Forged internals for FI

[35th-ANV-SS]

Sounds good! I know that when I am ready to go to an F1A I will be calling him up. His prices are the best that I have seen and he will piece together kits to make what you want. Plus he has a good knowledge base with the F-body platform and Prochargers since he actually owned one, raced it, and did all the work on it too.

I went out to his shop several times the last few years and spoke to him about a lot of things. He did most of the work I have on the car now for me and is a great guy. It looks like he just is a parts distributor now though. I believe Brent left so Bob no longer does tuning or installs.

With that said, I'll probably have Speed Inc do the tuning.

[pajeff02]

Link? I looked on their site, but didn't see this.

Mark - Are you MIA??? Still never heard back from you!

I had to look around on their site to find them. At the mall now sharing the joy of the season... ugh. I'll look when we get back to the house.

[pajeff02]

On the left side of their home page, mouse over "F-body Components" and then click "Safety Components" -- should be the sixth item down.

[35th-ANV-SS]

I found it Jeff. Thanks! I'm going to do a little more research on some things and talk to Bob some. After Wednesday I am off until Jan 3rd so hopefully between now and then I'll have everything squared away and my EXACT list of what I am ordering.

[pajeff02]

I found it Jeff. Thanks! I'm going to do a little more research on some things and talk to Bob some. After Wednesday I am off until Jan 3rd so hopefully between now and then I'll have everything squared away and my EXACT list of what I am ordering.

Eager to see how things work out for you. I still have the K-member and transmission to do yet before I even think about stepping up the power level on our car.

[35th-ANV-SS]

I think I have everything in order now as far as being able to handle the power other than the typical driver mod

Just a few more things over the winter like brakes and drive shaft safety loop. As far as suspension, I've thought about upgraded sway bars.

[marksls1ta]

call me at 606-422-8502

Thanks,
Mark

[35th-ANV-SS]

I'll give you a call today Mark! I'm putting a list together for you as I type this!

[396375]

Because of the economy there are some really good deals out there right now.I almost pulled the trigger on a motor that has gone 8.75 with a Procharger for $9500.That's motor and Procharger for under $10,000!The head unit alone was $3200.
A number of shops are offering a free install and tune if you buy a Procharger.Procharger is also offering a rebate at this time if you buy a complete kit.I think it's $250.You can get a complete Procharger kit installed and tuned for just under $6900 plus the rebate of $250.That's an amazing deal!Something you may want to consider when shopping around is that you find a shop that knows their stuff with LS motors and get everything from that shop.If you float around and buy parts from one shop,get it installed by another and then tuned by a third shop you may run into problems and everyone is going to blame the other guy.It would be best to find a shop that can build a motor,install a FI setup and also do the tune.The biggest mistake I see guys make is that they have decided they need to go to a local shop when the right shop may be 300 miles away.Believe me.It's worth the drive to get the right people working on your car.If you have decided that $10,000 is your budget then I think you may have to pass on the forged motor.You have a low mileage motor so as long as you get a safe tune and follow the basic rules you should be fine.Stock cranks can handle 800HP.I know of a number of 9 second cars running a stock crank and even a few guys going
8s.Of course getting a forged motor right from the beginning is the cheapest route in the long run.A stock block,stock crank and forged pistons and rods can make crazy power and live for a long time.Your motor will never be worth more then it is now and if you blow it then you will just have to spend more money compared to buying a built motor in the beginning.No matter which way you go I would get a Meth kit.It's just good insurance.Alky Control makes a progressive kit that I think is the best on the market and they have excellent back up.
Good luck.

[35th-ANV-SS]

Thanks for your comments. The Procharger rebate ended on December 17th though

I have a local shop (about 1.5hrs away) that is well versed with LSX motors so I am confident that their tune will be spot on for me.

I'm currently talking to (3) different shops that all offer the Procharger and have first-hand experience with building LS motors and running FI so I know I'm in good hands there.

I am just trying to determine the best set-up to go with because each shop seems to be biased as far as what to do.

Example:

- One shop recommends the Racetronix fuel pump even though they normally use the Walbro (thanks Frost/Packy). This same shop recommends the twin intercoolers for up to 14psi. The reasoning was that they don't block incoming air to the radiator and you don't have to cut up or modify your car at all with them. This is VERY important to me being my car is in immaculant condition and also a 35th LE model. He also recommended Frost for the tune.

Steve - Can you mail order tune this set-up and have it spot on?

- Another shop prefers their race kit with the FMIC AND to run the SDCE fans and tensioner as an additional upgrade. They also stated they typically use the Walbro with a boost-a-pump.

Comments on this guys??

[Frost]

Thanks for your comments. The Procharger rebate ended on December 17th though

I have a local shop (about 1.5hrs away) that is well versed with LSX motors so I am confident that their tune will be spot on for me.

I'm currently talking to (3) different shops that all offer the Procharger and have first-hand experience with building LS motors and running FI so I know I'm in good hands there.

I am just trying to determine the best set-up to go with because each shop seems to be biased as far as what to do.

Example:

- One shop recommends the Racetronix fuel pump even though they normally use the Walbro (thanks Frost/Packy). This same shop recommends the twin intercoolers for up to 14psi. The reasoning was that they don't block incoming air to the radiator and you don't have to cut up or modify your car at all with them. This is VERY important to me being my car is in immaculant condition and also a 35th LE model. He also recommended Frost for the tune.

