guys-- i just bought a stock 1999 Camaro SS. what do you think i should do first to gain some hp?

11/29/2005 10:20:42 AM

Supercharger

11/29/2005 10:21:59 AM

stickers, lots and lots, the more stickers the more HP

or

11/29/2005 10:23:14 AM

How much hp do you want? How much money do you have?

11/29/2005 10:23:32 AM

$1500 for right now

11/29/2005 10:57:09 AM

Quote :

"stickers, lots and lots, the more stickers the more HP"

my friend's tahoe should do 200 in the 1/4 mile if that was true!

11/29/2005 10:57:55 AM

Cam and Headers

11/29/2005 10:58:43 AM

but really, if I had a ponycar, I'd want some mean ass cam in it so heads and cam



*woops.. i thought "ponycar" referred to any domestic v8 not worthy of "musclecar"

[Edited on November 29, 2005 at 11:10 AM. Reason : http://www.jalopnik.com/cars/news/happy-birthday-ponycar-first-chevrolet-camaro-rolled-off-the-line-]

11/29/2005 11:04:00 AM

camaro, pony?

11/29/2005 11:06:13 AM

mustang = pony

11/29/2005 11:12:38 AM

http://www.musclecarclub.com/musclecars/general/musclecars-definition.shtml
that website says it is a pony car unless it is SS or Z28 and then muscle...

who knows, different people have different opinions on it

11/29/2005 11:21:11 AM

http://ls1sounds.com/

im a fan of the GMMG or SLP systems..... please, please consider each addition thoroughly before taking action....




[Edited on November 29, 2005 at 11:26 AM. Reason : stupid link]

11/29/2005 11:25:32 AM

camaro = pony car

11/29/2005 11:29:08 AM

Well, if it was my $1500 and my car, I'd do a set of LT headers, an airlid, a nice cam, a set of 4.10s, and have it dyno tuned. That combo will flirt with 400 rwhp and run its ass off on the street.

11/29/2005 11:54:03 AM

Under "ponycar" I personally would group the Mustang (discounting the Mustang II), the Camaro/Firebird, late 60's Cougars, Barracudas, and Challengers.

11/29/2005 11:58:35 AM

^^ are domestic parts really that cheap?

11/29/2005 12:27:40 PM

Airlid = $100
4.10 gears = $400 installed
LT headers = $400
Cam/springs = $600 ish

Dyno tune = $400

Yea, it totals a little more than $1500. Skip the gears and do everything else. Do the gears later.
With the right cam and tuning this combo will make 380 to 400 rwhp and run 117+ in the quarter. And still be pretty tame on the street.

[Edited on November 29, 2005 at 12:48 PM. Reason : ...]

11/29/2005 12:45:40 PM

Oh yea, after you do those mods and run the shit out of it for a while, stuff starts to break. The clutch will prolly be first to go (I reccomend replacing it with a RAM or SPEC, it will cost about $500 or so in parts), and the rear ends on these cars are a weak link if you use anything stickier than an ordinary street tire. Only way to permanently cure that problem is to put a 12 bolt or Ford 9 inch rear under the thing. Which costs about 2 grand by the time its all said and done.

BTW, I cant beleive no one has asked you if it was an auto or 6 speed. Which is it?

11/29/2005 12:53:34 PM

it's a pussy ass auto. my wife bought it for me for x-mas. i used to have a 2000 z28 6 speed about 3 years ago, but she couldn't drive it all that good; probably the reason she bought this so she could drive it some. i sold it due to insurance reasons and low paying job at the time, but i have a good paying job and it's time to make it a bad azz street car.

11/29/2005 1:21:00 PM

dont worry about it being an auto those are actually better for drag racing than the 6 speeds

major things you should get

1. airlid
2. catback
3. longtube headers
4. stall (3500 should be good enough)

after that i would go sticky tires then heads/cam

dont worry about gears they dont really do that much more for the autos once you get a stall


[Edited on November 29, 2005 at 1:34 PM. Reason : oh yeah read up on ls1tech.com it will provide you with way more info than you need]

11/29/2005 1:33:10 PM

thanx man!

