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Current mods are all simple bolt on and no tune yet. Car runs great but I want it pretty wild.
Corsa x-pipe
EdgyVette ported TB and Intake
AFE Dry CAI
Soler throttle controller
Catch can
Skip **** eliminator
Planned mods added to current list. The x-pipe would, obviously, be replaced by the new one.
ARH 1 7/8 LT's with cats
E85
Stage 2 or 3 cam with DOD delete
Possibly do CNC'd heads while they are off
Tune
From what I've found in searches I should be in the 500-525 rwhp on 93 and and mid 500 with E85. I'll plan to do a before and after dyno to see the delta from my mostly stock setup.
I'm curious for those that have done similar mods if you have the data showing how much the head work helped. I'm on the fence as I'm right at my budget limit without them so would go over with them.
Did you go higher compression by cutting the heads? I'll never run below 93 pump gas as we have it readily available here in TX.
Did you have or keep a throttle controller like the Soler since that can be tuned? Same for the skip shift eliminator? I know most or all of that is tuneable so just wondered if keeping them has any value.
Given my planned mods do you think I need a cam with a higher fuel lobe? My thought is yes because I may decide to go FI later on and I'm not sure if I'll already be on the edge of the stock fuel system's capacity when running full E85.
I know I would lose E85 if I go FI later on without doing major fuel mods. Nevermind, the stock LT1 piston limits.
here is my setup, pretty close to what you are wanting to do
-afe intake
-soler throttle body
-elite engineering catch can
-21st century muscle car heads with johnson lifters
-texas speed vvt3 cam
-lg long tubes
-borla atak
-e85
-tuned
when i had the heads and cam done, i was running a mixture so i was at e49, and made 533 whp, running full e85 i prob gain a few more but not sure. my tuner disconnected the throttle controller, he said it kept putting it in limp mode while tuning
here is my setup, pretty close to what you are wanting to do
-afe intake
-soler throttle body
-elite engineering catch can
-21st century muscle car heads with johnson lifters
-texas speed vvt3 cam
-lg long tubes
-borla atak
-e85
-tuned
when i had the heads and cam done, i was running a mixture so i was at e49, and made 533 whp, running full e85 i prob gain a few more but not sure. my tuner disconnected the throttle controller, he said it kept putting it in limp mode while tuning
Thanks for the info. That's right in line with what I expect for power. How is the driveability with the VVT 3 cam? Does it still pull away cleanly from 1k rpm in traffic? Or do you have to be in a lower gear most of the time to avoid it surging.
I am going to have the heads ported by TSP and will pick out a cam with the shop I am using.
My car being a manual helps but it's still a street car and needs to have good manners because my wife drives it to work 1x a week.
Thanks again, Greg
Last edited by vortech347; Aug 10, 2022 at 09:03 AM.
you do get a little surge at lower rpm in 1st and 2nd, but its not horrible. if i am running e71 (highest ethanol content by me) i get about 13 mpg on the hwy, running full 93 octane it can get to about 20 mpg
The car goes in the shop tomorrow for the mods. Mods list.
TSP CNC ported heads
TSP Cam (Stage 2 ish) Builder has his own grind he uses from them.
DOD/VVT deletes and all the parts that go with a cam kit incl trunion upgrade to rockers.
ARH 1 7/8" LT headers with cats - got them ceramic coated along with the X-pipe. New plugs and wires.
AFE Dry Filter CAI
E85 conversion
Ported stock intake and throttle body
Tune for 93 and E85
It will take 6 weeks or so since the headwork will take 4.
It's not the actual work that is the delay. The head porting was quoted as 3-4 weeks. So I just added 2 to be covered.
If I was not doing the headwork then the shop would order all the parts and I would take the car in for the actual work. But, with my heads being ported, I have to take it in for them to be removed and the work be done on them by TSP. That's the majority of the delay. The price difference is about $800 for the convenience of using heads already ported and ready to go.
I'll live with it. Will give me a good excuse to re-organize my garage and purge stuff before the car comes back finished.
You don't have to give exact but what was the price of them doing the work? You should spring for the 2" headers in the event you do more down the road. Price is pretty much the same. So you are keeping stock intake and TB but ported? If you wanted to since you are running E85, you could probably have them mill the heads to up the compression ratio some. Best of luck. Let us know how it turns out.
You don't have to give exact but what was the price of them doing the work? You should spring for the 2" headers in the event you do more down the road. Price is pretty much the same. So you are keeping stock intake and TB but ported? If you wanted to since you are running E85, you could probably have them mill the heads to up the compression ratio some. Best of luck. Let us know how it turns out.
5kish labor for everything including dyno and street tune on 93 and E85.
I already have the 1 7/8 headers. Yes intake and TB are ported stock. I'm not trying to get maximum top end power as this is a NA street car and I still want as much torque down low as possible.
Future plans may include a blower so I'm not changing compression at this time.
My goal is mid 550 whp on E85. But the tuner has a Dynocom chassis dyno so it will read a little lower than a Dynojet or similar. I'm more interested in the delta from my lightly modded stock setup. I'll have the stock dyno results in the next day or two before they tear it down to send the heads off for porting.
If she runs 125 in the quarter I'll be very happy and I think she will. She ran 116 as is on a relatively warm/humid day at 900ft altitude.
Modding my C7 Z51 - Thoughts?
