Im sorry if this isnt the wrong place for this, i just figured, i need help with an lt1, so this would be the place. Ok... i own a 94 camaro z28, im 16, and dont make a whole lotta money, and as you probably know ,the money i do get, goes into feeding this beast its gas. but anyways. im kinda looking for some schoolin, and helpful tips, on what i can do to make my car run and sounds better, for a decent price. Some more specs. Car has 143000 miles. Somewhat new tires, New brakes, Dealership Replaced Spark Plug Wires before purchase of the car back in march, and a New High Flow K&N Intake was just put on recently. I decided to try the tornado fuel saver, havent had a chance to put it on yet. but... pretty much, this is a pretty open thread. any tips, tricks, or just plain helpful info on what i can buy, and what it will do to help. Thanks ALOT.
$Glen$

 

1st- send the tornado back and get your money back. 2nd- find a used set of mid-tube headers and a cat back such as Flowmaster or similar set-up. 3rd- find a used Hypertech tuner. These will give you bragging rights at school. Danny Mc

 

For the money, id say the best thing to start with would be a cold air intake (such as K&N) and maybe a catback exhaust. Both arent too expensive, offer a power gain, and the catback exhaust will improve sound. For starters, check summit racing.com or rksport.com. Im sure there are cheaper places, but this is a start.

 

The "tornado" is a piece of ricer garbage. It is nothing but a restriction and will hurt performance if anything. If yo are low on money just do the cheap mods like the throttle body coolant bypass and get your computer tuned by one of the sponsors here. Dont waste money on the Hypertech..mail order is cheaper and better.

 

Ate your age, and the milage on your car, I'd buy myself an SLP loud mouth. Cheap and effective.

 

i appreciate everyones help. i would just like to add that, i also, do not have much knowledge on cars, and what each part does. Although i would like to learn, and later hopefully make a career of it. So, as for questions from me from your guys's responses....

You guys dont seem to liek the tornado idea? Is there somethin about this item, that just isnt worth having? I havent recieved it yet. i was hoping for better gas mileage, thats why i bought it, any responses tothat would help.

Again, thanks for the help, and keep it coming. Im gonna go start my search now.
$Glen$

 

also, if you guys have links to any of these headers, and other stuff you are recommending, if you wouldnt mind sending them to me, im looking at this stuff right now, and im COMPLETELY cluesless as to what brand is good, and which products are the best to get. So again, if theres somethin you recomend me buying, and you can give a good detailed decription of how it will help out and what not, please give me a link to the product or products. Thanks for helpin out.
$Glen$

 

Try looking at the sites linked at the top of every page in the "Supporting Vendor Index". They specialize in parts for 4th Gen F-bodys, and usually have LT1-specific parts listed.

 

Alright, first things first. When you ask questions about anything in life you are going to get a ton of opinions, and somewhere in those opinions you MAY find what you are looking for. The key is to be able to know what to discard and what to keep. MY opinion is: 1). You need to find a good book on how internal combustion engines work. Every engine is different, but they ALL share certain operating characteristics. Nothin wrong with getting one in a used book store. Without a good basic knowledge you'll be chasing your tail and running after every latest gadget. 2) Get a good shop manual for the specific car you own, maybe a Haynes or Chiltons. If you're short on $ (like most of us) the more you can do yourself the more you can save If you don't learn to maintain your ride (or pay someone else to) you"ll have a good lookin, sweet soundin' 3,000 pound paperweight sittin' in your driveway, no $$$ in your pocket, wondering what went wrong and blaming your "BAD LUCK". 3) Start building a collection of tools and take care of 'em....you're gonna need 'em. 4)Work safely and ahve fun!!!

 

ok, first off... the tornado is POINTLESS! I worked at Napa and we sold them, all they are is a piece of sheet metal that makes it have the "cyclone" effect... actually its more restricitve thannot having anything.

1st thing i would do is basic maintainence... (not to spend much money at all) if its a 94+ buy a can of Mass air flow sensor cleaner ($4), check air filter, check plugs (not too easy for a novice) If all had to be changed you are looking at around $45 total

Now if you want better air flow you could look around for a k-n FIPK or just one of their filters these are things that are cheap and also helps gas mileage/peformance of the vehicle

 

nvm about the intake... i just re-read your original post

 

The best thing you can do for yourself is to make friends with other 4th Gen owners, especially the LT1 guys. Help them work on their cars, and ask them to help you in return.

