Hi fellow corvette buddies! this is my first time writing in a forum i hope i do ok. i am new to the corvette exp. but i love it! ok here go's:
1. 180 or 160 thermostat, i have read all the threads but i never see a decisive answer on either one, i hear the 160 is bad for the engine and unless i plan on forced inductuion or NO2 i should use the 180, but then i hear of a 172-178? which is best i only intend for naturally asperated mods.
2. I want to buy a new shifter, i have a 6spd I know hurst,kirban,and B&M all make one. i have beem doing some research and PRO-5.0 is making one due out jan 15 i was told by them it is worth the wait i have to admit i like their shifter better by the sounds of it but does anyone have any experiance with them? which do you guys prefer?
3. there are so many exh. systems out there i dont know which i want i like the sound of buying a used z06 system because its titanium and most of it sits behind the rear wheels and since its lighter it will help the handling because we all know weight behind the rear wheels is bad , but on the other hand its so quiet i want to make noise, i see the slp loud mouth doesnt have any mufflers so it must be light weight and its loud but does it sound good? any suggestions you could give will be great.
4. on the intake side of things i see a ton of systems as well but a new one caught my eye its a ram air system developed by VaraRam Ind.their web is Vararam.com it looks like the best one ive seen esp. cause i dont intend for forced indution but i hear horror stories of hydrolocking this looks like it would be prone to it which system do you find to be the best?
5.Plugs and wires? which are the best?
6.power loader where do i get one? and is it better then hypertech?
Im sorry i asked so many ?'s but im like a kid in a candy store i cant wait to hear the responses! thanks so much for and advise you can give me
:cheers:

 

1. I'm staying NA on the mods as well. I run the 172/178 integrated TSTAT. Exit28 sells it and has great service. To me that's the best compromise. A 180 is probably not enough to matter. With the 172/178 it stays cool and when I want to heat it up I can...but not like it was before. My oil temp will max at about 220 instead of 240-250.

2. I have the B&M. I had a Pro 5.0 in my Cobra and the B&M is similar... I don't understand eveyrone waiting on new shifters when either the Kirban or B&M work very well. I recommend the B&M with a good ****. My Momo **** sits very low on the shifter and makes it even shorter. VERY nice.

3. I took my stock Ti exhaust off and put on Corsa Indys. Great sound...yeah, they weigh a little more but only 18lbs. That's a few gallons of gas. You see a lot of used loudmouth systems for a reason.

4. The Vararam looks cool...but until they actually start shipping who knows. Ram air isn't going to happen on these cars... I don't care what they say. If you don't want to cut the shroud get a Donaldson or a Halltech Sidewinder. The Sidewinder with the front air screens (like on a Z) are very nice.

5. Haven't touched mine.

6. If you have a 6-speed skip the hypertech and powerloader for a while. They only help automatics unless you really get in to mods.

 

Aldoavme, welcome to the forum and Corvettehood. If I could give you one little hint, it would be to use better punctuation, capitolization and gramer. I almost gave up reading your post several times because it was difficult to read. Look at NetJunkis response. Easy to read. If your posts are hard to read, people won't respond. I don't mean this to be a flame, just a helpful hint, and once again welcome.

 

ALDOAVME,

Welcome to the forum. This place is great... I am sure that you will enjoy it, as well as your Vette. I will only comment on the things I have experience with:

2) Of the aftermarket shifters availible, the B&M is the stiffest. Like presviously stated, get a good aftermarket shift **** like the Momo ***** or the Hardbar.

3) There are so many exhaust configurations out there it gets a little crazy. Since you like loud exhausts and prefer minimal weight behind the wheels (don't spend the crazy $$$'s necessary for the Ti Z06 exhaust), you should look at either the Borla XR-1 exhaust or the Loudmouth. Both have no mufflers and bring a substantial weight loss to the car. The XR-1 has a resonator and it is pretty much straight back from there (two 4" rolled tips at the end instead of the Vettes quad tips). The loudmouth has quad 4" tips I think. Both are pretty loud. Many people go for the XR-1 exhaust... sounds great and is cheaper than most systems, about $700 from the forum mall. The loudmouth is even cheaper.

4) I too was afraid of hydrolock. Since I live in Oklahoma, the weather can be very unpredictable. I went on the safe side and got the Donaldson Blackwing. It replaces the stock airbox directly, no cutting or modifications required. Quite a large filter... really wakes up the car. I also looked at the Halltech Sidewinder (Halltech's underhood intake). Both are great, go for the Donaldson if you want to save a few dollars.

6) The powerloader has the most performance gain on A4 (automatics). It can help all C5's though because it can be programmed (by sending it back to the manufacturer) for your mods. Not too sure what the gain is if you Powerloaded a 6-speed.

Good luck with your mods... ask as many questions as you want! This forum is a great help. Everyone is very friendly. If you don't watch out, you will be getting together with forum members in your area on a regular basis! :cheers: Also, tell us about your Vette... :)

Patrick :seeya


[Modified by Patman36, 1:10 PM 10/28/2001]

 

Wow you guys are phenominal! I only posted my question's a few hours ago and you already answered them all! Fantastic, thank you so much. I will have the details on my car on here later tonight hopefully. And thanks RedHot i will check my posts for grammatical errors if you check your spelling, haha but i appreciate the constructive critiscism. :cheers:

 

Welcome to the CF. I would add either a B&M Ripper or Kirban shifter. I have the Kirban and am very happy with it.

As for intakes, I would go with the Donaldson Blackwing if you don't want to cut your shroud.

Check out the B&B PRT's. They have a nice sound and aren't that much heavier.

Good luck.

 

I think spelling grammer "gramer", is bad grammer! :lol:

 

Deal. Your post was so much easier to read. I just need to proof read more before I hit the POST button. Also use coution, these mods are habit forming.

 

Coution!! :p:
I know you did that on puropse, right ;)