Hello LS1tech.com! I've recently made the move from www.camaroforums.com to here due to camaroforums being a ghost town.

I've recently bought my second Camaro, a silver 2002 Camaro convertible Z28 M6 with 127k miles on her and I have a few questions.

The car has a few things done to it. Complete and adjustable Hotchkis suspension all around including sway bars and all that good stuff. Its also got the SLP lid and bellows with a k&n filter :/ . That is all I can tell that the car has done to it as far as engine mods go however, the car also has Corvette brakes, and black 5 spoke Corvette rims with 285/40ZR17 front tires and 315/35ZR17 rears.

I've been reading up on mods and small things to do on the performance of the car and here is where I become a bit confused. First off, I've read up a few things on www.installuniversity.com and I'm looking at this easy mod called IAT Timing Tricker. It requires one to put a resistor in the IAT sensor to advance the timing a bit and 'increase performance'. I've also noticed that this is the exact same thing that the SLP IAT sensor part does. This mod makes one's car burn gasoline leaner, correct? Isn't that bad for an engine? Also, I've tried googling about knock retard but it came back with a ton of crap. If anyone could explain knock retard to me better, I'd be much appreciative.

The next question I have is about the grill on late 4th gen camaros. I've removed the grill to look more like ram air as seen in this pic.



Notice how in this pic, there is nothing in those holes. However, in mine and any other stock front bumper, there is some sort of cushioning made of Styrofoam or something similar. I was wondering was this just crash dampening material and can I remove it without much worry. This Camaro is my new daily driver and while I want it to look good, its also got to be roadworthy and able to handle the elements of Texas weather.

Preemptive thanks!

 

Not sure about the IAT mod never done or read about it. Knock retard is when your knock sensors sense a knock the send a signal to the computer to pull timing as to get rid of the knock nothing more nothing less. It is a saftey measure and has nothing to do with performance as long as you tune is okay you shouldn't have any issues with this. Can't really answer your question about the camaro bumper I have a TA but if its just stryofoam I would say take it out its probably just cushion for the grill and to keep it from vibrating.

 

Thanks a lot, mook99ta! I'm fairly sure the foam is just for minimizing vibrations too. Im most likely going to take it out. I noticed there were just two pins holding it in. If I cant just pull it out then I'll chip it out, so to speak. Thanks again!

 

Don't do the timing tricker. It is worthless. Let your computer "see" what it is supposed to see.

Mook hit the KR for you......

 

that foam can be taken out, but why... and that iat trick is bullshit, get the car tuned man

being a tuner, i see in the stock form a camaro doesnt ADD timing when it sees cold air, only takes away when it sees hot hair.... starting at 95 degrees it starts taking away timing...


as for fuel, the Power Enrich Fuel Adder VS Intake Temp is all zeros in stock form so it doesnt add any fuel in wide open trottle by tricking the iat, and even if there was some table im missing, the car in stock form has an "adaptive fuel trim", so after a few hundred miles the car relearns what the chip changed and the air fuel ratio goes back to what it wants because its not actually getting that super cold air.

knock retard (KR) is what happens when the engine sees knock, it retards the timing in something called "adaptive spark", these cars are a lot smarter than people think...

all in all, ditch the resistor man.

 

Appreciate the feedback! I thought the foam under the grill, was just there to minimize vibrations, and after poking around and tearing a small bit of the top off, I noticed there is metal frame that the owner of the car in the above mentioned car, must of cut off. Im leaving the foam in place but keeping the grill off.

As for the resistor, I dont want to use the resistor but SLP sells a part that is basically what the resistor does. I just wanted some info on what these things do and what could be the drawbacks.

Like isn't burning a car lean bad for the piston rings? And isn't that what is going on when you get the IAT trick going?

I'd also like to ask if it is a good or bad idea to put 1.82 ratio rockers on a stock LS1. I've seen the SLP package that claims a 'stage 3' kit to be 400hp comes with general bolt ons except for rockers which I thought was a bit odd. Iunno. I'm not one to really mess with the internals of engines. They intimidate me. lol

 

going lean can cause detonation and that is bad for your motor you could do a mulititude of things including burning holes in your pistons, just leave it the way it is and get a tune. And the stage 3 kit is 400hp at the crank not the wheels so its about 325-350 to the wheels don't bother go with something alittle more worth while. Your stock rockers will work just fine for what your doing.

 

the 1.8s make your engine start to float valves at like 5800 rpm