It's just going to be a toy. No racing in its future. I plan on babying it. So street use only and weekend getaways. Funds are an issue so a supercharger isn't in the cards anytime soon. Wheels and tires are on the top of my list. No need to remind me of how ugly the wagon wheels are. Plus they have curb grind. It also has some paint damage on the nose and behind the rear passenger wheel. I want that fixed as well so the car looks the part. Like I said, I just want to fix a few of the restrictions that these cars come with from the factory. CAI and exhaust. Then have it tuned to run as good as it can. I'm just having trouble deciding on the CAI. The Vararam sounds like it works really well but looks ugly to me. But it might end up being my choice. Do most of the popular CAI systems produce the same power? 10hp or so???? If that is the case, kind of doesn't matter which one I go with.

 

Welcome to the C5...UP THE IRONS!!!



Intake, headers and tune will wake her up nicely!

 

Hi Iron,

Sorry to hear about the divorce, but like Carcass said, welcome to your mid-life celebration. You now have the opportunity to start a new life. I think you've gotten some good advice already on here from other replies. Living in a place where the smog restrictions are as stringent as yours are, you will need to be mindful of mods that might make passing the smog check a problem. I know there are members on here who live in California who have some tastefully modded and outstanding cars. I would suggest that you might consider joining a local Corvette club and tap into the vast stores of knowledge and experience from local and from online resources. With cars I've modded I always broke mods into catagories such as engine performance, handling, braking, appearance and creature comforts. Based on where you live, I guess in your situation I would work on improving an already great car in the areas of braking and handling first. One easy improvement I can think of offhand is upgrading your brake lines, rotors and pads. Its something you will notice immediately after the install. Then consider some wheels, good tires and shocks. All the engine mods in the world wont do you any good if you can't put the power to the ground, keep the car going in the direction you want and stop when you need to.

Best Wishes to you and I hope you enjoy your Vette to the fullest.



B

 

Congras on the vette. Just get it home and start driving. Get out into the hills and have fun. Find out what you like about the car and how it goes. Join a vette club and minggle with other vette knuckleheads, see what hey have done and get the pro's and con's from their experiences. The more fun you have with it the more you'll find out what you want to do to improve it. You may want more HPs to go fast and striaght, you may want more handling to wind around the hills. You may only want to get new speakers. CLB and a window valet

 

If it doesn't already have it installed, get a column lock bypass and install it. What's next depends on what you want to spend on mods.

An aftermarket air intake, cat back exhaust, LT headers/x-pipe, new wheels are all popular mods.

For appearance mods - high rise hood, new custom interior, painted engine components are good choices.

 

Thanks guys. I plan on almost all of what has been suggested. Although my order of doing it will be different than what others might do. CAI and wheels/Tires are first. Period! From there will depend on sales and such. I will make a list of all the items I want and slowly pick them up as funds and deals come along. Might be a while though.

 

That makes sense. In terms of the CAI systems, the Vararam and Callaway intakes will make cloes to the same power.. alot depends on how well your car is tuned also, if the tuner knows how to really get the car breathing well with the CAI.