Signing my 93 z28 for the track points list for the upcoming season and I'd like to go out there with a little added hp.

Are there any cheap? or even free mods to gain hp/tq?

Keeping the car street legal, and don't need to pass any sort of emissions testing.

Car is stock besides a K&N CAI

EDIT: Also, if you had $1,000 (which includes labor) to spend on a stock 93 z28, to make the most power, what exactly would you do? I'm looking for some ideas!

 

Best bang for the buck in my opinion would be a set of mid-length or long tube headers.
Find a used set if you can, ebay and CL is a good place to look. Since your not concerned with emissions Any header for a LT1 93-97 would work. Gains would be in the 15 rwhp to 25 rwhp depending on header design. If you want the emissions to work the 93 layout is different than the other LT1 Fbody years. So you would have to buy a set of headers specific for the 93 LT1.
New headers start in the 300 $ and up range. Good idea to get a mail order tune after the header and 160 stat install.
A tune alone is worth 10-12 hp

160 dergree thermostat is a cheap mod but to take full advantage of that the car needs to be tuned so the cooling fans come on sooner. Hypertech is about 30 bucks, mail order tune is about 130 bucks

See my sig below and I got 309 rwhp with my bolt on mods. Thats about 360-365 hp at the flywheel.

Getting more HP out of a LT1 or any motor will be expensive if you cant do the work yourself. Learn to do the work yourself and save in labor dollars so you can buy more horsepower.

 

Remove the coolant from the throttle body. 6HP free. Well, you will need a 3/8" hose barb to connect together the two coolant lines you take off the throttle body, and a couple small worm clamps to hold the hoses on the barb.... so that's not free... just a couple bucks

You need a good 3" mandrel-bent catback exhaust system, Magnaflow, SLP Loudmouth, used Borla adjustable..... cheaper and easier to installl than headers, and opens up the exhaust so you get better gains when you do install the headers.

1.6X full roller rockers can net you 10HP.

Anything major you do to a 93 requires a new chip for max results, because your 93 ECM runs speed-density, and the VE tables need to be updated.

 

Thinking about possibly Pacesetter LT headers, hi flo cat, and the SLP LM I exhaust.

Previous owner gutted the cut and just reeks of rich gas.

Headers a labor intensive job? I have a good friend whose my mechanic so it'll be cheaper than just a normal shop, but still pretty expensive lol

 

You really should do the free mods first. Do a search and look at WS6.com to see what you can expect.

Long tube headers aren't really going to gain you much on a basically stock engine.....just my opinion, of course.

 

Just a warning on the Pacesetters.. they work well and sound nice but rust REALLY QUICK. I had mine coated as well. And my car never sees rain / snow/ etc, and always in a garage.

If you want a picture for proof let me know and I'll snag one tonight. The underside of my car is rust free (not oil free ) for the most part except the headers, which look like something out of a junkyard. And you can see exactly where they end and my off road ypipe begins, night and day.

 

Do you have any suggestions on headers then?

 

Unfortunately no. I'd say stick with any of them that are stainless steel? I'm in the market for a new set as well, just to replace my rusted disgusting looking ones.

But I do agree with your idea, start with exhaust first. Eliminate the bottle neck. Plus headers actually allow a normal human to easily replace spark plugs, wires!

 

Stainless is OK from a rusting standpoint but you still get high underhood temps. Whatever you get you should have them coated with the Jet Hot (or Equivalent) coating

 

Coating quality makes the difference. I have a set of 17 year old AS&M's that came with "HPC" coating. There are some very minor traces of rust on weld spatter near the head flanges, but otherwise, they are still decent. Even on #7 where they were drilled for an EGT bung, and the bung welded on, after coating, they rust is limited to about 1/4" around the weld. And I bought them "used".

 

How long do you think you will keep the Z28 ??
if this is not something you plan on keeping forever...IMO... I would go cheap on the headers
nothing fancy do the free mod buy a electronic cut out a mail order tune and save some more
money !!!
my car developed a miss fire" bad opti" which turned into a cam swap that turned into LE2 heads
that is now looking like a full rebuild Lol!! it has taken me 1 tax return and 3 bonus checks &
countless hours of arguing with the nagging wife.

 

I plan on keeping the car and hopefully one day pass it down to my son/daughter.

right now, I'm a broke as a joke college student, so mods will come slow for a bit.

But I got a quick question about this exhaust setup.
Currently, my car has stock exhaust, except the previous owner gutted the cat (leaves behind this unbearable rotten egg smell), so I'm looking to buy the LM1 catback system. Will this y-pipe work for me? http://www.ebay.com/itm/PaceSetter-82-1161-Off-Road-Exhaust-Y-Pipe-93-97-LT1-Chevy-Camaro-Firebird-/390425423449?pt=Motors_Car_Truck_Parts_Accessories&fits=Year%3A1993%7CModel%3ACamaro%7CSubmodel%3AZ28&hash=item5ae72b2e59&vxp=mtr
Also, I'm having trouble finding a hi flo cat that is 3" for my setup. Any tips?

 

This listing has three "use with" reference numbers. They are all Pacesetter headers. This does not appear to be a Y-pipe for a stock manifold exhaust.

 

Would this work instead?

http://www.ebay.com/itm/3-INCH-EXHAUST-CUTOUT-ELECTRIC-DUMP-Y-PIPE-CATBACK-CAT-BACK-TURBO-BYPASS-STEEL-B-/321316358463?pt=Motors_Car_Truck_Parts_Accessories&fits=Year%3A1993%7CModel%3ACamaro%7CSubmodel%3AZ28&hash=item4acff2893f&vxp=mtr

 

I'm not a huge flowmaster fan but this is a fairly cheap 3" cat back system. Think its the same one on mine. http://pages.ebay.com/motors/link/?n...d=221360787841

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