Thundercat69

hello everyone. i recently bought a nice all back 98 z28 for only 4 grand. only 120k miles on it. its automatic though. ugh. but it has all leather interior and already has flowmasters on it. i got about 4k for financial aid this semester so i decided to put half of it up for bills and the other half i put towards my car. i just bought the torq thrust type m rims black to match the car, the dual black halo headlights, clear turn signals and bumper lights and a custom 3rd brake light that says nightmare on it. after i get all this stuff installed ill pretty much have the car looking how i want. badass. besides maybe a new hood down the line like the ss or cowl induction one. i also had to get the parking gear fixed and new brake rotors and pads all around so that was 500 bucks for all that. i have about 500 bucks left to spend

so i was wondering what i should do with that 500 bucks? buy a cool air intake maybe? umm. any suggestions on other minor things i can buy to increase some horse power or other aspects of the car. let me know some things i can do to it even if its more than 500 bucks. and what effect it will have. ill be getting more money and i know theres a million things u can do to these cars, i have a shop that can do all of it i just dont know where to start... my friends all have different things done so i guess help me figure out what i should do to it and in what order and what it will help with. thanks everyone!!!

99z28monster

iTrader: (3)

do you exhaust first, get some longtubes, then start getting boltons such as underdrive pulley, better plug wires and plugs, bigger intake and throttle body, and a lid

T-56SLPSS

LS6 intake first off. I went from 13.55 to 12.75 with just that simple mod. Dont worry about better plug wires and plugs or the throttle body for now. Do your free mods, get the lid, intake, and if you have any left long tubes are nice as well

JHL88

LS6 intake all the way, try to find a used one though. if you buy it new itll take most of not all of your $500 but its a must have mod for a 98. if you have 90 bucks left over get a lid.

Super28Sport

that flowmaster isn't no good either. probly not doin much for your car over the stock exhaust system

Jakester136

Why does the ls6 intake make a bigger difference on the 98's than the other years???

Spd-Kilz

iTrader: (35)

I'd get a VFN Sunoco Hood personally.

Not to "threadjack", but where did you pick up an LS1 for 4k?

snakeeater03

iTrader: (1)

It helps the 98's-00 fbodys that dont have the ls6 intake. Not just the 98's. Good advise tho. go with that. Wish I would have started with one, trying to find a used one now actually. Good luck with the ride.

Spd-Kilz

iTrader: (35)

I don't believe you'd see any extra gains from an LS6 intake on a 1998 vs. a 1999 etc. It's just that the 2001 & 2002 F-bodies came with LS6 intakes...so it would make no difference to swap intakes on a 2001+ car (to an LS6 that is)

JHL88

DAH what i meant was since he had a 98 that refers to him, & i couldnt remember if it was 98-00 or 98-99 didnt want to give bad info

Spd-Kilz

iTrader: (35)

Noo, I know what you meant...I was just explaining to Jakester136.

My bad

Thundercat69

thanks everyone! i appreciate it since you guys have had your cars longer and been through all this before. umm yea some guy had a mach 1 mustang and just bought his wife a bmw so the z28 was kinda just chillen and he needed the money and let me have it for 4k... i was stoked. i had 1990 camaro rs but it got to about 300,000 miles on it and stuff just kept breaking so i needed a new car. i love my baby. ill get some pics up soon as i can.

as for all the advice yea i think ill go with the intake and and some headers. thats what i was thinking myself. as far as hoods go. what are the benefits of a caul induction hood compared to the ss hood or the ram air intake ones on the firebirds? is there one particular hood better than all the others or are they all pretty much the same and just depends what look you want?

so my halo headlights are in the mail. but ive herd some stuff here in there about installing them. im sure its easy im just impatient but someone said that the halo lights dont ever go off? and that it comes with a 12v battery for something? whats the deal with that. i thought theyd be just plug and play type action...

cant wait to get my new rims to. such a good deal. torq thrust type m and racing tires 2 17x9 and 2 17x10.5 shipped to me already mounted balanced and everything for 1200 bucks .

u guys are great. glad a friend told me about this site. one more question though (for now) since i have an idea of what all to spend my money on... the guy at the mechanic shop was trying to get me to buy a new programer and rockers... how benefitial are those parts? can they wait until later or should i try to get them soon to?

ill check back later. got class in the morning.

Thundercat69

hey everyone. i checked on ebay for that ls6 intake. there are a few on there, most of them 350 bucks, theres like 2 different brands though... and then theres someone selling a used one for 100 bucks. they are all different sizes in mm though. how do i know which size will fit my car? and is there a particular brand better than another? is that an easy install also? and what about porting them? what does that do to them and how does it help and how much can it cost?

found some long tube headers on there for 275 bucks also, is that a decent price?... that would be about the 500 bucks i have to spend and i could get the guy to install them while doing some other work on my car, just wanna make sure everything will fit.

JHL88

what are the brands? and who makes the longtubes? it sounds like they are non coated.. your best bet would be stainless steel esp. if your going to drive your car alot. let me jus say you get what you pay for

pingg5

The ls6 intake is great, but the big results from it won't be seen until a set of longtubes are added and a cam swap is done. A gain of 10-15 (tops) can be expected as your car sits right now. With a good cam setup, 20 hp over the ls1 intake can be seen from the intake alone. My vote is for the spray. Just a 100 shot. Congrats on the new car.

Thundercat69

the majority of the headers on there are pace setter headers and they dont appear to be coated because it says there is an heat and protection coat available so ill assume its not on there and would cost a little bit more. as for the intakes... one brand was bbk i believe and said it would add 30 hp and the other brand was a 78 mm comp cams fast lsx intake manifold. so idk what the difference is in sizes or brands. but yea i understand you get what you pay for. just wanna make sure i get the right stuff.

thanks man

Thundercat69

yea i was looking into a new cam to. i didnt really get to talk to the mechanic about how much one would cost though? what do you guys think the average price would be for a new cam? i know they help alot and they make the car sound bad ***.

james562

iTrader: (35)

Don't spend another dollar for a week... Don't **** away your money on rockers and a programer, both are compltete ****....

Read your *** off, All the stickys, GenIII External bolt on section, Automatic section,

Sorry for the harsness just gonna make your life 10X easier/ make your get the most for your money

Start with
https://ls1tech.com/forums/new-ls1-owners-newbie-tech/361959-so-you-wanna-fast.html
Then This
https://ls1tech.com/forums/new-ls1-owners-newbie-tech/213148-jrp-s-faq-commonly-asked-questions.html


I'd suggest finding a reputable Shop/LS1 tech Sponsor in your area and buld a relationship with them and your plans for the car

You have 500 left right?
Keep saving... If you want to spend it all now...
I'd probably do lid, cutout, save the rest for some coated headers and a new 3" Off road Y pipe....

OR

Grab a LS6 intake and add it to the mix and hold off on the headers

OR

Save till 1000 and buy a Vig/Yank 3600+ converter, Tranny cooler, and have the shop installing it change up the shiftpoints/line pressure
(This option will make the car the fastest out of the 3 and gets my vote)

Where area are you from?

99camarosupersport

iTrader: (6)

Best advice I can give is mod with a plan, if you want to do exhaust first.... do nothing but exhaust first, Lid, intake, headers, catback....you get the idea.

If your long term plans are a Turbo, then why get headers? If they are a blower, why get a lid? (assuming the car will have these things like a year or less)

Have fun, it's a blast. Addicting too, be careful.

jzzamesb

iTrader: (9)

I'd do lid, converter, then intake and full exhaust. Good Luck with your car!