Ello friends
Thread Starter
2nd Gear
Joined: Mar 2022
Posts: 2
Likes: 0
Ello friends
I’m a 19 year old who just bought *financed* a c7 z51 I love everything about the car except how it sounds (bootleg rari) we’ve all seen the videos of loud cAmmed choppy sounding vettes blessing our ears and that’s how all vettes should sound tbh. adding heads and cam within the next few months any suggestions as to what products to use I’m thinking billy boats for exhaust and gpi for cam but billy boats are really expensive heads are 1700 and about 5k for the entire exhaust system *head-pipe-tips* but I saw some long tubes at tsp Texas speed & performance for 1400 that came with the middle xpipe *no tips* are they reputable? Are billy boats really worth all that money for some metal tubing? Is gpi reputable? If I just get billy headers and cam will the stock exhaust flow well enough to handle that, the car is already pretty loud I can’t imagine the stock exhaust is super restrictive. I’m obviously not very automotive inclined but I love to learn I bought a 1988 vette a year ago and have maintained it very well but I’ve never done any performance modifications and have very little knowledge on that. Any stories, builds or info please let me know I’d love to read them.
Melting Slicks
Joined: Sep 2021
Posts: 2,555
Likes: 1,213
Do you have the NPP performance exhaust option?
Since you mentioned you're 'not very automotive inclined"- are you aware the Z51 has a dry sump oiling system and the process to check your oil is different than you're probably used to? Owner's manual would be a good place to start if that is new information to you.
Cheers!
Since you mentioned you're 'not very automotive inclined"- are you aware the Z51 has a dry sump oiling system and the process to check your oil is different than you're probably used to? Owner's manual would be a good place to start if that is new information to you.
Cheers!
Instructor
Joined: Oct 2014
Posts: 146
Likes: 17
From: Las Vegas, NV
C7z51
Dude,
At 19 years old you are extremely fortunate to be driving an awesome car that many dream of owning but will never have.
Save your money. Drive it stock. Learn how to drive it correctly. It’s got plenty of performance right out of the box. Great honey magnet too!
Learn how to take care of it and you will save lots of extra bucks there also. It will last you a long time.
Put that extra cash in a good growth fund, let it accumulate and retire a rich man.
An older Guy
At 19 years old you are extremely fortunate to be driving an awesome car that many dream of owning but will never have.
Save your money. Drive it stock. Learn how to drive it correctly. It’s got plenty of performance right out of the box. Great honey magnet too!
Learn how to take care of it and you will save lots of extra bucks there also. It will last you a long time.
Put that extra cash in a good growth fund, let it accumulate and retire a rich man.
An older Guy
CF Community Team
Joined: Apr 2016
Posts: 14,060
Likes: 7,376
From: Pittsburgh
2025 C6 of the Year Finalist - Unmodified
2024 C6 of the Year Finalist - Unmodified
2023 C6 of the Year Finalist - Unmodified
2022 C6 of the Year Finalist - Unmodified
2021 C6 of the Year Finalist - Unmodified
I would suggest holding off on buying anything for your car until you do some needed research into what exactly it is that you are trying to achieve. What horsepower gains are you trying to achieve? Are you going to daily drive the car? Do you have a reputable shop near you that can do the work? What is your budget for this build? The worst thing to do is start throwing parts on the car that you may regret later on
Moderator emeritus
Joined: Jun 2001
Posts: 18,599
Likes: 3,951
From: Jacksonville Florida BWO Dayton, Cincinnati, Bloomsbury NJ, Cincinnati
2015 C7 of the Year Finalist
i agree with the others, at 19 and limited driving experience i would leave it alone for right now....
but when you decide to mod, this is prob the chop you are going for
https://youtu.be/wI_ajSo9NXY
but when you decide to mod, this is prob the chop you are going for
https://youtu.be/wI_ajSo9NXY
My kind of sound....
Elmer
Race Director
Joined: Jul 2015
Posts: 15,987
Likes: 2,665
From: Frisco, TX
Safety Car
Joined: Mar 2004
Posts: 4,048
Likes: 1,475
From: South Florida
Cam installs on these cars are expensive. As someone who has been in your exact position before, I would recommend a compromise to gain power. For the Z51, Add headers & X pipe, Ported Intake Manifold, Ported stock TB, GM Performance Intake (Or AFE/Halltech) and if you have E85 near you, add flex fuel. Get the car tuned for these mods and you will be very impressed with the performance gains.
Adding a cam will be expensive, degrade drive-ability if its your Daily Driver, and affect fuel efficiency a lot(if you care about that).
If money is not a concern and you're going to do it anyways, then go with a GPI or a BTR cam, still do the mods mentioned above, and it will be real quick. But I do agree, with what the others have said about that kind of money at your age. If I could go back in time to tell myself something at 19, it would be to NOT spend so much money on modifying cars and invest it instead. I would easily have 10 fold of what I have now if not way more.
Adding a cam will be expensive, degrade drive-ability if its your Daily Driver, and affect fuel efficiency a lot(if you care about that).
If money is not a concern and you're going to do it anyways, then go with a GPI or a BTR cam, still do the mods mentioned above, and it will be real quick. But I do agree, with what the others have said about that kind of money at your age. If I could go back in time to tell myself something at 19, it would be to NOT spend so much money on modifying cars and invest it instead. I would easily have 10 fold of what I have now if not way more.
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Race Director
Joined: Jul 2015
Posts: 15,987
Likes: 2,665
From: Frisco, TX
Internets Ninja helped me out alot on my E85 questions and was very helpful. like he said it adds up quick, when i did e85 it was about $700, heads and cam was about $8k, soler tb $300, axle back was $1500, car already had long tubes and afe intake on it when i bought it. for what i spent, i could have thrown a sc on there, but i wanted to stay NA (and there is still more i want to do like intake manifold and larger tb)
Burning Brakes
Joined: Sep 2022
Posts: 1,202
Likes: 569
From: MSP
eh, I wouldn't be so quick to judge from age. I knew plenty of 16-18 year olds who were, to this day, some of the best drivers I've ever met.
anecdotally, all of them had some sort of autosports kind of experience growing up -- karting, quads, dirtbiking, whatever.
anecdotally, all of them had some sort of autosports kind of experience growing up -- karting, quads, dirtbiking, whatever.
Intermediate
Joined: Nov 2018
Posts: 47
Likes: 17
Cam installs on these cars are expensive. As someone who has been in your exact position before, I would recommend a compromise to gain power. For the Z51, Add headers & X pipe, Ported Intake Manifold, Ported stock TB, GM Performance Intake (Or AFE/Halltech) and if you have E85 near you, add flex fuel. Get the car tuned for these mods and you will be very impressed with the performance gains.
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Good luck!