When I first bought my Trans Am I wanted to eventually upgrade the exhaust system and I figured that I'd go with either Borla or Flowmaster. But I was low on money so I didn't do anything regarding the exhaust except check out what other people had done here at LS1Tech and at http://www.ls1sounds.com/. Months later I decided that I'd get the GMMG catback instead. I was mad that I missed one or two GPs because I was still low on money. When the third GP came along I borrowed money and bought the GMMG. I have been extremely happy with the GMMG exhaust system and relieved that I didn't spring for the Flowmaster.

At LS1Tech I saw many people bought the Flowmaster and were not been happy with it, many people tried several exhaust systems on their car, and many people here at LS1Tech have bought the GMMG or gone with true duals and loved it. Electric cut-outs also seem to be a mod that people carry out without any regrets...

 

no mistakes yet.......

find a buddy that pours all of his money into his car with the right parts,by the right companys.......Wait till he gets married and the pregnant wife makes him trade in the car for a "family car", then go to the dealer and buy a 15k car with 20k in it for $7500...take it to the dyno that day and put down 390 at the wheels and have an awesome base to start YOUR modding with.And no im giving him credit where its due,by letting everyone know i didnt do these mods. Id rather brag about saving 15k than spending it

and thanks to this site and its SEARCH button hopefully i wont make any bigtime mistakes.(knock on wood)

 

Have not made any mistakes yet thanks to this site, I have learned so much from guys. When I first joined I didnt know that much about my car, I have read so many threads, and they have taught me alot.

 

My mistake on modding was the slp y pipe that replaces the stock one because I ended up getting longtube headers. I need to figure out what to do with it now.

 

I have a few questions?
I have a 2002 Z-28 I just purchased with 14,000 miles.

I just installed a 3" inlet and outlet flowmaster with one tip. Why is everyone bashing flowmaster so bad? I must be missing something here or I am old school. LOL

Does a flowmaster really hurt the performance? I paid 180.00 for everything today. This suprised me so please, please fill me in. Is this all proven my dyno runs or sotp ( seat of the pants ).

I will pull it off and change it if putting on a new exaust will gain me alot more. But if we are only talking a few HP then I rather save the money unless I lose power from the flowmaster.

I was going to purchase a SLP air lid, bellows boot, 160 thermostat and a ported throttle body. Advise on this?

Last I am looking into doing the head and cam swap in the next month or so at don lee's shop.

I live in Calif so we have the strict smog laws and a true duel would not pass emissions and same with long tube headers. So I want to stay as close as I can to being legal.

Advise please Ken

 

Everyone is bashing flowmaster because there are so many other options that do flow and sound much better, I think. The Flowmaster isn't necessarily bad, just personal preference. There are many better options out there for an exhaust system. An SLP Loudmouth catback is an option.

Long tubes might pass emissions if you have a catted y pipe (do not use lt with LM), decent cam like a 224, and really good tuning.

The stock TB is fine, don't jack with it as it works well for what it sounds like you are going to do. Do all the free mods for a little gain.

As for your other mods, lose the smooth bellows idea , there isn't any real evidence that this actually works in my opinion. If you feel you must have that, go to Home Depot and buy a Fernco Hose for like 5 bucks. Heat it up in the microwave for about thirty seconds and it fits like glove. Spending any money more than that is simply throwing it away.

The 160 thermostat change must have the computer adjusted for the change.

An air lid is like every other air lid IMO, they are all the same, however there was a lid comparison in a magazine not too long ago and Texas Speed and Performance was one of the better ones according to this test. Get that one instead of the slp version. Its available in carbon fiber, smoked clear, and clear. (I have smoked clear!) Might save you a few bucks too because SLP is very proud of their stuff and its shows in their pricing, but there are many comparable if not much better vendors out there.

Also, mod your car from the ground up instead of the engine down, suspension, chassis/handling, brakes, wheels, tires, rearend, external bolt-ons, transmission before doing anything internal to the engine. think of the car as a platform you build rather than just the engine you mod. Get the power to the ground effectively and efficiently.

