Rsharpatx

I am have been blessed with having my grandfathers 2003 vette with 20k miles passed on to me. My grandfather has always made everything he had bigger louder and faster! He told me was leaving her stock so that once she was passed on to me I would have a chance to make her mine.

We'll I know enough about cars to know that I know absolutely nothing! I am doing as much reading and researching that I can in hopes of learning.

I am wanting to begin on the journey of making her mine. For the first go around have a budget of 4800 dollars. I want to start first with how she breaths and open her up. I don't really ever plan on making her into a track car. I care more about acceleration than top end speed.

So what the following is what I have come up with, would love to get opinions/advice/help anything I ll take it.

Intake - Learning towards Blackwing or potentially a ram air system

Headers -LG Motorsports SuperPro 1 3/4, catted...( would going with the 1 7/8 be over kill?) Also looking into B&B Headers

Exhaust - LG Motorsports Big 3 C5 muffler kit or B&B Bullet

I would also like to venture to maybe the 3.73 gears but I am thinking that will have to come at another time.


I am really curious about LG quality I have searched High and low but have come up with little info on them

Any feed back weather opinion or advice would be wonderful!

I am in the Austin Tx area so any advice on shops would be wonderful as we'll

Hope everyone is having a wonderful week and we get a sunny weekend to cruise

BigGun

What rear gear do you have now. If not the 3.15 option, then a rear from a Z06 with 3.42 can be had a lot less expensive than putting in a 3.73 that would have to be built. It would probably be a lot more reliable to boot. You should have money left over to do headers and a ls6 intake. That would really be a seat of the pants upgrade.

Just noticed you have an 03 so you already have the ls6 intake.

Aftershock80

What transmission do you have (auto or 6-speed)? The autos came with either a 2.73 or a 3.15 performance option. The 6-speed should have a 3.42. You can verify which one you have by looking at the sticker on the inside of your glove box that has all of your RPO codes. Here are the axle codes:

GU2 - Axle, Rear, 2.73 Ratio
GU6 - Axle, Rear, 3.42 Ratio
G90 - Axle, Rear, 3.15 Ratio

Vetteforplay

You can find a used procharger kit for 3 to 4k. If you had it installed and tuned I don't think you would be to far over your budget. I think it would be the best bang of the money. I wish I would have done that instead of spending more on bolt on for less power.

vettenuts

Personally, if the fitment issues are corrected, I would go with the Pfadt Tri-Y headers. On the intake side, I would go with the Honker from Callaway. I tried a few different CAI systems over the years and found this to be the best quality but it does require cutting the fan shroud which you may not be willing to do.

tbrowne

LG Super Pro's are the torque monsters of the header world. Fit and finish of the LG's are excellent. They slide up into place from under the car without removing anything off of the motor - very easy install. 1 3/4" will do fine for street applications. The Callaway Honker is also a good choice. They are a true CAI - fit and look just like factory. Corsa Pace Car axle back exhaust is the best choice with headers. Corsa's eliminate exhaust drone that can be an extreme annoyance with other brands. I have all of the above and have tried other brands. IMO these are the best!

neutron82

another lg user here, 2 sets of headers and coilovers and never had an issue... they are also a great company and there to help you if and when you need it, being in Texas I'm surprised you have had a hard time finding any info on them... have you decided how far you want to go with the car yet?... the reason I ask is because of the header choice, if you want to stay stock cubed with a head/cam setup then the 1 3/4" will be fine but if you plan to boost the motor or go for bigger cubes later on down the line then go with the 1 7/8"

here is my 1 7/8" set I recently picked up after having them coated

Rsharpatx

I will be back in town on Sunday and will check out which gears she has.

I am going to for sure take yalls advice and get the true CAI system little extra money but after thinking about it i would rather do it right the first time!

LG - yes as I was doing more research learned they are right down the road in Dallas so that makes me super happy!! Thank you for you LG guys info on the headers. From the sounds of it they are excellent quality and nice having them local.

Anyone have experience with their Big 3 exhaust?

Drone - I maybe be in minority but I actually enjoy it. On my trucks I have always taken off the muffler and put turn downs just slightly past the back cab simply because I enjoy the sound. And if I don't want to listen to who ever is in the passenger seat I just drive a little faster :-)

As for a shop I have reached out to aikman in Austin I plan to move slowly on who I decide and continue on my research.


As how far I am going to go with the engine that is a hell of a good question. I really do not know. Down the road I could see putting a either a turbo or supercharger on her but honestly it will take quite a while to get the funds back up to the level to go down that road.

As for now I am just hoping for a Sunny Weekend!

oh1vette

Auto or 6 speed?
If 6 speed - think about a short throw shifter - not to expensive and a heck of an improvement...
And when you get your tune disable the skip shift feature....

