Look at my Bird!
11-07-2017, 08:43 PM
#1
Look at my Bird! Whats going on everybody, I'm new here and thought whats a better way to start than show off my cars. This is my first LS car I've ever owned. I was a really into fords with a couple of 5.0 sn95's that ran ok but no comparison. My family were all into fords til I picked this up and ran badass numbers, so this car is pretty special to me @ 21 years old.
To start, I bought the car on 10/15/2015, it's a 1999 Pontiac Firebird Trans am ls1 with 4l60e, bought with 122k miles bone stock besides free mods and crappy summit lowering springs. I'm from northern California, so no rust anywhere. Ripped interior because no covers on the T-tops. It needed seats front and rear. Graphite colored interior. Luckily it was GU5 car so it came with 3.23's and I still have them now.
Here is the ,when I first bought it:
The first mod:
Not even a month and already knew what wheels I wanted and bought some 18/10.5 and 18/9.5 C6 Z06 wheels in black.:
To fix the interior, I found a local guy on craigslist that was selling a set of 96 WS6 seats in graphite color in perfect condition:
To start, I bought the car on 10/15/2015, it's a 1999 Pontiac Firebird Trans am ls1 with 4l60e, bought with 122k miles bone stock besides free mods and crappy summit lowering springs. I'm from northern California, so no rust anywhere. Ripped interior because no covers on the T-tops. It needed seats front and rear. Graphite colored interior. Luckily it was GU5 car so it came with 3.23's and I still have them now.
Here is the ,when I first bought it:
The first mod:
Not even a month and already knew what wheels I wanted and bought some 18/10.5 and 18/9.5 C6 Z06 wheels in black.:
To fix the interior, I found a local guy on craigslist that was selling a set of 96 WS6 seats in graphite color in perfect condition:
Last edited by Cocaine_Bird; 11-07-2017 at 08:48 PM.
11-07-2017, 08:56 PM
#2
In that Third picture I ran that car on street tires, with the only mod being the slp lid ran a 13.4@102, which was friggin awesome!. Considering, I just came out of a H/C/I 5.0 mustang with everthing on it running 13.0's. So that's the day the LS bug really bit me and the part collection began. 4 months later and After reading all the forums and stickies I could, I decided to get a Yank 3600 stall for it. Best 795 dollars I've ever spent. had it installed at a local trans shop with a cooler and deeper truck pan. I went ahead and sent the computer to Frost in Virginia for a basic tune with the stall, and man was the car flying! smoking the tires everywhere! haha. Just with the converter alone it ran a 12.76@106 with the same tires and no mods to besides the lid!
Stock time slip:
The Yank:
Time slip:
Stock time slip:
The Yank:
Time slip:
Last edited by Cocaine_Bird; 11-07-2017 at 09:02 PM.
11-07-2017, 09:15 PM
#3
And that wasn't enough! so the mod bug isn't satisfied and it needed more power. Next mod was a set of pacesetter 1 3/4 long tube headers with matching y-pipe. This along with a Ebay (Phab) cat back which looks identical to the SLP kit but half the price went on the car. Only took me about a day to put it on and sounded better than the Blowmaster it had before haha. Along with that I added a catch can and a Dorman "LS6 " intake because the ls1 was just coated full of oil. With those I sent the computer again to frost and he retuned it for the EGR removal and everything. Definitely felt the difference but now with this new found power, there wasn't any traction at all. I went ahead and bought some Racestars with Nitto nt555r 275/50r15's which were O.K. and took it to Sonoma raceway. I was expecting a little more but still not too bad. I ran a 12.50@107 which I don't have the time slip to but it wasn't much difference.
