Upgrade Suggestions

[DeWynter]

The car looks clean. Nice car. I see in the pics that you have an adjustable pan hard rod which can be added to your list of current upgrades, check the control arms on the rear of the car to see if they are stock. I saw a poly urethane sticker in the engine compartment, so it looks kinda like someone has gone through the whole suspention and upgraded all or some of the "stuff" under the car. With new sway bars, looks like they were on their way to getting it done right. Never seen or heard of the procomp cdi ignition.

[Nightrage]

Wow! I love that color!

I don't know what emissions testing is like in your area, but you can get a set of coated Pacesetter longtubes for only $429 brand new from Summit. Be sure to snoop around LT1tech.com and LS1tech.com's classified sections. You can buy barely used parts for a fraction of their original cost. Just be careful.

[Iceslim0]

Thanks guys! I thought I got a good buy at only 4000$. The color is nice but it was a very cheap after market job as you can tell the front of it is severly sun damaged. I'm going to repaint it the same color but get it done correctly. I've got a couple question for you.

What is an adjustable pan hard rod? what's it for? should I adjust it?

Are pacesetter longtubes a type of Header? And coated? the only coating I know of is JetHot.

Do you notice something wrong with the swaybars?

Should I replace the ignition box? It has a big bundle of wires that is tied up and just hanging there, but my mechanic said that it's hooked up but he didn't know anything about it.

And what about the control arms?

I went to www.LT1tech.com and felt like a kid in a candy store when I check the for sale area. I found several things I wanted, but I cant log into the site. It says my name and email address are both already registered there and I tried using my password that I use everywhere and it didn't work, and I do not every remember registering on the forum. I would love to be able to join there and buy some stuff without having to register with another email address.

[Nightrage]

Yes, Pacesetter longtubes are a type of header. They offer them with a ceramic coating. http://store.summitracing.com/partde...5&autoview=sku

As for LT1tech.com, use this link- http://lt1tech.com/cgi-bin/ultimateb...=lost_password

It will ask you to enter your e-mail address, then they'll e-mail you your password.

[Iceslim0]

What's the benifit of a ceramic coating?

My mechanic had to replace the some wires because he said they were laying on top of the headers and getting burned.

I also noticed that after he was done with all the work, it wasn't quite as fast as it was before. I used to get that roller coaster feeling when I really blew out some carbon but now, I don't get that anymore, I don't know if I'm just use to the speed or if it is just riding much smoother. He did change the spark plugs, and I was wondering if possibly he didn't put in performance plugs. He changed that big rubber belt, changed rear brakes, replaced the wires, changed the plugs, cleaned my intake, and replaced the fuel filter.
any ideas?

I got an error message when I put in my email address.

[Injuneer]

The panhard rod "centers" the body side-to-side over the rear axle. Its a bar about 40" long that connects a bracket on the drivers side/rear of the rear axle assembly to a longarm bracket on the body, right above/behind the passenger end of the rear axle assembly. Lengthening or shortening the bar (achieved by the threaded "adjuster" in the middle of the bar, right behind the differential housing, in your picture) moves the body side-to side relative to the rear axle assembly. You want to get the spacing of the inside edge of the wheels to a fixed point on the body, like the subframe, equal on both sides, with the body normally loaded. Generally its only an issue if the body has been lowered, but it should be checked on any car.

Cera-metallic coating for the headers is applied to both the inner and outer surfaces of the tubes. The inner layer reflects heat into the exhaust. This keeps the heat in the exhaust gasses, increasing the volume, and causing the gasses to flow at a higher velocity through the primary tubes. The increased velocity increases "scavenging" where the exiting exhaust gasses actually help pull the fresh air/fuel charge into the cylinder. This might net you a couple extra HP. The coating also helps keep the engine compartment cooler, reducing burned wires, etc. Also eliminates rusting, and reduces stress cracking of the welds. The coating is necessary on these cars. Jet-Hot is the best know brand, but you can get it from AirBorn, HPC, Swain, etc.

Misfires and exhaust leaks play havoc with the computer's A/F ratio control. If your headers have leaks, it can cause the engine to run very rich, reducing power, wasting fuel and fouling spark plugs. If his plug and wire change seems to have reduced performance, look for a broken plug insulator, a plug not fully tightened, a wire not fully on the plug or the distributor, arcing of the wires, burns on the wires due to header contact or proximity, wires gouged by the serpentine belt, where they go around the front of the engine and through the power steering pump bracket.

The photo of the AS&M throttle body appears that it might possibly be only an AS&M cover plate. The TB itself looks like a stocker, or else the AS&M is badly corroded. They look more solid, and are usually highly polished.

Here's a few photos that show the available suspension components:

In this shot, the panhard rod is the black tubular bar running almost parallel to the axles. The red sway bar is a "drag" style bar:


Tubular lower control arms, with LCA reloction brackets.



