New LS1 Owners - Newbie Tech - Whats the cheapest way to get 400 to 500hp in my 98' automatic T/a

As the titile stated I would like to get 500rwhp w/o nos, I raced a t/a once that had this and just killed me, I am basically stock, wanna get headers but sure what else to do, any ideas, oh did I say I wanted to be cheap about?!?!

500rwhp and the word cheap do not go hand in hand...
if you want to run with the big dogs your gonna have to pay....:judge:

in an auto , for 500rwhp it will take forced induction or larger displacment with H/C...

you have to have realistic goals...
a better way to word this would be...

i have X amount of money, what can i do that will have the most effect on how fast i go?
you need to know whats important to you...

dyno numbers
track times
highspeed
cornering
looks
streetablilty
ect ect ect...

if you say, I want to be faster then most cars i will meet on the street in the 1/4 mile.. then there is a route for that....but it is night and day differant from , i want a car that handles like its on rails ,but still lays down INSANE dyno numbers...

being fast is only 40% about power....
the rest of the 60% is traction, weight transfer, weight, power usage, power band, gear setup, suspention set up, track prep, DA"s that day.... ect ect ect....

its too easy to say i want 500 RWHP... i can get you that for 5000 bucks... but the first time you hit the gas you will brake ALOT of shit in your drivetrain...tranny, rear, driveshaft...ect.. then we can fix all that...another 8000 bucks... and you go to the track and get your doors blown in backwards by a cam only f-body..why? cause he hooks and goes and you turn your tires into pillars of smoke....

understand, there is NOTHING cool about a 500 hp 12 second car....;)

be more specific... what do you REALLY want out of your car?

what ^ he said.

Lol, he said cheap.

There isn't a better explanation than what jaberwaki said. But IF ALL you care about is 500rwhp in an automatic. Throw on a ATI d1sc supercharger kit and you'll be there. Just be prepared to spend money when you break stuff.

if your not breakin stuff...your not putting down enough power...:D

oh..and pretty much whats been said allready is good advise...one questions though...why not nitrous???? 500rwhp would be cake and perfectly safe..;)

Well if he's anything like me, I like to have power all the time. Not worry about bottle pressure, or having to go and fill up every so often. It's often referred to as cheating. It's just not worth all of the crap that you have to deal with to me. However, it is cheap power, and it works.

Well if he's anything like me, I like to have power all the time. Not worry about bottle pressure, or having to go and fill up every so often. It's often referred to as cheating. It's just not worth all of the crap that you have to deal with to me. However, it is cheap power, and it works.
yeah...i can understand your reasoning...but i also love nitrous cause its there when i need it...its not allways on therefor the car remains streetable yet has a ton of power when i want it. supercharged/turbcharged cars border line street/strip usage...dont get me wrong, if i could afford it, id build a turbo car without question...but again, the topic was "cheap" and theres no cheaper way to get it done than nitrous.

:werd: however, nitrous is still farily expensive IF you do it right. Nothing like FI though.

cheapest way is to do it right. built bottom end so if your at it you might as well get a bigger one as well. big cam and some nice heads. this way you could high some good solid 400's. for all that power im sure you will need to take care of the trans and rear as well. going cheap will cost more in the future, trust me. and you will want 500 when you get 400, trust me lol. get a ncie bottom end, dont have to worry about it breaking from higher rpms and you get power. spend a little not to save some later

Well if he's anything like me, I like to have power all the time. Not worry about bottle pressure, or having to go and fill up every so often. It's often referred to as cheating. It's just not worth all of the crap that you have to deal with to me. However, it is cheap power, and it works.

yeah i do not like nitrous one bit. i wanna step on it with my power there all the time. thats the only way to go but tahts only my opinion

Nothing wrong with nitrous. I'll be running it through mine eventually. Noboedy needs more power than a heads/cam LS1 puts down 24/7 in their daily driver. And the nitrous gives you one hell of a boost in output when you want it. :)

Forced induction is great, but it's thousands of dollars more expensive than nitrous and can be prone to causing headaches. (not that nitrous can't, but FI seems to do it more often)

Andy: realize that unless you have at least $15k to spend on mods to do it right, seriously, you won't reach 500rwhp with that car. SEARCH AND READ THE STICKIES. Figure out exactly what you an afford and what is realistic for you. You don't need 500rwhp to HAUL ASS.

Nothing cheap in this game.

do full bolt ons with heads, and a healthy cam, and spray a 100shot. thats probably the "cheapest". :)

Cheapest way would be bolt-ons + a 150 shot. That's definitely not the most reliable way though.

FYI you could do it with nitrous in stock displacement, but to do it safely and reliably you'd have to do a lot of supporting mods and forge the bottom end. Expensive!

blah blah... 500rwhp ...blah blah cheap
:funny: :funny:

there will always be somebody faster than you, even with 500hp. 425 isn't unreasonable, hell that possible with cam only(in a m6). it is important to plan ahead with parts, but don't plan too big

Like it was said earlier what good is 500rwhp if you can't put it to the ground. You need to be more spec. in your goals for the car. I have been racing for about 5 years now and I've never seen anybody win with a dyno sheet, only with the best times at the track. If you are racing on the street where do you live I might want to pick it up at an auction soon. LOL