blknSS

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.



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.

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 **** 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.



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)

thegodfather899

iTrader: (1)

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

EdgarB

iTrader: (2)

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

blknSS

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?

RacerXLs1

iTrader: (14)

I have a borla catback forsale for 350

blknSS

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?

blknSS

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.



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

thehazz12

It's a 12 year old car...if the intake has never been off before there's bound to be **** 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!

blknSS

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?

blknSS

I did pick up a LS6 intake today, so check that off the list.

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.

TransAmWS.6

^^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.

blknSS

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

thehazz12

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.

blknSS

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 **** 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.

bad_408_vert

iTrader: (6)

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.

blknSS

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

TransAmWS.6

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.

autogeek23

iTrader: (13)

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

bad_408_vert

iTrader: (6)

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.

SuperSport01

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.