like this than go spend 30g's on another car! This has been my dream for quite some time, so I'm pumped.

Anyways... I'm somewhat of a novice when it comes to building engines. I know quite a bit about cars and how they work, but I've never actually built an engine. I need some guidance. I have confidence that with the proper research, tools, and patience, I can build this engine.

I would like to pick up some books, manuals, etc.. but I'm not sure which ones I should get. Can you please point me in the right direction?

Also, what are common engines to build? I've read some about the 383 and 396, but don't know what the pros/cons are of them and others.

I don't necessarily want the fastest car out there, but I do want good performance, certainly better than stock.

Any advice you have will be greatly appreciated!

Jeremy

neil350

Awesome man congrats! I like the 93-97 TAs also, my freshman and sophmore year of High School that was the car to have. When building an engine think it through, I have plenty of friends that built their motors and later regretted using one part over another. What are your plans far as performance, do yo want to stay N/A or use a power adder like a super charger or nitrous? Those two will kinda make this motor be built one way or another, also is emions is a problem? You can build up an Lt1, dont let people tell you different.

Any case, things you will ned to rebuild also are the trans if its an auto, you will need a better than stock clutch if its a six speed and eventually that 10 bolt rear is going to give way. Alll those leave you plenty of options, tons of great suspension componenst availible and 12 bolts are made by many compaines for a 4th gen LT1.

HardcoreRM125

If your going to supercharge it ~ I Personally wouldnt go any more then .040 over ... No sense in weakening the block, for an extra few cubes ... a 383 seems to be the most common build up on here.

If your going NA, take the heads to a reputable shop, heads on an LT1 suck, having a well-ported set seems to make HUGE differences.

Dont be afraid to go "too" big with a cam, theres alot of CC306's that are street driven all the time... even daily drivers.

Dont let anyone tell you that the new cars cant be built like the old ones ... Theyre jsut as buildible, and MORE streetable, jsut ALOT more complicated to get it done right.

If I had the money, Id personally go with a Turbo set-up on an LT1 ... That way when your just bumming around you can crank the boost down, but when your at the track, run it high and have a blast... Try to get ahold of some of the guys on here who went with Turbo/Super/Nitrous and heere the pro's and cons of both ... see what would be more practical too you ...

germ79

Thank you both for your replies. I had to laugh Neil when I read your part about these cars being the cool thing when you were in high school. It seems funny for me to build this car out of all the cars I could build up, but they've just always had a spot in my heart (wiping away tear)!

Emissions is not an issue. It's great to hear that there are so many aftermarket parts available for these cars.

Hardcore, I've actually been leaning toward a future turbo setup. I have to do this project in phases though, or my wife might keel over! I'm going to have to do some research on the turbo setup now!

THanks again!

Jeremy