newbie mod mistakes
#202
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I put FLP headers on my car which broke the bellhousing bracket...so I called FLP and they sent me a new drivers side header which were seconds so even with magnacor wires and Kool soxs they burn the wires.
Sure enough the passenger side header broke at the same "I" bracket and this time I had them welded up.
Still burning and replacing wires once a year and I hate these dam headers..
Next year some time I'll buy kooks or LG's and throw these dam flps in the garbage.
At the time I purchased these FLP headers they were the "****" now I 'd say they lived up to their name...
What a piece of crap.
Did I mention I hate my flp headers.
Otherwise other mods were good...I figure I wasted a little over 2 grand with these...
2001 ZO6 TTP 224/224 114lsa Cam Pkg 396rwhp 380 rwtq, dual crane valvesprings, Halltech Tunnel Ram, FLP headers, ASP 25% Pully, 3.73 Getrag Rear,2004 Z06 shocks,Shaner S2 TB,Hurst
Sure enough the passenger side header broke at the same "I" bracket and this time I had them welded up.
Still burning and replacing wires once a year and I hate these dam headers..
Next year some time I'll buy kooks or LG's and throw these dam flps in the garbage.
At the time I purchased these FLP headers they were the "****" now I 'd say they lived up to their name...
What a piece of crap.
Did I mention I hate my flp headers.
Otherwise other mods were good...I figure I wasted a little over 2 grand with these...
2001 ZO6 TTP 224/224 114lsa Cam Pkg 396rwhp 380 rwtq, dual crane valvesprings, Halltech Tunnel Ram, FLP headers, ASP 25% Pully, 3.73 Getrag Rear,2004 Z06 shocks,Shaner S2 TB,Hurst
#204
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Okay... here's the BIG newbie mod mistake:
Modifying your car AT ALL before you have a clear vision of what you're trying to build.
Example: I've done headers, intake, cam, TB, etc etc.
When I go for a new motor... I'm going to have to do headers, intake, cam, TB, etc etc.
Never do a mod until you're at least reasonably sure it will be a part of your final product.
Modifying your car AT ALL before you have a clear vision of what you're trying to build.
Example: I've done headers, intake, cam, TB, etc etc.
When I go for a new motor... I'm going to have to do headers, intake, cam, TB, etc etc.
Never do a mod until you're at least reasonably sure it will be a part of your final product.
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#205
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Well lets see..Have holley filter it fits perfect no problems not sure why some guy didn't like it. Its reusable supposed to be sensor friendly oil and I clean my maf once a year anyway its simple to do. I had whisper lid it did get some small cracks on it. Sold it and have direct flo.It seems fine. I have granatelli maf. Car tunes fine so far with it. I have a maf translator it seems to work fine. I have a hypertech for fan control and little things. No complaints but it does seem to ping and get knock if try to use the tuning.
I have b and b catback it sounds great no problems. I got magnaflow on my 96z and it seems to have weird resonance at certain mph. Might be worse as its a vert. I put bullet muffler in intermediate pipe and trying some resonator tips in the tailpipes. If it still has the weird resonance its out of there and put on a borla or another b and b.
I have hotchkis sway bars..pricey but good improvement in handling. Hotchkis lower control arms.seemed to keep the car straighter when dragging and helped wheel hop.
I got hotchkis panhard and stb. No complaints there either the stb looks cool it actually likely don't do much but hey it looks cool!! put hothckis stb in my 96z also.
went with spohn lower control arms,panhard and adjustable torque arm in my 96z recently .It seems high quality no complaints.
I have kenny brown double diamond subframe connectors,They are heavy but they work well. I cheaped and put bmr on my 96z vert and they didn't seem to do anything at all .The kenny brown were immediately noticeable .I had them on my old 97 taw6 also.I will be cutting the bmr off and installing the kenny brown should have put on in the first place on the 96z.
Lets see what else..pro 5 shifer ..it rattles loudly and just never felt right to me.
I like the factory or billet hurst better. Cartech clutch..it can be great but had some problems with their modified stock master and got mcleod bilet..now still having some problems with air getting in the system but think that was slave bleeder not completely closed. Might change out clutch for ls7 or textralia.
Oh electric cutouts..had qtp at first..it rattled annoyingly when closed and sold it to buddy that said he didn't care about the rattle and it died completely on him shortly after,I think its been scrapped.When you live in Canada don't always pay to ship products back for warranty due to shipping ,brokerage,paperwork etc.Bought dmh cutout..was assured it would seal at idle..same as qtp..rattles when closed.Hate that
It did work though and is still working and sold it to bud that again said he didn't care if it rattles when closed.
Also while the b and b is a sweet system an adjustable cutout if can get one that won't rattle is better for cheaper. I may try this pro street or something cutout totally different design and again assured they won't leak..will see..
