throttlesteer

As the computer has prompted me to make a new thread in one of the technical oriented forums, I thought here would be the best place to ask the question of all questions. I've already got basic knowledge of the LT1 engine, optispark, and other drivetrain components. There is one question that I have been wondering about that hasn't been fully answered yet.

I realize that with exhaust/intake bolt-ons more power is to be had from the stock motor. But, what do you believe to be the most power restrictive part of these cars? Where is the most power to be had? Cam swap, head swap, rocker arm swap, ignition, exhaust? I'm told it's the heads that are most restrictive.

This can be just your opinion or experience but justifiable evidence is greatly appreciated as well as it's a tech oriented thread. Thanks!

blkchevyz

if your talking stock everything i'd say the exhaust manfolds.

with that said that not an easy question to awnser. really everything is and isnt a restriction just depends on the setup. a stock motor/cam, heads are not going to be one. but if your running a 383 and a big cam yes the heads are a huge restriction.

you got to look at it as mods helping other mods. people are putting heads and cam packages on and gaining 50+ hp from them... but your not going to gain near that if you dont have the intake/exhaust to support it.

ulakovic22

Depends on how you want to quantify restrictive. I think that the intake is the most restrictive. The most power can be had from porting the heads, but I don't think that they are the most restrictive part on the car. I guess you could say the cam is the most restrictive as well since it controls how the engine uses what it has. You can add ported heads but if your cam does use the extra air flow then your cam becomes the most restrictive piece. That's a very loaded question and can't be answered by saying XXX is the most restrictive piece.

throttlesteer

Both very well thought out responses and it's my fault for not being a little more descriptive. Lets, for arguments sake, say we had car with a full exhaust and complete cold-air induction. That said, let's limit it to engine parts only and forget the miscellaneous exhaust work and intake tubes. What would you say is the next modification that you could possibly do in order to reap the benefits of these two tweaks.

As I understand it, after reading on other boards (www.ls1lt1.com) that the intake manifold and throttle body are well suited from the factory and are actually one of the last modifications you should attempt as they out-perform most of the other stock parts.

So, stock engine, full exhaust and ram-air setup. What would you (in your opinion) do next to take full advantage. What is the one part of the LT1 engine that you would qualify as being the best at keeping this setup from making more power.

blkchevyz

heads, cam and rocker arms.

if your looking just for a single mod then it would be the cam. putting ported heads on a stock cam car will help but not worth the money... putting a cam and using stock heads works pretty well but your leaving some under the table.

ulakovic22

Agreed, the cam is the most restrictive piece in that scenario. Changing the cam will yeild more power than swapping heads IIRC. Of course that also depends on what cam you use.