LT1Formulation

I've never owned an LS1 car, so I have no clue if there are any free mods or specific first mods I should do to the car once I get it. It's a WS6, so a lid is out. I was pretty much looking at swapping in a set of 4.10 gears since I can do it myself for under 200 bucks. I also want to put a shifter in it, but that won't really be a performance gain, just a better "fun to drive" factor. This car is going to be my daily driver with occasional trips to the dragstrip, so I don't really want to compromise driveability or gas mileage too much. How much does gas mileage suffer going from 3.42's to 4.10's? Also, can the GM dealership reprogram my car for 4.10 gears, or will I have to go aftermarket? I'm not looking to get tuning done until I tear into the engine as it doesn't seem to be much of a performance gain. Thanks for any info you might have - I did try the search function but it didn't really give me the info I needed.

teke184

shifter is an excellent idea....much firmer and more confident shifts. a $50 proform shift light may be smart too...just to keep from overreving.

you say it's a WS6...why would a lid not be useful? or did it come with the factory lid? i think an aftermarket lid is still an improvement over that.

the next best mod is gonna be exhaust. if nothing else a 3" cutout that you can open at the track (or street).

4.10s will be a nice gain, but you'll have ALOT of problems getting traction, especially on street tires. if you plan to run a set of drag radials than it may not be such an issue...but it will still be alot harder to launch.

just read around the forum...maybe go through the first 10 or so pages and read up. alot of what you want to know will be answered.

kick Z tail out

Pro 5.0, eliminate CAGS and get a GMMG.

teke184

or if you aren't a millionaire...get a TSP rumbler

personally i didn't like the Pro5.0 that i test drove...but he may have had it adjusted really tight.

the car may have a factory hurst shifter, in which case just putting a Lou's short stick on it will make a HUGE difference and make it a pretty decent shifter for the $55 that the stick costs. that's what i have and i love it

kick Z tail out

I forgot about the Lou's piece. That'll work.

LT1Formulation

I figured traction would be an issue with 4.10's - definitely was going to get some drag radials. The car already has a flowmaster exhaust on it, I know it's not that good, but for now it should work fine. I didn't realize the lid was different on the '98 and up Ram Air cars, so that might be another area to look into. How can I tell if the car has a factory hurst shifter? I absolutely LOVED the shifter in the 99 SS I drove and that was a Hurst unit. I forgot about the cags mod, I definitely plan on doing that as soon as I get the car. Thanks for the replies. Does anyone know if I can get my speedo recalibrated at the dealership?

kick Z tail out

You can, but it'll likely cost you more than just just getting an aftermarket tune.

http://www.madz28.com/9704.php

I didn't realize LS1 cars can eliminate CAGS through a tune. Check out Item 2 on that link, that's the budget tune, instead of full tuning, you get any 4 items adjusted. You can do the CAGS and your speedo calibration right there, along with 2 other things.

And don't forget you send back your core and save a lot of money.

LT1Formulation

Bryan Herter will give me a discount on programming because I purchased unlimited programming for my LT1 Caprice, so I guess I'll go through him. I've had nothing but good experiences with his tuning.

Kraest

All of the above are good advice. I'd also get a good straight-through muffler like a Dynomax Ultraflow to free up some lost horsepower over that Flowmaster.

97LT1F-Body

Dont forget the suspension mods, ie: LCA's and sub-frame connectors.
I would go with a mail order tune with MadZ28. You will notice a small gain in performance even with a stock car. I did on mine.


Mike

teke184

if the car is equipped with a hurst shifter...the shift **** should have the H on it.

you can pick them up for $50 on ebay and on this board typically. that's what i paid.
combine that with the $55 i paid for the lous stick new...and i got a badass shifter for $105 shipped.

MENEGRANDE

weird...my lt1 camaro has a slp shift know...it's not round ...it sort of looks like the shift **** from the cobra..

MENEGRANDE

http://www.afterthoughtsauto.com/slp-shift-****.html


that is the exact shift ****...

GOFASTER

Definately throw an aftermarket lid on that baby!! It makes quite a noticable difference. Also do the !FRA mod. You have to cut out a section in the bottom of the airbox. I cut almost 2 tenths when I did it to my '01 SS. The throttle response is greatly improved. Get you a resistor and disable the CAGS. It gets annoying rather quickly. Get yourself a STB, too. Makes the front end shivers go away. Go check out LS2.com for some more good ideas. The people there are pretty cool!!

LT1Formulation

So a lid sounds like a good idea - who makes the best aftermarket lid?