Chevrolet Camaro 1967-2002 - 99 Camaro SS Build

I recently was in the market for a RWD V-8 5-SPD (or in this case 6-SPD) car to build/summer DD. After countless Mustangs that were not up to par i spotted this SS. My goal is to build a reliable summer car for a couple years then probably tear the motor out and then who knows what. I figure i'd post my progress and hopefully draw some input/advice since this will be my first ls1/chevy.

I started with this:

1999 SS 6-SPD T-Top
53,000 miles owned for 12 years by the same people. Garage kept and 100% bone stock.
http://i319.photobucket.com/albums/mm475/deines_runnah/Mobile%20Uploads/Resampled_2011-10-16_13-33-25_929.jpg
http://i319.photobucket.com/albums/mm475/deines_runnah/Mobile%20Uploads/Resampled_2011-10-16_13-33-04_505.jpg

I drove it for about 1000 miles since i picked it up in oct. Everything seems to be ok, Changed the oil twice (first time was with a napa gold filter and mobile 1 full syn 5w-30 and i lost oil pressure 5-10psi, second was with an ac delco filter and penzoil platinum full syn 5w-30 and it came back...), new paper air filter, cleaned out the throttle body. Thats it before it got put away for winter.:cry:

My plan is to focus on suspension and handling first with small engine bolt ons (lid, intake, headers, exhaust) for 2012. I am leaning towards a bbk lt header, bbk y-pipe, and flowmaster exhaust set-up with the chance of cut-outs. I just need to get the list of parts i will need going so i have something to do when it gets a little warmer. (Not a lot of room in the single bay with all the other shit i have in there)

I did pick up a Hotchkis strut tower brace for $100 new so i guess that is the start of the suspension.
http://i319.photobucket.com/albums/mm475/deines_runnah/Mobile%20Uploads/Resampled_2012-02-02_19-58-45_17.jpg


The set in stone list so far:
LS6 Intake Manifold (needs to be installed)
Eibach pro-plus kit
Hotchkis stut tower brace (needs to be installed)
UMI Lower Control Arms & On-Car Adjustable Panhard Bar Kit (needs to be installed)
Spohn Tubular Adjustable Torque Arm
SLP Lid (needs to be installed)
Magnaflow Cat-back (needs to be installed)

they say that flowmaster is very restrictive for our cars. other than that BBK sounds good. i would find a different catback though

Borla Catback is a straight thru exhaust. I really like it on my car.

they say that flowmaster is very restrictive for our cars. other than that BBK sounds good. i would find a different catback though

OK, i read that somewhere but i also read that the slp lm's are raspy with headers and im not trying to break the bank on a cat-back ($4XX.00 price range is my goal). Ive also thought about having one bent up at a shop...hmmm.

hey godfather, how do you like the pacesetters?

I have a borla catback forsale for 350

OK, so i have an offer to buy an ls6 intake for $250 plus my ls1 intake for trade. Im going to do it, i think its a fair price and i will have no use for the old intake anyways. I know about the opsu and how to keep the brake booster line away from it. I am stripping everything off of my ls1 intake for the ls6, i should be good to do that, right? And instead using the ls6 coolent lines and block off im going to use a dremmel and grind down the ribs on the underside of the intake. What am i missing?

Well no input so far...... ill keep going to keep myself entertained.

I pulled the intake manifold off today and wow was it cruddy underneath. Here are some pics.
http://i319.photobucket.com/albums/mm475/deines_runnah/Mobile%20Uploads/Resampled_2012-02-06_15-58-12_519.jpg
http://i319.photobucket.com/albums/mm475/deines_runnah/Mobile%20Uploads/Resampled_2012-02-06_16-06-19_369.jpg

Looking pretty shitty.....is this normal?

It's a 12 year old car...if the intake has never been off before there's bound to be shit beneath it. I wouldn't worry about it too much. I would just tape of the intake runners so nothing gets inside and clean that crap off. You might even think about doing some port/polish work on those intake runners. You can get a die grinder cheaply and a port/polish kit for cheap too. If you don't have an air compressor Harbor Freight sells electric die grinders for $30-ish. You don't need to be a pro or get too in depth. Just clean them up a little to improve air flow some.
I have Pacesetters on my '04 GTO and they work fine. Unless you're going to be making some serious HP you don't need high dollar longtubes. Pacesetters sound like they'll work perfectly for your application. Why are you wanting a Y-pipe versus an X or H?
Overall, looks and sounds like a good car with only 53k on the ticker. Start off with bolt-ons and some good suspension upgrades and that car should be pretty quick!

thehazz12, thats what i was thinking about the crap under the manifold, its just not what i wanted to see.....and i have an air compressor to port the intake runners. And if im going to pull the heads off to do that id might as well upgrade the valve train too right?

