What I've done and thinking out loud...
 

In the past few weeks, I've gone on a fun spree with my C5.

My specs are:
1997 Coupe
137K miles
Automatic

EXHAUST
I had Billy Boat bullets installed. Holy crap they are loud and sound amazing! This is the sound I picture when I think of a Corvette. My wife wasn't too thrilled as she is more sensitive to loud noises, but she saw how much I enjoyed it and she is on board. She did ask me "is there anyway to turn down the volume on those?" HAHAHAHA! I told her its only going to get louder from here.

AUDIO
I also installed a new cd player (media player), front and rear speakers, and powered subwoofer. I went with a single din (Kenwood KMM-X503). I was going back and forth on the double din and ultimately chose the single din. The double would have looked much nicer, but ultimately this was a huge upgrade. The speakers I went with were JBL CX302 for the font and JBL CX602 for the rear. The powered subwoofer is a Sound Ordinance 8B-PTD and was installed on the rear wall. Installing the wiring for the subwoofer was by far the easiest I have ever done. The C5 is perfect for hiding and running wires appropriately.

The speaker upgrade i completed before replacing the stock head unit. This was a BIG upgrade in audio quality. When I changed the head unit, the sound really came alive. It really was a night and day difference. I wanted to add a subwoofer, but didn't want anything over powering as I want it to enhance the music and not be center focus. The Sound Ordinance is basically just that. It will hit pretty good, but it won't shake your car apart. I listen to everything from Blues to Heavy Metal to Rap, but mostly hard rock and metal. So i really just want the kick drum to hit good.

MISC
I bought a pressure washer and a Chemical Guys kit that has a foam cannon. The pressure washer was more for home stuff but either way my Corvette will get some love. As a 35 year old dude that owns a Corvette, it is odd to say that I've never really washed or waxed or maintained a car before, but is it weird that I am really looking forward to spending my time washing and waxing and maintaining?!

FUTURE
I'm toying with future upgrades and Im a little unsure on whats next or if it is worth it with having close to 137k miles. Tires and Wheels are new and in great shape.

I'd like to add/complete the following:
New plugs, wires, hoses and belts
Change all fluids
CAI. Most likely a Callaway Honker.
Long Tube headers
Street/Dyno Tune


What are some things you would suggest adding/modding if you were me? (I don't really want to go the supercharger/turbo route. This is just a cruiser that will driven spirited around town, I won't be racing.)
My wife is pretty cool with me spending money on things I am passionate about, so I'm not too worried about budget (within reason of course).

The very first thing I would do next if I had your car is install a new fuel filter. Then I'd focus on brakes and suspension, but mainly suspension. You'd be surprised how much a car can change just by tweaking it's suspension. Otherwise, your list looks about right. Just don't expect big horsepower numbers from the intake, headers, and tune.

Awesome! I completely forgot about a the fuel filter! Thanks for recommending that!

Brakes were just done right before I bought it last October so I think I'm good on that. Anything particular with the suspension I should be looked at/for? I'm sorry, I'm a bit of a car noob and I'm learning as I go along.

I'm not really looking for big horsepower increases or anything, just want to tinker, have some fun and let the Corvette really shine without going too crazy.

I have a very early '98, like the '97 the fuel filter is inline and not in the tank. I started getting fuel pump "hum" around 65k miles and after initially panicking, I decided to change the filter first, and that fixed it. It's not a difficult job, you just need the rear high enough to get under as the filter is tucked up into the chassis rail. Only snag is that it uses snap connectors, which in my case did not want to come apart. Took a bit of brute force as the release tools they sell for the purpose were all but useless.

When where the shocks last changed? Suspension upgrades help a lot. The stock base suspension benefits the most.

