Have around $1000 for some Mods

STL00GT

New Member
Mar 9, 2004
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Saint Louis
Hey all,

Here is a list of things that I want to do to my car with the money I have saved. I just want to get a few suggestions on these mods to see what the different opinions are for my car. I have attached a picture of my car at its current state. The mods that are already on my car are in my signature.

Mods that I am looking at now with my money:

1) MAC Flowpath Catback 3.5" Tips ($375) or Mufflers ($150) (to compliment the X-Pipe) - the mufflers would be cheaper but eveyone says do the whole cat back. Will this sound OK with the O/R X-pipe?

2) 4.10 FRPP Gears ($150) (Cheap mod for some real fun) - I am going to definitely get this and don't worry about the install price. It will be free.

3) H&R Sport Springs (~$200) - Don't want to go too low and have to get shocks, CC plates, etc. I think this will give me a nice drop and not ruin my current shocks.

4) Chin Spoiler ($55) - Looks Good

5) Hood scoop ($125) - My friend is a painter and I am going to leave it BLACK. I think it will look good with all the other black parts on the car.

6) Most likely the SCT Tuner for $400 to change the shift points, adjust timing, correct for gears and turn off the 02 sesors. Do you think I should get a chip and dyno tune instead?

7) Accufab Plenum + 70mm TB - This probably won't happen because it makes me go over budget.

I just wanted to get a thought of what everyone thought.
 

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magnaflows welded to stock catback--$150 (maybe 5 hp and bad ass sound)
shifter--$150 (makes for easy fast shifts)
4.10's--$140 from Summit Racing price matched to gefracing's price. (self explanatory mod)
used U/D pulleys and Timing adjuster--$200 (combined for 10 rwhp at 14*)
plenum/throttle body--$350 (with exhaust mods and your K&N, you should see 10rwp)


That's $990 for 25 rwhp and a bad ass exhaust, smooth shifts, and $10 left over for beer.

After that stuff, you should save another $700 for Long Tubes, another $1000 for P&P heads/cams/springs/valves and another dyno tune.

Bada bing....300+ rwhp. Then, save another $500-$700 to upgrade to 31 splines, another $300 for drag radials or ET streets.

THEN......practice until you're in the mid 12's.

THEN.....do the cosmetic mods.

just my $.02.
 
Get a high stall converter, do the j-mod, build the rear end, and get slicks.

Leave the bling for later.

StangStr - $1000 for P&P heads/cams/springs/valves and dyno tune????? I don't think he wants to get busted for stolen merchandise. Cams alone are about $500, nice worked heads are about $1500, then there's tons of labor on top of that if you're not doing it yourself.
 
GinoGT said:
StangStr - $1000 for P&P heads/cams/springs/valves and dyno tune????? I don't think he wants to get busted for stolen merchandise. Cams alone are about $500, nice worked heads are about $1500, then there's tons of labor on top of that if you're not doing it yourself.


oh yeah...good point. I uh.....I meant $1000 cash AND $1000 on the credit card.


:nice:
 
STL00GT said:
Thanks for the input guys. Keep them coming and I will make up my mind on what to spend. I want to get these parts bought this week. The magnaflow welded into stock sounds cool but would it sound good with the O/R X?
Gears is a must, I would do just the mufflers, not worth the extra .18 hp from the piping... Definitly dont go the plenum/tb route, much better mods to be done at your point. So far were still under 250, short shifter and drag radials makes for a fun ride and better times, plus you can burn 95% of the cars on the road off the line! :nice: Still leaves you another 3-400, depends on how far you wanna take the car. If your just gonna tweak it and have fun then get your U/D pulleys and go with 4.10's but if your longterm goals involve a supercharger then stick with the 3.73's and dont waste your money on 3-10hp mods until your blown...just doesn't make sense.. Well anyways, let us know where you wanna go with the car and good luck with your decision. :nice: :flag:
 
This will be a daily driver so I see no supercharger in sight anytime soon. I drive it around 40 miles everyday to work roundtrip. The supercharger will be out of my budget for a while.

I am thinking N/A but still a really fun ride. My thought is to keep from having to buy 93 octane for now.

With that in mind I just want to speed it up and make it look ok. I think making it a little faster will be more fun for now.
 
STL00GT said:
This will be a daily driver so I see no supercharger in sight anytime soon. I drive it around 40 miles everyday to work roundtrip. The supercharger will be out of my budget for a while.

I am thinking N/A but still a really fun ride. My thought is to keep from having to buy 93 octane for now.

