pancho1

JD_AMG

Im pretty sure there is a "best/favorite mods" and "worst mods/mods you wish you didn't do" thread that is very long and informative in the newbie section.

Either way Ill go. Ive got a 433rwhp/420lb.ft heads/cam car on a mustang dyno with lots of suspension mods, and by FAR the best mod I have is Koni sport shocks. Totally transformed the way the car rode, drove and overall felt to a whole new level. In comparison with the stock "better" WS6 Decarbon shocks(that only had ~40K miles on them) it might as well have been comparing a truck to a Corvette or BMW M3, THAT much of a difference. If you are interested in handling at all then look into some bigger swaybars (35mm front/22mm rear) lowering springs (Strano or UMI for example) and a watts link if you can afford it. Either that or a good set of coilovers that are monotube and gas charged like ridetech, UMI/Strano custom Afcos, Penske or race bilstens. With the suspension above the car will feel completely different and by comparison stock will feel really really sloppy and loose.

Other than the above some of my favorite mods would be:
MGW shifter - fantastic feel, crispness and smoothness, way way above what the stock shifter could provide. Better than a 5.0 Ive felt which felt very notchy in comparison.

electric cutout - just a fun mod going from mild to wild with a push of a button.

sound deadening (like dyno matt or whatever) - very big difference in making the inside of the car much more quiet and I didn't even do the whole car. Inside of the doors made a big difference as well as the hatch area.

tick adjustable master cylinder / or a better clutch - either will help with shifting feel and being able to shift easier at high rpms.

^ these are some above that people either don't talk about much or forget mentioning that make the driving experience much better.

With your setup you should need a better clutch for 400rwhp and I highly suggest NOT getting a GM replacement clutch(like an LS7). The "factory driveability" might sound inciting but that comes at the cost of being able to shift at high rpms. The self adjusting pressure plate can mechanism can get stuck or fail and you will be locked out of high rpm shifts. This is what happened to my LS7 clutch that I honesty otherwise liked. I went with a moster stage 2 and the lighter flywheel and like it much better. Clutch peddle is barley any stiffer and it drive like a "stock" clutch would, no noise or chatter or anything.
Making 400rwhp you could get a big nasty cam and keep the stock heads or you could get a much more mild cam and get better flowing heads. The latter will be the more expensive route but for you will probably be better since you don't want it to be too loud. Im the same way in that I didn't want the car to be deafening loud, be shaking at idle or loose and driveability so I had Pat G spec a cam for me and got some PRC LS6 heads. Drives very close to stock, makes great power and sounds awesome - with quieter exhaust(I had hooker which was quiet, now Corsa which is not) it wasn't very loud at all, although sometime cold startups could be a little loud. I suggest getting some high flow cats as they will greatly reduce the noise and look for a muffler that you like the sound of. Magnaflow and Hooker are pretty quiet, Hooker sounded fantastic with no cats but I didn't like the way it sounded with high flow cats so I ended up switching to Corsa - not recommended if you want quiet, its much louder with cats than the hooker was without cats! Look at the texas speed catback as well, it seems to be great quality and sounds good and doesn't seem to be too loud.

Hit me up if you have any more questions or want more details.

Alex41

iTrader: (14)

First mod for ANY F body should be sub frame connectors.

pancho1

Thanks for the input.
I totally agree. I have already gotten weld in subframe connectors and lca relocators (just haven't put them in yet). The previous owner put in strano lowering springs and koni shocks all the way around. he also put in a performance clutch when he had the trans built. I am a newbie in the sense that this is my first hotrod. I have 16 yrs experience as a dodge tech at a local dealer and I see people bring in their challengers and chargers all the time with tons of money put into the motor without touching anything else except to put on some stickers. I definitely want to build the car before I build the motor and drivetrain.

JD_AMG

Couldn't disagree more. I have 3 pt welded in SFCs and they did nothing noticeable, nothing. Good shocks on the other hand made the biggest difference out of ANY mod Ive done and actually fixed the *feeling* of what is mistaken for chassis flex.

