I AM A NEW CORVETTE OWNER

[HOLLYWOODDAN1960]

JUST BOUGHT A 1995 CONVERTIBLE.WHAT IS THE BEST WAY TO BOOST UP THE HORSE POWER WITHOUT SPENDING A CRAP LOAD OF MONEY.MY HEAD IS SPINING WITH ALL OF THIS COOL AIR,COMPUTER CHIPS,BLA BLA BLA.CAN SOMEONE PLEASE POINT ME IN THE WRIGHT DIRECTION.
THANK YOU
DAN

 

[JimBobC4]

Dan,

3 things


1. turn off the caps lock
2. Welcome to Corvette ownership
3. Do a search on this site

You can tweak on several things like air intake and exhaust, maybe an ECM tune, but the bottom line in my opinion is that GM has done a pretty good job at making the LT-1 efficient. You might squeeze a few ponies here and there (check for LT-1 mods on this site) but not much free horsepower exist without doing major changes to complete systems.

Keep in mind some pretty darn smart people sat in a room all day long for several years asking the same question as you are while they designed your car.

You might free up 20 or 30 HP's. However each pony comes with a compromise. Only you can decide how far your willing to go.

My only advice is to get educated before you pull out your wallet.
Somethings work some don't. Read read read ...

 

[HOLLYWOODDAN1960]

Thanks for the help.
PS i like my caps

 

[Toms007]

JimBob, hopefully the caps lock is just because he is excited.

Next, Dan here is some info.

Performance Mods that Don't Work

This is a short list of things that don't work... and could waste your hard earned money!

• Air foil

• Relocating IAT

• Throttle switch

Performance Mods that Do Work

• Roller rockers

• Headers

• High flow cats

• Remove frisbee (Your LT1 doesn't have a frisbee, L98 engines)

• Electric Water Pump

• Beam Plates

• Expensive engine rebuilds

Here is a really good site that will help you out tremendously. Go down to the area "The Basics" and "How do you increase performance"

http://www.wku.edu/~nathan.plemons/htmls/performance.html

 

[HOLLYWOODDAN1960]

Thank You
my first vette,my first convertible.
Does the cold air induction help at all?

 

[LVMYVT76]

Like they say:

horsepower = money spent

 

[LT4man]

Welcome, Dan! You have come to the right place!

With sincere apologies to some of the previous posters:

I have found that the moving of the Idle Air Temperature (IAT) switch will actually help quite a bit, especially on a stock engine. It is basically a plug-and-play modification. You can find one at Mid America Motorworks (they are an Industry Partner here) or at any one of several aftermarket supply houses.

As far as a Cold Air Induction system. They do work, BUT only at very high speeds. Over 100MPH there is documentation of significant HP gains. Trouble is: How often does one drive at speeds over 100MPH? YOU make the choice!

SAVE THE GOSH DARN

 

[HOLLYWOODDAN1960]

Does anyone have a real answer to my question?
Is this were it starts were some one says yes to this part and someone says no to that part?
does any one else agree with lt4.
thank you
dan

 

[JimBobC4]

Dan, how fast do you want to go ? How much money do you want to spend ? Also, you may find a little difference in opinions here and there but for the most part these guys know what works.

If your really interested in boosting HP's and making some solid numbers check the mods GM did to the LT-1 to create an LT-4. LT4 man could help there, although I think a complete thread exist on it. In my opinion, this was the factorys way of making more horespower, it would be the most reliable.

I agree with most everything posted here. Never have done the IAT thing on an LT1. I moved them on a few other cars with different results.

No offense meant about the caps, its considered to be raising your voice on a forum. I just wanted you to get as many replies as possible !

 

[gmjunkie]

Yeah,I do 99.9% of the time!!!
But My self I leave them STOCK!!
If I want more speed and performance,I just add a Faster Car!!!!

