aaron_depue

My 94 Z is about ot go under the knife:Im tearing the motor out of her this weekend. Got about 5 grand to throw at a rebuild and new parts. Here is what Ive got in mind.The cars got about 160,000 on the clock

IN YOUR OPINIONS!

1. LE2 H/C + intake manifold
2. Overhaul/rebuild the block - staying 355ish
3. Stall- whatevers recommended

4. Valvetrain - 1.6 Rockers, push rods - What about lifters, locks, retainer ect? Will i be able to reuse any of my stock valvetrain?

5. 1 3/4 LT Headers/Ypipe - Whats the best set of LTs for the buck?

6. Injectors - What size injectors?

7. Water pump - Whats the best H2O pump for the buck?

8. Cap and rotor (opti) - Whats the best cap and rotor replacement?

9. Tune - mail order for now

Ive got several mods already (sig). My question is 1. What else will be worth my time and money to replace while I have everything tore apart? Im making a list of parts that will be needed for this rebuild. am i leaving anything out? Im goint to go track down part numbers later over the phone but im trying to get a list together

Thanks guys.

Injuneer

6. If you are figuring about 500HP at the flywheel, run 36 #/HR or 42 #/HR injectors

7. I've been running a stock water pump since the car was new. Buddy of mine ran stocker on his 1,125HP LT1.

8. OEM GM (now "Delphi") complete Opti. Why take a chance on the old optical sensor/module?

jwindh1

-You should be able to re-use your lifters, just keep them in the order which they are removed. Here's an article detailing inspection of the lifters: http://www.carcraft.com/techarticles...ock/index.html

-I would stick with the GM/delco opti if taking a new route, if you choose to rebuild, the MSD cap and rotor are a good route

-LE heads should come with what you need with the exception of rockers, studs and pushrods

-Injectors will depend on your overall set-up, LE can inform you

neil350

Generally with age and miles, a lot of the performance parts aren't the issue but it's old stock parts that have lived in your engine bay for 16 years and now your disturbing them. So they tend to either not want to leave easily or break when you try to remove them. When mine was apart for h/c swap, we replaced all engine radiator hoses, heater hoses, belt tensioned, radiator, new steam tube assembly and generally stuff that was wear and tear got replaced just due to the age. Another thing that was a great deal of help, I bought an ARP engine bolt kits and a tap die set from sears. We cleaned all the bolt holes up and replace old hard ware with new ARP stuff that came in the kit. The kit had all the bolts labeled in the prepacked cardboard and laminated sheets it was a big help and it's always nice to have new hard ware. I hate old rusty bolts.

Opti- Check your dowel pin length before installing the cam! This step is often over looked but is critical for opti life. Use a new GM Opti, I have done this and never had issues with optis. Also use a new GM vented vacuum harness as well as a new opti electrical harness, don't have to use GM for that, EFI Connection makes this for an affordable price.

Lifters: GM LS7 seem to work great and affordable, I find the GM stuff tends to be better quality because it's meant to survive in a production vehicles and the LS7 is a performance engine.

Pushrods - Buy the tool to check the push rod length

Water Pump - I have a meziere electric on mine, I would only use a GM replacement water pump, I have done swaps on other cars and the parts store ones always seem to be issues. I've had great luck with the GM Water Pump. If you decide electric, Mezeire and a Painless harness are your friends.

Gaskets - Thunder Racing sells comeplete GM gasket kits, I bought one for my 93 and used a Impala SS Head gasket.

PITA: It's a giant paint, you'll hate it, but when it's over, it's awesome to listen to a cam'd LT1

aaron_depue

I forgot to specify: Im looking to be at 400 rwhp or better. This will be a weekend car that I doubt will ever see a drag strip or road course. Red light to red light...i guess. This info might help my "injector size" question

Speaking of all new hoses... Are there "annodized fitting with braided stainless hoses" kits available that are car specific? Sure would take all the guess work out of the conversion if there are already kits available. Wishful thinking if nothing else.

Thanks for the input guys. This thing is going to happen and I dont wana miss anything. Keep em comin

camaronutt

I don't think $5,000 will be enough funds to complete the whole thing. make sure you have some extra or a line of credit that you can dig into if need be. Good luck with your build.

jethrobodean

The little things on a high mileage car add up. I just bought a basket case 96 with 90k and thought I could get away with throwing a grand at the motor and be done with the car. I spent a grand alone on front end parts . YOu better budget $1200 for new struts and mounts and springs and all rod ends and bushings. No sense in making a faster car that handles like ****.

Injuneer

400rwHP through an A4 means you will be at about 485HP at the flywheel. Its flywheel HP that determines the injector size, not rear wheel. My suggested guideline is 0.07 X flywheel HP, which nets you 33.7 #/HR, which would round up to a 36 #/HR injector. There is nothing wrong with going a bit oversize, to allow for future mods, or some really dense air that allows you to make more HP. Hence, the 42 #/HR option.

I've never seen ready made braided S/S lines in a set for a specfic vehicle. Are you looking at the fuel lines, or all the lines? I've got all braided S/S lines for fuel and nitrous, plus the trans cooler. When you start running lines from the back of the car to the engine compartment, it gets a bit expensive. The stock fuel lines are more than adequate for your HP goals.