Hi there guys and gals, how the heck are ya'?

I have been reading this forum since May and have had my Corvette since July 6. I have been listening carfully to what people have tried and who suggests what when the twice a week "I just bought a Corvette what should I do?" question is asked. I have spent a lot of time going through a thousand different plans and component changes in the past two months. I have considered heads, 1.6 rr's, cams, Superrams, diff swaps/gear changes, performance TCC, and headers. You can see what I have done already in my sig. I have decided that I am going to do the following major mods first (assuming you don't talk me out of it).

1) Performance Industries or Pro-Torque TCC (2400 rpm stall speed)

2) Headers and cat back. Probably Hooker Supercomps, dunno which cat back yet.

As some of you know I am a bit disappointed by my (car's) inability to spin my tires from stop on the street. From what I have read here I don't think that will be a problem with performance TCC. A few questions about a high stall TCC tho...

1) I know an tranny cooler is necessary with one of these, I assume the stock one in the radiator won't work (or will it?). If I buy an aftermarket tranny cooler where should I mount it? I suppose there is room in front of the AC condensor, but I was thinking that in the back beside the spare would be better. Should I get a fan for this cooler if I mount it in back, or is there enough air flow?

2) Most of my driving is around town and at very easy throttle levels (streets here are very good for high speed drving, plus...people live here). I usually drive under 40 mph with rpms around 1000-1300. Will a high stall TCC be continually slipping alot and generate TONS of heat and cause my engine to rev higher and effect gas mileage? I know that highway driving will not suffer, but I was curious about sedate town driving. Will I notice a difference in drivability or mileage?

3) How long can I expect my Dana 36 to last? I have heard lots of conflicting opinions about this and a lot of Dana 36 lifespan seems to rely on divine providence. If I get a set of drag radials and run set up like I am now, but with new exhaust and a high stall TCC will I kill the 36, or can it wait?

Now a few questions about headers...

1) You guys with hookers, did you use the hooker y-pipe, or get a custom one made? Was the installation (of the Y-Pipe, cat etc) a good bolt-on, or were mods necessary to get everything to fit?

2) Are there any significant drawbacks to the increased underhood heat?

3) Since I have a vert will I have any clearance issues with the x-brace?

4) Any real performance gains to be had with true duals? I would keep cat/cats (sorry I have a bit of a social conscience).

Thanks for taking the time to read this, and for those of you who will, thanks for posting back. What I am trying to build is a great street car. I want it to boil the tires off the rims if I choose. I want it to be an awesome stoplight racer who goes to the strip a few times a year (if I get big into drag racing, then it's time for Dana 44 with 3.07s, heads, cam and Super or Mini ram). This is also a daily driver (per driving habits mentioned above) and I want to maintain mileage as much as possible. If you any suggestion re: this plan or thinkI shoulod go another way, please let me know. You guys are great and I appreciate yer input. After this my next mod will probably be a cam. Should I get 1.6 rrs first and then a cam, or wait and go with a cam that gets the specs I want with the stock rockers? Will 1.6 rrs by themselves give me much with the set-up I have?

Later,

Bob

 

If you get a 12" 2,400rpm lockup TC you won't need an additional cooler and you won't realy notice the difference untill you stab the accelerator, then the tach will jump. If you can't get up to 43-45mph to get TC lockup mileage may suffer a little.

My only recommendation on headers is to spring for the JetHot coating in/out. It not only resists rust but most importantly maintains exhaust gas temp which means more HP and less local heating and they look great for years. Assuming you are getting headers with EGR and AIR tubes, take a Dremel and cut off the AIR tubes and EGR tube that stick down into the header tubes and to port out excess weldment from within the header mounting flange.

Since you are having a power problem I think the Dana 36 will be able to handle the torque.

 

When I had stock 3.07's,I could spin the tires pretty easy but nothing phenomenal,then added 3.73's and its a tire screaming beast that literally breaks sideways easily with too much throttle and is fun to kick around.
For street driving,from 20-70 mph or 40-90 or more is greatly improved...its the best mod for my car yet.

