time to get my T/A back on the road....
Thread Starter
TECH Regular
Joined: Dec 2005
Posts: 444
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From: Kailua-Kona, HI
time to get my T/A back on the road.... Well, haven't posted in the LT1 forum in a while, and heven't driven my T/A in almost 6 months.
The radiator took a crap on me (custom aluminum one) and was spraying coolant out at a steady rate onto the front of my motor. The thing was running decent but ever since I bought the car, it has started to have a funny issue with the idle. When you are driving, say 40 mph, and pop the clutch right before you come to a complete stop, the motor wants to die out. It is NOT a tuning issue, as the car never did it with the old tune. When I switched over to Longtubes and bigger injectors, I got a re-tune as well.
However, when I got a re-tune, I lost about 500 rpms of top end power. Kinda weird, I went from shorties to longtubes, gained 2 rwhp on the top end, but gained over 30rwtq @ 3000 rpm. SO in other words my peak numbers used to be @ 6400 and now they are @ 5900. SO I changed the wires, etc. but it didn't help.
Anyway, I decided that since my Opti has 60k on it, it was time to swap it out. I have also heard that MSD boxes kill the stock OPtis ( I have a MSD 6A). SO I went ahead and ordered a new radiator (manufacturer of the old one gave me great deal), new shroud, MSD Opti, and Blaster Coil.
I am going to throw it back on the dyno right after to see if the new OPTI restored my top end. I would love to see 400rwhp out of this thing.
ANyway, when I can I'll post some new pics when it is done. We are always kind of slow during the X-mas season here at the body shop, so I am going to go ahead and Paint the front clip (bumper, fenders, headlamps, hood, and rocker mldgs). Also since I pulled my ADr 18 inch wheels and put them on the SS, I grabbed a set of gunmetal Z06 wheels (speedlines) so it should lookk quite a bit different. Anyway, sorry for the long post- had to vent somewhere.
The radiator took a crap on me (custom aluminum one) and was spraying coolant out at a steady rate onto the front of my motor. The thing was running decent but ever since I bought the car, it has started to have a funny issue with the idle. When you are driving, say 40 mph, and pop the clutch right before you come to a complete stop, the motor wants to die out. It is NOT a tuning issue, as the car never did it with the old tune. When I switched over to Longtubes and bigger injectors, I got a re-tune as well.
However, when I got a re-tune, I lost about 500 rpms of top end power. Kinda weird, I went from shorties to longtubes, gained 2 rwhp on the top end, but gained over 30rwtq @ 3000 rpm. SO in other words my peak numbers used to be @ 6400 and now they are @ 5900. SO I changed the wires, etc. but it didn't help.
Anyway, I decided that since my Opti has 60k on it, it was time to swap it out. I have also heard that MSD boxes kill the stock OPtis ( I have a MSD 6A). SO I went ahead and ordered a new radiator (manufacturer of the old one gave me great deal), new shroud, MSD Opti, and Blaster Coil.
I am going to throw it back on the dyno right after to see if the new OPTI restored my top end. I would love to see 400rwhp out of this thing.
ANyway, when I can I'll post some new pics when it is done. We are always kind of slow during the X-mas season here at the body shop, so I am going to go ahead and Paint the front clip (bumper, fenders, headlamps, hood, and rocker mldgs). Also since I pulled my ADr 18 inch wheels and put them on the SS, I grabbed a set of gunmetal Z06 wheels (speedlines) so it should lookk quite a bit different. Anyway, sorry for the long post- had to vent somewhere.
I would send the MSD opti back and get a stock replacement. This coming from someone who has a MSD opti. I personally have not had any issues out of it, I just don't like the adjustable timing deal they have tried to incorporate into it. You have no way of knowing where your timing really is without setting up a timing pointer and what not. Not to mention you could save $200
Thread Starter
TECH Regular
Joined: Dec 2005
Posts: 444
Likes: 0
From: Kailua-Kona, HI
I would send the MSD opti back and get a stock replacement. This coming from someone who has a MSD opti. I personally have not had any issues out of it, I just don't like the adjustable timing deal they have tried to incorporate into it. You have no way of knowing where your timing really is without setting up a timing pointer and what not. Not to mention you could save $200
Yeah, but according to MSD, it is set to GM factory OPTI timing specs when it is sent to you, so as long as you don't touch it, it should be fine. The good thing about the adjustable timing feature is that if you run nitrous or boost you can hook up a MSD digital timing box and have a timing control **** in the car. Gotta love that being that you can run full advance in town N/A and what not, then when you spray you can retard the timing without getiing your hands dirty.
