tony tone

So in the very near future (tax returns, lol) i'm thinking of dumping some cash towards more power. My car is 100% stock performance wise and would certainly like to change things up.

I'm looking to start with the standard I/H/E deal which alone sets me back quite a bit considering kooks 1 7/8, a K&N, and either a B&B or Corsa, but hoping to include a cam in this mix with a predator tuner. The only thing is i'm not even sure where to start around my parts. I've been an import guy my whole life and can get whatever i want when ever and where ever when it comes to that because i know my way around here, but when it comes to V8s or LS motors, specific to ours i don't know many other that Gaby's Auto Works (GAW) which work on V8s (mostly mustangs) and tons of diesel trucks.

I guess I was looking for a place within means of our cars or at least our motors that is trust worthy and has exceptional work.

Any recommendations or ideas will be greatly appreciated.

Thanks!

Tony

DoctorNick

Vera Cadillac(Jamie the tech, Greg the Service writer) And DiabloSport. Best combo of service, support and care by far in the SE region.

punishmentcycle

iTrader: (6)

look around for a corvette specialist....in florida it shouldnt be too hard

onebadcad

iTrader: (1)

Jamie/V-Series Tech has done everything on my V and C6, from consulting on the parts/desired HP, assisting me in getting the best price, first-class install, excellent maintenance and introducing me to the Johan Mangs, the DiabloSport LSx tuner, who has a dyno at their research facility, and is responsible for all LSx tunes they offer with their handheld Predators. Jamie has owned 2 Vettes and like 4 Cobras-we won't hold that against him, his current C5 is an 800-900 RWHP TT that he built the kit for himself. His credentials, which he can discuss with you, are very lengthy and second-to-none.

onebadcad

iTrader: (1)

Regarding your mods, I would look at other options than a full exhaust, maybe just the tips, maybe muffler delete. Save money on the headers, you are in FL, so no Emissions Testing, skip the cats, go with Kooks and get them coated. Cam upgrade would be nice, look at options here, as can save money on kit if you do not go too big. Dyno tune is a must, post your budget, as I am sure other on the site can offer helpful advice based on what you want to spend.

tony tone

does kooks make headers taht eliminate the cats? i was under my car for the first time last month when it was getting aligned and noticed that some long tubes would eliminated them right off the bat. what stops me from from going to a local muffler shop and getting some piping done right off the collector from the header back to a magnaflow muffler or something? i just assumed a cat back (or header back) solution might be easier, but obviously more expensive.

i'm looking maybe around 3-4k, but preferably less to be honest. i know a tune is without a doubt a requirement, especially with a cam.

where is jamie located? i see you're in broward so you're a stone's throw away from me.

onebadcad

iTrader: (1)

I ordered my Kooks headers for my C6 without cats from a vendor that was on the Vette Forum, he has since closed his shop, but I believe you can go catless. Muffler shop can save you big $$$ over a full system, then again some have purchased Magnaflow on Ebay for around $600. Jamie is at Vera Cadillac/GM in Pembroke Pines. Dollar for dollar, with the exception of a NOS system, a cam delivers big HP.

lubelizard

iTrader: (5)

I've heard great things about Jamie and Vera. I am going to contact them to see what they can do. I have to go back to the dealer that did the warranty diff replacement, then I can explore my options.

04ctsvfl

iTrader: (4)

onebadcad hit it on the head, Jaime performed some warranty work on my car. I did all the mods myself. And John Mangs tuned her.

Two great people to work with.

Tony tone, I could assist with the install of any of the mentioned parts, as I did them to my V. Im in Jupiter, Fl.

Johan Mangs, and Jeremy Formato should be the only two you consider to tune your car...considering they are some of the best in the country, and are local.

04ctsvfl

iTrader: (4)

and no kooks headers dont eliminate cats....but do what I did.....I just took the car open header to an exhaust shop, and had them weld custom connection pipes with flanges so they can be removed for like 80 bucks....it sounded amazing, and is the same thing that Kooks tries to charge like 200 for.

tony tone

thank you all for the great responses. with pines being relatively close i may have to pay jamie a visit.