I dont give a damn about 1/4 mile times.Its so overrated,a tenth here or there means nothing on the street for me.
My car spends 99% of its time/life being driven and is not a drag racer.
While 1/4 mile times are fun and a challenge to beat,its not why I have this car.
Sure Ill drag race it when I can go and see how she does,but I already know my top end will suffer.

Its far more driveable as a street car then it ever was and WOT on the highway will feel like the nose of the car did a jump and pin me back in the seat.
I never see 5K rpms because by the time I get there,im going nearly 100 mph or I have no road left to go faster.In fact ,after 4 grand,youre breaking every speed limit there is.

I usually spend the engine band/Time between 1500-4500 at the most and is mostly street or highway driving.

My point mainly is to keep the fun factor alive to when you drive the car and its spends most its time.

A converter may help you alot..it may not.
Gears,in my case,made my car alot more fun to have and to enjoy.

If drag racing is your ultimate goal,stay with 3.07's or under 3.54 to achieve best possible 1/4 mile times with a TPI engine.

Your doing the right thing...reading and research.Make one mod at a time.
:)

 

with the screaming port velocity a TPI manifold creates it's a wonderful enviroment for something like a NX Express wet NOS fogger kit. in the $ to hp ratio comparison with other mods i think this would get your tires 'a cookin :chevy i prolly should add a few more smileys for the offbeat post :)

 

Bob,

My previous Vette was an 85.

I rebuilt the motor with the following mods.

I had a shift kit in the T-700 but ran the stock diff.

I cut out the front of the air box as you have done.

I added a KnN filter.

I descreened and ground off the heatsink in the mass airflow sensor.

I ported all possible orifices in the stock intake runners and modified the throttle body to 52mm.

I added a variable pressure fuel regulator and ran it at around 45psi.

I matchported the intake runners to the intake manifold and the intakemanifold to the heads after I had opened up all ports in the heads.

I also ported around the valvestem/guide area in the valve bowl of the heads.

All porting was done by me at home with a diegrinder.

I ran 110lb valve springs with stock valves and rockers and used a Crane CompuCam the highest lift of the three available cams.

I fitted a hypertechthermomaster chip and a 160 deg stat.

I also fitted 9mm leads with standard heat range non fancy plugs.

I ran stock headers and exaust but had no internals in the cat and generic high flow mufflers.

The rebuild was done with a rebuild kit from summit and used usual standard but quality components and ended up with standard compression.

I considered this "performance rebuild" to be quite economical and without any serious stuff was able to peel rubber at any time with ease and would do mid 13's without too much stress.

I have to admit that I only used it to maximum limits on "special "occasions and never broke anything.

I sold it a couple of years ago but still see it and the owner often and the only problems he has had was a dud fuel pump and a small electrical fault so I couldn't have done too much damage.

I hope this is of some interest and use.

Mark.


[Modified by 59er, 7:40 AM 10/28/2001]

 

Hmm I expected more input from the guys who had done this. Maybe Monday will have people in their offices diligently searching the CorvetteForum. :D

Bob

 

Hey Bob,
A suggestion to make...theres a few good books out worth reading..Dave Emanuals Small block Chevy High Performance,John lingenfelters Book,and theres a repair book on TPI's,How to Tune and Modify Cheverolet fuel injection By Ben watson.
They can usually be found in any good Barnes and Nobles store.
They offer alot of good information and the basic understanding to alot of mods.