As far as the y-pipe....idk i just figured thats what i had to go with if im doing a lt header+cat-back set-up. Maybe you could elaborate on that?

I did pick up a LS6 intake today, so check that off the list.
http://i319.photobucket.com/albums/mm475/deines_runnah/Mobile%20Uploads/Resampled_2012-02-06_20-29-25_255.jpg
Its is kind of dirty and has some oil inside, do i just soak it in degreaser and wash it or is there a better method to cleaning it?

Ordered an SLP lid, fel-pro gaskets for the LS6 intake, UMI lower rear control arms, and on-car adjustable panhard bar.

^^That's a good investment, going to help you a lot, especially once you start modifying the car heavier.

Also, I see you haven't been getting much feedback on the catbacks. Since you're budget is $4xx, I would highly, highly recommend looking into a Magnaflow, you can get them as cheap as like $380 from some places. I have one on mines and I love it, great quality catback, I think the tips look great on Camaro's and it sounds fantastic. Not too loud when just cruising around easy, but very mean at WOT, should sound awesome with a set of LT's.

$380!!!??? Where, ive been hearing good things about magnaflow. I checked our your ss with the cat-back, must say i likey.

thehazz12, thats what i was thinking about the crap under the manifold, its just not what i wanted to see.....and i have an air compressor to port the intake runners. And if im going to pull the heads off to do that id might as well upgrade the valve train too right?

As far as the y-pipe....idk i just figured thats what i had to go with if im doing a lt header+cat-back set-up. Maybe you could elaborate on that?

I did pick up a LS6 intake today, so check that off the list.
http://i319.photobucket.com/albums/mm475/deines_runnah/Mobile%20Uploads/Resampled_2012-02-06_20-29-25_255.jpg
Its is kind of dirty and has some oil inside, do i just soak it in degreaser and wash it or is there a better method to cleaning it?

Ordered an SLP lid, fel-pro gaskets for the LS6 intake, UMI lower rear control arms, and on-car adjustable panhard bar.

It may not have been what you wanted to see, but I wouldn't worry about it. Every car is bound to have some unwanted dirt somewhere. What you had under your intake is nothing! When I tore down my junkyard 5.3 it was much worse! It looked like the motor was put in a pool full of muddy water and ran under water lol. But the internals were perfect! Anyways...you don't necessarily have to upgrade the valvetrain when you do this. If you're planning on a cam in the future I guess you could go ahead and do it ahead of time. But you should be fine putting all stock components back in if they're in good shape. With only 53k on it and if the owners weren't too hard on it they should be in fine shape.
You don't have to go with a Y-pipe. There's really no reason to IMO. A Y is going to be more restrictive than other crossovers. It won't really make a difference at your current power but once you start to make more it will begin to restrict you, especially if it's 2.5". IMO you should go with an X or H. The X has a more "exotic" sound than the H that give that more classic muscle sound. The X is said to have better performance than an H as all flow is one directional. The difference is going to be minimal. I have an H on mine. Do some researching on youtube for different crossover and catback sounds and see what you like the best.
If you can find a Magnaflow cat back for $380 I say go for it. I'm not sure you can beat that. I can't say I've heard one on a Camaro but I've heard one on a GTO and it had a really nice sound. Our motors are very similar to yours so I don't see it having much of a different sound. Put some longtubes on it. Keep the cats...take the cats off...it's really up to you. Pick a crossover. Pick your catback. Then look into a nice coilover setup and start carving.
Jesus that was a novel! Hope that helps!
Oh and about cleaning your intake... If you're trying to fully submerge your intake in degreaser you're gonna need A LOT. I think you should be able to get the job done with some dish soap and water. Let it soak for a while then go after the trouble spots with a toothbrush.

thehazz12, novel or not I am new to these cars/motors so all input is greatly appriciated. Im going to start looking into the x and h-pipes. I do plan on a cam but that a year away atleast. Im lucky im moving as fast as I am now with a wedding coming up lol. So I will probably leave it alone. Its just not THAT easy taking the intake manifold off though the more you do it the faster it is. I can not wait to get the rest of my sh!t so i can start putting this baby together....Im jones'n for more parts lol.