You're in kind of a tight spot - you want to mod your car, but you don't have the knowledge to do it yourself, or the money to pay a shop. But, with help from those that have been there before, you can learn a great deal. The results are twofold - you get to learn how to work on your car, and you will meet some awesome people.

 

As already said, get a cold air intake, you made it sound like you may already have one ?

Do you have to pass emissions where you live? If you only have inspection and no emissions, you could put Long Tube headers on, an Off-Road Y-Pipe, and a good cat-back exhaust on it. Now, if you DO have to pass emissions, you could do shorty or mid-length headers, a high-flow catalytic converter, and a good cat-back exhaust. Basically, any cat back is worth getting other than the Flowmaster. Best bang for your buck will be an SLP Loud Mouth. As for headers, Mac Mid's are a good buy, and if you dont need emissions, Pace Setter long tubes are hard to pass up at $400, ceramic coated. Their Y-Pipe is only I think $125 also.

These cars respond well to mods, and are choked up big time from the factory. Its one of the few cars that will gain an honest 10 horsepower to the wheels from a Cold Air Intake. As far as CAI's go, Moroso, K&N, and Lingenfelter seem decent, Stay AWAY from a G2 or G3 whatever its called. A Lingenfelter one uses a bigger K&N filter than the K&N kit does, AND its cheaper. Definatly one of the best buys for a cold air intake.

The throttle body bypass someone mentioned earlier, there is a coolant (antifreeze) line that runs through the bottom of the throttle body. Antifreeze gets hot. Hotness = Less Power. The antifreeeze heats the throttle body up, which heats the incoming air up. The hotter the air is, the less dense it is. And obviously, the denser the air ( Colder ) the more power you will make. Its one of those things where every little bit helps, and its worth doing. Just unplug it from each end, and bypass it with a solid line and two hose clamps.

Also, DONT waste your money on an aftermarket Mass Airflow Sensor, these do nothing. They alter the fuel management, and force the car to run slightly leaner ( Which makes more power, at first ) but the computer learns from oxygen sensor readings, that it is running leaner, and will eventually correct itself, taking you back to the same power level as before, no gain. And it makes it much harder for anyone to tune your computer using aftermarket mass airflow sensors.

DONT waste your money on underdrive pullies either. The gain cant justify the price.

DONT waste your money on a Hypertech Power Programer, or any other type of flashtuner like this.

DO spend your money getting your computer reprogrammed by a repuatable company such as MadZ28 or PCMforless. Both of which have quality reputations.

Doing an electric waterpump is a worthwhile modification on an LT1 car. It will give you a soild 10 horsepower. You just have to be careful because if it fails, its done, where as the stock waterpump will give you some warning in advance. And if you overheat these cars, even one time, your going to blow headgaskets and such. Which is $$$$ and NOT good.

Is your car a stick or automatic? If its an automatic, a big bang for your buck would be a shift kit, and higher RPM stall converter.

Also, with those kinda miles, I would put some money into going over things first before I modded anything. Change the fuel filter, run some quality injector cleaner through it, and NOTHING less than premium in your car, the compression on these engines is too high to run 87.

Hope that helped, I was bored and figured I'd write you a book, but my fingers are cramping. Good luck with the car, and feel free to Private Message me if you have any questions. And be careful with the car. I was 16 when I got mine too, but was fairly level headed about it. You can get in deep, over your head, in a hurry. Dont let your idiot friends talk you into **** you dont want to do. They'll try getting you to race everyone, everywhere, because their cars arent fast and dont draw attention like yours will. You dont want to get busted street racing or something cause your friends peer pressured you into something stupid.

Good luck and have fun with it.

 

Ohh yea, and dont waste your money on a larger than stock throttle body yet either. The gain is pretty minimal until you are making a good bit more power.

 

This kid has no idea how to work on cars, and you're telling him to get headers? Nothing good can come from that.

Here's the best advice you will ever hear: Take your car to a shop and have all the regular maintenance stuff done, and just enjoy the car in it's STOCK form for awhile. Learn about working on cars, and stick around here and read as much as you can. Buy a service manual and read it like it's a novel, then when you have a little knowledge, then it's time to start modding.