Formula94

Not doing enough research before you start modding.
At first I started with the cc305, shorties, no stall, and very limited tuning.
Now, I made the same mistake with the torque converter, 2800 is way to small. But at least PI alows for a free restall, so I will be stepping up to 3600 or so.

LT1Squirrel

almost buying a CAI, made my own for a whole lot cheaper, probably flows better too

insaneclown

ROLLER ROCKERS are gay.

Biggest waste of $200 I ever spent.

blunto

insaneclown can now add "giving SHITTY advice to newbies" as a mistake.

NEWBS: Don't believe everything you hear. Learn how to research theories and products effectively. Look to those who have results to back their theories.

My personal newbie mistake; becoming a ground

TwoFast4Lv

iTrader: (8)

Biggest Newbie mistake I ever made? I trusted ATI's advice for blower speed and the quality of the parts in the kit No much Blower speed now that we know more as it was the failure of the blow off valve that stuck closed

Yeah! end cost was about 12k. complete loss off blower and and custom blower motor , plus replacement bullit.

I learned a little that year LOL!

harleyman02

watched my friend change her oil the otherday. you know it she forgot the drain plug and dumped 5 qts of new synthetic in the drain pan. i went outside to laugh

BizZzatch350

iTrader: (33)

Not checking a 2$ hose clamp, cost me an Opti

regorih383

iTrader: (21)

This is very good info: What ever they hell your going to do, stick to it and dont be like me, as the following goes------> Did heads and cam on my LT1, ported the heads $900+200 on springs+200 cam+150 fuel pump+230 injectors+200 ported intake+300 on littel **** that adds up= A fucken spun bearing. SO instead of rebulding the 350 i buy a fucken 383 and change the hole top end New AFR heads $2600+LT4ported intake 400+new cam 300= Still dont know because im still CHANGING my mind on what im going to get

My point: Finish what you start, its not always a good idea to change or add some parts to your project because you will find yourself a full 2 years later saying"when will this car be ready", alone with all your friends and family

FIREHAWK #07

iTrader: (1)

Yeah you need to hurry up and finish youre damn car ROGER!!!

Ed Wright

iTrader: (1)

Some of this has been mentioned:
1) 1.6 roller rockers on a stock LT1. Tried that when mine was stock, came to about $100.00 per rwhp.

2) Ported (I have another word for that) or aftermarket MAF sensors, ditto larger aftermarket ends. A joke. Use a stock 85mm unit if you just have to have a bigger one. Not many need one. Needs PCM tuning to make work correctly.

3) 58mm throttle body. Unless you are well over 500 rwhp there is nothing there.

4) Radio Shack resistors in the IAT connector. Every '94 or newer LT1 car that has been here with one of those things, has made more power on my dyno with the sensor plugged back in. Used to have a small pile of them on the dyno pc. Nobody wanted them back after showing them that. The stock Lt1 runs too rich @ WOT, and that only makes it worse. Has no effect on timing with the '94/'95 PCMs. Only fueling. '96/'97: it can effect timing with some calibrations, but adds fuel also. That resistor deal must be on a list on some internet message board. Used to see it all the time, thankfully not as much now.

Good luck, Ed

Vendetta

https://ls1tech.com/forums/lt1-lt4-modifications/318514-descreened-my-maf-now-my-car-won-t-start.html

MAF foul-up while attempting to descreen.

97blkz

iTrader: (1)

Stay way from flowmaster & hypertech. Think of where you want to be hp & et wise. Example I bought a 58mm TB and was told by many too big you do not need it, twas true at the time but when I went 396 it was perfect. I say buy parts that can be used with almost any set up IE longtubes, big TB etc... I did a cheap heads and cam set up and it lasted a little but was not enough and they were scraped/sold. Aslo had a 2800 stall and ended up destroying it and now have 3400.

leftyteck

why do you guys all say stay away from flowmaster and hypertech and catback exhuast?