Look throught the sponser list on the right ---------->
This list is of vendors has about everything you need for your car.

 

Sell it here: LS1Tech - Parts For Sale forum

 

Letting Todds Touch in Somerswoth NH install the NOS. Nice looking EXCCEPT he put the nozzles AFTER the mass air flow! I changed that and drove the distance to have Slowhawk dial the computer in.
Thanks Don
Mick Moran

 

Why did you regret porting your MAF?
After you Port the MAF (Take out the Cross bars) you have to have the computer reflashed.

 

Breaking the oil press sending unit

 

Nothing yet, I've only done free mods, well except for the lid. But it was too good of a deal to pass up. There's a huge wealth of info here, should be very easy to get info on pretty much anything i'd want to do.

 

SLP 2.5" Y-pipe (no gain in the quarter and almost no change in sound).

HPP3 program (lost a tenth in the quarter and had the SES light coming on from time to time). I needed the unit to recalibrate my speedo for the 4.10's at the time but switched back to the stock tuning after my first trip to the track).

 

No bad experiences b/c of the help I've found on here (applies to the Formula only, Truck is still stock, so I may still F*&@!K things up)

-oh wait, one bad experience:
don't remove spark plug wires by pulling them! you may break them and be forced to buy a new set

Derek

 

i think i posted once before that i didnt make any, but the more i think about it, slp bellows, $50 for something i could have made for $5

 

spinning a ROD BEARING

 

My first mistake was not buying a firehawk for the same price as my WS6 cause the hawk was red and an automatic. (was only 18 didnt understand what a 3500 stall does for a ls1)

my biggest mistake was waiting almost a year for drag radials. Sure i ran 13.2 completely stock at a crappy track, but the 4 sets of rear tires i went through in a year werent worth it

next was putting nittos on for everyday use. $350 for tires on the car for 3 months

last is doing a clutch on my buddies ls1 formula, then being blamed for his clutch master cylinder going bad, then the slave cylinder then his pilot bushing getting fried. He hasn't had any complaints since Me and my wife put on his headers. He still cant catch me and hes got a few more mods

Why do you guys bash slp headers so much, sure they are expensive and scrap sometimes, but they sound good, went on in less than 8 hours with no major problems, and he picked up 2.5 mph? thats at least 20hp and 20tq which isnt to bad for any long tubes.

 

Letting my dad talk me into getting the automatic v6 instead of that Z28 with a 6-speed (sure, the z had no power anything, but it was the same price...) .

Only mod I partially regret is my Borla catback. Sure, it looks/sounds good, but I could have gotten a much better price on another brand.

 

my big f up was putting money into a 10 bolt a couple of times thinking it hold up long enough to buy a 12 bolt.flowmaster catback and mac mid length headers wasnt to bright also.also let a shop aka"f body central in glen burie,md "work on my car and ended up redoing or repaying someone to the work right.

 

My biggest mistake was spending $2,000 on shorty's, Ypipe and CATS to keep my car '50 state legal' when I live in Florida. I should have listened to JRP!

 

Buying a flowmaster muffler to replace the stock one instead of buying a better catback system.

Buying the Hypertech and losing performance only to rreinstall the stock tuning. Well, at least I used it for the thermostat and tire size changes.

Installing a Prothane tranny mount on my daily driver. HORRIBLE noise and vibration. You can hear and feel the drivetrains notchiness and clunks. Went back to stock.

Putting Lucas oil additive in my engine. Waste of money. Should have done the German Castrol from the start.

Descreening and porting my MAF sensor. Went back to stock.

K&N Filter. Oil from the filter stained my MAF sensor and was a bitch to clean. Went back to stock AC Delco filter and loss no performance.

I did my car overall right the first time. Installed SLP SFCs, stainless brake lines with good fluid, STB, PHR, and better shocks before the engine HP upgrades. Next mods include cam, LS6 intake, and Patriot heads.