Ok, heres the deal. I made a deal w/ my father that if I made a 30 or higher on the ACT test (made a 28 last summer, so its hopeful) that he would buy me and heads and cam I wanted, installed. So, my question is, what would be the ultimate combo for my 2000 trans am? What I'm looking for is the most power I could get while still being a daily driver. Note that I don't mind a little bit of a rough ride if it means lots of power, as long as its not too bad. Because I have the chance to get them for nothing, I havent had the chance to mod my engine in preperation for them, so all I have right now on my car is the FRA and a hooker cat back. However, I plann to mod much more in the future, including LTs, lid, probably an LSX intake, 3500 or more torque converter, and suspension mods. Keeping this in mind, I need the best combo for this app that money can buy -- price is not of concern. Heh, feels good saying that Thanks for all the help!!!

 

probably the new ls6 heads from afr and a trex cam thats about as big as it gets I think

 

I looked on the afr website and found the ls1 mongoose heads, but nothing about ls6 heads. Were these the ones you were talking about? If so, are the 225cc heads a bit too much for a daily driver or should I go w/ them?

 

Also, will it be ok to drive w/ such a big cam on a stock converter for a couple of months until I get the money for a higher stall?

 

i would get all the boltons and torque converter before putting on heads and cam. call jay at absolute speed and talk to him about a set of heads and a custom cam to match the heads. JMO.

 

The AFR heads are one off versions. They are not LS-6 castings. They have nothing to do with GM. On another note, there is no "ultimate" package. Lots of people try to copy other people packages and don't get the same results. The 225cc heads and a T-rex cam would equal a terd for the street. I would think a G5X-3 on a 114 LSA and the AFR 205 cc heads would make a killer street set-up. Keep in mind that no heads/cam package is going to be anything speacial without headers and all the things you mentioned above. Maybe you should get your dad to pay for a bunch of bolt-ons and installation instead of doing it backwards?

 

I was thinking about the bolt-ons, but being a highschool and college student at the same time, I only have time to work a low hour job, so it would be much easier for me to pay for several boltons like headers, tc, etc., adding them over time, rather than paying for the H/C at one time. I can handle not having the full potential power because of the lack of bolt-ons for a while until I can get the crucial ones. How would the t-rex cam do with the 205 cc heads? I know they have a rep of riding rough, but the whole "G5X3 vs. TREX" thread got me thinkin bout getting one.

 

Oh, also note that while he will pay for the H/C and install, the install does not have to be immediate; in other words, I could wait until I put the the headers and such on before installing the H/C.

 

The t-rex is good for stock heads, but when mated with a set of ported heads, the low-end power seems to fall off. If a cam is good with stock heads, it dosen't neccisarilly mean it will work well with ported ones. There just isn't enough cubic inches to support both the large cam and large heads. The X-3 is a good bit smaller than the t-rex, so it would be more suited to a ported head application.

 

with the money supplied I'd say get LT's, 3800+ converter, cam & tuning...youd pick up a hell of a lot more doing that then just heads & cam. Besides if you go with some huge cam but not converter your gonna regret it big time...my pkg made less power up until 3800rpms from when i didnt have the heads/cam so your gonna need some stall to get you into that powerband otherwise It'll be a complete dog down low.

 

a huge h/c setup on stock TC and no bolt ons will be a ****** turd. spend the money on the TC, bolts ons, and cam kit and pass on the heads for now.

 

is there an echo? hehe

 

werd, I had every bolt on you can get before I put my TC and gears in. From a 50 roll I got pulled by a near stock M6, by the time I got in my powerband to start catching up we had to shut down. Pretty sad if you ask me. However once I got the gears and TC it's a totally different game, your money would be better spent on the TC and gears.

-Sly

 

I would agree with some of the people on here about doing the converter, and intake and stuff......... BUT I understand what your going through(I'm a freshman in college now) so I won't throw in the "you don't need that **** its gunna slow you down until you do all the bolt ons" bullshit.

