What are the recommended first mods to an LT1, especially power wise? Of course I'll do a tuneup (plugs, wires, coil, filter, etc).

Are CAI's beneficial? I dont know much about camaros.

Eventually I plan on getting a full exhaust, with headers. Whats are some good ones for not too much money? How is the flowmaster american thunder series?

Also, I plan on getting some kind of upgraded rotors and pads. What are some good ones? I heard cross drilled rotors are prone to cracking? How about the powerslot ones?

Also, I definitely plan on getting this hood..


And rims like these...


I want a good overall car, not just a stock looking z28 with a bunch of power. This will be the most powerful car I ever drove anyway, so I should be impressed with its stock power for quite some time, but I'm definitely interested in throwing some more ponies on there if the price is right.

Thanks

 

if you cant decide then just do all of the free mods for right now. throttle body bypass. descreen tha maf. move your iat, did i miss any. if it were me i would do exhaust first smerican thunder sounds awesome and is firly cheap compared to other systems. but i prefer loudmouth the best

 

First mods are usually a CAI and a cat-back. Well...I that's what I did.

 

I agree with AsianSensation, my first mods were CAI and a catback...def woke the car up.

 

yup like most cars, CAI and exhaust will wake ya up. I don't really suggest upgrading the brakes, because honestly unless you're trying to stop your while while running 140mph down the strip u don't really need more than the stockers. You'll spend a lot of money on brakes that could have been spent on speed. I also do NOT suggest descreening the MAF - there is so much controversy surrounding it, is the 0.2 hp (IF that...) worth the controversy. Oh yeah, and as far as flowmasters go... a board member had a full exhuast, and swapped his flows out for basically SLP resonators, and picked up 10rwhp - dunno where it was but i saw the post not to long ago. which makes you wonder if they were doing any good at all. and i like the cragers, but not chrome. =) - if i come across like an *** sorry.

 

out of curiosity, what year car is it? 93, 94-95 or 96-97? there are some differences specific to each group.

definatly do a CAI first...morosso, K&N, lingfelter...any of those are good, and you'll definatly notice a gain.

next as you mentioned would be the exhaust. i would stay away from the Flowmaster AT...they sound great but are notorious for being somewhat restrictive compared to others. if you want loud...go for the loudmouth, but if you plan to go w/o cats and headers in the future the LM will probably be too loud then...so think ahead now.
some good flowing alternatives are the Hooker (although it isn't stainless or aluminized so it tends to rust out faster), or look into the MagnaFlow which is aluminized, and has a polished muffler AND nice polished tips.
more expensive AND free flowing would be Corsa, ATR, Borla or B&B triflow.

a nice alternative would be the flowmaster and then install a cutout before the axle so that you can uncap it and run straight exhaust...great flow and awesome sound...but easily turns into street legal.

for headers...this is where year comes into play. 95 and earlier you can get away with headers and removing the cats without problems. but 96-7 require the use of O2 simulators for the rear O2 sensors. and for these years it is harder to find a decent offroad pipe (no cats), many headers use the stock y-pipe...which sucks.

the best headers, which are not emissions legal, are Long tubes like Jet-hot or hooker, next to that would be mid lengths such as MAC, and the least beneficial but are typically emissions legal are shorties such as BBK, Edelbrock, Pacesetter, Hooker...and there are more...

 

I can't believe you didn't mention Arizona Speed and Marine. I'd say those and the Mac's are the best, though the ASM will support more power due to the larger primary tubes.

 

This is the order I went in.

Flowmaster 80's series
K&N FIPK Cold air induction
cut out my cats
air foil
SLP 1 3/4" coated shorty headers
BBK 52mm Throttle body

I plan on changing my exhaust in the next few weeks. I'm taking off the Flowmaster and getting a true dual Dynomax Bullet setup. But a Flowmaster does sound great to me. I just want it a little louder. It might end up being TOO loud...but that's ok.

 

Do your research on catbacks, the whole sound of your car will depend on what catback you choose.

Yes first 3 mods should be
CAI
Catback
Suspension

Oh yea, and a shifter if you have a manual.

 

Moroso Cold Air Intake

Mac headers

Flowmaster exhaust

Cutout

 

Hello, thinking about trying a cutout. If someone could please send me an online link to a website, that would be great. Thanks.

So wheres a good place to put it? Someone mentioned in this post...right before the axle?...

Thanks!

PEPPER

 

Hooker cat back is pretty cheap (got it for like 270 or 280 shipped from jegs) and it sounds excellent to me. Try to get a deal on the CAI too, just look around on ebay or in the for sale section of this forum.

 

for cheap parts, ebay is your best friend. i got slp's two on the left, slp cai, a hypertech pp plus, and my subframes all for under 600 bucks shipped. many other parts are available for really cheap that are new.

the first things i did was springs, subframes, cai, hypertech, airfoil. i plan on doing headers soon, cuz im commin on 100k really quick and when that happens ill rebuild the motor to a 383. ive heard a lot of complaints from hooker and jethots though, so it looks like tpis or AS&M for me. next will deffinitely will be lca's and phr, maybe a torqu arm controller. better shocks and springs, maybe upper control arms

 

Get good exhaust setup LT headers, ypipe, good catback or a true dual setup....then some nitrous after that. That will allow youto run 12s....while you are saving up for the new motor you will be needing

FWIW....there is a JetHot group purchase over in the Paid Advertiser/Group purchase forum. Can get ypipe thrown in on that, its a good deal. All ceramic coated.

 

screw buying the intake dude, make your own
it will cost exponentially less than buying a k&n, moroso, etc.
if i can find the pages for the custom homemade one, i'll edit this message and put them in here
or you can just search for a post about it
good luck