Sorry I cant answer your other questions specifically.But an exhaust,converter and better gears will wake your car up alot in the fun factor area.It will really feel like a Vette should be.
(as previous post Im in favor of gears first)
Rem the convertible was built more as a touring car,so youll need to get better gears like 3.07's or even 3.54's(maybe 3.42)
to get in line with the coupes.
That and a converter mod,youll have traction "problems" at wot on take off.
:D
Also,If possible, try and find someone near you with mods you want and drive their car.
Ive done this,let people drive the vette up the road, and they always came back with a smile saying"damn"...they wanted their cars to feel that way.
And my mods arent much either!
:)

 

The first thing I notice is that me and Bill are completely different, he doesn't give a damn if a modification actually improves performance, only if it feels good to your rump on the street.... whereas I don't give a damn how it feels to my rump on the street, I only care about if it improved my performance by a tenth.

Bob, I'll try to offer my opinion on your questions.

1) PI or Pro-Torque 2400 rpm is a great modification that will greatly help acceleration. I might even suggest you up that a few hundred rpm to 2600. You won't have a problem spinning your tires after this modification, I recommend you add some drag radials to your shopping cart at this point too.

2) Headers are good... I run the Hooker 1 3/4" ceramic coated Super comps... no problems with fit or finish.... good for performance now, will even reap bigger benefits later on down the road when you do more serious engine modifications.

3) Which catback... I dunno, they're all pretty good and probably within a few ponies of one another in the performance area... more of a personal taste on the sound and looks.

4) Tranny cooler... at your stall level, its not absolutely necessary, but... considering a tranny cooler is cheap, I recommend it. Mount up front in front of the condensor if you can. Your tranny temps will probably stay exactly what they are now with the tranny cooler after the tc install.

5) Dana 36 life is a hard thing to gauge.... I blew mine up at the dragstrip starting line and so did Red96coupe.... but both of us got literally hundreds and hundreds of passes at the strip in the 1.7 60 foot area before they blew. In my case it didn't blow because I hooked off the line, but blew 20 feet out when I was peddling the throttle a little squirrely and then it hooked while at an angle... blew out the spider gears. I think with most it'll last a long time, with others it could blow out at anytime.

6) I had a custom front Y pipe put in.

7) I've never noticed any significant underhood heat increase.

8) Don't know if you'll have any x brace clearance problems with a vert... never heard of any.

9) True dual exhaust will probably not do you much good at this point, I think when you get over 400 hp, you might start to see a benefit from this.... but not positive.... exhaust systems sound simple, but they're a great mystery to a lot... even the exhaust companies have a hard time answering this question.

Hope this kinda helps

later
Beach Bum

 

[QUOTE]The first thing I notice is that me and Bill are completely different, he doesn't give a damn if a modification actually improves performance, only if it feels good to your rump on the street.... whereas I don't give a damn how it feels to my rump on the street, I only care about if it improved my performance by a tenth.

-Was there a reason for that comparison Beach? He never said he was bulding a 1/4 mile car like you have one,where every tenth counts at the track.Youre an avid drag racer,Im not.My car is mainly a street car and driven,not intended for the 1/4 mile all times.

Its funny because you and I suggested practically the same mods,exhaust,converter,
and Im sold on gears first.Despite what my rump tells me.Yet I feel like I was quoted for a ignorant SOTP rump driving and had bad advice.I do care if it builds performance,where did I say I didnt care?,but it depends on what type of performance the person wants.
:)
The driver,drag radials,slicks,reaction time,shifting,street legality,etc,alot has to do with 1/4 mile times then just parts alone.
I didnt see is guy post this for a street car raced once in a while.

I even said 3.07's many times for a drag L98 car BECAUSE mainly,youve been the source to aid others in building a bracket racer or 1/4 mile car.I read your posts and learned alot from ya.
Thanks!
I always look at your posts because you have alot of good information,and I wont challenge that but the guy is really concerned as to why or how he cant spin his tires and what he can do for that.

We have different means or uses for the cars.I dont give a damn about 1/4 mile times because Im not an avid racer or bracket tuner.Theres nothing wrong with that either.Im sick and tired of the 1/4 mile is everything mentality...it doesnt define the entire car or the complete corvette.

