WisBird

Hi all. This is my 2nd time around with an LS1. First time I did everything wrong .Cost me a lot of $ and sold that car years ago. Anyways in September i picked up a 2000 Formula M6 with 13k mikes. Was completely stock. Now has SLP lid, p/polished TB, FRA mod, Magnaflow and some suspension. Other than LT headers and a tune which are next and wheels/tires which I am literally waiting for...A) What would you do next knowing yur gonna have this car a long time. And more importantly B) What mistakes have you made that you would avoid if you had a redo?
Nice to be back!

Jaxem

iTrader: (3)

Depends what your taste are, what you've done/are doing already is enough to make a fun DD, if you need even more power than some LT's open up, well that's something else.

So what are you after, powerful weekend car, tamer daily driver, or something different?

Paul Bell

iTrader: (9)

Suspension mods and a nice tubular K-frame from UMI or BMR.

JOHNNY59

iTrader: (398)

Change my 98 Formula into a Trans-Formula because I want a hardtop. also I think the formula front end is sleeker than the ta.

wssix99

iTrader: (5)

Get rid of that oiled air filter before if fouls your MAF and make sure you have the door crack fix done ASAP to make sure they don't get worse.

NC01TA

Do whatever you like but the key to modding (or even repairing) is keeping the car a long time. Are you pretty sure you will do that?? Sinking thousands into it and selling the car in a year or two would be a serious financial 'hit in the wallet' as you experienced before. Over a 5 year or longer time span it won't hurt so much as the costs will all average out over this time period plus you enjoyed the car for all those years too. It makes a difference. No one minds losing $5,000 (or whatever) over the long haul but not in a short time frame. Similar to buying a new car that depreciates the minute you drive it off the lot. You don't care if you keep the car a long time but it sure hurts if you sell quickly.
Good luck with the Formula. Nice find by the way. That's some serious low mileage.

BBATCAR

iTrader: (1)

I agree with all of this ^^^ The miles are very low and maybe you want to think about keep it on the stock side.

Myself, I plan on keeping my car a long time and I put very low miles on my car annually. Mods are in my signature and I'm at my max in mods to keep it emissions legal, max power while keeping stock drivability. Everyone is different - I wanted the best of both worlds.
Bolt-ons are easy to reverse.

RevGTO

iTrader: (12)

All the comments have been spot on so far, and I think you hit the nail on the head by sticking to mods that are reversible.

I cut through the front hood brace on my A4 car to make for CAI, and while it's been effective, there's no going back on it. I'm contemplating selling the car this spring (after 12 years) and that may come back to bite me in the butt.

I have a second lower airbox for my SOM car that I can hack up if I decide to install an SSRA, and at de-mod time I can simply reinstall the original.

fbody4everyone

agree with the oil'd air filter swap. I did mine as soon as I bought it. I couldn't see anything good in leaving it

M4N14C

iTrader: (3)

Full Koni/Strano/BMR suspension with Kooks True Duals blasting through the mountains with the tops off. My idea of heaven

blackbyrd

iTrader: (14)

With my car i went to far for a street car I think, i yanked out a 3.8 v6 auto and in its place put a 414 that makes 511rwhp. Its to much for a street car and you can't enjoy it. my neighbors dont like it. Its not like you can really unleash that kind of power on the street without attracting attention. I dont regret swapping out the 6 but i dont think I will ever do another street car with that kind of power. My daily driver is now a GTO with longtubes and an exhuast with no tune. Probably puts down under 400HP to the ground and thats more than enough to corner carve and have some fun with.

If I were to have the opportunity to do it over with the current knowledge, I would focus more on suspension mods to make it firm but not abusive and update the interior. Some personal touches to the exterior and not shoot for so much power. Probably play with the gearing to make it more reactive with the power i have instead of focusing on a certain number like i did. (I wanted a 550rwhp car and built what I have now, spent way to much money on a car thats not worth its applied value to anyone but me).

something to also consider though is their probably are not a lot of trans ams let alone Formulas left around that are under the 20k mark in mileage. Might keep that in mind before you go to far with mods and changes.

wssix99

iTrader: (5)

hugh? Am I on the right site? I've been looking at the computer so much today, I must be seeing things...

blackbyrd

iTrader: (14)

What ?

That I said my car was to much for a street car?

wssix99

iTrader: (5)

Yes. I'm just so conditioned to people taking the "more is always better" stance. It's rare and refreshing to see people posting about measured restraint.

I just read some articles about the Dodge Hellcat engines with 707+ hp. My god. Can you imagine? It sounds like they have to have special electronic countermeasures to de-tune the engine during shifts to keep the tires on the road. As wonderful as the thing must sound, I don't think I would feel comfortable driving a robot.

RevGTO

iTrader: (12)

I agree also. I maintain that my buddy's Z06 is too fast for the street. In a split second you're coming up on traffic way too fast. He wound it out in light freeway traffic and before I knew it, we were dodging cars at 130mph. One false move by somebody who doesn't expect you to be there and you're toast.

A mid-12 second car is as fast as I'll ever need on the street.

blackbyrd

iTrader: (14)

dont get me wrong my car is streetable, but having that much power is kind of a waist because its not like you can let it loose going to the grocery store and at this point there is only a handful of these cars in my area so its not like they wouldnt figure out who was driving pretty quickly.

At the time i built that car it was exactly what i wanted, but after having it my perspective has changed quite a bit. I wouldnt discourage someone from doing a High HP car like this, just play devils advocate and say think about if thats really what you want.

Im working on a 71 camaro now, and all i want is a stock ls3, but some updated suspension and interior and i will be more than happy with that. Hell, i have even thought about just doing an automatic with it. Ive also thought about putting the ls3 in my firebird and putting the 414 in the camaro.

anywho my point to this was i do think there is a limit to what is really need for a street car before it just becomes waisted HP

WisBird

What am i after? A powerful daily driver but of course! Suspension so far just UMI SFC, LCA and Sway Bars. I Did do a bunch of research on this site even before i put those on. I looked at the full suspension packages then and suspension wise i'm good for now. (Would any 1 thing really help out at the moment?)
SLP lid does have a K&N filter in of course and i forgot i replaced the LS1 Intake Manifold with the Edelbrock SSI part. I also am thoroughly enjoying a SThrow B&M shifter.
Blackbyrd & NC01TA yur both describing kind of what i did with my last ride. D1SC with a 'built' A4 that was supposed to take the HP, all as quickly as possible. I agree now that anything much beyond 400rwhp is overkill for my taste.
Yup she only has 13k miles after driving her back from ARZ Not too worried about keeping her stock Or low miles though, although once they salt the roads she gets stored. In fact i just reread what BBATCAR said and that's my plan, although the H/Cam will wait till whenever.
Door has 1/2" crack...is there a fix for that?
Thanks all for your replies!!

wssix99

iTrader: (5)

Here you go: https://ls1tech.com/forums/pontiac-f...uote-pics.html


It can be a long and confusing thread. The parts you need to pay attention to deal with taking some staples out and drilling the holes out to relieve stresses in the door.

WisBird

"It can be a long and confusing thread. The parts you need to pay attention to deal with taking some staples out and drilling the holes out to relieve stresses in the door."

Thanks for the pointer wssix99 !

wssix99

iTrader: (5)

Yea, it's an epic problem with an epic thread and lots of good information and... lots of bad. We should probably create a new best-of thread on the problem some day soon.