Got killed by a new Cobra

[Joe 1320]

Made ya look.........

I was in my slow @ss 97 WS6 T/A. Had him out of the hole, I kept him at bay until he walked by me at close to 90. Got me by about 3 lengths when we both shut down at 110. All in all, the T/A was a good showing considering it is basically a stock LT1 with a few minor bolt ons, 102K miles still with the stock plugs and wires. He sounded pretty good, was leaving rubber on every shift, but for $35K, I think he should have been faster. My T/A in stock(basically) form is good for mid 13s at 105, so the Cobra should be faster, not as fast as I thought it should be. He's a lucky guy...... Lucky I wasn't out in the GN.

 

[BLACK6PACK]

How are you getting 105 out of the LT1. My brothers 97 SS was good for 13.5 at 101.5 on a good day with a 2.1+ 60'. We put shorty headers on it (never again!!), but never ran it with just the headers. He also added a TNT system and with the 75 hp nozzles it ran 111.5 in the quarter.

 

[Joe 1320]

It is a combinination of things.... first, I seemed to have one of the strong ones right out of the box, but here is a list of mods:
(WS6 Ram Air)
Aluminum driveshaft
lightweight Borbet wheels
Firehawk SZ50s
K&N
Firehawk lid mod
smooth intake tube
airfoil
SLP ported LT4 manifolds(I like better than the shorties)
IAT resistor
160º thermostat
Ported MAF
TB heat bypass
Borla exhaust
Ed wright program
transgo shift kit
1 LE trans mount
3.23 gears (stock)
removed front sway bar

The car to runs either high 104 or low 105 mph regularly. Once in awhile a low 104 or high 103 but that is only when really hot. Once it turned a 106, but I don't count that one.... I have never been able to repeat it. Best ET is a 13.41 on a 48º ambient day on borrowed ET streets. How is that TNT system? I'm thinking that might be just the ticket for an occational extra burst against these pesky Cobras.

 

[RPM WS6]

That MPH you have with your auto LT1 is very, very high for your mods.

We have a 1994 Z28 auto in our club. With Mac headers and a cut-out, plus SLP CAI he ran a 13.7X @101.5. Then he added a LT4 Hot cam and some other bolt-ons (1LE intake elbow, gutted cat, tuning, 3000 stall ‘verter, Nitto DRs) and got to a 12.7 at 107. Now the car has AFR heads and LT4 intake and a bunch of other things but we haven’t run it with the new setup yet.

I also knew a guy with a ’96 auto SS that ran 14.2 @98 with Mac headers as the only mod.

What you are running for your mods is DAMN fast for an LT1. My auto LS1 trapped at 105mph when it was stock, so you’re doing VERY good.

Those new Cobras seem to be trapping around 111mph in stock form. But with a Lightening pulley and exhaust & chip they are really moving (118+ MPH)

 

[BLACK6PACK]

Lets see, he has:
SLP shorties
LT4 knock module
SLP CIA
Coolant block off
1le bellows

With that he was able to run high 13.4s to low 13.5s at 101.5 with really bad 60' times 2.1+ It took him quite a few passes to get that and learn how to drive the 6 speed. He had to shift into 4th right around the 1100' mark. Oh, did I mention that it is a convertible? So it has another 100lbs to it. He can drive it pretty good for a scrub. The car only has just over 40k miles on it, and he managed to burn up the clutch trying to launch it with street tires.

He then put a McCloud Dual Friction(?) clutch in it, and the TNT 75-150 setup. That clutch is a beast. First pass with it and the TNT and he came back and said that he thought the car was going to explode every time he shifted. He was chirping the tires at over 100 mph going into 4th. You could hear the tires chirp in 4th from the stands. With the 75 shot he was able to use most of 4th gear. The 150 shot may make him have to use 5th.

Joe, you know the difference between the acceleration feel of the LT1 vs the LC2. The lt1, you hit it and it bounces your head off the seat and puts you back in the seat. Then it feels like it doesn't pull all that hard after the initial shock, where the LC2, you hit it and hardly feel anything, then it pushes you back into the seat and keeps pushing harder. With just the 75 pills in there, you hit it, and get the initial shock and when it hits 3000 rpm (turn on point) it give another nice little jolt and keeps pulling hard. It almost gives you the feel that the turbo does. In 2nd gear, with BFG DRs, it was enough to haze the tires when it hit 3000 rpm. Go for it, its good stuff mang.