These cars are actually pretty easy to handle on the street(compared to my solid rollered 383 in my '68 camaro.) so you can really throw some wild combo's together and still be pretty driveable with a good tune. I'de say some Absolute Stage 2.5's with a TSP 231/237 on a 112 camshaft. That way you probably won't have any piston to valve clearance problems and still make lots of power. In your case the piston to valve clearance would probably be more of an issue than making more power(or at least thats the way I would think about it). The power differences shouldn't be over 10-15 hp over any other camshaft and you'de pretty much be set for a Yank PT4000 converter, a Fast 78mm intake, some 3.73 gears, some headers of your choice. Those are the basic parts that you will NEED to get going good and all the other stuff just helps to go faster.

Note: The car will not be very street friendly without the converter, and tuning but somewhat driveavle, I just hope its not your only source of transportation!

Josh S.

p.s. I'll be building an iron block 408 and am just gunna finish up my bolt on stuff when I get the motor in and running. Which I do plan on having the SS4000E converter and Fast 90 mm intake when the engine goes in....... but stuff like the pro shot fogger system, QTP stainless merge collector headers with dual electric cut outs, 9 inch rear end with 2 seperate gear sets- one for highway rolls and one for dragway blasts-, and other stuff will just have to wait a while b/c I DO have something else to drive.

 

Every car with the Cartek X package that I've read about runs 10's and are streetable. Most of the sponsors can hook you up with a good package, but Cartek seems to have the most consistent 10 second track times. You couldn't go wrong with MTI, either.

 

Im envious; i tried the act approach too but it didnt work. All my dad said was that he bought the car and the rest was up to me good luck though and if u need any tips i can help you especially on math/reading

 

Thank for all the input. So maybe go with say a trex cam, headers, ory, 4400 stall tc, and lid instead? Hmmm...might take a little convincing, heheh. Thanks for all the help!

 

I personally think if your car is a DD the trex might be a bit much in an A4...same with the converter...if its a 2-3 day a week thing i might work but i think 5-7 a week you'll get sick of it...personally I'd probably go with the tsp 225, pacesetters, ory, tci 3800, & lid.

 

Don't listen to everyone. I would do the samething you're doing. Get the heads/cam now while you have a chance. I know if I had that option while going to school (hell, still am), I would have jumped all over it in a heartbeat.

AFR 205s and call a sponsor for a custom cam. I'd recommend Futral. So maybe for a couple months your car won't "be all it can be." So what, in the end it will. Go for it!

 

What is that suppose to mean exactly?? He won't be doing the install himself, I'm sure a good experienced shop will be so who cares about P/V clearance? Will it hurt performance because his pistons are cut or change the driveability??

TexMax: do you have plans to go to the track often and try to get the best times out of the car?? If so you will need to keep many other things in mind like TIRES No matter what combo you do choose as stated it will work best with all the basic bolt-ons and you WILL need tuning, so keep that in mind as an added price ($300-$500).

I am extremely happy with my setup. Even in this terrible Texas weather my car runs consistent 10.9 passes at 3380#. I had all the basic bolt-ons and a 4400 stall converter before I did the H/C setup. I am running Texas Speed & Performance Race Series LS6 S2 heads with a TSP Magic Stick (238/242) cam and it is a proven combo. This is my only means of transportation so it gets driven. With a setup like this or any of the other setups people have listed you will have to have a good experienced tuner to set your car up right so it runs good on the street, on the track and has less chance of tearing **** up (trans and engine). Just do a lot of searhcing around this board on different combos. If you see something in someones sig, shoot them a PM about it. Majority of the people on this board are very helpful and so are our sponsors.

What ever combo you decide to go with make sure it is one of the sponsors to the right---->
I had my H/C setup installed by Texas Speed & Performance, and you can find their link to the right. They are great people and have great customer service. But any of the sponsors would be a good choice. If you have any specific questions about my combo feel free to PM me.