I am thinking about painting the intake manifold, though i really dont need a flashy engine bay. I dont Know, i might just clean it up and run it.

6-SPD T-Top
53,000 miles owned for 12 years by the same people. Garage kept and 100% bone stock.


That sounds like an awesome platform for you enjoy the car and have fun building it.
Hoping to find a fbody with a similar past.

Don't forget to check classifieds or local ads for LTs and Catback.

Don't forget to check classifieds or local ads for LTs and Catback.

I have been looking. I live in NH and surprisingly not alot up here for used f-body/ls1 stuff.

$380!!!??? Where, ive been hearing good things about magnaflow. I checked our your ss with the cat-back, must say i likey.

Well, I got mines from WS6store (they are a sponsor on here) a couple of months ago. I lie to you not, I paid exactly right around $380, but I just checked and it looks like it's over $500 now? Kind of strange. It's a really good catback though, I daily drive my car and it's never an annoyance, relatively tame when you need it to be but it gets pretty mean when you get into it.

I would definitely check around with different suppliers for deals though man, I'd probably wait it out some until I could pick one up a little cheaper.

wow. magnaflow on ws6store was $380. now it is $520. i was shocked. i just bought my magnaflow catback for $150 used with a dent in the muffler that wont effect performance. but i love magnaflow. but good luck on the catback search, if that magnaflow was still $380 that would be my number one recommendation

Maryland Speed has : SLP LoudMouthII for $389.29 ,Spintech for $379.00 with free shipping

RPM Motorsports has a MagnaFlow Catback for $399 with free shipping.

I personally never heard spintech exhaust on ls1. My pick would be magnaflow.
SLP & Magnaflow I can say sounds good especially with LTs, for that Pace Setter Ceramic Coated are the best.

I would skip the Eibach pro plus kit and get Strano springs and either Koni or Bilstein shocks. Anywho nice clean car to start off with and your off to a good start with the SLP lid and LS6 manifold.

thehazz12, novel or not I am new to these cars/motors so all input is greatly appriciated. Im going to start looking into the x and h-pipes. I do plan on a cam but that a year away atleast. Im lucky im moving as fast as I am now with a wedding coming up lol. So I will probably leave it alone. Its just not THAT easy taking the intake manifold off though the more you do it the faster it is. I can not wait to get the rest of my sh!t so i can start putting this baby together....Im jones'n for more parts lol.

I am thinking about painting the intake manifold, though i really dont need a flashy engine bay. I dont Know, i might just clean it up and run it.

Wedding??? Get out while you still can! Kidding. Congrats man. If you're gonna hold off a year for the cam I would say hold off on any port work. If you were to do it right now you would have to take the heads apart. If you did that it would only make sense to upgrade all that now. My advice is just do as much at one time as you can. And if you hold off on the springs for now you can get a cam kit from TexasSpeed. It will save you some money overall. Choice of cam, springs, pushrods, retainers. It's $700-ish for the kit with strong springs. Not a bad deal if you ask me. That's what I'm saving up for.
I think it's safe to say you caught the mod bug!
As far as painting the intake...IMO I would leave it. You have a black car with no colored accents under the hood. It might look out of place. Rather than do that I would paint the fuel rail covers. That seems to be the more common choice.
I'm putting a 5.3 Vortec (in the Ls family) in my '81. I painted the block black today
http://a7.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash4/395454_1716262228890_1308240638_31835368_991053296 _n.jpg
and I'll be painting the valve covers tomorrow> I think that contrasting with the the aluminum heads will be a good look. And I'm leaving my ls6 with just the stock black plastic look.

Well, I got mines from WS6store (they are a sponsor on here) a couple of months ago. I lie to you not, I paid exactly right around $380, but I just checked and it looks like it's over $500 now? Kind of strange. It's a really good catback though, I daily drive my car and it's never an annoyance, relatively tame when you need it to be but it gets pretty mean when you get into it.

I would definitely check around with different suppliers for deals though man, I'd probably wait it out some until I could pick one up a little cheaper.

WS6store.com is where I got the intake runner gaskets/lid/umi control arms and adjustable panhard bar. They had good prices on those items.

I would skip the Eibach pro plus kit and get Strano springs and either Koni or Bilstein shocks. Anywho nice clean car to start off with and your off to a good start with the SLP lid and LS6 manifold.