 

[Joe 1320]

Opps, forgot to mention the LT4 KM and I removed an extra few items for weight reduction. Also forgot a few trans mods like hardened drum, 29 element sprag, hardened pump rings, etc. I can't really explain why this particular car runs so well for an LT1. When the car was totally stock as delivered from the dealer with the exception of a K&N and opened up lid, it was running 13.9xs at 100-101 mph. I've seen other identical cars run a few mph less, occationally I run into one that runs as strong. The first runs were in cool (for Florida) January air. The second outing in the dead of summer in July, it slowed to a 14.0x at 98-99 mph. That's when I sad, "this ain't gonna cut it" and started basic mods. Each added a little bit, but the hail mary was the Ed Wright program. That got me 2mph. That dude knows his stuff. Any heat though and it slows a bit. You are right about launching hard and then feeling flat. Right where the T/A seems to go flat, the GN feels as though you just hit it with a 150 shot and about tears your head off. That's what I needed against that pesky Cobra. Hell, I spun most of the way through first and couldn't get it to bite until into second. Definately need DRs........

I did a hooker long tube and mufflex Y, borla and 02 simms on a friends 95Z. He has a few other mods like the TB bypass, CAI, DRs, 6M but a stock program. He just started trapping high 104s but hasn't quite nailed the driving to get a 105 yet.

I think I am going for a vigilante and a 75 shot kit. I figure that should put me close to a 12.9x on radials, quicker with DRs. I am just a little paranoid about the juice on a 102K mile motor. I am anal about 2500 mile oil changes with mobile 1 synthetic, but that is still alot of miles and this is my driver. The GN is the speed toy.

 

[BLACK6PACK]

I've seen several LS1s pop from the juice, but I've never seen an LT1 blow from mild juice. A lot of guys down here running the TNT at 125-150 with nothing more than an inline fuel pump for added safety. You should easily get high 12s with the 75 shot.

You must not have been driving it too hard to get 105 and only mid 13s. My brother couldn't launch with the new clutch and fairly used up DRs. He was getting 111mph at 13.1 with a 2.5-2.6 60' time. I can't say much though, the best I could get out of his car was 14.2 at around 99. I couldn't launch it and wasn't that fast with the gear changes. Before he put the DRs on, I saw him point the nose of the car strait at the wall on the 1-2 shift a few times. I'd say with the 150 pills and a good 1.7-1.8 60' time he could be close to the 11s. His car seemed to be a pretty fast LT1 right out of the box too.

We went to a dyno day for the f-bodies and he dynoed at 278 hp and 335 tq when it was stock. Several other LT1s were between 235-255 hp. His torque was averaging about 10 more than the 98-99 LS1s.

I'm trying to get him to blow it up on the juice and then put a turbo setup on it. He doen't seem to like the idea.

 

[NEARING]

Nice running LT1....well for the mods it's a great running lt1!
I sold my 95 6spd formula when I got my 2002 WS6 6spd.
LT1'S seem to vary by as much as 25rwhp from the factory.
Have you removed the "bug catcher" from the maff and home ported it? For me that was worth about 2mph and 2/10's.
A poly trans mount will knock 1/10 off your 60ft too.
The plugs and wires were the worst to change on any car I ever had!
LT1's aren't the turds many people make them out to be.
I wish I had not sold mine .
3.73's would wake that sucker up

 

[NEARING]

Darn I didn't look at your list of mods, That's about average I'd say....not average in a bad way!
Just that people shouldn't be about your 105mph for your mods.
My 95 6spd
Moroso cold air induction with K&N $200
Home ported maf $5 hack saw blade and file
Hypertech air foil $47
Poly trans and TQ-arm mount $60?
160 thermostat $35?
1$ bag of ice
flowmaster muffler with stock pipes $80
alum drive shaft $300
hurst shifter $1??
best 13.2? &105.5 with 1.92 60ft on hard ass BFG VR4 tires
On nittos 13.0's-12.90's would have been possible I think.
I don't know why I typed this

 

[Joe 1320]

If I do manage to blow this motor, I wouldn't mind dropping the CR a few whole numbers and adding some serious turbo boost or just doing an LC2 swap. I'll have a spare motor to work on when I finish the current one for the GN.

As far as the T/A, my 105.0 mph usually comes from a 13.4x run and the 104s usually come from a 13.5x..... I can't seem to get below 2.05s on street radials at best. I've got to get either DRs or better yet, the ET streets. The times I borrow a buddy's set, the car hooks great, but looses a hair in trap speed. What about a taller tire? Anyone running maybe a 27 or 28" tire on an F-body? If I changed to 3.73s I would definately want a little taller tire, but what about 3.23s?

The MAF is descreened and home ported with a dremel. It is nice and smooth and seemed to add about a tenth, but it's hard to tell due to adding the MSD (opps forgot about that mod too) at the same time.