RPM WS6

iTrader: (3)

Exhaust considerations will be the hardest area to get objective advice, because only at the far extremes do most folks agree about what is "loud" and what is "quiet"; everything in-between is subjective, and you may find that your tastes and opinions are quite different once you hear a given setup in person - especially if you are worried about 6am cold starts in a tightly packed neighborhood. Listen to several setups in person if at all possible, or at least some high quality recordings.

FWIW, I must've gone through about 10 different exhaust configurations in the early days of these cars, looking for a specific sound. The configuration I finally settled on was great, but the catback/muffler I used was discontinued many years ago.

01ssreda4

iTrader: (96)

I wish i never chased NA hp and went straight to boost.

bsf

iTrader: (7)

From an engine performance standpoint, I wish I had left my car primarily stock. Finding the weak links after adding power; shelling out $ for better parts; and wrenching on my car does not interest me much any more. Additionally, I drive super-conservatively; race in no forms; and do not really take advantage of the extra HP I added.

What I have come to appreciate is a super clean, reliable car with near stock drivability and manners. If I were doing it over, I may focus on making the car super, super clean and addressing long-term reliability and preventative maintenance for known problems.

Even if doing it over, I cannot see me staying with the stock exhaust on my 98 WS6, though. That setup was just ridiculous. Regarding other performance mods, I will readily admit the experiences have vastly improved my ability to troubleshoot vehicle problems and perform maintenance and repairs. Pros & cons.

truckdoug

iTrader: (25)

agree 100%

99 Black Bird T/A

iTrader: (4)

Based on my experience, what mod/mods do you wish you could do over?
SLP Y pipe for stock manifolds was a waste back in the day.

4.10's with 416 is too much gear. 4.10's are perfect with a stock cube LS1, heads & cam LS1 or 383 LS1

Drinking the 102 throttle body kool-aid with a LS1 411 PCM & cable drive throttle body. Drive ability isn't as good as a 90mm/82mm TB.

Buying parts slowly over time. When you finally get to the point to do the mod, something new has come out and is better than what you bought two years ago.

Listening to Internet hype, drama and bullshit. Many years ago a member posted hero times and numbers for his small 216 cam & heads set up. Our cars had dyno'd similar and had similar 1/4 times as bolt on cars. His "216" cam H&C results were way better than min and everyone else I knew in real life. Better dyno numbers too. Was very unhappy with my car and set up. I was also a lot younger and more naive. My car ran well and made good power for that time period. Several members call him a liar regarding his set up. Some were disciplined for their comments. Couple of years later he posted up what his ACTUAL combination was. His shop had lied to him and put a much bigger cam and stage 2 heads, not stage 1 on his car and not told him. His exceptional results and sold a lot of H & C packages for them. It was all of course based on a lie. For other customers, to save time and increased profit, this same shop polished up heads and said they were ported when in fact they were stock. Next they lied and sold you a bigger cam than stated. I know for a fact they lied, my dumb-*** had bought a set of their heads and had them checked because I was chasing numbers and results based on . . . lies. Moral of the story, deal with reputable shops. If they cost more that's OK because in the end you will actually get what you paid to get.

​​​​​​Pay attention to what racers actually run vs what they say they run when it comes to parts.


Do you wish you had done them in a different order?
Best mod's for M6, skip shift eliminator, new shifter (Pro 5.0 for me), 4.10's. Makes car more fun, I would always do these first for a fun driver.

No hemi/roto-joint stuff in the suspension. Keep the rubber. Talk to Strano before dicking with the suspension. That was my biggest mistake with my 99TA.
​​​​​​
Do you wish you didn't buy the cheapest version of something?
Wished I had gotten a quality set of stainless long tubes for the TA back in 2002 because the worthless jet hot coating on my Hooker LT's failed in less than a year and my headers slowly started rusting out.

Often wished I had not bought any parts gradually over time and just saved up $$$$ to buy the best parts when time for install came around.

What advise did you later find out was wrong/bad?
Was told by several "Internet expert" that an XER cam, stock lifters & heads set up wasn't daily drive able and would not last 30,000 miles. After 130,000+ miles on the XER cam. I think most of longevity comes down to regular maintenance. Oil changes, new springs, new locks, retainers, valve seals as needed, and the valve train needs to be checked regularly. New rockers or new quality bushing are good. This is part of regular maintenance for heads & cam cars in my opinion if one wants max longevity. 30,000 miles worked good for me, beating on car a lot year checks good idea.