Yep, your car is 22 years old and has 137K miles so if the shocks have never been replaced, they are due for it. I highly recommend the C6 Z06 shocks and while you are at it, might as well and go with the C6 Z51 sway bars.
https://www.corvetteforum.com/forums...rformance.html

No problem. Shocks would be top of the list. You might consider C6Z shocks as they are a direct bolt in, much better over C5 shocks, and are extremely affordable. Also you are going to want to check the endlinks. Your car came with plastic endlinks, and will fail over time I would suggest at bare minimum look at upgrading to metal ones. Or better yet invest in some better swaybars. You can go aftermarket for best handling capability or check the C5/C6 classifieds for C6 Z51 or C6 Z06 swaybars which would be a huge improvement over your stock ones(and are a direct bolt on). You will notice a huge difference in handling and it will drastically change the handling characteristics of the car completely. If you go aftermarket there are few to select from depending on how crazy you want to go. I opted to go with the Johnny O' Connell swaybars which allows me to adjust the rear swaybar and they come with heavy duty adjustible endlinks. They are essentially just below the GM T1 swaybars.

While I don't autocross the car I do enjoy driving my Z on back country roads with lots of s curves, twists, and turns. While doing pulls on the highway or street is fun, there is just something about taking multiple corners and S curves at "high speeds" through some back country roads that makes me smile.

I’d do paint correction and maybe ceramic coating. Set aside money for transmission and torque tube rebuild, replace the torque converter.

This would be a very good upgrade to your car. In addition, get the LMC5 and install it. You don’t want to get stuck somewhere with a column lock issue.

According to the manufacturer of the lmc5 it’s no t needed in the automatic tranny cars and from my own e perience the lmc5 causes the column lock in the auto.

This is probably a dumb question, but are all fuel filters created equal, or is there a recommended one?

Awesome! I now have these on my upgrade/update list. Thanks!

Not a dumb question, but there really isn't a recommended filter that I know of. Some guy's prefer delco other guys just go with what's cheapest. I've used both Delco and Wix before.

Checking motor mounts(commonly torn or worn out) and replacing with poly, headers would be a good time to do this. I would do the thicker insulated tunnel plate while doing headers or exhaust as well. Replacing the rear diff mount with the pfadt piece that adds more stability would be high on my list. Replacing plastic sway bar end links and while there doing the c6 z51 sway bars like others mentioned. C6z shocks as mentioned, sure yours are shot. LS6 intake at some point since yours has the LS1, some cheap gains there.

I would consider doing a trans brace if you are hard on cars, I think this is more important if you plan to drag race the car and more important in a manual car, but worth reading some on here if nothing else.

Welcome to the madness. Now that you've started, it'll never end! Ask most of us how we know. :lol:

I just did many of the mods you listed, plus a few others you didn't. Specifically a couple appearance ones like the smoked corner lights with switch back LED's, tinted rear side markers and brake lights, painted calipers, domed letters inside and on the rear bumper cover, splitter, etc. But, specific the CAI, suspension, sways, headers, plugs, wires, etc..... it's a fun project, and frustrating all at the same time. There's nothing like doing the work yourself. If you think the Billy Boat is loud now, wait until the headers go in!! Might want to think about an x pipe and keeping the cats or not too, while you have it apart. The more you spend on this forum, the more money you'll spend on mods. :D

Here's a before and after of mine. The before is the day I took it for a ride, the after is from last summer.... only had it about 2.5 years.

https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.cor...2e45979f28.jpg
https://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.cor...b4b94c48ee.jpg
https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.cor...4aaeeb7047.jpg
https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.cor...a5a4d5aa5f.jpg

B&B Bullets
 

Congrats on the Bullets...............I have them on my 2004 and they are brutal. Enjoy them when you back it off with a down shift.

Just kind of keeping this going. Every time I start the car up, the amazing sounds from the bullets has me grinning from ear to ear!

It really has been nice going from not working on cars at all and having just about no mechanical experience to combing through this site and youtube and figuring things out.

I just changed the plugs and wires. Holy crap the plugs on the driver side were a pain in the ass! Next up is the fuel filter, which I hope to have done today. That should be all for this weekend besides a nice wash and wax. The oil has been changed and the rest of the fluids will be changed this week.

I've gotten a couple of quotes on paint correction and they have been roughly $800-$900. I'm really thinking of having that be a winter project that I try to take on as well as trying to restore the targa top.

Next up
Sway Bars
Shocks
CAI
Long Tube Headers
Tune

I had heard the same thing about not needing it on an auto tranny. I'm not going there.