I have been saving up money over the past few months to make some upgrades to my 01 ss n/a. So far I have 1200 bucks to spend on my car. I'm not that experiencef with fixing up cars or anything, so I was hoping you guys can help me out here and point me in the right direction. What are some mods that I can do to get more hp with my budget. I already have a cai which i might turn into a fwi real soon, u bend and resonator delete. I have been thinking about buying a reprogrammed pcm from zzp, and maybe some headers. but would that give me that much hp out of it? maybe some rocker arms. What do you guys think?

 

Upgrade the exhaust you will see a big difference.
Also you can get a PCM. You can get a high flow Cat, or upgrade ths intake.

But the best bang for your buck I think would be an exhaust system.

 

before you do the PCM, realize that you are going to be running the expensive fuel.

and get a few of the basics, like the 180* thermostat, etc.

my vote would be for 1.9 modified rockers, and an exhaust system. really help it breathe.

 

http://www.clubgp.com/newforum/tm.as...=1&smode=1
or
http://www.clubgp.com/newforum/tm.as...=1&smode=1

plus

http://www.clubgp.com/newforum/tm.as...=1&smode=1

I think that puts you at about $800.

Then look around those classifieds for either a plog/3" dp or a set of headers.

Finally, get someone local to do a tune for you.
You'll love it.

-Riggs.

 

With the PCM I would be running 91 octane right? If its higher then, I can't get anything higher than that here in central cali. and also are the 1.9 rockers hard to install. is it an unbolt and bolt back in kind of thing?

 

If you want bang for the buck- its in the top swap, period. Staying NA, you'll spend thousands of dollars to even be able to touch a stock L67 or top swap car.

If you just want stuff thats very easy installs- it would be headers, rockers, and a pcm- but you're not going to get anywhere near what you would out ofa top swap.

 

I was thinking about that too, but I have read online that when you do the top swap theirs a slight chance of blowing up the motor. Now I don't use this car for racing, well atleast not all the time, only when me and a few friends want to race each other. its more of a weekend driver to go on trips or to go out and about. Now getting some better pistons be better aswell instead of leaving the stock l36 pistons? also what swap would be better a l32 or a l67 or is it the same thing?

 

the L67 is the 3800 Generation II, and the L32 is the Generation III. The L32 I believe ran like 10-15 horses higher stock.

 

That is pretty much BS. The truth is that if all you do is a top swap- you will have KR- or engine knock. You need to take care of this one of two ways:

A) run a larger s/c pulley like the 4.2" from zzp; it runs ~$100, and makes the top swap a bit easier to boot.

B) do a couple mods at the same time- intake + downpipe, or headers, or modded 1.9 rockers, etc. Any way you go, you'll end up with ~$200 in mods, and a good bit more power.


If you just drive it with a top swap without doing either, you'll have a good bit of KR. It is possible you could chip a piston (which is non-catestrophic btw)- but I don't think its extremely likely. I'd still just opt for A or B to take away any fear. You're already spending $500-750, whats another $100 or so?


The L67 pistons aren't necessarily 'better', they're just a lower compression ratio. You could do a complete L67 swap, but IMO- its cheaper, and you'll be quicker just to do one of the above. The higher compression of the L36 pistons will give you more power, and will be better down the road if you continue modding.

For a top swap, you can't go with a complete L32 top end. It has an electronic throttle body, and a returnless fuel system- so you'll at least have to use an aftermarket cable driven TB and an L67 fuel rail.

The L32 did come with the better supercharger (had 260 hp vs 240 hp in the L67), its a gen 5 M90 instead of the L67's gen 3 M90. However, you will pay a good bit more for them. It is worth it for the extra power (same as buying a ported gen 3 M90- and about the same cost).

If you want to do it as cheap as possible, just get an L67 top swap set. If you were considering modding and adding a ported blower soon anyways, then go ahead and get a Gen 5 M90 and LIM off an L32, but be prepared for a little more work with the TB.

 

Depending how much power you want, you might just consider saving up 3,000 and dropping in a turbo. It will take less time and make much more power.

I did some cost/benefit research the other day and found I've paid more for my supercharger upgrades on the engine that I would have just dropping in a turbo. I'm making about 100 hp less than I would have with the turbo as well.

The downside is your transmission isn't the strongest, but I haven't heard many tranny failures with a turbo. It might be because that there aren't that many out there in the grand scheme of things, but it also might be a lower failure rate.