Why Strano v. Eibach? I have hurd nothing but good things from Eibach on many different applications. Im not to familiar with Strano.....As far as shock I am a Bilstein man. Got them on the 4runner.

I put bbk lt's and offroad y pipe on a few weeks ago. great decision, they fit great, were easy to install (had to get the car high enough to put 2x4s under jackstands) and they slid right in. the y pipe fits great too, I think if ou go with those you will love them.

Wedding??? Get out while you still can! Kidding. Congrats man. If you're gonna hold off a year for the cam I would say hold off on any port work. If you were to do it right now you would have to take the heads apart. If you did that it would only make sense to upgrade all that now. My advice is just do as much at one time as you can. And if you hold off on the springs for now you can get a cam kit from TexasSpeed. It will save you some money overall. Choice of cam, springs, pushrods, retainers. It's $700-ish for the kit with strong springs. Not a bad deal if you ask me. That's what I'm saving up for.
I think it's safe to say you caught the mod bug!
As far as painting the intake...IMO I would leave it. You have a black car with no colored accents under the hood. It might look out of place. Rather than do that I would paint the fuel rail covers. That seems to be the more common choice.
I'm putting a 5.3 Vortec (in the Ls family) in my '81. I painted the block.
and I'll be painting the valve covers tomorrow> I think that contrasting with the the aluminum heads will be a good look. And I'm leaving my ls6 with just the stock black plastic look.

I think i am going to hold off on the port job....it just really bugs me putting the intake manifold on with the intake runners looking like that:bang:.

As far as the modding bug goes i have a 97 4runner i have done some work to... IMHO everything needs to be modified in some way lol.
http://i319.photobucket.com/albums/mm475/deines_runnah/065.jpg
http://i319.photobucket.com/albums/mm475/deines_runnah/053.jpg



And about running away from this wonderful woman, well c'mon, she lets me have all these toys and tools and she puts up with my shit.......i have to marry her.:D

That paint job on the block looks good. What kind of paint did you end up using?

I put bbk lt's and offroad y pipe on a few weeks ago. great decision, they fit great, were easy to install (had to get the car high enough to put 2x4s under jackstands) and they slid right in. the y pipe fits great too, I think if ou go with those you will love them.

This is good to hear, i like hearing the words "easy to install" and "they slid right in" :headbang:

I think i am going to hold off on the port job....it just really bugs me putting the intake manifold on with the intake runners looking like that:bang:.

Once you have the intake manifold back on and you don't have to look at the runners they won't annoy you as bad. Once you're in the car smashing down the throttle you'll forget all about it. It shouldn't really be hurting you any. Just do it when you do your cam and everything.

As far as the modding bug goes i have a 97 4runner i have done some work to... IMHO everything needs to be modified in some way lol.
http://i319.photobucket.com/albums/mm475/deines_runnah/065.jpg
http://i319.photobucket.com/albums/mm475/deines_runnah/053.jpg

That looks like a lot of fun! I have a Toyota I've done some work to, as well!
http://sphotos.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ash4/60471_1266920675632_1308240638_31418831_7320092_n. jpg
http://sphotos.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ash4/31075_1219951341428_1308240638_31253384_5344574_n. jpg
Haha! I wish I had some pictures of the interior. Took out the middle seats. Put up a wall behind the front seats with sliding partitioner windows and a 19" flat screen with built in DVD player. Mirror on the ceiling with LEDs around it. Bull horns. Dual side exit exhaust. I'm sure there were a few other things I'm forgetting. It was just a little fun thing I did to take a friend to his prom.

And about running away from this wonderful woman, well c'mon, she lets me have all these toys and tools and she puts up with my shit.......i have to marry her.:D

That paint job on the block looks good. What kind of paint did you end up using?

Haha! The ones that let you have cool tools and toys are rare. I can't blame you there. To be honest, I'm not sure what the paint was. I'm guessing it was some sort of engine enamel. It was just something Gpa had laying around the shop that he had used on a previous build and had success with.

Once you're in the car smashing down the throttle you'll forget all about it.

This feeling.....ahhhh.:drive:

And that van is pimpin pimpin. Not going to lie, id whip that thing. :burn:

I did some things last night. Picked up an extendable 3/8 socket drive so i can put the intake on easier than it came off. I bought a fernco 3x3" coupling for the intake and cleaned most of that shit off of the valley and buffed it up some. No pic'c my phone died but progress nevertheless.....