I respect you racer guys that gain the best et times you can...I always read the posts with excitement,but if someone isnt building a drag car ,then if suggestions that equal what a drag racer says,but is called by butt dyno or rump,is that wrong?

(my 86 felt like a rocket 6 years ago when i bought it yet the new 94 Z28 then could blow its doors off...that didnt change why I bought it instead of the Camaro)
Hey its a Vette!!
:)

Thats fine for a die hard racer but not one who spends most of their driving on the street and wants their car to be able to spin the tires at will.

You answered the questions as a 1/4 mile racer,I answered what I thought was good for a street car, and we agreed alot on the same mods.Albeit yours was more specfific.
So is either one wrong now?

Believe me, if I ever decide to go drag racing and do it consistently,and want to beat my old times,improve,gain a tenth here or there, Ill call upon you because you have very good information and experience I cant beat.I didnt mean to offend anyone who races and has tried just about everything.

But can we agree daily street driving and 1/4 mile driving are quite different?

Look at is this way...say a person test drives 2 Vettes of equal condition,mileage and year.But theyre not avid drag racers.

But one Vette can spin the tires and fish tail like a mo fo off the line and scream until redline but another cant even make a squeal..which do you think the buyer will prefer to buy?Or drive everyday on the street?Thats the approach I took answering the questions.

If they wanted a fast 1/4 mile car, they would pick the one that had the best times despite how it felt on the street and go from there.

Either way,thanks for your info on the forum as always.Always good info in there to
learn from.
:)

 

Wow Bill !! I was just having a little fun with the post.... nothing more than that in it. As a well known respected forum member, I would never flame you intentionally.... I just re-read it the post and I guess its hard to tell the tongue in cheek attitude I had on a Monitor.... my apologies for that. :)

Yeah, my advise is typically geared towards 1/4 mile performance.... I realize not all are after the same thing I am... and thats okay, drag racing isn't for everybody. However, I do believe street performance and track performance are one in the same, with the idea of moving quicker and more efficiently. As a side note to that regarding gears on an L98 auto.... I switched from 3.07's to 3.45's and saw no improvement.... but on the street I would definitely say my 3.07's were much faster... with the 3.45's my 1st gear is literally rendered useless on the street on radials at all speeds in 1st, I could eventually waggle the 3.07's into hooking on the street though. But this doesn't really matter, I rarely even touch the gas on the street.... my last wot was at the track. I will say that if I had a slug 1800 rpm torque converter the 3.45's would probably be a hair faster than the 3.07's at the strip and on the street.

In any regards, whenever you see a post of mine thats borderline flame... its not, I'm just teasing..... I'm to much of a softy to flame people. But I will debate any and all performance issues with anybody anytime. :)

cheers,
Beach Bum

.

 

Bill and BeachBum,
Thanks for the thoughtful replies. Those were the sort of well thought out replies I was looking for. Bill, just as a note from my persepective BeachBum's post didn't seem like he was flaming you at all, just pointing out that his opinion was one of a drag racer as opposed to a street driver. I suspect that I am looking for something that lies between each or your ideals. You both have very good points, and the reason I asked the question the way I did (referencing both street and track driving) was to get the opinion of the die-hard drag racers as well as those who had modded their Corvette's purely for street fun.

BeachBum, yeah I will get DR's once the converter goes on for track driving, also bigger tires for street (hopefully on Z06 wheels), as the stock 255's will go up in smoke I am sure.

Thanks again guys, (anyone else haev something to add?)

Bob

The Tree of Liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of Patriots and Tyrants.

 

Bob

Let me give you my input, my Vette is basically a street car that I also run at the track. I go to the track about 12-14 times a year and get about 80 runs in per year. I think I fall in between an avid drag racer and a street only driver.

The TC will help you alot, but only if you run Drag Radials.

The catback I have is a TPIS system. 65Z01 also has this exhaust and we both picked up ET with it.

Good luck and keep us posted.

Vic