Best bang for your buck bolt ons
03-09-2014, 11:15 PM
#1
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Best bang for your buck bolt ons I have a 94 trans am 90 k mileage auto! Curently has long tubes cat deleted full exhaust cold air msd coil! And under drive crank pulley. Currently have intake off to re seal and replace opti spark just looking to make a little more power! What's the best bolt ons u guys have done for the biggest difference!
03-10-2014, 01:39 AM
#4
Intake is not really worth porting without headwork and a cam and if you plan on spinning way past 6k. Lloyd Elliott has told me to see much benifit you need a fairly high revving motor. The stall speed really depends on what you plan on doing with the car. If its a DD somewhere around 2800-3200 is really fun. If you don't drive it everyday and race it you could go with a 3600. Thing is if you plan to mod further with ported heads and a larger cam the stall speed will change. For example my old 94 firehawk my brother drives has a 3200 stall when the car was Bolton only. Now it has LE1 ported heads and a cc503 cam and it flashes to 3600 not 3200 anymore. His car has a Revmax converter and it works great and doesnt cost $800 like some others. Its built to handle around 500hp which is plenty strong for most street cars. Don't forget a fairly big trans cooler to make sure the extra heat a stall is going to make doesn't burn up your trans.
Roller rockers are also good for 10 or so HP but its strongly recommended to put better valvesprings on before the rockers to handle the extra lift. The LT4 springs are like $45 and will handle some 1.6 rockers no problem.
A set of 3.73 gears will really wake the car up too. They won't suck gas mileage as much as some people will tell you either. I went from 4.10's to 3.23's and only got 1mpg better. So going the other way won't kill you.
Tuning will also make a big difference. A couple of the mail order tuners say they can pick up close to 15hp on a completely stock car. So on even a lightly modded car it could be more.
Bolton cars can be made to really move. There are many guys in the 12's Bolton only. Some guys have gone 11's but those are race cars with LOTS of weight reduction. 12's are pretty attainable though.
Hope this helps you. Good luck.
Roller rockers are also good for 10 or so HP but its strongly recommended to put better valvesprings on before the rockers to handle the extra lift. The LT4 springs are like $45 and will handle some 1.6 rockers no problem.
A set of 3.73 gears will really wake the car up too. They won't suck gas mileage as much as some people will tell you either. I went from 4.10's to 3.23's and only got 1mpg better. So going the other way won't kill you.
Tuning will also make a big difference. A couple of the mail order tuners say they can pick up close to 15hp on a completely stock car. So on even a lightly modded car it could be more.
Bolton cars can be made to really move. There are many guys in the 12's Bolton only. Some guys have gone 11's but those are race cars with LOTS of weight reduction. 12's are pretty attainable though.
Hope this helps you. Good luck.
03-10-2014, 08:34 AM
#5
If you already have the intake off and are just bored, you can port it. Don't gasket match without going all the way to the plenum and you can smooth the ski slope a bit. There's a writeup that Lloyd did a few years back if you search. Best bang for your buck will be gears and stall for your auto, 3200-3600. You will need a tune for those so it's a perfect time to tune for your headers too.
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and nobody said anything about an aftermarket MAF, that is not even listed.
03-10-2014, 10:56 AM
#9
12 Second Club
You have the intake off to replace the opti
Are you resealing the intake and replacing the opti, your wording is a little confusing.
03-10-2014, 01:42 PM
#10
^That about sums it up for you although, upgraded springs are HIGHLY recommended. Other worthwhile and relatively inexpensive bolt ons would be electric WP, mail order PCM tune, 1LE intake bellow, TB airfoil ($25 ebay), and last but certainly not least sticky tires.
If you have the highway 2.73 gears, those really should be changed to 3.73 for big gains as well, although not really a "bolt on".
If you have the highway 2.73 gears, those really should be changed to 3.73 for big gains as well, although not really a "bolt on".
03-13-2014, 08:19 AM
#18
TECH Fanatic
Only thing I can think of is supporting the motor with a strap and dropping the k-member. That's about the only way I think you drop the pan without pulling the motor.