 

[HOLLYWOODDAN1960]

Just wanted to see if there is a way to boost horse power without messing with the motor.
Nun taken on the cap thing.
Thank you all.
If i want to go fast i get in my 69 chevelle wagon.
396,4 speed

 

[JimBobC4]

Now I know this is for a Camaro, but there are about 4 chapters devoted to the LT-1. It has dyno numbers etc listed for each mod listed above so far. You may be suprised.

How to Tune and Modify Your Camaro, 1982-1998 (Motorbooks Workshop) (Paperback)

Like I said GM squeezed the LT1 pretty hard in the Vette. It was detuned in the other cars (Z-28, Caprice etc.)

As far as fast is concerned your car should go around 13.5 in the quarter and roughly 155 mph. That aint slow !

 

[jmccloud]

Go faster

Welcome to a great forum. Lot's of help, with or without searches.
If you have an automatic, it likely has a 2.59 rear. You can determine that by looking up the RPO codes that are usually under the arm rest or inside the cover behind the passenger seat. I don't recall RPO (regular production order) codes for rears but you can search and find them easily. Once you find them, the choices of ratios will be evident.
If you want a better hole shot, a taller rear will really help. It's not messing with the engine but will still set you back 1/2 or 1 whole grand$. The speedo on a '95 has electronic input so there's no gear changing to keep it reading correctly, just reprogramming. If you do the rear, change the 6 u-joints while it's apart.
If you really go deep with engine hp, you'll want to get a tougher rear. Read up (search) on Dana 36 vs 44. If you swap, do the whole thing, batwing and all. I mention this here in case you may want to mess with the engine later. If so, go big now with the rear.
Good luck with your 'new' Corvette. I bought mine at 59-1/2 (could raid my IRA) and should have done it 3 decades earlier. My kids are jealous too.
Come back often.

 

[LT4man]

does any one else agree with lt4.

Yeah,I do 99.9% of the time!!!

Hey, thanks Junk!!! You know it's that last .1% that will bite you every time!

I can only speak from experience as far as mods go. When I finally moved the IAT sensor, I could actually feel the difference in how my LT4 ran. I understand theoretically there should be little or no difference with that mod. All I can say, I was pleasantly surprised.

SAVE THE

 

[TWISTERUP]

I also bought the kit to relocate the IAT and I feel like it was worth the time and small amount of money spent.There may be little or no peak horsepower gains BUT seat o' pants my LT1 feels more responsive.

 

[LT4man]

I also bought the kit to relocate the IAT and I feel like it was worth the time and small amount of money spent.There may be little or no peak horsepower gains BUT seat o' pants my LT1 feels more responsive.

Glad to hear it worked for you!

Have you opened your air filter housing lid? I opened mine & did not have to pay the ridiculous price everyone charges.

I cannot say my LT4 is faster. I can hear the engine a little better so at least I have that going for me! :L

SAVE THE

 

[TWISTERUP]

Sure have

Yes I have> I read about the "cut lid" mod and tried it. It may be nothing more than sound effects, however I like that little mod also.

 

[warren s]

Take a look at my website and check out the C4 simple mods link.

I ran a constant 13.4, best of a 13.30 my baseline was a 13.67 or abouts

My car had the infamous air foil from the previous owner, I did the "cut lid" air filter mod, 160 thermostat with a manual fan over ride switch, the throttle body bypass (for free not the kit) and I put on a Corsa power pulse exhaust. (That was a mistake but it looked nice)

3.7 tenths on a cool day with the fans keeping the coolent temps down was pretty decent for me. My 95 was an auto with the 3.07 rear.

 

[XLR8]

Hey Dan!

As you can tell, we've got a great bunch of people here.

CAC members are more than happy to answer questions, give advice and share their own experiences with anyone who asks.

Enjoy the forums!
Jane Ann

 

[JT ZR-Won]

This is just my opinion, but I think all the little mods help. You may never notice a difference with just a throttle body airfoil, but with the addition of several other smaller mods (K&N, open air lid, relocated MAT, etc., etc.) I think you'll find your car to be more responsive thatn before....just my .02