New to ls1..need advice
Thread Starter
Teching In
Joined: May 2006
Posts: 41
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New to ls1..need advice I read the majority of the stickys in each part of the forums, and learnd lots about the ls1 and modding...The plas for the car...Its a 02 Trans am Ws6 Ram air M6...The plans for the car, basicly its a daily driver, I want to start moding it, I figure, Start with 4.11 gears, Then full exhaust,Lid, Maf basic suspension mod, strut tower brace,control arms,springs, shocks, tires...First to start off with free mods, Im new to trans ams and Ls1's, So Im going to keep it N/a full bolt ons, No heads, just stuff like intake and cams, gears lid shifter stc. What are the weak point on a trans am, what goes out first on them. where should I start, Its has to stay smog legal, and I live in cali..
1. gears, 4.11 for a M6
2. full exhaust, Lt's, Catted H, true dual exhaust, Or should just go with catte Y pipe?
3.Lid, maf, TB, should i upgrade these, or is there no gain by upgrading to a bigger maf or bigger Tb, if so what size should I go with. Should I change out the Intake manifold,Or is stock pretty good?
4. Cam..not sure yet but im still researching on cams,
5 anyother mods im forgetting that help, reach my goals, of running low 12's full bolt'on daily driver...
Thanks, im still reading more stickys as i go through the forums
1. gears, 4.11 for a M6
2. full exhaust, Lt's, Catted H, true dual exhaust, Or should just go with catte Y pipe?
3.Lid, maf, TB, should i upgrade these, or is there no gain by upgrading to a bigger maf or bigger Tb, if so what size should I go with. Should I change out the Intake manifold,Or is stock pretty good?
4. Cam..not sure yet but im still researching on cams,
5 anyother mods im forgetting that help, reach my goals, of running low 12's full bolt'on daily driver...
Thanks, im still reading more stickys as i go through the forums
First off, from what I hear, if you live in Cali...LT's are out if you want to keep it legal.
Second, you can keep your intake manifold for a while. You have an 02...good year. The 01's and 02's have the LS-6 intakes, which are quite a bit better than the 98-00 LS-1 intakes.
Second, you can keep your intake manifold for a while. You have an 02...good year. The 01's and 02's have the LS-6 intakes, which are quite a bit better than the 98-00 LS-1 intakes.
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Joined: Feb 2005
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Originally Posted by ls1tuboplan
I read the majority of the stickys in each part of the forums, and learnd lots about the ls1 and modding...The plas for the car...Its a 02 Trans am Ws6 Ram air M6...The plans for the car, basicly its a daily driver, I want to start moding it, I figure, Start with 4.11 gears, Then full exhaust,Lid, Maf basic suspension mod, strut tower brace,control arms,springs, shocks, tires...First to start off with free mods, Im new to trans ams and Ls1's, So Im going to keep it N/a full bolt ons, No heads, just stuff like intake and cams, gears lid shifter stc. What are the weak point on a trans am, what goes out first on them. where should I start, Its has to stay smog legal, and I live in cali..
1. gears, 4.11 for a M6
2. full exhaust, Lt's, Catted H, true dual exhaust, Or should just go with catte Y pipe?
3.Lid, maf, TB, should i upgrade these, or is there no gain by upgrading to a bigger maf or bigger Tb, if so what size should I go with. Should I change out the Intake manifold,Or is stock pretty good?
4. Cam..not sure yet but im still researching on cams,
5 anyother mods im forgetting that help, reach my goals, of running low 12's full bolt'on daily driver...
Thanks, im still reading more stickys as i go through the forums
1. gears, 4.11 for a M6
2. full exhaust, Lt's, Catted H, true dual exhaust, Or should just go with catte Y pipe?
3.Lid, maf, TB, should i upgrade these, or is there no gain by upgrading to a bigger maf or bigger Tb, if so what size should I go with. Should I change out the Intake manifold,Or is stock pretty good?
4. Cam..not sure yet but im still researching on cams,
5 anyother mods im forgetting that help, reach my goals, of running low 12's full bolt'on daily driver...
Thanks, im still reading more stickys as i go through the forums
The Peoples Republik of Kalifornia frowns pretty hard on LTs (they'll open your hood see them and nut kick you) so your options are limited, probably the best thing for you is FI, several supercharger companies have CARB legal products, that should get you in the 12s with 6lbs of boost
As for the rearend, yes you'll need to upgrade if you start pushing some HP.
An M6 is harder on the rear than an A4, usually as long as you stay away from sticky tires and/or hard launches it'll survive, but if you want to use DRs or slicks, better budget around 2k for a new rear
As for the rearend, yes you'll need to upgrade if you start pushing some HP.
An M6 is harder on the rear than an A4, usually as long as you stay away from sticky tires and/or hard launches it'll survive, but if you want to use DRs or slicks, better budget around 2k for a new rear
Thread Starter
Teching In
Joined: May 2006
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How good is the stock exhaust, is it worth doing full exhaust, what are the gains, or the gains from duals and X pipe? Also what other parts are really good from the facotry, like the intake or headers or shifter etc.? also im pretty sure im going with a 3" corsa exaust, and have hi flowing cats , then stock headers.
Last edited by ls1tuboplan; May 23, 2006 at 09:21 PM.
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if you plan on going dual you still won't be CA legal... as the cats move from their stock location causing you to fail the visual. go with FI unless you plan on swapping your exhuast system every 2 yrs. the sts turbo carb # compliant will net you over 500hp 
w/full bolt-ons and a good tune. but yes suspension is a must. far as rear end, add your bolt-ons until your rear breaks then you can start going in that direction... just my .02
w/full bolt-ons and a good tune. but yes suspension is a must. far as rear end, add your bolt-ons until your rear breaks then you can start going in that direction... just my .02