6 grand v. a stock '95 LT1

[ediconu]

Right now: I have a, new to me, nearly stock 1995 LT1 manual.

I also have about $10,000 sitting in savings for the sole purpose of spending on the car. I'd like to save $4,000 of it for anything that may spring up on me that i'll need fixed... but the other $6,000, I want to put into excess SPEED.

What would/did you guys do with that amount of money to get some good power increases? Theoretically, i'd like to drive the vette daily, to and from work. but I have a beater to drive around if the vette gets too racey.

On a side note, I may get some body work done to make it look better, but I won't do anything that's very severe.

 

[69autoXr]

Wheels and tires, lowering, 84 Z51 springs and sway bars, 4.09 gears, 383 stroker motor, racing seats, harnesses, roll bar. Go to http://vette.ohioracing.com for more ideas. It's my friend and competitor's website.

 

[Skant]

That's a great web site! Wow! Thanks for mentioning it!

- Skant

 

[sothpaw]

I did a heads/cam package plus converted AC to R134a, etc for less than that.

Are you doing your own work? The money goes a lot further that way. I did not do mine.

A supercharger just might be in reach on that budget, too.

I don't know about the 383 unless you did the work yourself.

 

[ediconu]

I can cover some of the work myself, but I don't happen to have that many tools. I'm hoping I meet someone with some tools soon .

I have a suspension package on my vette where I can set it to Touring, Sport, or Performance. I leave it in performance, it's pretty tight.

As of now, I am not going to lower it because I just barely clear the curb getting into the parking garage at my office and I like driving it to work.

That Ohio Racing site has really good info, I'm not much of a fan of the page transitions though

That 383 mod looks pretty intense, I don't think I have the time/tools to do that one. Will speed shops do that?

 

[SPANISHVETTS]

If you are one of the folks that still read my post I will be happy to help you spend your money.

Get the heads re-worked, bolt on a 52mm TB, port and polish everything from the air filter to the exhaust tips. If the smog cops in DC let you stick on a set of long headers, a free flowing exhaust and a mild cam.

The biggest kick in the butt you can get is the rear-end. I run 3.07s with the L98 the LT1 would probably be happy with 3.5? or higher. If you want to drive her to work do not go nuts on the rear gear. (Burnouts backing out of the parking lot of most hi-tec companies are not considered ¨good manners¨.)

Beef up the brakes, once you get her going you’ve got to stop her!

Tires? Mr. D pays the bills here so my lips are sealed on the subject however there are lots of members with other preferences. Read the post and make your own choice.

So far I’ve spent $5K of your 10 grand but do not go away. I have plans for Tu dinero.

DRIVING SCHOOL & CAR CLUB Spend a bit of that money on a performance driving school. Learn how to drive your car to the MAX and do it in a SAFE environment. There must be a dozens of AutoX type clubs in the DC area

Spend the rest of the cash on lunch with the best looking girl you know.

 

[SPANISHVETTS]

69autoXr,
Great site, thanks for the link!!!!!

 

[ediconu]

Spanish- I just noticed that the 2nd gas tank doesn't kick in.. it drops from 1/2 tank to reserve, and the air conditioner controls lock up constantly so I'm gonna have to drop some of the $$$$ into that crap.

I'm gonna have to do some reading about the rear end mods, I'm not too familiar with how changing that affects everything.

Officially, any exhaust mods are illegal. Lucky for me, they only care about Japanese cars with exhaust modifications because they tend to drive worse and are quite a bit more noticable. I plan on the getting the long headers, but I need to keep the exhaust relatively quiet (slightly louder than stock is fine).

I'm definitely doing the expanded throttle body, I'll probably end up with a new intake, and cam as well. Breaks are a must for DC driving, traffic stops extremely randomly. I just hope the soccer mom behind me in the huge SUV talking on the phone has good breaks too.

The more I think about it, the more time I'm gonna be driving the beater and adding peices to the vette.

The absolute first step is finding a shop to do the immediate necessary repairs. I'll have to find the local 'vette club and get opinions on good mechanics in the area before I trust my baby to some else.

..Cheers
..Mike

 

[ediconu]

I feel like a jack*ss for asking this:

I saw on GM's site somewhere, there was a place to get a Corvette Shop Manual. I really want this so I can see how difficult it will be to do things myself rather than paying someone else to do it.

I can't find the page to get them anymore!!! Can someone help me out with a link or another site that sells the 1995 Shop Manual?

Mike

 

[SPANISHVETTS]

Get the GM shop books directly from GM, lots of $$$, or watch for them on e-Bay.

The second choice is Haynes (sp?) Most book stores or Auto parts shops can order one for you.

There is a lot of info on this site about the AC controls. Do a search on the C4 Tech. forum.

Keep the shiny side up.

 

[Parrothead]

69autoxr,

 

[Parrothead]

69autoxr,

Awsome link, just the kindof information I was looking for. I am worried tho, I'm ording a K&N filter and open air box from MIDAMERICA in a couple of days.....where is this going to lead me?.......


finsup

 

[Jeffvette]

What part of Northern VA are you in?


