chips and not from stones

[greg press]

Hopefully at some time in the near future I will sell an apartment building I own and purchase a Corvette . I have been shopping on the internet and found a red convertible located on the west coast. 350 engine over 400hp and the add says if you change the chip you will be over 500 hp. I need an explanation of what they are talking about . The car is a 1992 with 21,000 miles on it. Buying a corvette on the west coast would be a lot of fun . Fly out and drive it back to Buffalo NY. What a adventure!       

[Mike Poinsett]

The chip they are referring to is the chip in the cars computer system that control fuel delivery, timing, shift points (if it’s an automatic) etc. These chips are available for a variety of applications and are a common modification made to todays cars. The nice thing about changing the chip is that you can change it back to stock in a minute or so.

[edward ericson]

And I’d add only that the chances of a chip alone getting you 100 horsepower (or 25 percent more grunt) are pretty slim, imho. 

The 1992 LT1 engine (stock for the Vette you’re looking at) was rated at 300 hp at 5000 rpm. (It was probably under-rated, as testers found it revved with power to about 5700). Even at 300 it was a healthy boost from the previous year’s 350, which managed only 245 horses. If you’ve never driven a 3000-pound, 300 horsepower car be advised: it’s plenty fast.

1992 was the year Chevy reversed the coolant flow through the engine. It was a ridiculously simple fix that made the engine much, much better (why didn’t they think of it before?) Tuners quickly discovered that a chip, exhaust and maybe some other minor changes could get them close to 400 horse without modding the engine’s insides or bolting on a bunch of junk. 

That is probably what happened to the one you’re looking at.* Be advised, though: some guys who bolt on go-fast goodies then use them to their fullest. 20 years of that might make the car less awesome than it might otherwise be. I’d be looking for a sub-40,000 mile example. Sub-30k if possible.  

These model Vettes are among my favorite: They’re comfortable and sleek, without the oversized hips and fussy styling cues that garnished the later models. I think they are under-rated as collector cars, particularly the 32-valve Mercury Marine-engined ZR-1. That engine really did make about 400 horses right from the box. 

*Unless he’s bolted an LS-1 engine into it, in which case you could be in for some fun, or not, depending on how well the swap went.

edsnova2013-11-18 07:53:21

[BEBOP]

You probably do not need 500HP anyway. Do you?

Randy in Chandler Arizona, great B-bopp'in teritory. I must have the only one in the country made by Rich Industries in Port Elizabeth, South Africa, on a 1986 Ford Cortina (english ford escort) It's a 1600cc straight four cylinder front engne, 4 speed, changed from right side driver to left side with several shafts and u-joints. BEBOP because I once had an MGB with license plate MG-BEPOP in Virginia.

[Mike Poinsett]

Like my Dad used to say, “A little bit’s OK, more is better, too much is just enough”.

[Author]

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