During the last two weeks I replaced my shocks, added an AFPR, and a 52mm TB.

Took my original Bilsteins off and put on some Gabriel VST's. I've always liked Gabriel.

Here's my Holley Adj Fuel Pressure Regulator. My old one was measuring 42# which is alright, I've got the Holley tweaked up to 47# now. Seems a bit better now. Plus, since I show the car, the chrome is nice..


Today, I installed my Holley 52mm TB. Nice and shiney for showing the car.


Since I have an LT4 it just didn't seem right without my "Grand Sport" TB cover.



The Holley TB wasn't without some flaws however. The breather connection comes out straight where on the factory one it was tilted down 45 degrees. This doesn't line up well with the breather tube coming from the valve cover. So tomorrow I'll go to the parts store to find a 45degree rubber connector.

Also, where the accelerator cable connects to the butterfly lever there is a slit where the cable slides through. On mine the slit wasn't completely cut through so I used a hacksaw blade to finish it.

Then when I tried to put my "Grand Sport" TB plate on the six holes didn't line up. So I took a drill bit to make the holes oval. They weren't off much, but enough to prevent the screws from going in. I also had to sand about 1/8 of an inch off of the top of the TB plate so that it would lay flat. It would get caught on the intake manifold. It's a good thing that the TB plate was made of plastic.

These were minor and quick fixes so it wasn't too bad. Other than that I love my Holley TB.



[Modified by LT4Mike, 3:34 AM 5/25/2002]

 

Very nice!!!! :reddevil

 

Looks great Mike! :cool:

 

I like the chrome afpr. Did it just fit right in?
Any problems replacing the stock one?

 

:cool:

 

:cheers:

 

:cool:

 

GABRIEL VS BILSTEIN, ARE YOU SERIOUS?
BILSTEIN IT IS BRAND, GABRIET IT IS :U :U :U :U :U :U
JERRY

 

connecting to the fuel rail was no problem, the output line just took very little tweaking. The output connection on the afpr is slightly more to the left (towards the firewall), then the stock one. But it wasn't bad at all.

 

geeeez.... chill out jt.... they keep my nose down, my butt up, my cornering level, and the ride is great...... just what shocks should do.....

now i could put out more money, BUT, having yellow paint and the word BILSTEIN on my shocks isn't going to do much more for performance.

 

I do not think so. Bilsteinis is bilstein. Why you just not recondition-rebuild it?
Jerry

 

The mods look good, but they won't add a single HP to your LT4. And dumping Bilsteins for Gabriel? Save your old Bilsteins, they'll still be in great shape long after those Gabriels are toast.

Eric

 

Hey, if the guy likes Gabrial labeled shocks so be it - they are not on your Vette so why get emotional about it?

On the adjustable fuel pressure regulator - now this is something that I have often seen done for the wrong reasons. Unless you have input from a wide band air/fuel ratio sensor mounted ahead of your cats AND you have your car on a chassis dyno it will be impossible for all but the most lucky people to get positive results. What you may not realize is that by increasing pressure you are presuming the engine to be running lean, when in fact the factory LT4 fuel trim is a little fat in WOT mode. So what could well be happening is that the additional fuel is "deadening" the cylinder pulses a bit, which will make the engine "feel" smoother. I say all of this not to pick on you, but as someone who has spent a bit of time on the dyno (three hours yesterday for instance), and I have the aforementioned wide band air/fuel ratio sensor, and I now have LT1Edit to do my own programming.

Best of luck, Thomas

 

wow.... it doesn't take much for this place to turn mean and ugly......

if you want Bilstein, Koni, KYB, or whatever...... fine!!! I'm 45 now, and since I was 16 with my first car if I've had to replace shocks, I've always gone with Gabriel. And I've always had muscle cars, (Camaro's and Firebird's). Also, anytime that I've put Gabriels on, I've NEVER had to replace them. As long as they keep performing for me, I'll keep buying them.

My next mod is B&B Tri-Flos. And I'm sure the Corsa and Borla and whatever people will have a field day with me when that happens. And yes, I know about the resonance and that doesn't bother me. Anything else is just too quiet for me.

I already know that someday BFGoodrich will replace my Goodyears. Another debate???

And what about ground effects packages???? I've seen bloody battles over that one. As you can see, I love Greenwood.

Performance and horsepower are two different things. I've made most of the usual mods and I may or may not have gained any hp. I guage most of my mods by performance. Any mod that increases performance, or at least doesn't decrease performance, is a good mod. Performance to me is the quality of the launch when the light turns green when I have a Rustang or a ricer sitting beside me. To me, performance is the "responsiveness" of my cars entire powertrain system. Horsepower is the "muscle" of my cars powertrain system.

This is my "drive to work" car. And when I'm not driving to work I spend most of my time preparing for Vet shows. I got my Holley TB and AFPR more for appearance. The performance gain was just an added bonus. HP gain ???? Who knows ???

The bottom line is ----- Vets are cool and so are their owners.

 

:cool: :cool:

 

Yup, Vettes and their owners are cool! And i love the way you fixed up your vette with all the mods including the Greenwood kit! SWEET!
:cool: :cool: :cool:

ANd who cares what everone else thinks! It is an expression of your personality. You did not spend their money doing it. So just blow them off and enjoy your car. You can't please everybody. Is it not enough that you share a common interest in a great car??
:mad

 

of course that is your car and your money and your taste. but if you decided post that there I think you expected some input, yes? :yesnod:
So it is input. Someone say that great, someone say and probably get right that mods you made nothing to your car in performance increase. My input was that Bilstein are 1000% better shocks that gabriels and I sad that after my personally experience. If you think gabriel are better it is your opinion and I respect it but you change upside down real world of performance. Bilstein is bilstein and gabriel is gabriel. Compare that two is like compare lexus and geo.
You can but ...
By the way your engine look wonderful.
Ahh and first and only job of shock absorbers is hold your car good on the road. Looking good is at the end. I do not think paint yellow your gabriels and give them bilstein stickers help even bit more in handling as Bilsteins:)
:cheers:
Jerry

 

Mike,
Sorry you took offense to some of these post (mine included). I'm glad you like what you did, but if you are just looking for some :) and :cool:, I'd post in the General section, it's more forgiving. This is the Tech/Performance section of the forum, anybody that starts a thread on their mods gets panned by others, that's how this place works.

Best Regards,
Eric
PS, if you really are into your Vette's handling I'll bet that you'll be replacing those shocks within 20K miles :)

 

That's ok I don't like Corsa or Borla people either :D
Seriously I don't think that the guys are trying to get ugly but just trying to offer some advice from experience to save you some time & money.
With that said I almost hate to say this but don't expect any gains from a cat back either. My et's & MPH at the track were uneffected after bolting the B&B to my car. It sounds like you are buying it for sound & looks which are the only 2 factors to consider with LT1 cat backs and I'm partial to the B&B.
enjoy your car.