This feeling.....ahhhh.:drive:

Doesn't get much better than that...especially when you have the 3rd man pedal.

And that van is pimpin pimpin. Not going to lie, id whip that thing. :burn:

It's my winter beater. I really don't care what people think so I tend to do things to embarrass my parents. So I did this. The next day, my dad took it to work lol. I drove it to school when it wasn't too hot. Being able to just relax in there between classes and watch a movie was great. I would just open the sliding door and back door for some airflow and people would just pop their heads in and tell me how cool it was lol.

sorry for not checking the thread sooner. i havent had any issues with my pacesetters. the fitment was good and they were perfect for my price range. as far as catbacks, i like my magnaflow and got it for 400 from a vendor on ebay. like stated its pretty quiet until you get on it. Plus if you want loud, then just get a cutout.

I need some advice/input guys. The ls6 intake I bought doesnt have the egr. So I am going delete the egr system as well as the air system. I know inorder to pass emissions I will need to have the codes tuned out of the computer. So im thinking I might as well buy/install my exhaust/headers before the tune, right? As far as cats go do put a high flow cat on to protect me from a visual inspection or risk it and run just an off road pipe? Btw im thinking about getting a mail order tune from frost, good idea?

so before I send out for my tune I will have the following done:
Slp lid/fernco mod
Egr/air delete
Ls6 intake
Pacsetter lt headers (cat or no cat) and magnaflow catback

Is that good or is there something I am missing/should do before the tune? Thanks in advance.

Sounds to me like you are going down the right road. I just mailed my PCM to FROST 2 days ago. If you do research on FROST you will not find one negative comment about frost. That is how i made my decision to send my PCM to frost.
You can send your PCM out to frost say like Monday, print and fill out the paper he has on his website and just tell him you have the LT's, SLP lid, Exhaust, so you can get your PCM back ASAP and drive your car. So when you add your exhaust and lid your PCM already be tuned for your parts

Also look up CHRS1313 ram air, I gained .4 tenths from it.

Honestly, a custom tune by a reputable tuner is your best bet. They will be able to optimize your tune based on your car. No motor/car is the same. Sure there's other cars they've done before with those exact mods but they may be a tad bit different. Plus it might be cool to know the numbers your car is putting down if you're into that. Catless will offer you louder sound if you want that. When I bought my car it had no cats. So I stole some of a wrecked T/A we have and welded them to some pipe that slips right in between my headers and h-pipe. So once every 2 years I'll take off my catless mids and put these on for a day or so to pass and then take them back off. If you're putting headers and a better exhaust on that car I recommend doing this. Just keep everything interchangeable and you'll have the best of both worlds...easy emissions passing when you need it and louder sound when you don't.

So would I need to get 02 simulaltors? If so where?

And I would rather get a mail order now so I dont have to drive it 50+ miles with it running like shit to get it tuned. I will put it on a dyno, later when I put the cam/heads on

So would I need to get 02 simulaltors? If so where?

I'm not sure what you mean by o2 simulators. I'm not sure how to word this really but if you get it tuned the tuner can basically turn the rear o2 sensors off. They'll be there but won't send any readings to the computer. Everything will be based off the front o2 sensor readings.

And I would rather get a mail order now so I dont have to drive it 50+ miles with it running like shit to get it tuned. I will put it on a dyno, later when I put the cam/heads on

Mail order is not worth it IMO and most will probably agree. What you're doing so far is minor. I may have listed what mine has done previously but anyways...My GTO has longtubes, catless mids, h-pipe into Flowmaster catback with a K&N and ported TB. I'm still on the stock tune and it runs fine. Definitely rich but it's not running like shit. My point being, with what you're doing you really don't "need" a tune. When you do your cam swap you'll NEED a tune. To save money you can just wait until then for a tune and I would recommend doing your heads at the same time.

I'm not sure what you mean by o2 simulators. I'm not sure how to word this really but if you get it tuned the tuner can basically turn the rear o2 sensors off. They'll be there but won't send any readings to the computer. Everything will be based off the front o2 sensor readings.



Mail order is not worth it IMO and most will probably agree. What you're doing so far is minor. I may have listed what mine has done previously but anyways...My GTO has longtubes, catless mids, h-pipe into Flowmaster catback with a K&N and ported TB. I'm still on the stock tune and it runs fine. Definitely rich but it's not running like shit. My point being, with what you're doing you really don't "need" a tune. When you do your cam swap you'll NEED a tune. To save money you can just wait until then for a tune and I would recommend doing your heads at the same time.