Vendetta

I really don't have a problem with Flowmaster catbacks on bolt-on cars. I think they sound awesome. However, they aren't stainless steel and don't flow nearly as well as other catbacks will for the same price. The real benefit of the Flowmaster catback is the sound, they definitely sound great.

Hypertech Power Programmer III is basically useless. Nobody ever gains much power out of it, and for around $300 it's not justifiable.

Catbacks are good. You like catbacks . A cat-back exhaust is a set of wider-diameter exhaust piping from your catalitic converter back. Most Cat-back Exhausts will contain an intermediate pipe, muffler, and tips. There are some other unique setups (the SLP Loudmouth uses a resonator instead of a muffler, the GMMG uses a pair of resonators to simulate a true-dual exhaust) but the majority of catbacks out there include these parts. Run a search or check out some vendors over there ==> for pics if you need them.

Brett95z

iTrader: (-1)

Reading message boards, i bet my car would be pretty close to stock still if i didnt have a computer

rebersole2

Agreeing to buy/ build an LT1 (carb conversion at that) before looking at the price of the parts to pull it off. For 3600 bucks (parts and labor), I could have built a nice budget big block.

Robert Hall

Don't buy it unless you know the full amount you're going to spend having it installed. The car was an ebay buy in 02, ($1750), the engine tranny was an ebay buy in 03, ($2950) new never used LT-1. Cost to put it in and jerk out all the old gear, new firewall, new tunnel, roll bar, new wiring, gauges, steering, rear-end, wheels tires,brakes, cooling, Deltec Ignition, 96 vette computer, having the computer reprogrammed, seats, instrumentation, steering wheel, new convertible top, (not installed), new and new and new brake work, customizing a 94 camaro reservoir, having the hood louvered due to a heat problem and wondering about the not included upcoming cost of having the new convertible top put on and body work, about $35,000 so far. You can see it at www.italiancarclub.com Look under galleries at Robert Hall's LT-1 spider. Oh, it runs on ethanol and nitrous/around 450-500hp in something that weighs 2200 lbs.

96capricemgr

iTrader: (1)

My first mod was a Jacobs ignition and wires, huge waste as the only thing it did was cause problems and serious gap errosion on the plugs. Leave ignition boxes to the really high winders and the boosted or juiced they have basically no place on a stockish car.
This is turning into a what mods not to do thread which is good but the title had me ready to post a mistake not a bad purchase, so I will go ahead and post that here too. When you reconnect the fuel lines ALWAYS pull back on the line to make sure it seated. I began cranking a motor to prime the oiling system, the fuel line hadn't seated and began spraying fuel and I had disconnected the coil wire so I could crank and prime without starting, luckily the hoise was right there and already on so I put it out with the worst damage being ugly hood and firewall pads and a hole in a vacuum line. Looking back I did a lot of things wrong there, cranking the engine to prime the oiling system with fuel pressure is bad as the cylinders will fill with fuel, there are better ways to go about disabling the ignition than pulling the coil wire, on top of the not seating the fuel line. A thread like this has great potential so comeon guys swallow your pride and admit to that stupid stuff every one of us does and hopefully even just one person is spared the hassle you went through.

Ari G

iTrader: (25)

http://www.cardomain.com/ride/718043

This is my car,done everything my self

Do suspension mods first then Engine mods,these cars can go 12's with good suspenion and dr tires,weight reduction is smart,racing is mostly about weight to power

SmokedOutZ28

iTrader: (35)

I was always told by a wise man to start from the rear of a performance car and work your way to the front... well needless to say i was young and stupid and couldn't understand why until now.. what good is it to have a 500 HP motor when you cant get the power to the ground. trust me i know got a 400 HP car and have to baby it down the track so something doesnt break use to be fun but not anymore!!

Second, Like someone stated above Sit down and map out your plans, budget and parts for you project take the time and do the job the right way the first time so you don't buy parts you dont need and wont use, Research, Research, Research, boards like these are great they help you find out where others have went wrong so you don't have to follow down the same path.