Drivetrain Upgrade

[impalaplt]

Here's my thought/ideas on my drivetrain upgrade....

Please feel free to comment on the good, bad, and/or ugly......

1. DOD Delete (OBVIOUS)
2. BTR Truck Norris Cam, with an eye on a future LSA kit (or other supercharger).
3. ZL1/CTS-V Torque Converter
4. Headers. Long tube vs Short tube. Brand???
5. 3.27 Camaro Limited Slip OR complete Chevy SS Rear end
6. Programing. Custom tune or HP Tuners

Currently have the Solo Axle back set up on the car.

Anything I'm missing?

Thanks
Gene

[JoeR]

BTR Stage 2 Truck cam is virtually identical in torque and HP numbers, and it idles a lot smoother. That truck norris cam has some serious chop to it. The BTR is easier to run with a mild converter and is much more pleasant to drive as a daily driver.
My 2 cents (actual street value)
Joe

[impalaplt]

Thank you for the input on the cam.

I'll have to research that and see how well it play's with future (Possible) supercharging.....

[GammaFlat]

I grew up with a 69 Camaro. Get as much HP as possible! I had almost no money. Information and technology were scant. I ended up in 14's with a Small Block (305), headers, 4.11, 4 speed, alum intake and Holley. My buddies were mostly faster having more money and better prioritizing.

Fast forward. I have a Caprice with an L77. Faster, handles better, more room/comfort, better gas mileage.

For 1-2K, I could turbo my way to 8-1200 HP (see Richard Holdener videos for recipes). I concede that everything between the flywheel and where the rear tires touch the ground needs to be upgraded to manage the newfound power.

I could also take a more conventional path.. cam, exhaust, converter, gear. That gets me 100-200 more HPs and a lot of seat of the pants feel and smiles .

The best thing I could have done in the "olden days" would have been to increase cubes. The best thing I could do today is increase cubes. I think some guys are looking for the quarter mile slip. Some are short track guys. Most people are neither.

Most of us want seat of the pants in our "fun" daily driver. That comes from cubes, the god of torque. I'd recommend going with a 4 inch stroke ($1000 for the crank plus 500 for pistons...and maybe rods) and maybe a 6.2 block (kind hard to get a bare one for less than 2k). Going up to 402 or 416 cubic inches makes a huge difference in your torque curve. Not having to rely on high RPM for the exciting part of driving makes your package more reliable as well. Admittedly, your mileage may vary..mostly because your foot's in it more. More cubes has the added benefit of behaving better with a more aggressive cam.

At under 600hp you won't need to worry too much about breaking the rest of your drivetrain .

My buddies are all now operating cars that are only good for track day or cruise nights. None of them "daily drive" their "fun" cars. That's a darn shame. I think they would have done things differently in their current day configurations if they could do it over. For completeness they're currently in the 9's and 10's with one LS, one Big Block and a DART small block. Their transmissions cost more than most of us would spend on our entire upgrade project.

I drive my Caprice nearly every day . Those guys get a couple hundred miles per year.