View from front of Spohn torque arm:



Spohn torque arm with DS loop, from the back:

[Iceslim0]

So you think that the Spohn torque arm with the safety loop, new headers, lower control arms with lca reloction brackets, and new exhaust would be my best bet for a little extra performance? As far as the throttle body, I'll take a look at it. If I get another one, what size would you reccommend?

[Nightrage]

Fred, I'm not normally one to use this expression, but you're the friggin man!

[Iceslim0]

well I'll try to make those upgrades within the next month or two. I'll get a few pics while it's on the lift and when it's all done. Thanks for the input.

[Iceslim0]

Somebody had mentioned upgraded gear ratio. I found a guy selling I believe 3:73 gears that were unused for a 1994 formula. Would those work? I'll have to check my reciept to see what transmission I have. Whats a good price for this upgrade?

ALSO:

I tried putting this into a signature but I couldn't figure out how to get to my profile area. Here's the specs on my car that were on the ad when I bought it. I don't know what half of these things are and whether they are really on there or not.

http://www.cardomain.com/ride/2428678

[fastTa]

Somebody had mentioned upgraded gear ratio. I found a guy selling I believe 3:73 gears that were unused for a 1994 formula. Would those work? I'll have to check my reciept to see what transmission I have. Whats a good price for this upgrade?

ALSO:

I tried putting this into a signature but I couldn't figure out how to get to my profile area. Here's the specs on my car that were on the ad when I bought it. I don't know what half of these things are and whether they are really on there or not.

http://www.cardomain.com/ride/2428678

Up at the top right, you can click Quick Links > Edit Signature. This will take you directly to your edit signature screen.

[Iceslim0]

Alright I got it in. now check it out!

[Iceslim0]

I do have headers and exhaust, but they are junk so I'm told. I'm going to pick up some pacesetter longtubes and manaflow catback duals towards the end of this month or begining of next month. When I get those done, I'll probably snag that rear end cover and put in 3:73's and get them put on at the same time. I think that will give me that little jump I'm looking for.

As far as suspension goes, I've had 3 different people tell me that there was over 4000$ put into it. All I need to do is get a torque arm with ds loop, get subframes, LCA relocators, and new control arms. When I get all that done, then I'll probably do the rebuild and put a 383 stroker then supercharge it. That's basically my goal for the end of the year.

It was also suggested that I get 1.6 roller rockers but I don't know what that is.

[Z Ya Later]

I do have headers and exhaust, but they are junk so I'm told. I'm going to pick up some pacesetter longtubes and manaflow catback duals towards the end of this month or begining of next month. When I get those done, I'll probably snag that rear end cover and put in 3:73's and get them put on at the same time. I think that will give me that little jump I'm looking for.

You'll definitely notice a difference with LTs and gears.

As far as suspension goes, I've had 3 different people tell me that there was over 4000$ put into it. All I need to do is get a torque arm with ds loop, get subframes, LCA relocators, and new control arms. When I get all that done, then I'll probably do the rebuild and put a 383 stroker then supercharge it. That's basically my goal for the end of the year.

Do you know what brand equipment you have already? I would stick with this myself. If not, I recommend and use Spohn, however BMR and UMI both offer very good equipment as well. Also, you should think about which SFCs you want, double-diamond or straight bars. The diamonds tend to yield better handling while the bars weigh less and give you a slight advantage on the drag strip.

It was also suggested that I get 1.6 roller rockers but I don't know what that is.

They are the rocker arms that sit on the heads that push the valves open. A greater ratio rocker arm means more valve movement. Roller rockers vield smoother valve movement (less friction), thus freeing up some extra power as well.

[Iceslim0]

I'm leaning towards the double diamond sub frames. Those are towards the end of the list though. I called up my mechanic today and he is going to give me an estimate on putting in the headers and the exhaust.

Check my signature link, it has some brands in the list of mods.

I'm probably going to drop about 1200$ into it towards the end of this month and just get all that stuff done in one whack. I'm getting the 3:73's off some dude from the LT1tech forum for 125$.

Right now as far as price goes it looks like
exhaust : 380
headers(metal/ceramic coated) : 440
differential gears : 125
Rear End Cap 125 or something like that. - I'm strongly heading your advice with the rear end because if you don't know I have 2 of these cars, and the rear end on my crap bucket one is almost broken.

With the labor for the work at 40$ an hour, it's probably going to be like 1500$. Cost effectiveness is a big thing at this point since I am a college student with no parents around. I'm hoping that these upgrades will get me about a third of the way towards everything I need before the big rebuild

Thanks for all the input and guidance. I know what I want but don't really know how to get there. I still can't figure out if I'm just wasting money on a dream that will never come true, or on my way to the car of my dreams.