I'm sure you probably have seen this posting before, sorry if you have.
I have a 98 Pontiac Firebird LS1 and I have some samll Mods done including the "free mods", ram air intake and flowmaster cat-back system, im kinda budgeting my money at this point with bills and a brand new baby on the way, I have $600-700 dollars to spend this year on a mod or a couple of mods. Just wanted to know what you guys thought of some of the performance parts out on the market right now, whats the best bang for the buck? Is upgrading the suspension, shocks sway bars, etc. My goal for the car is the ultimate driving machine, its automatic =( , the vechile itself is in excellent shape, only 60k the body is flawless, i eventually want to upgrade everything to a certain extent and i know it will take time but is there anything out there that you have heard of or that you have on your own vechile that is worth while?

Thank you for taking the time to read my post, I hope to hear from you guys thanks!

Is anyone in CT interested in a drive once a month?

 

get long tube headers! it will make a big difference in performance.

 

performance torque converter

 

I was looking at long tube headers the other day any difference between products the price range between Pacesetter Headers and SLP headers is a matter of almost 600 dollars. Do you get what you pay for? Are you running long tube headers on your car?

As far as a torque converter what will i be seeing as far a performance im not looking to nessicerly drag race, would i be able to street performance from a quality converter?

 

SLP headers are made of stainless steel and are a pain in the *** to install and the collectors hang low and offer poor ground clearance . The pace setter LT's are either painted steel or coated steel and are probably the easiest headers to install and they tuck up tight to the floor pan so they have excellent ground clearance. The pacesetters are by far the best bang for your buck headers on the market !

 

Go with XS stainless longtube headers , just as good as both Pacesetter / SLP . The SLP 's are known to have collectors that hang real low and scrape if you lower you car any .

If your serious about getting headers and don't mind spending , getting a header with a high volocity merge collector also known as a hvmc would be the way to go .
QTP {QuickTime} , ARH {AmericanRacing } , Kooks etc . Another more budget approach but what looks to be a good headers is Edelbrock's stepped header w/ hvmc and is in your price range .

I have the XS headers and they work just fine but wish I would have went with an hvmc style header .


On performance from an aftermarket torque convertor , it would be a pretty big differnce in performance , get a Yank SS3600 . Its the shift extension that you would benefit at wide open throttle compared to a stock converter that drops more rpm on every shift , the higher stall converter keeps the engine in the racing rpms every shift . Well worth it , probably notice this mod more than adding a set of headers .

 

thanks. I probably will order a set of those from summit soon it def. falls within my budget. thanks for the help?

I was thinking about a tuner. Is hypertech any good?

 

And if you haven't yet a LS6 intake manifold from a '01-'02 , bought mine used in great shape for $300.00 a while back . Thats another option ,along with an 25 % underdrive pulley .


Stall convertor / aftermarket transmission cooler
Headers
aftermarket y pipe
LS6 intake manifold
ported throttle body
25% underdrive crank pulley
gears
computer tune

 

CWS T/A Your trans am is automatic? How much horsepower did you build with those mods? Where can i find a stall like that and how much would it cost? Can you order them from summit?

 

Save it and spend it on the baby

 

No disappointingly mine is a 6speed , heres the prices on the YANK converters . http://www.converter.cc/converters/street/GM/1/main.htm

 

Mike, don't bother with the hypertech programmer.