Hello LS1Tech!

Winter is approaching and soon my Bird will be staying in the garage!
(gonna pick up some cheap civic or something in the meantime)


I'm getting a winter build together and this will probably be one of the last real times I mod this car. My plan for this bird was just basic bolt ons with suspension.

The car is a 1999 with about 120k miles, and I've already planned to buy:
BBK SSI Intake Manifold
BBK 85mm Throttle Body
BBK Fuel Rails
Headers (undecided what kind)
Poly Motor Mounts
And a couple suspension things + appearance mods

I'm planning to do all of this over the 4-5 months that we have snow, so PLENTY of time for these few of mods... I'm waiting til Black Friday or Christmas/New Year for sales from the sponsors.
Any recommendations on what to mod/replace while I'm doing this?

 

Does the BBK offer that much of a performance bump over an LS6 intake to justify the cost, as opposed to say either finding a fast 90/90 or a 102 used? (lump the throttle body into this equation, and rails)

Get stainless steel headers, Texas speed has a good price on their brand, Coated headers are cool and all, but they get roadrash on the bottom and then start rusting.

Also, maybe consider a full catback system with a 3" Y pipe and I Pipe, through anything but a flowmaster lol

 

I didn't see where you said you had a LS6 but if you do I wouldn't mess with a BBK. Me personally wouldn't mess with the BBk at all. I'd wait and buy a FAST and mod somewhere else. I'd do TSP headers and either do true duals or get an ORY and a catback. Get rid of the Flowmaster. Hooker is a good cheaper catback that will stay pretty quiet. Suspension wise I'd do some subframe connectors first, LCAs and the brackets, an adjustable panhard bar if you plan to lower it.

 

Yea if you have an ls6 keep it, those bbk intakes add a lot of heat to the engine bay...besides that you won't see much gains with the bbk intake/tb combo over what you already have...you could swap out your heads for 243 castings and make a lot more power than an intake swap bc the heads are where the power is made...if you want some budget headers look into hedman, I run them and they fit surprisingly good considering their price (250)...if you want stainless Texas speed is the way to go...good luck man

 

Thanks for the input guys.
I actually do Not have an LS6 intake, just the LS1 intake.

And sorry I haven't updated my sig... But I do have UMI Subframe Connectors on there now.

I'm planning on buying another F-Body from a relative and that one I will probably go full out Cam, Heads, etc. (FAST Intake too).

So for this one I want to go with just a Minor Bolt on Car, so basically after this winter I most likely won't mod it any further...

 

I'd wait on a used LS6 and just do the full exhaust. If you do decide agaisnt a stainless header I'd just buy the painted because either one is going to rust. I've had painted headers on my car for 5 + years (on it when I got it) and no problems. If its a 6 speed car I'd do a 4.10 gear if you can do the work yourself or a have a friend that'll do it for you. If your gonna have to pay some 300 bucks to do it then its not worth it because it'll explode eventually if you track it any. If lowering it is an option you could get a adjustable panhard bar and some springs (or cut stockers) but if going that route you'l want new shocks to go with it decarbons suck. I run bilsteins on both of mine with cut stock springs and stranos on the other.

 

I wouldn't do painted headers, they are going to look like straight poop in 6 months. I agree with the above post, dont spend the money on the BBK stuff, if wanting to change manifolds, go LS6 for just a bolt on car, where you can keep stock rails and what not. The extra money put into Texas Speed stainless headers and their y pipe, and a catback if you dont have already(I freakin love my GMMG, and not everybody has it like SLP etc.) You can't beat their price for stainless headers and I have heard nothing bad about them. You wont regret it in the long run. I've already replaced my pacesetters with kooks and they are amazing, quality looks fitment, but you pay for all that. And I agree with gears in there and thatll really wake the car up, dont spend money where it is not needed if you arent planning on going real far with the car.

 

If this is a bolt on only car, dont mess with any of the BBK ****. Just pick up a used ls6 intake and swap it out, keep your rails and injectors since you wont exceed the capacity. Port the TB if you want.

Second is full exhaust, dont cheap out on headers, TSP has stainless so cheap now no one has an excuse to buy coated mild steel. Get a good catback as well. Underdrive pulley is a possibility if you want to get a lil more out of it, easy to do.

The mounts is a good idea, and then whatever suspension you want.

 

well put, yeah dont waste money on stuff you do not need

 

This section is for internal engine issues, not soliciting ideas for bolt ons, please use the correct section in the future.

 

cam, rocker arm trunion upgrade, valve springs, ls2 cam gear, ls6 oil pump

 

I've been mainly looking at WS6store, and according to the price the LS6 is slightly more expensive then the BBK one. (I know used would be cheaper, but in case I can't find one).
I would prefer to just buy all new, so I figured I'd try going with BBK's line of intake items.

I've been looking at Texas Speed's headers for quite a while now...
Should I try going with the 1 3/4 or the 1 7/8? I've read countless debates on this, but since I probably won't mod this car much further... Which would better suite in this scenario?

Sorry, I thought I had posted in the External Engine section, but Thanks for moving it for me

 

i dont see why people are soo anti BBK on these cars. they actually make some good products... for the price i really liked my bbk longtubes.. why not keep with the trend and go all BBK on the thing and prove some doubters wrong

 

Probably because there are products out there that fit or are better quality that cost about the same or just a bit more...

 

I might have to give it a try! haha, but I also have a friend who swears by BBK products, and his car is one of the cleanest/fastest F-bodies in our group
I'm still leaning to TSP headers most likely, but it would be cool to have BBK intake and all that!

I can't justify a purchase of FAST unfortunately.. Unless I'm due for a big raise sometime soon haha.. But yeah, I know that just the BBK manifold alone has shown improvements over the LS6.

 

Do as you wish buy youll get nothing over a used ls6 for about 150 more. If you cant find an ls6 for 300 or less on here you arent doing it right. There is a reason auto industry went to composite intakes vs aluminum as well..

 

Cost and ease of production. Composite plastic actually takes longer to dissipate heat than an equivalently-sized aluminum intake.

People don't run a lot of BBK stuff because it's more expensive for equal or lesser performance when measured against competing products. Gains on a stock-internal LS1 car are virtually nil with a BBK intake/TB setup when measured against an LS6/P&P stock throttle body, and the BBK setup is significantly more expensive. It's not that running a bunch of BBK stuff is going to prove "doubters" wrong - it's just going to be more money spent for the same performance at the end of the day.

On header size, go 1 7/8". It'll set you up for internal mods in the future if you want to play with them, and even on stock internals, the 1 7/8" headers make a bit better power than the 1 3/4" headers.