For those of you who don't get over to the C5 section this is how some mods that I did this weekend turnd out; what I thought were going to be simple bolt-ons turned out not to be so simple. A friend of mine has a nice new set up in his garage with a lift, cold AC and lots of tools. He lives about 1.5 hours from me in PA. I planed on doing the following mods:

1) Z06 sway bars
2) Elite Engineering SS tunnel plate
3) Magnaflow X pipe

First the sway bars, I got a bit confused with the front bussing orientation (I am dyslexic ), when we tried to fasten the bracket we thought we had to force it because the bushings are bigger, nope we just had them on wrong. Almost stripped the aluminum threads, had to use a tap to clean them up. After that they went in ok.

Second, when we went to bolt the exhaust back up to the exhaust manifold we snapped one bolt and striped one nut. Click for Pic So I had to drive all the way home with an exhaust leak with that ticking sound.

So my friend gets a lot of work done at Cartek in NJ and it is only about 20 mins from my house. So he calls Dave from Cartek today for a favor to get me in and I lucked out that he had a lift open in the afternoon. I head over there and hang out while my car cools down and they finish up some other work. The tech went and replaced all the studs, said that was the best thing to do from his experience. Said the nut is a locking nut and if it don't come off easy it most likely wont go back on easy. So if you do this kind of work make sure you have some extra nut and bolts. So a big thanks to Cartek for fixing my goof-up.


The Z06 sway bars are a huge improvement over stock, the car feels much more secure when corning and stays level, I don't know why GM even bothers with a base suspension. I do have creaking in the front now when going over wavy pavement, I was told this is typical and to give it some time to wear in then go back and re tighten every thing. I did lube up the bushings when I installed them.

The Elite Engineering SS tunnel plate did reduce the tunnel temperature in the cabin, it still a bit warm but improved. Now since I did both the sway bars and plate at the same time I can't tell how it impacted the handling.

I have the Corsa pace car exhaust and added the Magnaflow X pipe. The X pipe does take the edge off that tin sound that some people don't like. It sounds nice now, at cruse it is whisper quite and sings under throttle. The only thing I don't like about the bolt on X pipe is the clamps. The hang blow the frame. I had the tech at Cartek cut down the bolts, however I think it would be better off being welded in.

Here are some pics (if they don't show hit refresh a few times, the server is acting up) : http://community.webshots.com/photo/...62520902jHRkBb

 

I had the Sways and Tunnel plate replaced at the same time also. Cant tell which offered the most stability, but the car certainly handles better since. I noticed less heat now with the Elite Engineering Tunnel Plate then the stock piece of Tin Foil.

Enjoy the Ride !!!!!

 

Nice mods Don't you just hate it when Mr. Murphy shows up?
Glad to see all worked out okay. Tom

 

nice mods.

I did the sway bars before the tunnel plate. I noticed a big difference with the sway bars over stock base. The tunnel plate goes in on thursday with the headers so I can give you an idea if the ride is tighter or not then.

 

Do your bars squeak when it bounces?

 

They were ok at the beginning, but now I hear some noises. I will have it up on the lift at ECS on Thursday so I will look at it then to see if they came loose or something.

What kind of grease did you use?

 

Right after I put mine I did a test drive on they did not make any noise. It was a 100 mile ride home, then the next day when I took it out I got the noises. I used lithium grease, I lubed them up good, after I tightened every thing up some squeezed out. We torqued every thing to spec as well.


BTW, after we dropped the car off the lift it was sitting high up in the air like a 4x4, I thought I did something wrong, but it settled down after the test drive

 

Anytime you raise your car so the tires are hanging it will need some time to settle. That is common for all of us.

I am not sure why some squeak while others don't. I basically did the same thing as you and mine were fine, as I mentioned, until about 1 month ago and now when I make hard turns at slow speeds they seem to make a noise. I just have not gotten back underneath to see what is going on because I knew it was going to ECS. When I am there I will see what is up and then maybe they will give me some advice I can passs to you....

 

nice mods Steve, glad it all worked out
sways are next on my list
see ya at one of the cruises, if not, at Carlisle
send my regards to Pete