11/29/2005 1:38:15 PM

for gods sake dont run a 3500 converter on the street, youll hate it, just stick with a shift kit for now until you make some real power

11/29/2005 1:43:25 PM

Hmmmm....

For an auto, that changes.

3500 stall, 3.73's, LT headers, lid, cam & springs, dyno tune. You'll also need a pair of decent drag radials.
380-ish rwhp through a stalled auto and high 11's at around 115 or thereabouts. Eventually you will prolly need a built tranny though, but the stock one will live for a while as long as you install a trans cooler (cheap) when you do the converter and dont lean on it too hard all the time and run good fluid.

Autos tend to break less parts than a 6 speed on the racetrack, the stock rear will live fine until the going gets really fast.

A 3500 stall is fine for the street. I reccomend one from Yank, Precision Industries, or Midwest, in that order. The Midwest is a good bit cheaper than the Yank or PI (both around $700), but its also slightly less efficient. You WILL NEED a dyno tune after a gear and/or converter swap to get the shift points in the tranny right. Will the car be your daily driver?

Post some pics of the car!

[Edited on November 29, 2005 at 2:15 PM. Reason : ...]

[Edited on November 29, 2005 at 2:17 PM. Reason : ..]

11/29/2005 2:12:09 PM

it will be this weekend until i can post some pics, but i will definetly get some pics in this thread.

11/29/2005 2:48:38 PM

Quote :

"Will the car be your daily driver? ["

right now yes, a year from now, probably not

11/29/2005 2:50:14 PM

Yea, the only reason I asked you about the daily driver thing is that its really hard to get one of these things going really fast if you still have to rely on them every day. Lots of downtime is sometimes involved.

11/29/2005 2:55:55 PM

How many miles does it have on it?? Reason I ask is there is a guy in MD that does some killer work on the 4L60E's and at good prices too. I'm at work, so I don't know the exact name, but you can find it if you peruse the transmission section at camaroz28.com. I'm in need of a rebuild for my Z28 and he is definitely getting it. I'd strongly recommend looking into it with him. He has some mean drag cars that are Z-28's and the prices were pretty damn good.

11/29/2005 4:38:34 PM

LS-1s rock

11/29/2005 4:48:49 PM

IT HAS 62,600 MILES ON IT

11/29/2005 4:53:26 PM

http://www.ls1tech.com

Texas Speed has really good stuff; a cam in the mid 220's would be just fine for the street, and LS1's certainly have ample tuning options...i'd suggest C.A.M. in Durham

11/29/2005 5:40:10 PM

Ryan's Performance Machines here in raleigh does really good work with ls1's as well

11/29/2005 5:46:41 PM

i cant wait to see that ugly ass chevy with euros around. ill bash those motherfuckas in

11/29/2005 6:25:56 PM

the next ? is are you doing the work yourself or paying?

But i'd go with the bolt-ons = stall, shift kit, tranny cooler, 3.73's, long tube's, lid, and drag radials. I know this is way over $1500 but pick and choose

I did all this to my LT1 auto all within a month or 2 of each other (over 3 years ago), and was very happy with it for a while, and topped it off with a 175 shot.

Here's the order I modded my car in and corresponding track times for the best i remember, keep in mind your's will be faster b/c higher base hp:
1)cold air kit & flowmaster catback - 13.7 @ 102
2)hooker LT's & 3.73's- 13.4 @ 104
3)stall, shift kit, trans cooler, nitto DR's - 12.9 @ 104
4)lil nitrous (100) - 12.0 @ 112ish
5)lotta nitrous(175) - 11.6 @ 116ish(ran outa gear on top end so finishinig 1/4 in neutral instead of shifting to 4th on the spray, still on the DR's, but best 1/8 was 7.3 @ 94.5, 1.62 60')

Doing the work yourself and not being scared of spray you can make auto 4th gen. fbodies quick for reasonably cheap. I'd say there's no reason to open up the motor until you get tired of it again, especially a daily driver, they just turn into a headache!

