I already did the Throttle-body Bypass a few days ago. I also did the ICM Cooling mod (thanks Shoebox for your great site!). I have my alternator, balancer wheel/hub, tensioner unit (to get to the plug wires on the opti better), and the plug wires all out. I was laid off recently and literally have NEGATIVE money right now so many bills..the only time I have that I enjoy right now is in my garage working on my car...
I have my mods in my sig, slightly hyped up engine (upgraded internals, cam, pistons, roller rockers, etc), and stock exhaust manifolds with 3" exhaust/y-pipe. What else can I do besides the two mods I already listed? Like I said I have no money and lots of time right now between job searches...so any ideas? Something atleast worthwhile? Thanks guys!

 

Tb bypass is the only 'free' mod worth it IMO .

 

I would have to agree with the !TB. I am surprised you are running an aftermarket cam with manifolds???? Doesn't make sense. Open that exhaust system up and port your heads when you get some flow.

 

actually I was limited on my spending budget when I did the motor. I bought the car with a cracked head..so I decided to pay a guy about $3k to upgrade the motor. I didnt have the extra $600 for headers and injectors. The guy said though with the setup he used, if I put in some headers and bigger injectors..I'd be pushing well over 400HP
Headers are my next BIG investment..but like I said..I just got laid off and next to new tires, plugs/wires, headers are pretty much a 'next summer' thing..

 

I hear ya, you probably won't need bigger injectors for 400 at the wheels, but to get there you are going to have to have a good tune and head work. You can easily get 350, but you have to work for it to get closer to 400 RWHP.

 

hey Red, do you have pix of that OTV wire kit you installed? The main reason my engine is half dismantles..is because I had a bad stumble..just removed the plug wires and found #2 and #8 wires near the Opti to be 'sliced' in almost half. That I am almost 100% sure is where my rather large stumble is coming from...Id like to avoid messing with re-routing the plug wires back through the mess under the alternator and stuff..and simply run them over the valve cover and down to the Opti. While the websites provide pics of their product, they dont show them actually ON the LT1's. So do you have pics and what price/place did you get yours? What type of 'greese' or 'lube' did you use on your 'crimped' ends that plug into the Opti? I heard thats the hardest part..is crimping and getting those 'custom' ends to fit onto the Opti..

 

I believe I used the lube they gave me. To get the boots on the wires (when assembling them) use silicone spray. Much better than WD-40. I removed my air pump so it made routing the drivers side easier. As for the passenger side, that was the PITA, because of the belts and AC crap. I can't exactly remember how I routed it, but 2 and 4 were routed together and 6 and 8 were routed seperatly. So some of the looms in the front of the pass valve cover are empty. (didn't go over the valve cover). I thought this was the best way to keep it away from the headders.

Sorry, no pictures, but I hope this helps.

 

I've used the Taylor OTVC wiring kit before, it comes with all the boots, wires, ends, and brackets needed to run the wires over the valve cover. I tried and tried and tried to get those damn boots on, with no luck, using everything from WD-40 to straight grease from a grease gun. However, upon reinspecting the package it recommends silicon lube. I went to hardware store, bought some of that, and they went on without much trouble. As far as getting the ends onto the Opti, that was no problem. Just plug em in.

As for free mods to do, if you have a dremel tool or air powered die grinder you could pull off those exhaust manifolds and port them. You won't get nearly the same gains as you do from headers, but you should see some improvement and it would kill some time, not to mention it's free. You could also pull your cat and gut it, put in a straight pipe so it doesn't sound like crap. The !EGR mod is free and isn't expensive, just have to machine a plate to block off the hole on the back of the intake outta some scrap metal. If you're really ambitious you could start doing weight reduction, pull out your carpet and remove all the sound deadener, take out your back seats, hell even remove your A/C if you won't miss it. Removing the A/C will require money for an 1LE A/C delete bracket though.

If all else fails, clean the bitch! Spend an hour or two washing and waxing it.

 

well the back seats came out the first few months I had the car as well as the spare tire and jack (which should honestly stay in the car for daily driving )...Ive also already removed the 'padding' underneath the hood and detailed a lot of the engine and trust me..my car doesnt need cleaning I clean my car when Im driving it, atleast twice a week if it gets dusty..As for the carpet..Im not that desperate to lose 2lbs of carpet..I dont race my car. I will eventually however, replace it all with a different color though..but not until then will I remove that. As far as the exhaust manifolds being 'ported'...I dont have any of those tools...just a drill, and all the basic and a few other tools for the camaro (and R/C car). Besides..It seems as that would almost be pointless since the size of those arent big in the first place..it wouldnt be much of a difference..although with my bigger cam and stuff, maybe!
Im talkin more like the EGR one..but dont you have to have that pretty much? I know you can buy the plate for it and stuff..but I figured the EGR Valve is sorta important since when it malfunctions..can cause problems..??
I do agree though, I havent actually 'noticed' a difference from the TB bypass..but it seems to me to be the best mod plus it cleans up the front end some and also eliminates a possible leak of coolant on the Opti. Maybe with that and the ICM cooling mod..I am good...was kinda hoping I just had something to do that was FREE..Any other suggestions guys? Appreciate all the help so far too!

 

Hmm... not alot of options left. You could remove the AIR pump, but that's of questionable performance gain, maybe only improvement would be the loss of weight it would provide. There's not too many other free mods for these cars. In fact I can't think of any off the top of my head. Sorry man.