Ok, sorry. Like i said im a newb when it comes to tuning a car ect.

I am concerned with the fact that i need to remove the egr and air (well dont NEED to remove the air but since im doing the egr because of the ls6 intake, might as well, no?) and my
inspecition is coming up in March. So i need to make sure what i need to get done to the car so that the CEL is not on and car will pass emissions. I will have to travel to get a tune on a dyno (im hearing slowhawk is very good, 2+hours away) so i dont really want to be driving around with a bum inspection sticker. The headers and exhaust i will be installing myself, but like with all projects, i want to give myself enough time to complete it right only being able to work on it in my free time. I am ordering the cat-back monday because it is on sale. Then i will order my headers the following week. So ,with shipping, i should have everything i will need by the first week in march to start putting this beast back together. If i had to do it again i would have inspected the car before doing any of this but i didnt so i have to make it work. Hope this explains my dilemma better. Thanks for your help btw. Its hard reading threads for hours on end, reading through the crap to get to the REAL HELPFUL responses.
:usa:

Ok, sorry. Like i said im a newb when it comes to tuning a car ect.

I am concerned with the fact that i need to remove the egr and air (well dont NEED to remove the air but since im doing the egr because of the ls6 intake, might as well, no?) and my
inspecition is coming up in March. So i need to make sure what i need to get done to the car so that the CEL is not on and car will pass emissions. I will have to travel to get a tune on a dyno (im hearing slowhawk is very good, 2+hours away) so i dont really want to be driving around with a bum inspection sticker. The headers and exhaust i will be installing myself, but like with all projects, i want to give myself enough time to complete it right only being able to work on it in my free time. I am ordering the cat-back monday because it is on sale. Then i will order my headers the following week. So ,with shipping, i should have everything i will need by the first week in march to start putting this beast back together. If i had to do it again i would have inspected the car before doing any of this but i didnt so i have to make it work. Hope this explains my dilemma better. Thanks for your help btw. Its hard reading threads for hours on end, reading through the crap to get to the REAL HELPFUL responses.
:usa:

I don't know anything about that EGR stuff...that was on the earlier Ls1s I think so I can't help with that. Getting a good tune is important but be prepared to spend big bucks. The tuners around me charge $500-ish. I'm driving 3 hours to have a friend of a friend tune mine. A buddy with an '04 Goat pushing close to 500 hp/tq raced an '06 Goat that had been tuned by this guy that had simple bolt ons, tune, and suspension. He finally started pulling away in 4th. That's how good this guys tunes are.
Now why can't you just do the inspection with everything stock and put your mods on after? I hear ya about the threads. Everybody has different opinions and does things differently so it's hard to get good really good info. I won't claim to know a whole lot and will admit when I do, but I'm glad to help in matters pertaining to my knowledge.

Now why can't you just do the inspection with everything stock and put your mods on after?

I dont have the stock intake manifold anymore and the ls6 i got doesnt have the egr set up. I could drill a hole into the manifold and put the egr back in and rtv it in there or something but i dont want to do that. Im going to call Slowhawk when he opens and see if he can spell it out for me on what i need to do.

Ordered my Magnaflow cat back this morning as well.

looks good man, i dont know what your looking for out of an exhaust but imo the gmmg is the best catback for these cars, duals owns them all but ifyour sticking with a catback borla,gmmg, are prettygood, depends on how loud you want it to be

I would skip the Eibach pro plus kit and get Strano springs and either Koni or Bilstein shocks. Anywho nice clean car to start off with and your off to a good start with the SLP lid and LS6 manifold.

I got eibach pro kit and it came out with a really nice look. I posted a thread for it check it out. I left the front stock and rear i put in pro kit just to show the difference... (havent finished the front yet) http://ls1tech.com/forums/suspension-brakes/1514002-front-rear-strut-spring-swap-eibach-pro-kit.html


I did a lot of looking around as well at bbk and pacesetters... There both decent and there both inexpensive. People here will argue back and forth which way to go. Some people will say never to get those but not everyone is made of money either. BBK slide right in, the only thing is they usually come with the y pipe. Personally I wish they would sell the bbk with an x pipe. I would buy it today. Just get headers and have someone build the custom exhaust for you it probably will be a lot cheaper then adding parts one by one. I would order the mufflers online though whatever setup you choose. MY choice would be Armour coated bbk headers.


