newbie mod mistakes

[Malicious]

Originally Posted by IrateTA

Yeah, like others said - this site has helped me out tons. I've researched everything I've bought to date using this board and have come up with some really good equipment IMO:

Corsa cat-back
MTI lid
TR224
FLP headers ORY
TA girdle (yeah I know... "save for a 12-bolt"...)

Glad to see you're doing good stuff with your newly found toy
Sad to see ya not post on GAOC much if at all anymore

[Pat-Man]

Descreening my MAF, Smooth Bellow, and BMR TB COllant bypass, oh and lets not forget that Flowmaster as well. - Pat

[02blue Z]

the only mod that I have shit-canned is my K&N air filter.

[Mike98WS6]

My mistakes were the Granitelli MAF, Hypertech ( both are gone), Whisper air lid, and I wish I went with a bigger cam. Although that might change.

[jrp]

Originally Posted by Mike98WS6

My mistakes were the Granitelli MAF, Hypertech ( both are gone), Whisper air lid, and I wish I went with a bigger cam. Although that might change.

bah, your giving hope to those small cam guys that they can still make great power . 400rwhp in a very streetable setup is definately

[faethor]

i did the BMR by-pass cause i was too damn lazy to shop around!

[faethor]

Originally Posted by jrp

another thing for me is i would of gone duals over my Y/magnaflow setup first. got my whole dual setup for what it cost me for my brand new magnaflows :\

hey JRP, where'd u get ur true dual set-up. lane's? i checked ur site, but it looks like it hasn't been updated.

[jrp]

Originally Posted by faethor

hey JRP, where'd u get ur true dual set-up. lane's? i checked ur site, but it looks like it hasn't been updated.

i actually bought my duals from a board member but a shop should be able to fab you up a setup for cheap. you can either bring your own pieces (i.e dr. gas setup, magnaflow x-pipe, ect) or they can fab up the whole thing

[TransAmMan]

Thanks to all the people on thisboard i dont think that i ahve made any newbish mistakes with my car... so THANK YOU TO ALL that have helped me along in my newbish ways !!!!!

This buds for you!

[Killer '01 SS]

Lakewood poly/poly LCA's
Wasting money on drag radials that I should have spent on ET Streets to begin with
Pro 5.0 shifter (got rid of it within a week--some people like it, I didn't)
K&N air filter (should have bought a Holley PowerShot to begin with)
1LE springs

[Amarillo2]

- $300+ for a Torque arm which netted me .02
- TB bypass when all you need is a longer $2 hose to go from radiator to intake
- subframe connectors - went slower and I drag race not road race
- shock tower brace - again went slower, looked cool though
- not taking my front sway bar off sooner, BIG one
- MAC headers, rusted and they suck - have Pacesetters now ( they do bang on the drivers side and it took the exhaust shop about 5 minutes to blow torch the frame a little and its perfect. Saved me a couple hundred over the Hookers)
- ever messing with my MAF, i even leave the screens in now
- buying an optioned car to strip it
- Hal shocks and springs, gained less than a tenth and it rode like ass, have WS6 suspension in now
- spark plug wires before the stocks were wore out, gained zero
- ever buying a catback, then modding the y-pipe, then getting headers to just mod the y-pipe again, finally wised up and went true duals with x-pipe (if I did it over I would just run a cutout until I saved up for headers and a true dual custom exhaust)
- switched cars too much (6 LS1's in 5 years) paid to have gears put in 4 cars when I could have had a 12-bolt or in my opinion a Ford 8.8 and saved money.

mistakes I didn't make:
- buying a SS or WS6 just to change the crappy intake, exhaust, big heavy wheels, or heavy hood
- buying slotted rotors because they look good when stocks are fine until they warp
- too small cam, or TC
- getting proper tires to optimize your set-up, I run 15x28x13.5 Hoosier QTP's at the track
- I do all the work myself, even if I didn't have the tools there are too many gearheads in this great nation that love making cars go fast who would help and let you bring your car over to borrow their tools
- not researching on LS1tech.com before you spend money on mods - ask questions - people love helping.