11/29/2005 6:35:38 PM

Don't do Altezzas on it. I think they look like fucking horseshit. I saw one by Wood when I was at State with those on and I wanted to vomit all over it. Some cars look good with them, Camaros don't. Please for the love of God don't rice the bitch up.

11/29/2005 7:30:49 PM

Quote :

"Don't do Altezzas on it... Some cars look good with them"

really?

11/29/2005 7:32:17 PM

http://www.ls1sounds.com should be your friend. It will save you some time getting the sound you want.

and

Quote :

"Please for the love of God don't rice the bitch up."

11/29/2005 7:39:18 PM

get a jc whitney catalog and go mexican
id pay to see that

11/29/2005 7:59:09 PM

trust me guys-- NO RICE BOY SHIT ON MY AMERICAN MUSCLE CAR!- i can't stand that souped up weedeater shit nor the accessories. i can do the simple shit but for the most part, somebody else is goinf to have to do the internal engine parts like cam, etc. thanks for the input guys as well as the websites. keep yall posted on times. are any tracks still open this time of the year? i know dinwiddie, va is closed to march.

Quote :

"get a jc whitney catalog and go mexican id pay to see that"

negative

11/29/2005 8:43:40 PM

oh yeah whatever you do DO NOT put flowmaster on your car

they flow like absolute shit for the ls1, if you are planning on doing long tubes i would reccomend magnaflow or hooker in that they will be a little quieter and if you wanna make it really loud you can get a cutout installed. my buddy had loudmouth when he first got his lt's and it was way to loud to stand for daily driving

11/29/2005 8:46:17 PM

man the loudmouth sounds pretty tough, but my buddy has a '01 WS6 with a hooker aerochamber that sounds fucking MEAN

11/29/2005 8:48:17 PM

yeah the loudmouth sounds nasty it is just killer for daily driving. i have magnaflow on mine now and love it. my buddy had the hooker and it sounded great too but he just went to true duels

he told me that it sounded absolutly badass but it rattled a lot of the interior....you might wanna look into the true dual setup that texas speed offers it is what he has and loves the sound

ill be checking it out when i go home for christmas break

[Edited on November 29, 2005 at 8:53 PM. Reason : this is with longtube headers though.....without em the loudmouth is great]

11/29/2005 8:53:27 PM

11/29/2005 9:13:36 PM

Flowmaster sound on an f-body...eh, some like it, some dont, particularly after you ditch the cats and do headers.
Loudmouth sounds ok on an otherwise stock car, but if you do headers and remove the cats its horrificly loud and obnoxious, and sounds like shit to boot. Trust me, I know, I had this combo on mine (LT1) a couple years back. It didnt stay long.
Hooker sounds nice no matter what is in front of it, same with Borla and Magnaflow. Its just a question of what you like or prefer.

11/29/2005 9:27:14 PM

yeah I am looking for a good used f-body transverse dual outlet muffer if anyone has one.

11/29/2005 9:30:06 PM

I got Flowmasters on my LT1 right now. Have not done headers or anything on it yet, so I have no comment on that. However my ultimate plan is when I do the headers I will probably have the whole system redone for true dual and/or do a Borla exhaust system. Guy that does some of the work on my car has an Impala SS with the LT1 and Borla exhaust that sounds pretty damn sweet.

11/29/2005 9:43:55 PM

borla f-body mufflers are $160 new on ebay i think, ive thought about that for my bonneville since i want something nice but pipe/loudmouth/fmaster/ravin/hooker/fullboar/etc is just not sounding right on these cars. yeah theres magnaflow, but ehh everyone has that shit.

11/29/2005 9:49:38 PM

I dunno, I personally like my headers/cat/cutout combination. Cheap and versatile. Loudmouth with longtubes and no cats sounds nasty, and I don't mean good.

11/29/2005 11:36:25 PM