04ctsvfl, what exhaust do you have? what throws me off is the x/h pipe scenario. the test pipe you had the muffler create, did you have them just do straight piping to some mufflers all the way back? is it required to do some sort of x pipe design?

thanks guys

04ctsvfl

iTrader: (4)

the offroad conncetions I had made connected the Kooks flange to the x pipe which then connected to the rest of the exhaust.

If you had an H pipe, it would work the same way they would just connect the kooks flange to the h pipe which then connects to the rest of your exhaust.

Let me know on the installs....

V-seriesTech

iTrader: (5)

Hey Tony... Jamie here @VeraMotors,...I wanna say I have seen you on 6speedonline.com before(at-least that avatar pic)..I could be mistaken. If so, excuse the mistake. Either way, I do have the pleasure of working at a GM facility that has a vocabulary in performance, and in modern fuel injected Cadillac's(all platforms) as well as GMC/HUMMER/SATURN/SAAB/BUICK/PONTIAC and Corvette vehicles. I've had the pleasure to service Doctor Nicks, onebadcad's, 04ctsv's,..as well as multiple other forum member's vehicles, as well as alot of cars in the area, as far as west palm beach. I would love to have the chance to work on your's as well.

As far as where I would tell anyone starting out in stages, I'd go with the Predator programmer. It's a great tool, it can log data, grows with your mods, and is update capable via internet. For what it does, its the best mod for the DOLLAR, from a technicians point of view(not only does it add power, it scans, clears, displays codes in 1996+ gm vehicles). That, then a cold air kit,.. then long tubes,... if you do not like the occasional fuel smell, then I recommend cats... if you don't mind, and the women in your life don't mind,... more flow is more flow, go with off road pipes(no cats)... then, I do know a great custom fabricator that onebadcad reffered me to a long time ago. Guy does GREAT exhaust systems, all custom. I would honestly talk to him, or someone like him before I invested TONS of money into a catback. However, the bolt on catbacks are nice(B&B-corsa-etc)... they just could be pricey.

I'd also look into coil overs on a first gen. I am DIEING to install a set on someones car. Hopeing one day someone shows up with a set and says go to work.

Anywho, Tony, again my name is Jamie, feel free to ask me anything regarding your car, you can reach me usually by PM here, and i'll gladly give you my contact info should you wanna stop by the shop for a visit. It'd be a pleasure to meet you man.


Thank you Doc. I appreciate the comments, and the time allowed to work on your ride. Glad your enjoying the extra power. Looking forward to next round of mods, or even an oil change man. Hope all is well. Give me a shout when your in the area.

Oh,.. lol, and Greg, I walked up to him last week before my vacation,.. asked him if he was ready for his next round of mods...he said hell yes(magnacharged 4.8 LS V8 short cab short bed silverado).... gave me his credit card, and long story short, we just received his nice, shiny brand new LONG TUBE headers with high flow cats. Probably gonna do a gift install for him tomorrow. He's gonna love it. Swing by and check it out when you get back.

You'd be surprised man. I've been majorly disappointed with the workmanship of south florida's "top notch" Corvette tuners. I get to work on Corvettes during the twilight hours and weekends,.... I see alot of disappointing work from the locals. Yes, there is a couple of shops that are qualified,.. just wouldn't let them work on our own cars anymore...nor will my family(speaking from experience....which is the only way to speak).


God I hope those numbers you say i'm making are on a low boost config or I am going to quit working on my pro turbo kitt'd vette. But seriously, tank you for the kind words man. We've come a long way, you and I. It's been a pleasure working on your machines man. Props coming from you, this is you right, means alot. Thank you for that. Nice to see, your cars are both together, and running powertrain problem free. Always a pleasure my friend.