With that in mind I just want to speed it up and make it look ok. I think making it a little faster will be more fun for now.
FRPP 4.10's 140
Pro 5.0 shortshifter 170
Sell you my U/D pulleys for 90 + shipping brand stinkin new
Steeda timing adjuster 75-175.. 75-100 if you buy used
Magnaflow mufflers, 1-200
Nitto 555r Drag Radials real cheap from here - http://www.savastire.com/wheels_tires/nitto_tires.htm Just my $.02 Good luck
 
I forgot to say that I have an AUTO so I won't need the shifter. I was also thinking about the tranny work but want to leave it for now. The car is actually still under the factoy warranty so I need to be able to take off any mods in case it needs to go back to the dealer.
 
First thing is first.

1) Transmission cooler - this is a must for the automatic.

2) Jerry mod shift kit - I recommend this as it can be done to your stock valve body. All you need to buy is new tranny fluid, a couple gaskets, and a new spring for the 1-2 accumulator piston. You might also need to buy some drill bits if you don't have any to do the mod. Go to www.tccoa.com and read their articles for the 4r70w automatic transmission. You can also just skip doing it yourself and buy a performance valve body from someplace like Performance automatic or Lentech transmissions.

3) Full cat-back - I know many will say "just get muffs" but I disagree with this. If you're going to spend the money for the mufflers anyway, might as well get a full catback to compliment that o/r x-pipe.

4) You need to do some intake work and I mean more than a K&N air filter. You've already started opening up the exhuast side of the equation so why not open up the intake side as well.

5) Steeda u/d pullies - I suggest these as they are an inexpensive mod that will actually work to "free up" some hp and torque. Most gain between 5-10rwhp and similar numbers in torque with this mod. If you're planning on going with a supercharger in the future, you may want to skip this mod as you will need to use your stock pullies with the supercharger.

I like the comments GinoGT made about the torque converter. However, the cost to get the torque converter and installation thereof will take the full thousand dollars and possibly another 100-200 more. It is definatley something to look into though. Porting and polishing the heads is a good idea, but to work the heads over fully, you'll be paying more than 1,000 dollars. Not to mention installation fees if you cant pull the heads and put them back in yourself. Some cams is also something to consider as you can buy a new set of cams for your car for aroun 500-600 dollars. Last but not least, you can always get yourself a set of gears. Gears can be had for about 150 dollars. Installation costs vary but expect to be charged 4-6hrs labor at a local garage to do the installation. You will also need either a chip, dyno tune, or EEC flash with a gear installation to correct your speedometer and shift points.
 
I think you'd be spending your money most effectively with gears, cams or trans cooler, an SCT and a dyno tune...

If you're doing the install work yourself then the $1k you have should be just about enough.

Don't go out and get all the little nickle and dime stuff until you've got the big power makers. Those are the things that allow your little stuff like plenums, throttle bodies, CAIs, and exhaust to work their best.
 
I just got the gears ordered from Summit Racing. That went good with the price match and I went with 4.10s. I am now looking at getting a tuner/flasher so I can turn off the rear 02 sensors and adjust the shift points/speedometer.

I am thinking about what to order next. Today seems like a good shopping day.
 
STL00GT said:
I am now looking at getting a tuner/flasher so I can turn off the rear 02 sensors and adjust the shift points/speedometer.
just get MIL's, and speedo recalibrator. Much chepaer. Hell you can home make MIL's if you do a search. I'mnot familiar w/ the auto trans, so I'm not sure if that tuner / flasher it worth anything.
 
68 & 00 GT said:
just get MIL's, and speedo recalibrator. Much chepaer. Hell you can home make MIL's if you do a search. I'mnot familiar w/ the auto trans, so I'm not sure if that tuner / flasher it worth anything.

I would do the MILs and Speedcal but my car is an AUTO. My ownly options are a tuner/flasher, ECU flash (my car will be down so no good) or a chip with a dyno tune. It seems like the tuner/flasher will be the easiest.

I will probably go with the SCT or the Diablo.
 
StngStr said:
magnaflows welded to stock catback--$150 (maybe 5 hp and bad ass sound)
shifter--$150 (makes for easy fast shifts)
4.10's--$140 from Summit Racing price matched to gefracing's price. (self explanatory mod)
used U/D pulleys and Timing adjuster--$200 (combined for 10 rwhp at 14*)
plenum/throttle body--$350 (with exhaust mods and your K&N, you should see 10rwp)


That's $990 for 25 rwhp and a bad ass exhaust, smooth shifts, and $10 left over for beer.

After that stuff, you should save another $700 for Long Tubes, another $1000 for P&P heads/cams/springs/valves and another dyno tune.

Bada bing....300+ rwhp. Then, save another $500-$700 to upgrade to 31 splines, another $300 for drag radials or ET streets.

THEN......practice until you're in the mid 12's.

THEN.....do the cosmetic mods.

just my $.02.
actually, the prices you gave are way low on everything. 1k wont even get you a set of heads. a nice set will run ~2k, add a P/P service and youre at ~$2400. cams and springs will run ~$700, tune/dyno for $500. at least $700 for the rear build-up. i agree with your motto a lot: show then go :nice: