I have to admit, so far your repsonses have been
more optimistic than I would have expected, believe it or not. The $15,000 figure was just a number I picked off the top of my head. No need to limit myself to that. I'm only limited by how fast I can actually make the money.
twogts4us has me figured out the best so far. I'm not looking to go directly from a low-13 second car to a 9 second car, but I'd like to set high nines as my (albeit lofty) goal, and not waste too much money trying to get there piece by piece. I'm more than happy getting a few tenths at a time out of this.
I will be buying cams (probably VT Stage 2 NA) for my current setup in January, but after that I'm not sure where to head with the car. (No, the cams are NOT part of the 9-second plan. They're just for fun for the time being.) I wouldn't mind getting a Kenne Bell, but I don't want to invest in that if it won't fit the car in the future. I'm fully aware that my stock block won't get me anywhere near nines, which is why I figured a good place to start would be getting a new engine. I have no idea how big an engine you can squeeze into my cramped engine bay, so some advice there would be helpful.
I should also clarify that while I do intend to drive the car on the street, by the time I actually do most of these major modifications, that car will not be my daily driver. Oh, and I live in Texas, so not being street legal isn't a big deal. Hell, I'm not street legal now, and it's still my daily.
I'm willing to do weight reduction,
suspension work, replace the rear end, transmission, roll cage......whatever. I just need to know
what to do. Again, I have no intention of using my 4.6 2V motor for this.
A good friend of mine has an 11 second TransAm that I've had the plasure of driving a few times. It's putting down a little over 400 hp to the wheels, and I can't even claim to be intimidated by driving it. He's going to be my real competition, and beating him has always been one of my goals. Problem is he's always one step ahead, and him having an LSx block doesn't help me much. I should add that we're in the process of rebuilding that motor for forced induction right now, so I expect he'll be moving into the low 11s soon. The point being I definitely won't be satisfied with 12s, at least not in the long-run. 11s probably not, 10s sure, 9s no question.
If y'all could give me links to see what all this Jim Fitz guy (or anyone else) has done to make his car as fast as it is, I'd appreciate it. Thanks for the comments so far. Keep 'em coming.
I've updated the original post with a few more details. I'll continue updating it as this thread evolves.