Other mods..first set of lowering springs hotchkis had way too much drop like over 2 inches..think they had some problems with part numbers or something a few years back.Got slp eibachs on the 99 and they work fine. Got hotchkis on the 96z lately and they seem fine also.About an inch drop from the slp eibachs and the lt1 hotchkis.
oh yeah gears...Had motive gm 4.10 in my 97 ta ws6. Worked great,loved them and they were quiet. Had them professionally installed in my 99 and they were terrible loud.
I went to 3.73 richmond and again liked them but they were terrible loud.Forced to go back to stock..that cost me some bucks.
Bought some white gauge things..not happy with them they look great in day time but fuzzy at night.
Think thats pretty much it..
I have b and b catback it sounds great no problems. I got magnaflow on my 96z and it seems to have weird resonance at certain mph. Might be worse as its a vert. I put bullet muffler in intermediate pipe and trying some resonator tips in the tailpipes. If it still has the weird resonance its out of there and put on a borla or another b and b.
I have hotchkis sway bars..pricey but good improvement in handling. Hotchkis lower control arms.seemed to keep the car straighter when dragging and helped wheel hop.
I got hotchkis panhard and stb. No complaints there either the stb looks cool it actually likely don't do much but hey it looks cool!! put hothckis stb in my 96z also.
went with spohn lower control arms,panhard and adjustable torque arm in my 96z recently .It seems high quality no complaints.
I have kenny brown double diamond subframe connectors,They are heavy but they work well. I cheaped and put bmr on my 96z vert and they didn't seem to do anything at all .The kenny brown were immediately noticeable .I had them on my old 97 taw6 also.I will be cutting the bmr off and installing the kenny brown should have put on in the first place on the 96z.
Lets see what else..pro 5 shifer ..it rattles loudly and just never felt right to me.
I like the factory or billet hurst better. Cartech clutch..it can be great but had some problems with their modified stock master and got mcleod bilet..now still having some problems with air getting in the system but think that was slave bleeder not completely closed. Might change out clutch for ls7 or textralia.
Oh electric cutouts..had qtp at first..it rattled annoyingly when closed and sold it to buddy that said he didn't care about the rattle and it died completely on him shortly after,I think its been scrapped.When you live in Canada don't always pay to ship products back for warranty due to shipping ,brokerage,paperwork etc.Bought dmh cutout..was assured it would seal at idle..same as qtp..rattles when closed.Hate that
It did work though and is still working and sold it to bud that again said he didn't care if it rattles when closed.
Also while the b and b is a sweet system an adjustable cutout if can get one that won't rattle is better for cheaper. I may try this pro street or something cutout totally different design and again assured they won't leak..will see..
Other mods..first set of lowering springs hotchkis had way too much drop like over 2 inches..think they had some problems with part numbers or something a few years back.Got slp eibachs on the 99 and they work fine. Got hotchkis on the 96z lately and they seem fine also.About an inch drop from the slp eibachs and the lt1 hotchkis.
oh yeah gears...Had motive gm 4.10 in my 97 ta ws6. Worked great,loved them and they were quiet. Had them professionally installed in my 99 and they were terrible loud.
I went to 3.73 richmond and again liked them but they were terrible loud.Forced to go back to stock..that cost me some bucks.
Bought some white gauge things..not happy with them they look great in day time but fuzzy at night.
Think thats pretty much it..
#206
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Mod Regrets for my previous LS1:
FRA: Air filter got extremely dirty, didn't feel much different power-wise.
HOOKER Aerochamber welded in: Ugly Black muffler hacked into stock exhaust, still had ugly factory tips, looking back I should have either done full cat back or nothing.
ASP PULLEY:For a pulley, it is a major pain to install, once on there, wife complains that the car steers like a truck. Ugh. And the knock-sensor thing to worry about, and future crankshaft problems down the road to worry about.
Mods I plan for this car:
LID
CUT-OUT
TC
N2O 100-shot
SFCS
...As there are more and more LS1's being parted out, taken off the road, I view this new one as something to preserve, not hack up and beat on. I'm looking for quality mods like spending the extra for a nice set of Kooks instead of going bargain basement/rusty tubes, etc.
FRA: Air filter got extremely dirty, didn't feel much different power-wise.
HOOKER Aerochamber welded in: Ugly Black muffler hacked into stock exhaust, still had ugly factory tips, looking back I should have either done full cat back or nothing.
ASP PULLEY:For a pulley, it is a major pain to install, once on there, wife complains that the car steers like a truck. Ugh. And the knock-sensor thing to worry about, and future crankshaft problems down the road to worry about.
Mods I plan for this car:
LID
CUT-OUT
TC
N2O 100-shot
SFCS
...As there are more and more LS1's being parted out, taken off the road, I view this new one as something to preserve, not hack up and beat on. I'm looking for quality mods like spending the extra for a nice set of Kooks instead of going bargain basement/rusty tubes, etc.
