These are the mods I am planning in order, but over the span of a year or 18 months. I am looking into getting a '00 MN6. The car won't exactly be a daily driver but I want it to drive like a DD without sacrificing to much gas mileage is that possible with these mods?

VaraRam B2.........$300 new
G5X3 @ 114........$325 used + installation costs or can this be done easily at home?
Springs, retainers, seats and seals $325
LS6 heads..........$600 used
Tune.................$500
Kooks Headers.....$650 used
Xpipe.................$300 ....which brand and size?
Z06 exhaust........$400 used
LS6 intake and ported TB $400 used
4.10 Gears.........$1600 new
Tune.................$300
Tranny Cooler
MAF

These are the mods I am thinking of doing or should I just get a used supercharger? With a supercharger what other costs are incurred? What needs to be upgraded on the engine/transmission?
the used prices were taken from old sales on the forum. Is there anything I plan on buying used that I should spend the extra money and buy new? What kind of horsepower at the wheels would I be looking at with these mods? Thanks for any and all help ahead of time

Matt

 

Heh your building my car.

Try this order since your spreading it out over 18 mos.

1) 4.10 gears.

2)Vara Ram

3) Headers,X-pipe,exhaust

4)Cam, intake/TB, heads, Maf, Tune.

I dont know what your plans are for the car but I dont think your going to need a tranny cooler. The 4.10's will be your best "bang for the buck" mod...they change the whole driving experiance.

 

thanks for the input, what kind of HP are you making?

 

My car was dyno'd pre the 4.10 gears and was at 413rwhp. In hindsight I wish I had not waited to do the gears last because they absolutley rock.

I am told my rwhp # will go down with the 4.10's so I am guessing now its about 395 to 400rwhp.

 

Several forum venders sell ported & assembled heads for about what
you plan to spend on components. You should also add for bolts,
gaskets,etc. You can save money buying used parts, but it is a buyer
beware situation,I have had good luck buying from other forum members.
As for doing the work yourself,If you are so inclined, have
some experience,and good basic tools, the mods you have planned
are not too difficult. Here is a link for LS1 H/C swap http://www.ls1howto.com/index.php?ar...3d17efd9f279ec
Good luck modding!

 

Well, hopefully all of this doesnt sound TOO rude...but I'm gonna have a lot to say here

IMO the VaraRam isn't worth $300. It only helps really at higher speeds and a cheapo < $100 setup off of eBay will get you the same gains for the most part...maybe a few HP different but really, not much...

G5X3 cam is a good choice. It can be installed at home with the write-up over at LS1howto.com if you have the ***** to do it yourself and the tools.

Springs and all that... $255 on ebay The comp cams "921" springs are the absolute "best"...but if you hang out around some of the f-body forums you will see these patriot gold springs are very common and do the job just fine.

LS6 heads are a waste of $600. You would be better off having your LS1 casting heads ported or being patient and eventually finding a set of ported LS6 casting heads on here. I paid right around $600 for some stage 2 LS6 heads from MTI with 918 springs installed...so I know it is possible. Unfortuantely I had to install 921 springs to use the G5X3 cam though...

Tune is $400 around here, but $500 isn't out of the ordinary. Make sure it is from somebody good or you will hate that cam, no question about that.

Kooks--I paid under $500 for mine used. The LG street headers are a good alternative and search around for some other info on the new header that has been on eBay...I don't know enough about it to say if it will meet your needs but it looks solid and is under $400 if I remember correctly.

Xpipe--not sure yet, haven't done the install for all my parts yet. I would think that an exhaust shop could fab one up for under $300 easily, I know they did for my brothers mustang for basically the cost of the pipe which wasn't much.

Z06 exhaust...eh, with the money I've saved you on prices already, get a real exhaust system. Hell, used you can find one for around that price if you're patient.

LS6 intake/TB... Definietly needed and pretty close on the price.

4.10 gears...more like $1200 new if you order it already installed or less if you order the actual gears and find somebody that knows how to install them...install is crucial on these things though.

Tranny cooler?? If you're going with 4.10's I was assuming your car is an M6?? If it is an M6, no tranny cooler is going to be able to be added. These transmission dont really have an oil pump to push oil around, just kind of sling it around...so there's no way to really add the cooler. If it is an auto transmission car, I would consider 3.90 gears instead, the 4:10's are a little much.

MAF... Why?..don't waste the money.



All in all, the supercharger setup is much easier and straight forward. You will be looking at very similar power levels (little higher with the supercharger IMO) and either way you are most definietly going to be needing a new clutch...but that is about it driveline wise. Unless you're doing some crazy hard launches on slicks at the track then you shouldnt be breaking anything else.

Numbers of a stock car with a supercharger added are all over the forum, search around but I believe they are around or just under 500hp on an LS1 engine and going the heads/cam/headers route I'm guessing at least 450, maybe 475 depending on the head work and headers you end up picking.



I'm was originally going with the LS6 stage 2 heads I mentioned earlier, G5X3 (114) cam, kooks headers, LS6 intake/TB...then ran across a forged shortblock so I bought that and am adding a huge shot of nitrous. I expect 450-500 without the spray and over 600 with.

Hope I've helped a little.

Thanks,
Carson

 

Also, regardless of what other people say, if you go to the track, VaraRam is the best performer out there. If you are not a track person the intake won't make much of a difference but I would still buy the VaraRam. Most people who don't like it has either never tried one or is a dyno queen. The above list is basically the route I took and have been completely happy with it. I put in the exhaust before the intake but either way doesn't matter.

 

If your car is a 00 or earlier. The ebay headers are an amazing deal, even with little issues, the materials and welding is first rate, even with getting the passenger side AIR tube moved and repolished, was only about 450.00 to get them to fit on my Z06.