GMMG looks awesome... but it is really expensive.

Hey, hey, hey... I love days like today lol.
The exhaust and control arm/adj-panhard bar came via FEDEX.
http://i319.photobucket.com/albums/mm475/deines_runnah/Mobile%20Uploads/Resampled_2012-02-14_13-13-30_718.jpg

Ok, my next purchase is an inportant one i would assume. Depending on how far i really want to take this thing down the road as far as HP/TQ. I am stuck between 1 3/4 and 1 7/8 LT headers. If i am going to stay where im at and keep it a bolt-on car (i will most likely get board of the set-up after this summer wanting more hp/tq) my choice is the 1 3/4 BBK ceramic coated with the 2.5" Y-pipe. Now if i am going to be adding H/C, ect I will want to get a set of headers in the 1 7/8 variety, and a 3" off-road y, correct? Please help me decide.

1 3/4 will be fine for a looong time. I've been getting help from another GTO guy on my Camaro build and he's pushing 1k hp on his race tune through 1 3/4 Pacesetters. You'll be limited by that Y-pipe before you're held back by your header choice.... H-pipe! H-pipe! H-pipe!

If you decide to get the bbk headers there on sale (10% off with free shipping) at lmperformance who is a sponsor. I got the chrome ones because I'm on a budget for like 330 shipped.

Its been awhile since i updated this so here it is.

I made an unpopular choice, but i got a smoking deal (75% off of new) on some slp headers and y-pipe. Let the :mad: begin....

Anyway, i also ordered the header install kit, slp under drive pulley, prothane motor and transmission mounts kit, stage 8 locking header bolts, and rpm speed high performance 10.2mm plug wires and NGK TR-55 plugs from the ws6store.com. I will be getting the the exhaust, motor/trans mounts, under drive pulley, and dyno tune done at Slowhawk in Mass. I obviously have changed direction with the build alittle, with the crappy ground clearance of the slp headers, i will not be lowering the car. I will still be modifying the suspension and chassis, just will not be lowered.

So this is how it will look after the third or last week in march:

ls6 intake
slp headers/y-pipe
magnaflow cb
slp lid
new plugs/wires
slp under drive pulley
adjustable pan-hard bar
tubular rear lower control arms
prothane motor/tranny mounts
hotchkis strut tower brace
egr/air delete
Dyno tune

I am really interested to see what she puts down at the wheels.... any guesses?

April will add:

3pt sub-frame connectors
Sway bars
new in dash dvd/cd player (already have alpine type-s speakers)

that deal must have been wayyyy to good to pass up on the slp's. whats your plans for the car? nice weather dd??

that deal must have been wayyyy to good to pass up on the slp's. whats your plans for the car? nice weather dd??

Summer DD for a few years, H/C over next winter. Drive it for awhile then who knows...

nice mines pretty much the same, nice weather dd and hopefully doing a cam later this year

Don't get the 3 point subframe connectors. The 2 points are plenty strong enough. The 3 points add too much weight to the car.

Ask Dons (slowhawks) opinion and I bet he will tell you the same. ;)

Hmmm, I thought they would be a little firmer, I will be on stock springs so I want it as tight as possible. But if they are just the same....they are cheaper :cool:.

Car is off to Slowhawk Performance Monday to get the small pile of parts I have gathered put on and tuned. Won't get it back til the following week but just in time for my birthday. Need the weather to make up its mind though, 60* one day the snow the next :bs:., but I guess it is new england.

That's a really really good find for the mileage.

What was the price if I may ask?

While some people may dispute it, I believe the SLP LM1 has the freest flowing exhaust out there, and it's also one of the lightest. Now the sound is what throws most people off. It lacks a definitive tone, and it is pretty loud with a good amount of drone, but I like it.

That's a really really good find for the mileage.

What was the price if I may ask?

Thanks, condition was there and it had a super clean history. I paid 9g.

Very good price for it.

I got the BBK lt's with ory and love them...im also running a magnaflow cat back and love it as well...not too raspy and sounds good at WOT

I'd pass on the trans mount lol, I hate mine I'm going back to stock.

I'd pass on the trans mount lol, I hate mine I'm going back to stock.

What's wrong with it?

Yes, please.....more details on the trans mount?.....