#207
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Originally Posted by ImportPatrolWS6
for me is a couple of things
1) that damn flowmaster
2)Khumo tires
3) more tires
4) wish I got a bigger stall
5) wish I got a bigger cam
6) buying rims and tires before I thought about light weights
7) buying mac midlengths
there is more but don't want to think about it
1) that damn flowmaster
2)Khumo tires
3) more tires
4) wish I got a bigger stall
5) wish I got a bigger cam
6) buying rims and tires before I thought about light weights
7) buying mac midlengths
there is more but don't want to think about it
#208
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I'm happy with every thing i've done so far and that it due to this site because I researched and asked questions about every mod before I bought them. LS1 Tech> all.
#209
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Originally Posted by monicaz28
What's wrong with mac's?
The dyno has shown in back to back tests on the same vehicle, that Long Tube Headers gain much more HP. More expensive, and more difficult to install, but LT's are worth the trouble.
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"Middies" are better than the stock manifolds, but many people are of the opinion that they're not worth putting on for no more RWHP than they gain over stock.
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(the "go big or go home" theory applies here)
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#210
TECH Addict
iTrader: (32)
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JBA Shorties was my biggest mistake and JRP warned me not to go that route (no emmissions testing where I live) ... only wish I had listened. They did me some good because my '99 manifolds didn't flow as well as the newer year models because they were re-designed; however, I should have done my MAC's as my first mod.
Gotta' somewhat disagree with this MAC theory, though.
The MAC's ... set up right (with a FM collector) and properly ported will OVERALL match the power of any LT header on the market IMHO ... they certainly scavenge a little better down low ... depends a lot on your setup. On a 346 cube, IMHO MAC's are as good as anything on the market for winning races ... better 60' times/low-end torque. LT's only slightly hold the edge on MAC's up top. For my particular street application, I'd rather have better torque down low whether at the track or on the street ... but that's just me. If anyone were to do MAC's, ORY with 10 1/2" Random Tech 72500 metal bullet cats is THE way to go ... greaat sound ... 0 rasp. rasp will kill ya' if you have NO cats at all and the MAC cats suck BIGTIME.
=ChevyGoldfinger]Nothing wrong with "Macs" per se, it's just that most people aren't happy with the gains from "middie" headers.
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#211
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My regret:
That I bought a nice, t-top, LS1 car that I have to make payments on - and am trying to drag race every week.
It's my second LS1 car, and I really wish that I would have just bought something cheaper (like an LT1 hardtop formula with high miles). That way I could have it paid off and if it wrecks at the track, no big deal. But this LS1 car is my daily driver and sometimes it is a pain to straddle the line between a conservative daily driver and a track car. Don't get me wrong this car is worth what I paid for it and I love it to death - but if I had to do it all over again I'd go the cheaper route (at least for now while I'm only 20 and poor).
That I bought a nice, t-top, LS1 car that I have to make payments on - and am trying to drag race every week.
It's my second LS1 car, and I really wish that I would have just bought something cheaper (like an LT1 hardtop formula with high miles). That way I could have it paid off and if it wrecks at the track, no big deal. But this LS1 car is my daily driver and sometimes it is a pain to straddle the line between a conservative daily driver and a track car. Don't get me wrong this car is worth what I paid for it and I love it to death - but if I had to do it all over again I'd go the cheaper route (at least for now while I'm only 20 and poor).
#213
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Originally Posted by RDISADEIFAN
Edelbrock shorties are my mistake,if I knew about this site before hand I would have kooks lt,kooks y pipe and true duels.
#218
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my biggest newbie mistake so far was buying a sound system. I splurged and bought a huge amp and 2 12" subs only to find out that the music i listened to was obviously not meant for those subs. My car rattled like crazy and i didn't feel the need to pay another $100 to dynomat everything. It also destroyed my battery, which left me stranded on the road a week ago.
Oh well, i've payed my dues.
Unfortunately now that i'm afraid to make a mistake, i haven't bought anything for my car since i got the world's cheapest catback.
Oh well, i've payed my dues.
Unfortunately now that i'm afraid to make a mistake, i haven't bought anything for my car since i got the world's cheapest catback.
#219
11 Second Club
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Only mistake I made was doing Dynomouth instead of a more traditional catback like hooker or magnaflow. Don't get me wrong, I love the sound and the HP gains are definately in check. But now I am getting Pacesetter LT headers and ORY. I did a little research and saw that about 90% of Loudmouth/Dynomouth/TSP rumbler owners get a lot of rasp after adding LT's and ORY. Most ended up switching to a slightly tamer setup.
Assuming I will have the same problem, I will now have to spend more money either replacing the bullet with a borla XR-1 or a muffler style catback. But it could be worse. The Dynomouth only cost me $150.00 so it's not like a ton of money was wasted and I did get a full year and a half of compliments from it.
Assuming I will have the same problem, I will now have to spend more money either replacing the bullet with a borla XR-1 or a muffler style catback. But it could be worse. The Dynomouth only cost me $150.00 so it's not like a ton of money was wasted and I did get a full year and a half of compliments from it.