Steve - Can you mail order tune this set-up and have it spot on?

- Another shop prefers their race kit with the FMIC AND to run the SDCE fans and tensioner as an additional upgrade. They also stated they typically use the Walbro with a boost-a-pump.

Comments on this guys??

The dual IC's are ABSOLUTELY no good past 550rwhp, and they aren't so great even in the 500rwhp area. Personally, I don't think they have any place past a 7psi setup on a stock motor. Yes, meth will stretch them out a bit, but they are still painfully inadequate. Also, they are NOT OK anywhere NEAR 14psi. Your car isn't worth much of anything more than any other really clean car (sorry to be blunt) if you have been driving it (if it has any miles), so I wouldn't let that push me into something that I'd regret later. You should have asked them how a FMIC "blocks the radiator" seeing as it's feed (the radiator) comes from under the nose, not through it. What makes the cars run hot with A/C is having to lose the OEM fans to make room for the head unit.

The SDCE tensioner and fans are needed if you are EVER looking to have the setup 'make more'. Using a Walbro instead of the Racetronix setup destroys the bucket functionality and ensures that you will never be able to run the car down under a 1/4 tank without fear of hurting either the pump (uncovering heat) or worse, the engine. Without the bucket working, tank slosh is real and will bite you. The tank isn't baffled up because that issue is handled with the bucket. I don't use BAP's on anything for 98-02 F-bodies. The Walbro's are known to have issues handling heat as-is, no need to push one hard by jacking up the voltage for the sole fact that it's easier to install a BAP than properly adding a second pump...

NO ONE can mail order any setup like that and have it "spot on". That's not the intent of mail order tuning for a setup like that anyway. Mail order tuning will get you up and running with those 60's (so that you don't wash cylinders) and let you test the car and make sure that it's ready to see a tuner in person.

[35th-ANV-SS]

Thanks for your response. No offense taken by the car comment I figured you'd respond how you have about everything and that is why I posted my questions. I wanted re-assurance.

I'm going to go with a single FMIC, Racetronix fuel pump, and I will read more about the tensioner and fans.

I assume that if I install everything myself and drive the car "un-tuned" for 1.5-2 hrs on the e-way to the tuner (not getting on it at all), I will be OK?

[Frost]

...

I assume that if I install everything myself and drive the car "un-tuned" for 1.5-2 hrs on the e-way to the tuner (not getting on it at all), I will be OK?

You can run it only if you keep stock injectors installed. And seriously... almost certainly the first time you push just a tad too hard on the throttle (it doesn't take WOT to make boost) on a stock tune... game over.

[35th-ANV-SS]

OK. Noted

[allbaugh_04]

Might be hard to not roast the tires off after starting it...

[35th-ANV-SS]

Ok on to the gauges...comments?

Packy - Where did you get your 3 pillar gauge pod from? I only saw "black" ones on Autometer's website.

Auto Meter 4904 - Auto Meter Ultra-Lite II Analog Gauges - Boost Gauge


Auto Meter 6563 - Auto Meter Ultra-Lite Digital Series Gauges - Fuel Pressure Gauge


Auto Meter 4378 - Auto Meter Ultra-Lite Digital Gauges - A/F Gauge

[Packy]

Mine came from Thunder Racing in 2003. Maybe they still have it in the gauges section.

[35th-ANV-SS]

43-12213 Auto Meter Triple Pillar Pod, 2-1/16" 1997-2002 Camaro/1993-2002 Firebird (T-Top)



Thank you Sir!

[396375]

Those gauges look great!You can't go wrong with AutoMeter.I wish they had an OBD gauge in the same style.A knock gauge would also be nice.

[BrntWS6]

Thanks for your comments. The Procharger rebate ended on December 17th though

I have a local shop (about 1.5hrs away) that is well versed with LSX motors so I am confident that their tune will be spot on for me.

I'm currently talking to (3) different shops that all offer the Procharger and have first-hand experience with building LS motors and running FI so I know I'm in good hands there.

I am just trying to determine the best set-up to go with because each shop seems to be biased as far as what to do.

Example:

- One shop recommends the Racetronix fuel pump even though they normally use the Walbro (thanks Frost/Packy). This same shop recommends the twin intercoolers for up to 14psi. The reasoning was that they don't block incoming air to the radiator and you don't have to cut up or modify your car at all with them. This is VERY important to me being my car is in immaculant condition and also a 35th LE model. He also recommended Frost for the tune.

Steve - Can you mail order tune this set-up and have it spot on?

- Another shop prefers their race kit with the FMIC AND to run the SDCE fans and tensioner as an additional upgrade. They also stated they typically use the Walbro with a boost-a-pump.

Comments on this guys??

Were in the same area, which shops are you talking to? I'm guessing FLP, Speed inc, and Straightline? I've personally been to Straightline for a tune and I like the guys......their tuner seems to know his shit. Only thing I don't like is their shop is a little rag tag. I don't understand why some places are just a complete mess. Customers are more confident with you when your place is organized with the Epoxy flooring etc. Let me know who you choose, I'm probably going to pull the trigger in 2-3 months.