I must be getting senile, I forget about mods that I've done. Between the GN and the T/A I can't seem to keep track of everything until something jogs the old memory. At least I can usually stay ahead of a stock LS1 out of the hole through the 1/8th. That's where I win some and lose some. Some LS1s don't catch me until after the 1/4, some get by me at the traps, modded ones walk me usually after the 1/8th unless they seriously hook out of the hole then I can only just watch them slowly pull. My best kill was a blown 84 vette owned by a some jerk who couldn't tune worth the crap. I burned him at the tree and cut a .505 light, beat him by a tenth at the end even though he had a 2mph higher trap and a tenth quicker. The two worst losses were a modded Viper, and a modded C5. Both walked me pretty bad over say 60 mph. Oh well, for the kind of dough they spent, they should pull me.

Mmmmm... nitrous......... I've avoided the stuff on this car, but used many a bottle through the 70s and 80s on alot of serious stuff. I guess a small hit wouln't be too bad... if I can just resist tweaking it ever so higher.

 

[ghall]

I think you guys are selling the lt-1's a bit short.The times listed in my sig. for the vette are bone stock--i mean BONE stock---still has 1-4 skip shift and still has the ORIGINAL GM air filter .Really seems you have to learn to drive these cars.My good buddy has a bone stock l-98----heck he went 13.65@103 witht that car------just drives VERY well.

Geoff Hall

 

[Joe 1320]

My convertible 93 40th with an auto went 13.89 @101 right off the dealer's floor. Not so much as a single mod. I did a few bolt ons and free mods and ended up running about the same as the T/A. That was a sweet ride and I wish I had that one back. It even had FX3 and a hardtop for top end charges. One thing though.... I still have this freaking dent on the side of my right upper thigh where it would rest on the stupid seat switches for the pump up lumber supports. It used to hurt on long trips and years after I got rid of that car, I can still feel the indentation. Freaking stupid GM engineers.

It is odd that the vette felt stronger on top than the T/A. Even though the timeslips were nearly identical, the vette felt faster.

 

[Turbojorge]

Nice kill Joe

My Best Friends LT1 with 150K miles has gone best of 13.67 @ 100 (1.8 60's) with just basic bolt-on mods. Not bad for just an Intake, exhaust, 2400 stall, 3.42 gears, and Ed Wright programing. No juice.


Oh yeah, it's an Impala SS ......2nd fastest bolt-on N/A one in the Nation.

 

[BLACK6PACK]

I'm not selling the LT1 short. They are a beast around town and stoplight to stoplight. The LT1 feels more brutish down low than the LS1s ive ridden in. I just know that they don't trap well. Most fairly stock lt1s at the track trap between 98-101. My brother was spanking a lot of the 98-00 LS1s. Well, not spanking, but he was running 13.4-13.5 which is what most of the LS1s were running. He pulls at least 2-3 .5+ lights a night and would trip the beams before the LS1s, but they would be charging about 4-5 mph faster, they just couldn't make up the distance in time.

 

[1BADDAM]

Got to love low end torque. We should know

 

[RPM WS6]

Originally posted by BLACK6PACK
The LT1 feels more brutish down low than the LS1s ive ridden in.

LS1s have NO PROBLEM making up for the lack of low end with a nice big stall converter.

But in stock form, it's very true that the LT1 feels much stronger down low. Right when the LT1s pull starts to fall off is when the LS1 really picks up.

 

[Joe 1320]

Originally posted by RPM WS6


LS1s have NO PROBLEM making up for the lack of low end with a nice big stall converter.

But in stock form, it's very true that the LT1 feels much stronger down low. Right when the LT1s pull starts to fall off is when the LS1 really picks up.

I can vouch for that. The last SS I test drove was an '00 stick and felt a little soft until half way though 3rd and up. That's when the car really came alive. At the time, I felt like I should keep the LT-1 due to the better feeling low end torque. I felt that in the around town driving I mostly see, there wasn't a whole lot of room to let the cars really fly. Advantage: LT1.

At the strip, I do see equally modded LS1s with great ETs and higher traps. Advantage LS1

From the bank's perspective, my LT-1 is almost paid for, the dealer wanted an additional 15K to trade. Advantage: LT-1

That extra dough goes into my GN to push it into the 10s.....
Advantage: LC2

I just have to figure out how to cover those pesky blown cobras with the LT-1.

 

[BLACK6PACK]

My brothers is paid off and it only has 40k on it. He got it in '98 with 10k on the clock for $22k. The window sticker that came with it showed $32k. Thats a $10k hit in one year. Its sitting in my driveway with my GN and my talon turbo. He is never in town so I walk outside and its "choices choices choices" Which do I want to drive - Turbo 4, Turbo 6, or Nitrous v8. Yep you guessed it. Turbo talon gets the daily driver status.

Like I said. TNT system, puller/pusher pump, and the 150 jets, and you'll be knocking on the 11s with no problem.

I wouldn't be too worried about 102k on it. Its a good old chebby 350. Taken care of they will run 300k miles. Although I don't know if nitrous is considered taking care of the motor. It is considered takin care of bidness though.