As far as your options. My personal taste.

You've already got decent gears being it's a manual. 3:45's to start with. leave those alone for now.

Go for a head/cam package. More Performance is pretty close to you. I'm pretty sure they can help you out as far as options and how radical to go.

Suspension, send those shocks back to Bilstein while doing the H/C package, revalve to the Morrocca setting, it's a little bit stiffer, but still liveable for daily driving. Will be around 400.00

Exhaust, try to listen to as many as you can, outside the car and inside. This is a personal preference mod they will all flow about the same, so don't even pay attention to horsepower claims. If you can get away with it, get a set of headers as well.

 

[montanabob]

Helm publishes the service manual.
http://www.helminc.com/helm/welcome_select_oem.asp?Style=&mscsid=QUTMX28VVN769MQ8N9TUJ6FH0XNG00F4
If I recall it will run you $120 but is well worth it. Some of the descriptions can be vague sometimes, and the illustrations are wireline cad printouts, but it is a must if you are going to do work yourself. I also have a haynes for the '95 and while it dosn't hold a candle to the GM manual, it does have real pictures that can be helpful sometimes (i.e. like when trying to disconnect the auto adjuster on the parking brake to do the rear brakes).

 

[ediconu]

Jeffvette: the suspension is pretty friggin' stiff right now when I put it on performance, will the guy's at Bilstien make all of the settings harder, or will they just mess with the performance one?

I do leave it in performance right now because it's more fun. If they make the settings all relatively tighter and it turns out to be too tight at that level (for comfortable street driving) then I could just crank it down to tour and it should be nice and normal again? right?

It looks like i'm going to do the head/cam and headers pretty soon. I'm going to want to see what other's have done to their corvettes in my area so that I can go with a whole setup that I like from someone else's to save some time in doing it peice by peice and having to re-open everything for each modification.


Montanabob: I just ordered the shop manual from them so I should be getting that shortly. One thing that's unsettling is that my backup lights do not turn on when i put it in reverse, so I'm a bit apprehensive about getting the state inspection done. I want to see in the shop manual how to replace the bulbs or fix the wires if need be, but I gotta do it soon.


Thanks for the input!

Mike

 

[Jeffvette]

Jeffvette: the suspension is pretty friggin' stiff right now when I put it on performance, will the guy's at Bilstien make all of the settings harder, or will they just mess with the performance one?

I do leave it in performance right now because it's more fun. If they make the settings all relatively tighter and it turns out to be too tight at that level (for comfortable street driving) then I could just crank it down to tour and it should be nice and normal again? right?

It looks like i'm going to do the head/cam and headers pretty soon. I'm going to want to see what other's have done to their corvettes in my area so that I can go with a whole setup that I like from someone else's to save some time in doing it peice by peice and having to re-open everything for each modification.


Thanks for the input!

Mike

The settigns will change across the board. You will basically lose the tour setting.

Tour then becomes sport mode

Performance becomes the sport mode

Then a new performance setting is the top level.

Make sure you talk to as many people as you can before you start modifying you car. I spent almost a year in making the decision, then a it's been a year for the mods to be done.

 

[AnytownUSA]

My back up lights don't work either, if you decide what's wrong with your's post it please. In my case, it is not the bulbs.

I would love to do the heads on mine. I don't know about the 52mm throttle body without hogging out the intake, but if you get a new intake you solve that problem. I am slowly working into the mods I can do without buying new parts - just improving the factory stuff. I just like the "sleeper" idea..."nope, mine's all factory parts no add-on's here." I had been looking for someone who can port my intake and exhaust manifolds, but I read somewhere that SLP designed the exhaust on '93(or '94) to '96 so I may not do much with the exhaust if I can verify that. You'll need to reprogram your ECU with the new cam, maybe with the intake as well, definitely with the rear end. So, take a couple of hundred bucks off your total to buy a hypertech or have someone do it for you, but with $6k, to spend that doesn't really hurt your plans.

Man, I need a second job!

 

[Vettelt193]

for $6,000 you can supercharge... that is well worth the money, you should get 40% more power easy, and you don't lose drivablity or much gas mileage. By far the easiest and cleanest mod that can be taken off for resale of the car, and the charger can be even resold.

 

[ediconu]

Anytown: I'll let you know what i find out about the reverse lights.


Vettelt193: I am leaning toward a supercharger pretty heavily.

I want to see what other people have done to maximize their supercharger's effectiveness, so that I can get as much bang out of it as possible.

One other thing, I plan on using my vette 'til it is absolutely bereft of any value, so resale does not concern me that much

I have a quick question about porting- Does it change anything about the metal or shape of the pipes, or is it just removing buildup and crud?


Mike

 

[Vettelt193]

porting changes the shape/size of things...

Glad to hear you want to drive your vette! Check out the ati procharger, they are awesome systems. I am sure you will find their website very valuable as well, they explain things in very good detail.

http://www.procharger.com/