Where to go from here?
Thread Starter
Teching In
Joined: Apr 2007
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Where to go from here? I am getting back into working on my car after several years of rarely driving it and having no money to work on it. So I am looking for advice on which things to take care of first.
The car is a 1996 RS with an LT1 swap. Has a cc503 cam, Crane 1.6:1 rockers, pacesetter longtubes, !cats, borla catback, SLP cai, an initial tune from PCMforless, and a small stall (2500 I think).
That's that good - here's the not so good. It still has the open diff 3.08 rear end w/ drum brakes from the v6, still has the v6 shocks/springs out back, and still has 17x8 wheels on it. It has some blowby issues as well during wide open throttle and/or after coasting down after some hard driving - I will be putting a catch can on there which will hopefully solve this problem.
Basically where would you guys go from here?
I think the rear end is the most important piece right now, but what is the best way to do this - get a diff and gears or find a whole rear assembly to swap in? Is it worth the money to upgrade the brakes at all? I have been mostly thinking about suspension upgrades - springs/shocks, lcas, and subframe connectors. Maybe even swaybars. I feel like wider wheels are a must for the rear as well. And it needs a good dyno tune...
The donor car ran a 13.2 untuned - does this sound about right and/or does anyone have any guesses as to what the car may be capable of with a good tune and some 3.73s?
As you can probably tell, I get really overwhelmed when thinking about everything and can really use some advice/help as far as prioritizing everything.
Thanks in advance
The car is a 1996 RS with an LT1 swap. Has a cc503 cam, Crane 1.6:1 rockers, pacesetter longtubes, !cats, borla catback, SLP cai, an initial tune from PCMforless, and a small stall (2500 I think).
That's that good - here's the not so good. It still has the open diff 3.08 rear end w/ drum brakes from the v6, still has the v6 shocks/springs out back, and still has 17x8 wheels on it. It has some blowby issues as well during wide open throttle and/or after coasting down after some hard driving - I will be putting a catch can on there which will hopefully solve this problem.
Basically where would you guys go from here?
I think the rear end is the most important piece right now, but what is the best way to do this - get a diff and gears or find a whole rear assembly to swap in? Is it worth the money to upgrade the brakes at all? I have been mostly thinking about suspension upgrades - springs/shocks, lcas, and subframe connectors. Maybe even swaybars. I feel like wider wheels are a must for the rear as well. And it needs a good dyno tune...
The donor car ran a 13.2 untuned - does this sound about right and/or does anyone have any guesses as to what the car may be capable of with a good tune and some 3.73s?
As you can probably tell, I get really overwhelmed when thinking about everything and can really use some advice/help as far as prioritizing everything.
Thanks in advance
Swap the whole rear end. It'll be much less work than trying to get the gears right and fit disc brakes. I would upgrade the front brakes definitely to the LS style or better, and if you get a rear out of an LS car, the rear brakes will be updated as well.
For suspension upgrades, the first thing you should upgrade is shocks and possibly springs. If you're looking for a good DD and a bit of a autox car, blisteins or konis with strano springs or even stock springs would be good. I run blistein/stock myself and love them.
Since you're coming back to this car after a bunch of years I would first make sure it runs great and look at the little stuff like bushings.
For suspension upgrades, the first thing you should upgrade is shocks and possibly springs. If you're looking for a good DD and a bit of a autox car, blisteins or konis with strano springs or even stock springs would be good. I run blistein/stock myself and love them.
Since you're coming back to this car after a bunch of years I would first make sure it runs great and look at the little stuff like bushings.
Thread Starter
Teching In
Joined: Apr 2007
Posts: 37
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Thanks for the reply. I am hoping to check out some salvage yards in the near future to find a rear end. Is there a particular LSx brake upgrade kit that is better than others?
The car seems to still run well - my mom drove it to work about once a week while I was living in Charlotte, but I definitely need to spend some time checking everything out to find any small issues.
The car seems to still run well - my mom drove it to work about once a week while I was living in Charlotte, but I definitely need to spend some time checking everything out to find any small issues.
You might be better off trying to find a used 10 bolt on here or craigslist with disc brakes. As far as suspension goes get a pair of used stock lt1 springs maybe some bilstein shocks, a set of stock swaybars with some poly bushings would be the cheapest and make a good improvement. Weld or bolt on SFC's would help stiffen the body and along with some quality shocks will improve the ride quality. For right now just upgrade the bushings to poly on the lca's if they're worn.
Last edited by riceburnerZ28; Apr 21, 2011 at 12:46 PM.
Thread Starter
Teching In
Joined: Apr 2007
Posts: 37
Likes: 0
You might be better off trying to find a used 10 bolt on here or craigslist with disc brakes. As far as suspension goes get a pair of used stock lt1 springs maybe some bilstein shocks, a set of stock swaybars with some poly bushings would be the cheapest and make a good improvement. Weld or bolt on SFC's would help stiffen the body and along with some quality shocks will improve the ride quality. For right now just upgrade the bushings to poly on the lca's if they're worn.
