M4N14C

iTrader: (3)

They'll work, but they're painted, not coated which means less protection from rust and corrosion over time. May be an issue, maybe not, depending on where you live and what weather you see. You'll also need an ORY (Off road Y-Pipe) or some high flow cats, as your stock ones won't work for long tubes.

Overall, you're looking at $400-$700 to get a good header/ory setup.

great421

iTrader: (1)

Jaegon -

Welcome to the club!

At 16, my grandmother gave me her 73 GTO with a 455 - but Firebirds are infinitely cooler than Goats - Your father is a good man!

As for mods, check out the LT1 section and search "free mods" - there are a number of things that can be done on a 16 YO's budget.

Here's some free advice MY father gave ME: Don't do anything to the car that doesn't make it faster or safer.

(Having said that, I did pay $$$ for a paint job...)

Colesitzy

Power is what you want, handling doesn't matter if it's stock under the hood. Your going to want to maximize the exhaust and intake systems.

1. Long tube catless headers (cause **** the environment).

2. Straight pipe exhaust. (It's sound better than any of that flowmaster noise changing B.S)

3. Polished Throttle body

4.CAI

5. Get it tuned, you get way more out of the car that way.

Daniel Richards

iTrader: (1)

handling most definitely matters regardless of whats under the hood, especially with such a young driver behind the wheel, I've lost friends and known others who have lost friends because they pushed their cars further then it's handling abilities. and lets face facts, the stock shocks on these cars aren't that good and only get worse with age.

Daniel Richards

iTrader: (1)

also that paint is not a hi-temp paint, it will have to be stripped off and then a hi-temp header paint will need to be baked on, trust me I know, one of these days I will get back to finish stripping mine.

Colesitzy

It's called not being a dumbass when you drive it and knowing the car's limits, unless your doing autocross or some **** there's no reason to upgrade the cars handling. It's a damn muscle car so give it more power, if he wanted handling he should have gotten a different car.

JD_AMG

The problem is the limits are very sketchy with the stock shocks, as already said they are total **** from the factory, and with age and miles they are even worse. They don't provide enough rebound (loose, floaty feel), and have too much compression (overly stiff, jarring ride and will skimp over bumps).
Unless you are only trailering the car to the dragstrip there is every reason to upgrade and "fix" the weak points with the suspension making the car lightyears better to actually drive. My mod list has grown quite a bit over the years (full bolt ons, H/C forged 383 stroker w/typical supporting mods, LS7 clutch, RAM flywheel, MGW shifter, Tick master cylinder, SFCs, STB, UMI torque arm, UMI rotojoint LCAs, strano springs, swaybars, Koni SAs, Fays2 wattslink - im sure i forgot some things.
I think I can say "been there done that". Guess what? Shocks are BY FAR the biggest difference any mod I have has made. I wouldn't buy another one of these cars without replacing the **** DeCarbon shocks. These cars have plenty of power from the factory, fix the weak points (shocks, brakes) and then add power.

M4N14C

iTrader: (3)

You realize upgrading suspension doesn't just make it handle better, it makes the ride much smoother, quieter and allows you to control your power much easier.

Following your strategy of just adding power mindlessly without touching suspension components is a bit immature and frankly unsafe when putting down serious numbers.

Daniel Richards

iTrader: (1)

be honest, how many 16 year kids aren't gonna be a "dumbass" in a "muscle car"? I know I did some stupid stuff back then and I was driving a Tahoe, I could only imagine the stuff I would of done in one of these.

Daniel Richards

iTrader: (1)

and as the miles rack up that overly stiff turns into feeling every little bump in the road and puts a vibration and general instability feeling thru the whole car.

Jaegon

The car only has about 69,xxx miles.

JD_AMG

My car had only ~40,000 miles when I changed out the shocks, wish I would have done it sooner... I also had the "better valved" WS6 shocks as well.
Honestly if I were you I would just save my money and drive the car, then when you have some money to play with look into some SLP bilstiens at least. Id also look into some quality blank rotors and some hawk HPS pads.

Daniel Richards

iTrader: (1)

and flush your brake fluid while your at it, it is one of the most commonly over looked fluids. here's some pics of the fluid I just flushed out of my rear lines last night. It's so nice to have smooth brakes.

@JD I've got over 200k on my factory fronts so I can really speak to how bad they get.

Jaegon

My dad and I did all of the fluids.

'99REDTA

iTrader: (1)

My truck had around 250k on it when I replaced the front calipers and it had started loosing pressure when I would turn the wheels which really had me scratching my head. with new calpers and fluid I don't have a single issue, brake fluid is something I pay attention to now

Colesitzy

He's got an LT1 unless does something drastic he won't break 325hp any time soon, why would he waste his hard earned money on something so boring?

Colesitzy

I recently got a T/A with 50,000 on it and bought shocks. I took them to an autobody shop to get them swapped and the checked they ones I had on the car they said there was no reason to swap them cause they were totally fine. They ended up buying the shocks for less than retail.

Go for power or rims and sport tires.

Daniel Richards

iTrader: (1)

did they even test drive it? odds are they just looked and saw the shocks weren't leaking or bent and told you they where good, either way aftermarket shocks are better to start with and suspension upgrades (especially if you live in the mountains) can be one of the funnest things you can do. Most places don't have flat straight roads where all you need to care about is power, curves are where the real fun is.

JD_AMG

lol... Dude just stop.
Thats like saying you bought an aftermarket cam package, but the shop said you don't need it because your stock cam is in good condition.
READ: The factory Decarbon (orange/black) shocks are **** strait off the show room floor with 0 miles. Its the way they are valved, they are basically truck shocks. Good aftermarket shocks (like Konis or bilstiens) will provide drastic increases in feel, grip, balance, and ride quality. Night and day differences. They will stiffen the car up and make it more firm, but at the same time less jarring than the stock shocks. The car will feel glued to the road at higher speeds, and ridiculously predictable in corners at all speeds, slow or fast. You feel the difference everywhere, not just when you step on the gas.

Daniel Richards

iTrader: (1)

^^^^^^^^ 50 bucks says they just told you that because they didn't wanna do the front shocks, shops really hate to mess with these styles of spring/strut assemblies because of there stiffness and how compressed they are they are a major safety issue for the shops, compressing springs is hands down one of the most dangerous things you can do when it comes to working on a car.