Installing everything:
New wheel setup:
Installing everything:
New wheel setup:
11-07-2017, 09:31 PM
#4
On that same setup I installed a homemade nitrous kit from my old mustangs, Just needed to buy a nitrous plate, which I found used for $100 locally. Put it all together with a lingenfelter timing box/two-step to drop 3 degrees of timing when I sprayed the car. This is when the car really did some work! First time out it ran a 11.8 with the 100 shot of nitrous (spinning a little out the hole). I ran this setup for a little over six months on the street and smoked a couple of cars, but mods were coming! I bought some 799/243 heads used for $350, and started my research on a cam by figuring out what LSA, Duration, and lift meant in the real world. Ended up getting a recommendation from tick performance which was the LS2 SNS stage 2 cam with springs and 7.4 pushrods. Funny thing was that I found someone locally who bought the exact cam kit with .660 springs, ported oil pump, ls2 chain basically every thing I wanted for $720 bucks.
So the teardown started!
Got it done in one month!
So the teardown started!
Got it done in one month!
11-07-2017, 09:59 PM
#6
After installing the heads and cam, took it over to Synergy Motorsports in Livermore for a tune and after a couple runs, it made 383 RWHP, and 380 RW TQ on the same 4l60e. It drives like normal and runs really good against other cam only cars. Hopefully in the future I can send the 243's to get ported and I can find a 90mm fast intake because the car ran out of breath at 6k RPM.
Dyno Sheet:
Lets look at it now!, It's currently running around on dark gunmetal Race star wheels all around 15x10 with 275/50r15 mickeys in the rear and 15x3.75 165/80r15 Nexen tires in the front. Currently the suspension consists of BMR springs and Koni Str.t Struts in the front with new bushings everywhere. Rear suspension I have the founders performance normal control arms, relocation brackets, torque arm, Spohn panhard bar, MWC subframe connectors, and comp engineering drag shocks. Its a smooth ride, I had strange single adjustables that were too loose for the street, so I sold em.
The Car Now!:
Dyno Sheet:
Lets look at it now!, It's currently running around on dark gunmetal Race star wheels all around 15x10 with 275/50r15 mickeys in the rear and 15x3.75 165/80r15 Nexen tires in the front. Currently the suspension consists of BMR springs and Koni Str.t Struts in the front with new bushings everywhere. Rear suspension I have the founders performance normal control arms, relocation brackets, torque arm, Spohn panhard bar, MWC subframe connectors, and comp engineering drag shocks. Its a smooth ride, I had strange single adjustables that were too loose for the street, so I sold em.
The Car Now!:
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11-08-2017, 02:37 PM
#11
Thanks everyone! Yeah i picked up these racestar locally for a steal, all together with wheels and tires paid for 750 bucks. Gotta love craigslist! I’m debading if i should go with a bias-ply tire when i wear out the radials for softer hits and extend the life of the 10 bolt.
11-12-2017, 10:08 PM
#15
@01WS6BLACKLS1
No need to change the tune N/A with a wet kit, to be safe I run NGK 3690's 2 steps colder than stock, and always put two to three gallons of 100 octane. I have a AEM wideband and it runs @11.9-12.5 every time.
@MaSTi
Thanks!, from looking at your sig, it looks like your car is more autocross/road race oriented.
@87 Monte SS
Thanks man, I think I was 20 when I bought it and for only $5k right after selling my last mustang. (BIG upgrade)
No need to change the tune N/A with a wet kit, to be safe I run NGK 3690's 2 steps colder than stock, and always put two to three gallons of 100 octane. I have a AEM wideband and it runs @11.9-12.5 every time.
@MaSTi
Thanks!, from looking at your sig, it looks like your car is more autocross/road race oriented.
@87 Monte SS
Thanks man, I think I was 20 when I bought it and for only $5k right after selling my last mustang. (BIG upgrade)
11-15-2017, 08:22 PM
#16
Launching!
Yeah- I'm built more for auto-x than anything else, but after the H/C and only a bullet in my exhaust.......db's are not on my side. I got a warning last time out(prior to H/C) for being on the edge of sound. I'm sure I'd be over without throwing a silencer in the system.
11-16-2017, 04:50 AM
#18
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Nice car BTW. Looks like it's come a long ways
11-16-2017, 10:37 PM
#20
Launching!
