Ok well the car will be here shortly, damn I cant wait :yesnod:
I have about $1k to spend. So my question is what should the first mod be? The brakes are running a bit thin in the front, so maybe new rotors or should I just put new pads on there? That is the only thing that really needs to be fixed, the other things are rather minor and can be fixed over time. So what do you guys think?

 

With $1,000 a set of lower gears + the install price would be my first choice.

 

I second the gears, best bang for the buck. :smash:

 

gears take more bucks to run in the long run too. Maybe I am opposed to gears because I drive my car so much but I would go with mods to free up intake and exhaust

 

Do the gears but plan on spending some money to recalibrate the speedo too.

Sam

 

Make the best use of the Hp you already have and drop the gear ratio. You won't regret it.

:D

 

MAybe a better question would be how often do you plan to drive the car, i wouldn't do gears right now because i am averaging almost 2,000 miles a month and have been down to Bowling Green already once this year from Colorado and like getting 25+ MPG

 

3.73's. LT-1's LOVE THEM!!

 

Just curious, with all those mods what kind of gas mileage are you getting?

 

1. Gears - 3.73 are :cool:
2. Exhaust / Headers

Flame Red

 

High performance air filter and a high performance exhaust. I prefer Borla because that's what I have on my 86, plus I work for them
:jester

 

I drive 45 miles each way to work so if it is somthing that is not that great if you put a lot of miles on the car I will prolly skip it for now.
Unfortunatly I would not go a Borla exhaust, had it on my last car and loved it, but it is rather expensive. So maybe put Corsa on and wait for everything else. The car already has the open lid on the air intake, but I have head that does not give any upgrade. So maybe do a ram-air and the hurst shifter and save some for later?

 

MBVette,
I live 45 minutes from you, where do you work? north or south of where you live? do you have a beater car to drive while you do mods on your car? and is your car an auto or 6 speed? if its an auto, go for a torque converter and gears! if its a stickshift, well you can always follow my recipe and do your own work and get the hot cam kit and port your own heads yourself.. along with a few other little mods and do it all for right at a grand. this will put you in the high 12's and leave room for all the other bolt on mods. this with some other mods has put me deep into the 12's at a best to date after two track visits of a 12.45@113.8mph and i know there is more in her then this.... driveability has not changed much at all, i still have a significant torque curve/line :D and the car feels extremely strong. before the mods i had a best of 13.7@104mph on street tires. so you can see that it is a worthwhile addition. with other add ons you will see better results then you would have with the stock motor as well. as they will be fairly restrictive after your engine is set up for a significant increase in airflow. your in luck with tools because i happened to fabricate or purchase all that are necessary to complete this job and i just finished it up a couple weeks ago so i have the experience and a fresh emmory as to exactly what must be done. i feel its a job that can realistically be completed in 2 weeks and 3 weekends, this includes porting of the heads and a valve job. below is a price breakdown of what i would recommend for the modded budget you specified....

- GM Hotcam kit (cam, 1.6 roller rockers, shims, retainers, locks, all gaskets, LT4 knock module, timing chain kit (deduct a $100 if car has low miles and timing chain & sprockets can be reused), assembly lube, and sealant, and valve seals...... $795 shipped (Jeff Kopp@superior chevy, great service)

- Standard abrasive delux head porting kit...... $42 shipped (i have the video you can borrow and you could borrow my die grinder if you don't have one)

- Competition valve job including assembly of heads......$100 locally (well reputed race machinist)

- Taylor 8mm wires and NGK plugs....from speed demon motorsports, ~$64 shipped (great service)

this puts you right at the $1000 mark minus a few bucks for standard new car maintanance like 6 quarts mobil 1, and antifreeze to refill after work is done, and a few more bucks to modify the opti while you have access to it.
this is another eason i recommend the mods i did in conjunction with the cam etc.. thay are all monster jobs that you can do while you in progress with the heads and cam modding. also this will allow your to completely clean all your intake components ie Throttle body and intake manifold as well as port match everything and smooth the manifold ports for better flow, it really gives you a good breathing power plant to add onto! anyway, just some food for thought, after this the gears would truly be awe inspiring but are not necessary, i still have the stocker 3.45's in my rear and am no slouch even off the line. best 60' is a 1.86 thats with the 3.45's and a six speed. with the 4.10's i am aiming for a 1.7x or even a 1.6 if the DR's hold the track as well as they have been! drop me a line, my email is lcvette1@aol.com if nothing else, i would like to meet and maybe hit the track with some of the other forum members!

later man,
chris :smash:

 

Chris,
Check your email.

Thanks,
Sam

 

I average only 1-2MPG less after my gears and quite honestly I think it's because I am on the gas a lot harder now.

Depending on the type of driving you do it can improve mileage. If you do more low speed city driving gears can help you, it take a lot less throttle to achieve the same acceleration.

:smash:

 

thanks guys, I have thought about it and I think for now I will start with the Corsa exhaust and move on from there.