would i be throwing money away?

[gkmr]

I have almost completed the cosmetic side of my 87, now on to inexpensive performance....

Thinking of a Hypertech Thermomaster w/160 thermostat...$200+

A 52 mm Throttle Body...$300

and a Competition Mass Air Flow Sensor...$230

I am running a K & N filter w/open lid.

L98 w/automatic...

For the $750.00, will I really be getting enough bang?

Thanks for any advise, and maybe any inexpensive mods you may come up with...

I have learned quite a bit by reading the forums, and now want to get it to where I understand...also guys...be easy...new to this, and looking for good advise...


Thanks

Gary...

 

[c4ever]

Gary,
Welcome aboard. My 85 runs pretty much stock but I did invest in what I thought would give me the most bang for the buck. Modified exhaust, thermomaster chip, 160 stat, k&N filter. The car flies:cool Not only 20% improvement in performance but she runs nice and cool and in FL that's an issue. I was surprised at the prices you noted. Seem high:eek Check out the Portal and whatever you do, your driving a good ole American Made Ass Kickin' Car :booty

 

[vms4evr]

Hey Gary,
Welcome aboard!
Not sure on the MAF. Most folks with C4s that bought the HyperTech chips seem pretty happy with them.
What's wrong with your stock TB? Is it broken? My understanding on the L98 is that a bigger TB or one that flows more won't do much because the intake manifold and the heads are not geared up for a higher flow rate anyway. So you may just be pouring more gas down the hole with little reward... Hopefully some of the L98 folks will jump on this.
I know on my LT1 I would not bump up or change the TB until I made some serious mods in the top end.
Maybe put that $300 towards some free flowing mufflers to replace your factory ones.
Graham

 

[BigRed]

I would go for a MSD Ignition I LOVE mine it'll up your fuel mileage as well as some boom power off the line Here what'd id do/done

MSD Ignition
MSD coil
MSD Wires
Bosch Plat 4 plugs
Thermostat/chip
K/N Filter
Throttle Body Spacer


Forget the Maf Its ok but to much $$ for the acutal noticable performance.

GET NUTS!!! BUY A TWIN TURBO ON NITROUS!! Lmao

 

[Paul G]

I bought my first Vett last year, an 88 4+3. Since then I have been following a lot of advice I have seen offered on the net. My car had a Hypertech chip in it when I got it so I cant say how much improvement there was. I have heard a lot of complaints about Hypertech from serious hot rodders. Fastchips makes a good product. He will customize a chip for the mods you have. Remember all these things are cumulative. Everything you do will add a little bit. Together you will feel the difference. One thing by itself can hardly be noticed.

Dont waste any money on a bigger throttle body at this time. It wont help at all untill you open up the entire system.

Same goes for the MAF.

First things to do are open your air intake with a free flowing filter, You have done that with the K&N.

Next open the exhaust, Corsa, Borla, Flowmaster, are good for better performance. Helps the engine exhale better.

A chip at that time will then help for a little more horse power.

Next thing to do is remove the plenum and base and do some porting work. This will show a big improvement in power. The stock plenum and base is where a lot of restriction exists.

Then you can dig as deep as you want, headers, heads, cam, bigger throttle body, adjustable fuel pressure regulator, bigger injectors, Hotter ignition, keep going from there and you will have a real head snapper.

This summer I had to replace my intake manifold gaskets. I had a coolant leak. I was told to do the porting work while I had it off. I am glad I did. The improvement to performance is very noticable.

Good luck!

 

[Paul G]

One more thing. Has the car had a good tune up? New plugs, wires, cap and rotor. Fuel filter, PCV, timing check, and finally adjust the TPS. Give the throttle body a good cleaning also. If this stuff is original replacing it will net a major improvement in performance.

 

[supernatural400]

Thinking of a Hypertech Thermomaster w/160 thermostat...
unless your going to re-program the computer to compensate for it it won't do much

A 52 mm Throttle Body...$300
don't bother unless you rework the top end, you''ll actually degrade performance by installing it


and a Competition Mass Air Flow Sensor...$230
Take the original one and cut out the screens, and save yourself $230 bucks

I am running a K & N filter w/open lid.
unless you have air that's being taken from outside the car (Ram air), and open air lid thats dragging air from a warm engine compartment is not going to do very much

 

[trrgod]

I agree with the guys that say no on the TBody and MAF. For the money you will probably feel little or no difference. One cheap way to add power and not go into the motor is with a new hi-performance catalitic converter and less restrictive mufflers or tips. If you also open the air inlet box and put in a free flowing filter you will definitely feel an increase. However, the will be more noise involved. The exhaust will be louder and the resonance WILL come up into the car. The extra noise from the filter is minimal. Also, You would be suprised how much peppier your car will get with a good tune up.

 

[Drewser]

Open lid?

What do you mean by open lid? I have the crossfire version and it is pretty much stock (has a k&n filter, but uses the stock box). How can I improve the airflow and still use air from outside of the car? Also, how much improvement will I see with improved exhaust?

 

[supernatural400]

Re: Open lid?

What do you mean by open lid? I have the crossfire version and it is pretty much stock (has a k&n filter, but uses the stock box). How can I improve the airflow and still use air from outside of the car? Also, how much improvement will I see with improved exhaust?

Exhaust will give you the best bang for the buck without going into the motor. Open lids are fine, you basically cut the top of the stock lid so the filter is exposed or buy the k & n one that alredy made for it so you can save the original. but the open lids don't really do all that much, sure you getting more air but it's still hot ait which reduces horsepower. You need one of the many ram air system to bring cool fresh air into the intake.
this is what i have Breathless performace Ram air, works great and I did notice a big improvement over the open lid k & N
ram air setup

there is also the other system that uses the front lic plate opening

 

[vms4evr]

hey super,
i have a question on this ram air business. i've got an SLP setup with 3 K&N filters. It breaths quite well. I though of cutting the shroud in the area under them. This would be like the cut you had to make for the RamAir.
But... aren't you now just grabbing more warm air from the radiator every time the coolings fans kick on?
Is this area protected in the rain?
I'm real tempted to make that cut but not sure how much 'fresh air' is really getting in with that.
Graham

 

[supernatural400]

hey super,
i have a question on this ram air business. i've got an SLP setup with 3 K&N filters. It breaths quite well. I though of cutting the shroud in the area under them. This would be like the cut you had to make for the RamAir.
But... aren't you now just grabbing more warm air from the radiator every time the coolings fans kick on?
Is this area protected in the rain?
I'm real tempted to make that cut but not sure how much 'fresh air' is really getting in with that.
Graham

You have to cut and area to fit the new air box. even with the SLP unless you have sealed off the filters from the engine compartment your still going to get heated circulated air from under the hood. You will get some benefit from the cold air that opening up the shroud would do. Air is taken from the same area underneath the front spoiler as the stock air box. The cooling fans are no match for the air that's being rammed into the filter, cooling fans are not really designed to push air out of the car, but rather just cool the liquid in the radiator as it passes the coils. The ram air setup I have really does nothing at idle or speeds below 25mph that a stock air would do. You really see the beniifts at higher speeds as the air is forced into the sealed clear air box, again air is also being rammed into the radiator and if the fans should kick on they are not powerful enough to compete with that. The area that has to be cut is a good 12" x 12" area. don't really worry about rain getting in as it never see's it. some people have installed wire mesh between the cut out area and the box to stop debris from getting in but I have never had that problem