Matthew Koller

I have now a beauty of a 96 z28 with 84k miles on it bone stock. auto with terribe 2.73 gears i beleive.4 passes last summer landed 14.7's they way it is. my trouble is i dont know what order you would mod this car. I am guessing gears first, then converter then CAI, then maybe a cutout or drag radials? i am pretty sure gears would be what yall are going to say but i got no idea what gears or from where or part numbers etc. i would be happy swapping in another rear end with 3.23's even.. rear end makes a little noise anyways.
I dont have much of a budget since i blew it all on a obscenly stupid 185ish hp Ninja ZX12R sportbike. i would looooove to run nitrous but stil with a 100 shot i wouldnt be much past mid 13's which would is silly.
If gears shoud be the first thing i do....whats the cheapest smartest way to go about getting maybe 3.23 or 3.42 in the car....after gears what should i plan next? SFC?? Converter?
last thing and i will shuttup....this car came with the shifter locked out of being able to select first gear. soooo in my dumb *** wisdom i changed that and bent this metal tang that was preventing the shifter from going to 1st instead of stopping at 2nd. there is what i believe the nuetral positon sensor that is attached to the shifter itself which has an electrical connection going to it. Has anyone done this with a car that has only 2nd 3rd and OD selectable?
I even got a 1 2 3 D gear indicator for the console but im worried i messed up the PCM somehow by overriding the first gear lockout. ANY AND ALL ADVICE MUCH APPRECAITED!!!
-Matt

SS RRR

iTrader: (2)

What track?

nodnarb481

iTrader: (3)

Removing the stopper blocking 1st gear won't have any effect on the pcm. I did it awhile ago as well.

go with 3.73 gears. And a higher stall torque converter would compliment that well.

other than that, some bolt ons to let it breathe better and get it tuned. That's a good start.

Matthew Koller

Track was at Portland international raceway Oregon. Good track but slow car.
thanks for reassurance on the first gear thing. I was going to think of doing 3.55 rear gear but again even 3.73s I'm not sure what I need in terms of installation kit..where to get the gearset etc. rear end has some bearing noise anyway.
what stall speed???? 2400 or looser? 2600 rpm too much?...thanks guys

ACE1252

For other bolt ons....

• Cold air intake
• Catback Exhaust
• Long Tube Headers
• 1.6 Roller Rockers & Springs

At that mileage, the valve springs will be tired. I lost a couple of tenths in the 1/8 mile due to tired valve springs. If you go with 1.6 rockers, you'd have to change them anyway.

Fast350Z

iTrader: (2)

Start with cold air intake and catback exhaust. Then you could do headers, 3.73 gears, tune and stall converter. Don't waste your time with a 2400 or 2600 converter. You would want at a minimum a 3200 stall and you want a name brand one not a cheap one.

fbody_brian

I have a rear from a t56 car, with the factory 3.42 gears, and I love it with the 4l60e.
I was able to just crack the 12s with long tubes, 1.7 rockers, a tune, and drag radials.

What was your 60'?
Drag radials dropped me a good 1/2 second in e.t.

Matthew Koller

Late response to this but my 60 foot was 2.2 2.3 area of the footbrake stalling converter HARD. Car is quick but now that I have been looking for gears and I apparently can't go higher than a 3.23 gear cause the stock carrier won't accept anything higher? Got a CAI coming and a cutout on the way...thanks guys

Cajun ELESS-ONE

id go with in order
-better tires
-intake
-longtubes/catback
-matching stall and gears stall 3400-3600 and 3:73 or 4:10s(dont forget a big cooler for the stall)
-tune (do the tune last) so they can account for the speedo change and mods

LT1

iTrader: (1)

Dirty_Bird

I had 3.42s in mine but went 13.2 with full exhaust, 1.6 stamped rockers, 58mm tb, and homemade cai while being untuned

94TAisfast

From what the most popular mods seem to be, if you intend to use this as a car as a cruiser, then look for a 3.42 rear from an M6 car. Also, you'll want headers and exhaust/cutout, some kind of CAI such as Moroso/SLP/etc, and also a tune. Stamped 1.6 rockers are a good bargain, better tires, and a decent small stall should get you into the 12's. If you want to go crazy, do all of that minus the tune, and get some LE2 heads and a cam from him, THEN do the tune. Around $2k on top, but much better performance.

Puck

iTrader: (17)

Stall will by far be the biggest improvement for the money on a stock auto, but I would get the very basics first and mod in this order:

CAI, exhaust, headers, and roller rockers will add a chunk of power and sound, making the car more fun to drive. Basic mail order tune will be fine for those mods and add a bit of power. Then stall, then gears and tires will be HUGE improvement for your ET. Over .5 for those three mods alone! For the track at a bare minimum I would get some decent rear lower control arms, relocation brackets, rear sway bar, and a torque arm. I like UMI for the price. That will get you launching straight and help minimize wheel hop, saving your rear end.

You should be close or in the 12s by then depending on your altitude...my 93 ran 12.8s with basic bolt-ons like that with stock 3.23 gears, but it is important to note that was at DA under 1k so YMMV. Many have been waaayyy faster with the same mods but that was my personal experience in a high mileage LT1. Don't get too caught up trying to match internet times, instead just keep trying to improve on your prior trips.

Then you can worry about the real power mods like cam, heads, nitrous, etc if you want to go fast.

endo1111

You nailed it.

moehorsepower

iTrader: (3)

You need to include a tune only because with gears your speedo will be off and may short shift unless you can hold the gear in manually. The shifting is a combo between mph and rpm.

blownbird01

I've owned 2 LT1s and both wouldnt come out of the 14s even with a good many bolt ons. Same with a few friends. Seems typical of the motor and car honestly. Long tubes help as well as a good stall on an auto. Easy motor to make power though. Both of my cars ended up Supercharged and everything from there made a big difference. I went from mac midlength headers and borla exhaust to long tubes and mufflex 4" and gained just shy of 4 tenths. The motor had work done along with 12# of boost. Never realized how restrictive that first combo was.

Fast355

Have seen plenty of BONE STOCK LT1/Auto/2.73 cars in the 13s at Dallas Dragway and Ennis.

Something is wrong with the car IMO if its only running a 14.7. Stock B-cars run about 15 flat as long as they have 3.23 gears.

I would look at mechanical first. Neglected tune up items, losing fuel pressure under load, etc.

One particularly slow F-car I ran across had a 4.3 B-car engine in it and was sold as having the original LT1.