whats good mild bolt ons

[armedcupid]

hey guys, i have a 96' T/A with lt1, ram air, for a couple grand, what would be the best bang for the buck, for performance upgrades, i plan on headers and exhaust. bigger tb, not sure on what else,

[ZEEMAN]

Congrats on the new car and welcome aboard!
A great place to start is def headers and exhaust. You didnt mention if its a 6 speed or Auto but a clutch upgrade or a good stahl converter and tune will help put that power to the ground better. A lot of guys go with a cam like CC 503 and some 1.6 roller rockers if you want to get into the motor. Always could go with some LCAs & panhard bar for some suspension upgrades. It just depends what you want to do and how much you want to spend. The possibilites are endless with these cars really.

[PNISSHR]

Other things than you mentioned, I would definitely get an electric water pump. I had one for my old lt1 and it helped it rev a lot quicker. Suspension is also a must with these cars as well.

[RrCoX22]

I would honestly start with the ground up... can't build build all that power if you have no way of putting it to the ground

once that's established then work you way from the center of the driveline out to opposite ends... sounds like devising some type of surgery

[armedcupid]

ok, next question, whats the best way to do headers?, and what i mean is should i use long tube pacesetters that bypasses all the smog stuff and if so do you still need cats to make the O2 sensors function properly, or should i just use the headers that reuse all the smog hookups. i hear that the emissions stuff robs alot of hp, also if I get rid of the emissions stuff, does anything have to be done with the cpu?
by the way all your guys info is very much appreciated and valued.

[ZEEMAN]

The pacesetters are great headers for the value. Get the ceramic coated ones and dont mess around with anything else but long tubes. If you dont need the emissions stuff in your state than do away with it. It does rob some power away. You will need to buy an egr block off kit. They sell them on ebay, just type in LT1 egr block off plate and you should find a few.
As far as the computer, since your car is OBD II you will need to have it tuned after the install. If you do away with the cats I dont know if that will affect the o2 sensors but Im pretty sure it can be tuned around by a good tuner.

[armedcupid]

thanx. thats a big help to me, its going to be a winter project. so im gathering all the facts that i can. i for sure will do the ceramic coated ones.

[BenSS]

I got some JBA headers, shorties. Well worth it, anything is better comparied to the stock manifolds. These cars love bolt ons!
P.S. if you ever sell your air intake setup let a brotha know......

[safemode]

To be fair, shorties are just about the same as the stock manifolds in terms of performance. At least on the ls1's. If you're gonna drop 200 or more bucks on headers then you will want to go with mid-length or longer to see any noticeable gains. Again, that's in reference to ls1s. I can't speak for older style V8's or V6's manifolds. For those engines, shorties may in fact be worth it for some applications. For ls1's though, they are simply an appearance mod.

[PNISSHR]

Originally Posted by safemode

To be fair, shorties are just about the same as the stock manifolds in terms of performance. At least on the ls1's. If you're gonna drop 200 or more bucks on headers then you will want to go with mid-length or longer to see any noticeable gains. Again, that's in reference to ls1s. I can't speak for older style V8's or V6's manifolds. For those engines, shorties may in fact be worth it for some applications. For ls1's though, they are simply an appearance mod.

Shorties are better than stock for lt1s but I would recommend either mid length or long tubes still. I believe mac or bbk makes a really good mid length setup for lt1s.

[ZEEMAN]

Originally Posted by BenSS

I got some JBA headers, shorties. Well worth it, anything is better comparied to the stock manifolds. These cars love bolt ons!
P.S. if you ever sell your air intake setup let a brotha know......

They are JBA mid tubes on your bird. I would have never done all that pain in the ass work for shorties lol!

[BenSS]

Brain fart your right, mid tubes. What we could of done with those 11 hours that day we will never know.

[lollygaggerjoe]

just go ahead and buy some llyod elliot heads and cam easy fix lol here you go
http://www.elliottsportworks.com/lt1.html

[PNISSHR]

Originally Posted by lollygaggerjoe

just go ahead and buy some llyod elliot heads and cam easy fix lol here you go
http://www.elliottsportworks.com/lt1.html

that'll do!

[armedcupid]

thanx for the info, i think i will go with the elliotts, and one of there cams.

[quicksilver]

Gears, stall and tune= best $600 I've ever spent. Other than that... headers are a waste of money, and a cam is good if you've got the $$. Get a good cat back (I'd recommend TSP), CAI, electric water pump and put the rest in suspension.
-my 2 cents-

[ZEEMAN]

Originally Posted by quicksilver

Gears, stall and tune= best $600 I've ever spent. Other than that... headers are a waste of money, and a cam is good if you've got the $$. Get a good cat back (I'd recommend TSP), CAI, electric water pump and put the rest in suspension.
-my 2 cents-

WOW! I have to honest I dont think I have ever heard somebody say headers are a waste of money. When I put a pair of LTs on any vehicle its a completly different animal, in sound, rear wheel power, and seat of the pants feel. HEADERS ARE WORTH EVERY PENNY!!!!!!!!!!!!

[RrCoX22]

headers I would say are the most satisfaction mod since they completely change the feel of the vehicle. they are certainly needed for a cam setup unless it's just a baby cam

[99Hugger]

Originally Posted by ZEEMAN

WOW! I have to honest I dont think I have ever heard somebody say headers are a waste of money.

Me either! They're the best bang for the buck bolt on you can do. Also will enhance the gains you get out of every other performance mod you do afterwards.