Sooner Todd

Soon I will be buying an LS1 Camaro/Firebird (likely from here), and I got to wondering about what mods would be desirable/neutral/undesirable.

Of course, it's going to be in generalities, each car is a unique case, but what mods would you be especially leery of or pleased to see when purchasing? Just cause I know the LTs are a PITA to install, I'd think that would be a good mod to see...and of course a car that's been sprayed a 1000 times might be one to avoid.

What others?


EDIT - this would be performance/suspension/etc. I really don;t give two ***** about appearance mods or fancy stereo stuff.

DCsLS1

personally i would want one with nothing on it. when i got mine it was bone stock and only had 40k on it, doing the mods your self is the best part and i must say you havnt moded an f-body till you install a pair of LT's. but my point is if you can find one bone stock theres less chance it has been ragged on just my opinion

Fifedogg

iTrader: (15)

If I were you I would look for a bone stock one first. I take pride in doing all the mods myself

Sooner Todd

I've been party to a LT install on an Fbody....hence wanting to steer clear of that hassle. Did lots of mods on my old blown 98 Cobra. I won't feel cheated for missing the experience of most mods.

But is that really true? That a bone stock car has less chance to be ragged on? I mean, each case is different, but I'd rather have a car with owner installed mods that took care of the thing (fluid changes, etc) than a 100k car that's seen five oil changes in it's life.

Ideally, of course, I;d want a pristine, bone-stock car in showroom condition with low low miles, but I don't want to pay for all that.

Unertl42

iTrader: (63)

LTs on a LS1 really aren't that bad. Now on my old LT1, that sucked. I've installed headers twice now on my LS1, and I'm about to do it for a 3rd when I put in my new cam and heads. My car was bone stock when I bought it except for a lid and filter and suspension mods. Ask the person who you are buying it from questions to see if he know how to take care of his car.

zracer323

iTrader: (12)

I bought mine bone stock but there were a few mods I wouldn't have minded seeing. Suspension parts would be nice, as would any car with a 12 bolt or 9 inch.

samson_420

iTrader: (1)

The only thing I wish mine came with is a 9" or a 12 bolt.

JD_AMG

Depends on the goals of your car are.
For example if you want to improve braking and don't care about some extra bling, then buying cross drilled, dimpled, or slotted rotors would be a waste of money.
Or if you want to improve handling buying drag parts like QA1s, short-length torque arm, relocation brackets, over sized rear swaybar, etc. would be counter productive. And visa-versa if all you care about is getting the best launch buying lowering springs or a larger front swaybar are also going to be counter productive.

CoastieWS6

iTrader: (1)

+1 That would be nice

Magnet

iTrader: (36)

Yea I would have loved to buy one with a built driveline. A tranny, and rear!! Other than that I like to mod them myself.

Vicinity

iTrader: (7)

Like said, if you find a car with a rear, buy it, I wish I did.

ae13291

iTrader: (8)

bought my car with some suspension add ons

DCsLS1

here you go bone stock
http://www.carmax.com/enUS/view-car/...9-16c19a69c924

WS6R6

iTrader: (1)

I would never buy a car that has ever had nitrous installed on it. That was the one major turn off for me. Other than that, suspension, rear, boltons, and maybe a small cam would be a nice way to start out a DD car!!

proporio

I would not want ----------------
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Lambo Doors!!!

Sharpe

iTrader: (7)

You do not want an aftermarket MAF. You want a stock MAF. It's an air flow sensor that some people replace. You want the stock one.

Sooner Todd

Does swapping the mass air meter just not yield any results on LS1 motors? But I guess I just wouldn't see the point on a stock motor. I replaced mine in my old Cobra, but it had an S-Trim.


Good ideas on the suspension/braking/driveline mods...those sound like something good to find. Are lighter weight driveshafts a common mod for f-body cars?

As far as turning vs launch on the suspension, basically I want a well balanced car, favoring neither one.

Z28SteveA4

iTrader: (16)

F-bodies come with an aluminum drive shaft to begin with. Going with a lighter one is not a common mod

JD_AMG

Its going to have to slightly favor one side. Stock (non 1LE, or non bilstien package) favors drag racing mainly because the decarbon shocks are so horrible, and thats the main reason these cars have rattles in the first place (the shocks have too much compression and not enough rebound, they let rattles in the cabin). Best thing for you to do when you get the car IMO is replace the stock shocks with adjustable handling shocks like koni. The ride is significantly better than stock (think BMW like), handling/feel is dramatically improved, and you can adjust them for when you go to the dragstrip for a good launch.

Sooner Todd

Well, then I'd favor toward "handling"/"ride" a bit more than launching...but I'm not looking to build a cone swerver.

Great advice guys.