Help! $3500 to Spend
Thread Starter
Racer
Joined: Jun 2011
Posts: 283
Likes: 5
Help! $3500 to Spend
Hey everyone. Let me give you some background. I have a 96 Coupe
A4. I'm already going to switch my gears to either 3.54 or 3.73. This is what I need advice in. Okay, the biggest problem I have is that I live in California with their smog laws. The only thing I have done to my car is to open up the air filter and deleted the mufflers. I need some advice and things I can do to make my car faster as well as reliable within my $3500 budget. I would like to include the labor in the price but it will probably go over budget. So, I hope I can get some ideas on what to do and do it the right way. Thanks in advance, Ed.
A4. I'm already going to switch my gears to either 3.54 or 3.73. This is what I need advice in. Okay, the biggest problem I have is that I live in California with their smog laws. The only thing I have done to my car is to open up the air filter and deleted the mufflers. I need some advice and things I can do to make my car faster as well as reliable within my $3500 budget. I would like to include the labor in the price but it will probably go over budget. So, I hope I can get some ideas on what to do and do it the right way. Thanks in advance, Ed.
Burning Brakes
Joined: Jan 2012
Posts: 946
Likes: 0
From: Alameda Ca
Long tubes are illegal in California if the cats move at all. Not sure how the exhaust is setup on your car. Even though long tubes and cats pass the sniffer, it does not pass visual.
Gears, a stall converter, and nitrous would be best bang for the buck in my opinion.
Gears, a stall converter, and nitrous would be best bang for the buck in my opinion.
Race Director
Joined: Dec 2000
Posts: 17,551
Likes: 26
From: El Paso Texas
Are you just super fond of your 96? Because the honest answer is to sell it, take your extra $3500, and get into a newer car. I say that only because California smog regs are so tight, and if it doesn't pass when you're done.......
Otherwise, an LT motor responds to all the normal mods that any small block Chevy does. More air in, more air out, and fuel to match.
California doesn't care about the gear swap, do they?
Otherwise, an LT motor responds to all the normal mods that any small block Chevy does. More air in, more air out, and fuel to match.
California doesn't care about the gear swap, do they?
Race Director
Joined: Apr 2000
Posts: 15,344
Likes: 4,009
From: Texas
Hey everyone. Let me give you some background. I have a 96 Coupe
A4. I'm already going to switch my gears to either 3.54 or 3.73. This is what I need advice in. Okay, the biggest problem I have is that I live in California with their smog laws. The only thing I have done to my car is to open up the air filter and deleted the mufflers. I need some advice and things I can do to make my car faster as well as reliable within my $3500 budget. I would like to include the labor in the price but it will probably go over budget. So, I hope I can get some ideas on what to do and do it the right way. Thanks in advance, Ed.
A4. I'm already going to switch my gears to either 3.54 or 3.73. This is what I need advice in. Okay, the biggest problem I have is that I live in California with their smog laws. The only thing I have done to my car is to open up the air filter and deleted the mufflers. I need some advice and things I can do to make my car faster as well as reliable within my $3500 budget. I would like to include the labor in the price but it will probably go over budget. So, I hope I can get some ideas on what to do and do it the right way. Thanks in advance, Ed.
Head Porting: $1200
LT4 springs and Comp 1.6 roller rocker arms: $350
Tune: $300
That leaves $1150 for labor & misc which means you probably need another $1000 if you're going to have someone do all the work for you.
Don't let the naysayers whine about the LT4 springs. At your planned power levels and type of usage, they are fine. I ran stock LT4 springs for years with the HOT Cam and for thousands of miles on road courses at high rpm. When I took them off during a cam swap, they were still within spec.
Le Mans Master
Joined: Oct 2008
Posts: 9,758
Likes: 49
From: Houston Texas
If you can't do your own wrenching modding becomes VERY expensive. When people ask me how I can afford a Corvette the answer is " I do my own wrenching " If I had to pay someone else it would still be stock and or gone.
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