Good Luck to all,
ERIC

[StoleIt]

hmm...not saving up enough to buy the car, pay for the car, and try and afford mods...im chompin on the first 2...the third is just beyond reach

[jrp]

Originally Posted by Amarillo2

- ever buying a catback, then modding the y-pipe, then getting headers to just mod the y-pipe again, finally wised up and went true duals with x-pipe (if I did it over I would just run a cutout until I saved up for headers and a true dual custom exhaust)

thats a big one that alot of people do.

[Tudds]

granatelli maf

[16nrollininaws6]

Originally Posted by jrp

thats a big one that alot of people do.

Hey now, don't make fun....

[foff667]

buying my 87 TA was my first mistake back in teh day before i knew crap about cars...it was a carbed 305 car, no rear defroster, no power door locks it was a total POS but i bought it hehe oh well ya live and learn

[foff667]

Originally Posted by Amarillo2

- $300+ for a Torque arm which netted me .02
- TB bypass when all you need is a longer $2 hose to go from radiator to intake
- subframe connectors - went slower and I drag race not road race
- shock tower brace - again went slower, looked cool though
- not taking my front sway bar off sooner, BIG one
- MAC headers, rusted and they suck - have Pacesetters now ( they do bang on the drivers side and it took the exhaust shop about 5 minutes to blow torch the frame a little and its perfect. Saved me a couple hundred over the Hookers)
- ever messing with my MAF, i even leave the screens in now
- buying an optioned car to strip it
- Hal shocks and springs, gained less than a tenth and it rode like ass, have WS6 suspension in now
- spark plug wires before the stocks were wore out, gained zero

geez from the sounds of it youve got a low 15 second ls1 hehe you lost more time then you gained

[Amarillo2]

Back in 98' - before even LS1.com - there was hype for every mod and very little track or dyno numbers to support most of them. I remember when people would post a 10-15 HP gain for a GMAF. Whatever - Most of my mistakes where in that first year. There wasn't a lot of bolt-on options so I went intake, exhaust and suspension. Nothing I did back then is what I would do now. What's funny is guys want to set their car up for drag racing and they go out and the first thing they do is the worng suspension. Larger front sway bar, STB, TA, SFC, lower the car - they have $1,000 in the car and it handles awesome and is a good 2 tenths slower in the 1/4.
Oh well, I put my laundry on the table - I've made my share of mistakes. Just now-a-days there is a lot of research on what works and what doesn't and many shops to help guide us as well. The biggest thing is to get a clear picture of where you want the car to be and evolve in that direction.
Cheers,
ERIC

[gMAG]

This isn't a mod, but it was a newbie. Jan 03, I purchased a used LS1/A4 w 32k on it. Good so far. It was spring of 03 when I got around to removing the intake, heads, etc. There's this putrid smell of mold coming from the intake. Water that was frozen in the intake had melted by spring. Several of the rear valves have surface rust, and a couple need to be replaced. I called up my friendly salvage yard (AL) where the engine had been purchased to investigate and make sure I didn't just throw $5k out the window. So, you have to picture this...the owner of said salvage yard is speaking to me via his cell phone as he's outside walking the yard. I tell him about the water in the intake. Without missing a beat, he yells to his sidekick.."HEY JACK(can't remem his name), DID THAT FIREBIRD HAVE ANY WATER IN IT???" Thinking that "Jack" would never reply in the affirmative, at least NOT while he can be heard on the phone, I hear "Jack" yell, "YEAH, BUT I BLEW IT ALL OUT AND IT RAN GREAT!" (fill in you emotion here)
I'll spare you rest of the story, but everything shook out ok. The lesson is to take your time and investigate. I was so gung-ho to get going, that I leaped at the first decent sounding deal. If my timing had been better, I would have purchased the same set-up with 5k miles/accessories for $3500 from a local paper. Live and learn.

[APeteSS]

Tighten up suspension and chassis FIRST! The f-body chassis isn't even designed to effectively handle and put down 330 stock horsepower, so make that your first priority.