I want to fix up my 94 caprice.

[nazayya]

I've had my 94 caprice for about a year now and am still saving some money to fix it up. I have never worked on cars or did any mods, but I would love to start now. I have searched a few places on the web but haven't found what I'm looking for. I'm looking for some exterior body mods to better the appearance of the car. Also, I have no idea what I need to put under the hood to get some more horsepower out of it. It's a 4.3L Lt1 Engine but I am not totally satisfied with it's performance. It doesn't have that much of a kick when it comes to accelerating. I'm sort of hoping for something along the lines of 1-3 thousand dollars. I want the most horsepower for as little money as possible. I would appreciate any advice on this situation. I'm looking forward to this project. Thanx alot.

First, if it's a 4.3, it's not an LT1. The LT1 displaces 5.7 L or 350 cid. Second, if it's a 4.3, no wonder you think it's slow. There are some mods you can do to the 4.3, but I doubt it will gain you much for the money you want to spend. If the rest of the car is in really good shape, I would start by pulling the 4,3 and finding a 350 from another car to drop in. Same goes for the trans. I would look to change the rear end and suspension as well. The biggest advantage to working on these cars is that parts are everywhere, and they're cheap. Look in junkyards, try to find old police cars to get the parts off of them. You will ultimately be spending more than $3000 on it though.

[justen]

1)do the appearance 2)then do power mods, 3)then do the interior of the car. Otherwise if you have it stripped down completely, 1)I'd do power mods first then 2)exterior,3) then comes interior.

[nazayya]

Thanx alot Highwayman. It's good to know I'm not crazy. I knew it wasn't performing as well as I hear LT1's do. Now I know Why.
I guess I might have to start looking around some junk yards in my area. Thanx again.

[mailman]

[i] You will ultimately be spending more than $3000 on it though. [/B]

Dump the 4.3 and go with 350. Unless you can find a good low milage used engine, iI would recommend buying a new GM crate engine. For around $2,000 you will have new engine with 3 year 36,000 warranty. There is an old saying "Horsepower cost money, how fast do you want to go". What you say you want to do will cost you considerable more than $3,000. Everytime I have modified a car it has always cost more than I thought. You will usually never recoup the money invested when you sell the vehicle. Be aware of this going in.

It a baby LT1!
You can swap an 5.7 lt1 in its place and get the pcm redone at PCMFORLESS.com for $100 or just get the program redone!

it is an LT1 but its a baby LT1! To the eye you cant tell the difference.

[DaddyCool]

Your motor is the L99. 200HP, 245lb ft torque. It looks the same as the LT1. You may wish to sell it and buy one with the LT1 in it. The best values are X Cop cars that carry the 9C1 option. That's what I did. I just purchased a '96 Caprice X Tucson, AZ patrol car. Had it repainted and put some Aluminum wheels on it. Purchase price was $2900.00. With paint and wheels, $4000.00.

Check out 9C1.com for info on the Caprice Cop Cars and see my find at dcmarine.com/caprice

Regards,
Dave