Buy a good set of headers,.... and possibly the high flow cats as an option and I could give you the number of a guy that will make you any exhaust you'd like. I have had alot of ideas myself for making a badass bullet catback. Or, matter of fact. If I owned the V,... I'd look into the B&B 3" exhaust,... the one with the bullet mufflers by tranny,.. then the two cans in back. Well, I'd probably remove the two rear cans with some easy slide on flow tubes( 3" about 2' feet long,... with no mufflers. That'd be about as tough as you could sound with no restriction. ...to make it quieter, just throw on the other two mufflers.


Well thats awesome man, thanks for sharing that. Let me know if I could help with anything.


Thanks man. What you guys have all mentioned here as well is Diablosport and Johan Mangs. Also Mike Litsch and others have all been soo awesome with helping me tune soo many cars with so many different setups. I can honestly say, we've had nothing but 100% great experience with them. I could not do what I do today without that crew. Big thanks to them and all of what they do.

Believe it or not tony, you can find all kinds of exhaust parts, ends, x pipes, all kinds of things on the internet these days. You really could piece together your own system, and have a professional fabricator weld everything up in a serviceable manner. Whatever you do,.. PLEASE, for the love of the technician thats going to work on your car, please, if your doing custom, make sure it is SERVICEABLE. As in can be removed quickly to change a fuel pump or something. I have had a car,... that had the entire,.... the entire exhaust welded together,... as one whole piece. That car should be crushed,... as it is a useless system,... and once installed, not coming back off without a cutting wheel and torch.



Once again..... thank you guys very much for all of your kind words,... I do appreciate it. Sorry for the delay on answering this post,... I was away from civilization. You could PM me, or email me @ jwells@veramotors.com Thank you

lubelizard

iTrader: (5)

Hey, thanks for joining the discussion. I have your phone number in the car, but keep forgetting to bring it into the office with me.

I'll drop you an email.

V-seriesTech

iTrader: (5)

Pleasure man, no problem. I'll be at work tomorrow,... not sure how busy or slow it will be but I will try and reply in a timely fashion. Also,... rythemracer@yahoo.com is an alternative to my vera motorsports mail. Have a good night fella's.

-J

tony tone

Thanks for the outstanding response Jamie. You've help paint the picture much better. That would be me on 6speed, lol.

By the way I have a set of k-sport coilovers on my car. The ride is great considering how low it is. Here are a few shots from the shoot.

http://www.speedmotiv.com/2009/07/10...-cadillac-ctsv

I will definitely be giving you a call early in the year. Thanks again for your efforts.

V-seriesTech

iTrader: (5)

No problem Tony, thank you. Glad to see another 6 speed board member. I go by The Fixed Roof there,..... I haven't been online there(or here) lately, simply due to all kinds of things going on in life,.. time just escapes us sometimes. I also rarely am able to get to TECH during the day, as LS1tech is blocked site for me,... which I think I will have a way around very soon.

Coilovers on your V?..... dude, your my hero. Good man, you deserve a handshake. As many V's as I have seen,...I have yet to see one sitting properly, on coilovers. Not only that, after driving my buddy Marco's old V at terminal top speeds, I felt it could use some serious suspension treatment. Very cool you did this mod. Your car looks sick man. Hell weather you'd like to do work with us or not, just bring it by and take me for a ride or something. How'd you feel the car felt after the mod? Night and day?

When I put coilovers on my vette,... I quickly realized it was by far one of the very best mods possible to do on a car. Truly amazing difference. Since then, I have done nothing but recommend coilovers on every car I work on. Hoping onebadcad does it on both of his cars.... then again, he does have mountain sized speed bumps. Done the mod to several vettes, everyone says the same,....best mod ever.


Ranting, sorry... have a safe night and safe weekend down here in South Florida and everywhere fella's. Heres to a new year....

tony tone

Happy New Year Jamie.

The difference with the coiliovers was night & day. Although I know the wheel/tire setup also played a part, especially being both were done simultaniously. I've made some minor tweaks to it here and there from damper adjustments to ride height (sits lower in the rear now, tucking it like the front giving it a very aggressive stance with the 20x10.5 and 285/25/20 invos).

You'll certainly be hearing from me good sir.

V-seriesTech

iTrader: (5)

Sounds cool man. Happy New Year.