Any good mods for 300-400 bucks?

[jerrysta]

Right now I think I am leaning towards headers, which would be 450. Is there anything else for my application that I should consider instead in the range of 3 or 4 hundred dollars?

I was going to do a torque converter but decided against a used one so that is going to wait for a little while. But what next? Current mods in the sig.

[Jeff_in_Atl]

What do you want? Straight line or cornering.

[jerrysta]

mostly straight line 1/4 mile, with good daily driving manners.

On a separate note, I am currently doing performance shocks all the way around and I am getting relocation brackets for the LCA's to prepare for the car being lowered. But those mods are separate from this few hundred bucks I have.

[Noggin]

I don't know much about your car, but isn't it a bad idea to lower it for 1/4 mile launches? Or is it all in the brand of suspension parts you go with?

[01SS]

lowering the car rapes straight line traction though

[wood]

Noggin, your avatar is disturbing.

I would go with the headers, you already have a CAI and a good exuast.. slap on some headers and you will be breathing well. I've also heard that the stock manifolds on the LT1 are not very good, so you will probley free up quite a few horses.

[jerrysta]

I know it hurts straight line traction which is why some of the guys here advised getting the relocation brackets. I am also getting an adjustable torque arm as well.

I believe Joe1320 is the guy with the pic with the intrax springs....they look awesome. So much so that I am going to do these other mods to compensate for some of the losses in traction I will likely run into.

So, do the rest of you guys think headers are the way to go?

[Jeff_in_Atl]

Noggin, your avatar is disturbing.

I agree.

[94 formula]

Definetly go with the headers. I put on a set of pacesetter longtubes and they really woke up my car.

[Noggin]

I think I've become desensitized to it.

[wood]

It's was funny to begin with (noggins avatar) but now I just feel wierd every time I look at it.

But back to the thread, I'm not a big advocate of longtubes unless you are going straight up race.. for the street they can bring up emissions problems and they most likely will not bolt up to your exaust without mods.. but depending what you are looking for in the long run, you could definatly get more out of long tubes.

My ideas and opinions are for the most part formulated by listening to people on these forums btw.

[Jeff_in_Atl]

I know it's not what you are asking for but one of the first things I did was replace the front and rear sway bars. The suspension is something that you see in every day driving even when you are not at full throttle. The really improve the factor.

The lower control arm relocation brackets will help cut your 60 foot times down. $110. They help me when I have to pull out on a 55mph road everyday in heavy traffic.

[MN6WS6]

The LCA relocators will lower your ET's... if you're at stock height. If you lower the car, they are there to regain what you lost by lowering the car. I am no fan of lowering a performance vehicle at all, and especially not if you plan on drag racing it a lot. Now lowering has it's advantages for SCCA racing, but you have to do other stuff with it to gain the maximum advantage. When you combine all of that, it makes the car ride rough on the street.

Anyway, the basic rule is if you're going to go with headers, go with long tubes. Any way you look at it, you're going to spend $450-600, so you might as well go with the ones that give you the most bang for the buck, which is long tubes. HOWEVER, in your situation, I can't recommend you do that. If you are insistent on lowering the car, you are going to run into some serious clearance issues with long tubes and the necessary y-pipe. I know people that have done this, but they do not use their cars as daily drivers because the y-pipe drags on everything on a lowered car. So you're going to have to decide what you want to do. Lower the car for looks, go with a mid length header which will not gain you the maximum horsepower, and do suspension mods to regain straightline traction, or stay at stock height, long tubes, and get better traction at the track.

[redws6]

i have a catback already, does any one know headers that will directly bolt up to the exchaust without any mods?

[Joe 1320]

I have a belief that a stock car benefits greatly from the addition of a great suspension. You could add motor mods and still not be any faster when you can't put the power down to the ground. In my opinion, I would spend the dough on tubular lower control arms, lower control arm relocation brackets, panhard rod and an adjustable torque arm. Those parts are stronger than stock and contribute greatly to the handling, grip and feel of the car. Then, as you add other mods the car is capible of handling the extra power.

In my case for the rear suspension I have BMR lower control arms, double adjustable panhard rod, relocation brackets, Adjustable torque arm, Intrax springs, rear airlift bags, stock decarbon shocks. If you are planning on lowering the car, you'll need the adjustable torque arm and panhard rod as well as the relocation brackets to correct for the different suspension geometry....... otherwise it won't hook. If you want pics of the lowering with the intrax springs, just click on the thumbnails in my signature. The first and third pics are with the drop springs.