The idea that one can trust new parts. All parts need to be cleaned and checked before they go into the car.

A good quality install is worth its weight in gold. I'd rather have an expert install for a heads and cam package and keep an old LS6 intake on my car than have a cheap half *** install and be able to buy a new Fast or MSD intake.

​​​​​A lot of problems have their roots in a half assed tunes from bad tooners and half assed installs that reuses 15 year old original stock lifters, stock push rods, worn stock rockers and so forth.

What is worth the money or not (in your opinion)?
Quality install, checking parts and cleaning before using, saving up extra money for in case something unexpected happens because it often does.

Good high quality tires are always worth the money.

What was the best investment you made in the car?
Depends on the car.

99TA - 4.10's, skip shift eliminator, Pro 5.0, SLP leather shifter ****, RPM Level 6 Magnum T56

02 Z28 - 100% percent stock, New KYB shocks, OEM were worn out.

91 RS - LS swap, Bilstein's & new interior

Apologies for long post.

tberg725

The mod i wish i could do over is my converter i wish i would have never bought my converter for the 4l60 and would have just went right to a 4l80 and not wasted the money on the 4l60 but the converter and headers where my favorite mods and i wish i would have just did a 4400 insted of a 4k, so for anyone reading this as long as youre buying a quality converter dont be scared of it!!! Btw if anyone is wondering i went with the yank ss and absolutly love it

bigbomber5

Is this a track car or a daily driver?

HappySalesman

iTrader: (3)

My biggest regret for a mod i performed was relocating my coils to under the hood cowl (and even then, I'm on the fence about it). It just makes the coils hard to access if you ever need to, and dealing with custom plug wires is a bit of a PITA.

My other regret is not listening to my gut and instead following everyone else's recommendation on a tuner. Ended up being a massive waste of money and time. Only plus side is I'm learning how to do it myself because of him.

tberg725

Summer time daily driver and occasionally hit the track

pancho1

Thanks everyone. True insight! I drove it to work the other day and I had some free time so I fixed the radio antenna so now it goes up and down like it should. I replaced the passenger window motor and the weak hatch struts. I was cheesin' all the way home! I love this car! I just need to get a weekend to do some of the larger stuff. I need to weld in my sub frame connectors and lca relocators. I also got a pretty good deal on a tubular k frame so I want to put that in too. its state fair time now and for whatever reason work slows down this time of year so I'll be able to work on my car more!

cam

iTrader: (9)

The single most important decisions to make are; 1.Power goals 2. Budget 3. Intended use

Then you work each against each other until you find your happy place. Far too often people stretch performance goals past daily driver compatibility, that are still a thousand miles off from doing anything that will open eyeballs at the track. One of the key pieces of horsepower numbers is the difference between a 400whp LS1 and a 350rwhp LS1 is only in the last five hundred or so RPM. Up to 5500-6000 both will perform very similar but you dont get to brag about 350rwhp, although the cost and daily driver aspect difference between the two is pretty vast.

Street clutch? LS7 allllllllllll the way. I spin mine to 8000RPM plus and have never missed a shift.

Must do easy NA street mods imo are

poly lower control arms, trans mount, torque arm mount ( replace torque arm better ) and good shocks. Frame connectors if T-roof are mandatory
short shifter, new clutch, Tick hydraulics
new diff
stainless works longtubes

RevGTO

iTrader: (12)

Favorite "mod" hands down was purchasing EFILive and learning to tune my own car. This was especially important because of the stock A4 programming which was horrible IMO. Second favorite has been the hi-stall converters; first 3000 and then 3600. Amazing what they do for an A4 car, and yes, great for daily driving which I still do with this car. Third would be good shocks - both the Bilsteins and Konis. Then there's the LS6 intake, which made a notable difference in midrange torque with no downsides.

Love/hate my LT's. Love the 20 or so hp they give me. Hate the constant issues with O2's throwing codes and getting fried when hitting deep water during storms (has happened twice now within a year's span).

Regret: SFC's. Big increase in NVH.