Rsharpatx

She is an auto.

I am learning just how much of a bottom feeder she is. Last night climbed under and got a couple plastic bags and other trash. I already can not stand people who litter but makes me even angrier now!

I checked out the rear end mad it has the 3.15 so for now I plan to leave it be and focus on intake headers and exhaust.

I am really surprised at how small the stock intake is in comparison to what is available on the aftermarket.

Been trying to narrow down what I want to do and the new plans I have are looking like;

Intake - the honker

Headers - either LG super pro or ARH.... I am leaning towards the 1 3/4 long tubes but the shop I have been talking with is recommending the ARH 1 7/8 or 2. Any advice on this matter would be greatly appreciated.

Exhaust - I am now leaning towards the Borla Stinger with the type mufflers flowing into 2 tip style. Is there any noticeable before advantage between. 2 and 4 tip or so it more aesthetic and sound?

As for shops for doing the work I have talking with aikman but I also have been looking into pro modular performance. Anyone in the Austin area have any advice?

Hope everyone is getting to enjoy a sunny Sunday!

Rsharpatx

The winding roads here in the texas hill country make for fun weekends! Any local guys have any good routes that they would recommend?

BigGun

The Borla stingers will be LOUD regardless of how many tips.

Rsharpatx

Finally have begun the process of this first project. TodAy I ordered the borla stingers!!!

I have finally decided the actual plans for this first bout.

Halltech Venom II intake
ARH 17/8 headers W/x-pipe.....NO CATS
Borla Stinger Exhaust.


I am all set to use Corey at Henderson Performance.

Now begins the real hard part and that is the wait for the man in the big brown truck!!

In the mean time I shall be looking on to phase 2 because the fever I have got won't let me slow down now!

Rsharpatx

Picture of my baby

RIKKI Z-06

midnight01

Take half of your budget and invest in the suspension, what good is all that horsepower and speed if you cant use it because you cant stop spinning the tires or when you are at speed and some jackass cuts you off and you cant steer away? My old fashioned way of thinking was for every dollar you spend on go fast, spend equal amounts to suspension/traction. I am building my 01 that way; I did the cai and headers, now I am doing the shocks/sway bars/springs. When I do the heads and cam I am doing the rims/tires. If I go bigger then I will do beefier axles/carrier case/torque tube/transmission. Everything has to match to play together correctly. If you do that you will get more enjoyment and a much better appreciation for your baby.

Rsharpatx

Today i went and had a baseline dyno done. There is a new shop that had opened up and running specials on dyno so took advantage. It was done on a dynomite dyno. Peak torque was 270 and peak horsepower was 262. So will be nice to see the changes after the planned upgrades and getting a tune.

The guy asked me if it had ever even had the computer flashed when told him no he was excited to see what comes of a "virgin" car.

Hopefully everyone is having a sunny Saturday!

Fed Up

That... Actually sounds a little low. I realize that the car has very low miles, but you should really concentrate on some basic tune-up items as well, due to their age, not their miles. If the car wasn't driven hard, I'd go with plugs and wires, injector cleaning, MAF cleaning and replace the coolant temp sensor (again, due to age). Clean the throttle body, and make sure all of your hoses and air fittings are tight as well. The belts may be dry, and they're simple to replace, so I'd do them as well. Look closely for old fluids (brake, rear, transmission, etc.- I'd do them all due to low miles and age- Water condensation wreaks havoc on low miles, old fluids)


I realize that you're excited about the car, and congratulations. However, it's critical that you focus on basic maintenance and safety issues (suspension, brakes and bushings all come to mind, again due to age and not miles) and get the car sorted completely. Once that horse has passed, then dig deeper into the HP game.


BTW- You do realize how brutally loud your car is going to be with this set-up, right? As long as that's what you want!


Well, welcome, and good luck with everything.

73Corvette

First I thought you were here for input and options... sounds like you already made up your mind what your going to do...
Great looking car your sure blessed to have a Grand Pa that would leave you such a great car.

Rsharpatx

Yes sir, New plugs and wires are going in during the install of the new parts also hoses and belts have been checked over and replaced the ones needed. I also have scheduled a cooling system flush, fuel filter replacement, transmission fluid and filter replacement.

Thank you for the heads up on the suspension there were some details in the suspension that i was missing for sure. The next round of improvements will be upgrading the suspension and handling of the car. I honestly due not fill like the car handles well under speed so i drive her like my caddy on sunday.

Unfortunetly the only service records i have are the oil changes and tire replacements so i am attacking from the angle that none of it has been done.

Any advice for things to keep a look out for are greatly appreciated!! Because my knowledge is very limited and i am just trying to research and learn as much as i can.

As for the loudness. I have always on my trucks have done turn downs right under the cab just because i love the sound