LT5 383?

[EvanZR1]

Love Paul's statement

You've never experienced the torque curve of a DOHC motor, have you? Once you do, you'll likely notice how "peaky" any SBC really is!

I agree 100%, driving an LT5 is very different experience. Probably the single best mod I've done to mine was a shift lite, otherwise I'm constantly wanting to shift it too soon, and you really don't want to do that. All the fun is being able to spin it out to redline.

I also agree 200% about not having your local speed shop do it. Do NOT let anyone that doesn't really know the LT5 touch it for modification work. Pete and Haibeck are both reasonably close to you, and should be your first choices. Heck, I had my car trailered from Dallas to Chicago for Pete to work on it, and would do it again in a heartbeat. I have a local shop I can trust to things like AC repair or standard C4 stuff, but the LT5 is just too rare for any wrench monkey to work on it.

[Ccmano]

Originally Posted by WARP TEN

I would like to discourage you from having your"local speed shop" do this kind of work on an LT5. The LT5 is a special engine that many, many "local speed shops" ruin. They simply lack the specialized knowledge that these require. There are several true experts on the engine, some within shouting distance of Wisconsin, who regularly build LT5s to be highly reliable high horsepower engines. Pete was mentioned above as producing a good value 391, and of course Marc Haibeck (www.zr1specialist.com) has done hundreds of LT5s, his only business. Marc is in Addison Illinois and is always willing to talk with people interested in doing something with the 90-95 ZR-1s. His website includes a variety of options for LT5 upgrades and also provides prices for all the work. Pete is located nearby Marc in Illinois and has done very fine work on LT5s for many years. Both are good guys worth talking with before making any decisions.--Bob

Omg! Take Bobs advice! For this kind of work you have no idea of the horror stories over the years from folks who took a Z to the local speed shop, Corvette shop, a trusted auto shop used for years or even a Chevy Dealer. You may actually find that many shops refuse to work on them. There is a listing with contact info of known national shops at the top of the general (this) section. Your in WI with easy access to Marc and Pete, they are the best.
H


http://www.zr1.net/forum/showthread.php?t=28634

[TX '90 ZR1]

Originally Posted by WARP TEN

I would like to discourage you from having your"local speed shop" do this kind of work on an LT5. The LT5 is a special engine that many, many "local speed shops" ruin. They simply lack the specialized knowledge that these require. There are several true experts on the engine, some within shouting distance of Wisconsin, who regularly build LT5s to be highly reliable high horsepower engines. Pete was mentioned above as producing a good value 391, and of course Marc Haibeck (www.zr1specialist.com) has done hundreds of LT5s, his only business. Marc is in Addison Illinois and is always willing to talk with people interested in doing something with the 90-95 ZR-1s. His website includes a variety of options for LT5 upgrades and also provides prices for all the work. Pete is located nearby Marc in Illinois and has done very fine work on LT5s for many years. Both are good guys worth talking with before making any decisions.--Bob

I'm going to chime in here and advise you take Bob's advise. As has been said, this is not the old SBC we used to work on. In fact, it is not a SBC!!

[Mr Blue]

I agree with Marty. Buy a car that has the mods done. Selling prices for modded car are not much different than stockers, and since you are going to mod it, that's money saved that you can spend on the displacement. I would say take Evan's route. Buy a car that has been ported and has a good exhaust on it. Drive that, then decide what other mods to do.

[EvanZR1]

Originally Posted by Mr Blue

I agree with Marty. Buy a car that has the mods done. Selling prices for modded car are not much different than stockers, and since you are going to mod it, that's money saved that you can spend on the displacement. I would say take Evan's route. Buy a car that has been ported and has a good exhaust on it. Drive that, then decide what other mods to do.

Heh, wish that was the route I took, that's more my advise after having done it the hard way. If I had it all to do over again, I would have bought the Haibeck 402 car that was for sale in TX when I was looking. Had built motor, fully ported, coilovers, big brakes, etc. Only issue was it was black and I didn't want black. Would have been cheaper to buy it and wrap/paint it than the route I took. You don't buy a ZR-1 to make money on it, you buy it because you love it.

[WARP TEN]

Originally Posted by Mr Blue

I agree with Marty. Buy a car that has the mods done. Selling prices for modded car are not much different than stockers, and since you are going to mod it, that's money saved that you can spend on the displacement. I would say take Evan's route. Buy a car that has been ported and has a good exhaust on it. Drive that, then decide what other mods to do.

I also think this would be a wise approach. The mods to get to 500+ hp never cost much when you are buying a used car. The marketplace simply does not value them high, if at all. In fact some mods on certain cars reduce prices. On the C4 ZR-1s, we know that if they have been done by some of the reputable folks mentioned in this thread they are great to have but rarely add much if anything to the selling price of a ZR-1. I got a pretty high price in 2016 for my low mileage '95 with the Haibeck 510 package, but that selling price was also about $20k less than I had in it. Such is life. It was worth it for the time I had the car, and the buyer got as tremendous deal on a great car.

As to my earlier comment about how non-experienced shops can ruin LT5s, I base that on my monthly visits to Marc's shop. Rarely does he not have at least one car there that was shipped in from California or some other state because it no longer ran after some work at a local shop. Not saying there aren't shops out there capable of working on them; it's just that they probably don't even have a factory shop manual and would have to do a lot of research on LT5s to really do it right. Regular C4 stuff like A/C etc. anyone can do.--Bob

[WARP TEN]

Originally Posted by EvanZR1

Heh, wish that was the route I took, that's more my advise after having done it the hard way. If I had it all to do over again, I would have bought the Haibeck 402 car that was for sale in TX when I was looking. Had built motor, fully ported, coilovers, big brakes, etc. Only issue was it was black and I didn't want black. Would have been cheaper to buy it and wrap/paint it than the route I took. You don't buy a ZR-1 to make money on it, you buy it because you love it.

Amen, Brother.....Bob

[vermatrix]

So I talked with Marc over there at ZR1 Specialist. Very eye opening. I wish I had the unlimited funds I know I would spend there !! Have to be carefull around the wife when setting up the work with him, so she doesnt wonder where the money went !

[Demps]

There is some sage advice in the preceding threads. I pretty much agree with everything that has been written.

These cars are great. I drove a stock car almost daily for a few years. I saved up for an exhaust and then headers. Aaron Scott at South Georgia Corvette actually helped me out with a chip...I was young & broke. It all went downhill from there.

I have a 415 with cams & 4.10s. A little too much gear with 555 rwhp. I also have a few other fun cars for different uses to include a LPE 385.

All of that said, my favorite car to drive around town is my ‘94. It has a ported top end and dyno’d at 412 rwhp. It has 4.10 gears and cooling mods. The headers & exhaust with x-pipe and other tuned work make this car a joy. It has a low end pull plus revs on the top end like few others I’ve driven. I’ll be flat honest: I paid to do my 415 & it’s hard to justify that money side by side with this car. I bought my 385 already done & the mods added about a third of having it done myself. I paid a fraction for the ‘94 that I drive more than both of them.

So what: I’d recommend a mildly mod’d car if you plan to do it anyway. For the most part, stock bottom ends are very reliable and when ported are likely to surprise you. There are some good strokers for sale at times but I’d only recommend one that is known around here. Otherwise you may be getting someone’s problem & pay twice.

Ted

[Karl]

Lots of good advice here. Like others have said either buy a car that is modded by a reputable shop or ship the car to Pete or Mark for upgrades.

Both are top notch and you are "right next door" in Wisconsin.

Best deal has gotta be Pete's 391 cammed package if you wanna build from scratch.

Good luck!