[email protected] Posted March 20, 2010 Report Share Posted March 20, 2010 So... I'm finally settled in to my new place in Lexington, got a decent job, and due to some financial planning on my part I can now afford to start modding my truck a little more seriously. Thank god for this site and all of your guys' awesome advice! Those of you who know me personally know how hesitant I am about my next mods, since I am not the most mechanically inclined . I've been doing so much research in the past 6 months, and if I could I would just do everything! You guys have been such a big help, from when I first bought the truck during my last deployment to Iraq, then when I finally returned home and drove it for the first time, then again when my engagement went south and I decided to move to Kentucky to follow my dreams of attending the University of Kentucky (Btw, I've been accepted for those of you who don't know, I start in August!) You guys have been there for all my stupid noob questions, kept me entertained on AIM when I was bored in Iraq, and Shaun and Mike were always there to answer my drunken texts when I needed a friend (Thanks again guys, you don't know how much that meant to me! ) Anyway, I'm rambling... I need help deciding what to do to my truck next. Here's what I have: a Volant CAI (thanks usabodyguard!) 3" dual exhaust left over from the previous owner w/knock-off Flowmaster muffler. Mail order tune by Black Bear. Here is what I want: More power, obviously. I've attached my last time slip from a few months ago in Kansas City, and I was not happy with my times. I would like my truck to be a little louder. It has a very nice muscular rumble right now, it's just not loud enough to turn heads. Also, my truck is at about 87k, and I want to make sure everything is replaced that needs replacing (plugs, wires, etc) At this time I'm not planning on s/cing it or anything too extreme. As far as how much I want to spend, I'm looking at around $300/month with the occasional more expensive part now and then. I'll be using this thread as my guideline for my build, and paying close attention to what everyone has to say. Hopefully you all can come to some kind of consensus on what my next step should be, lol. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smoothdime Posted March 20, 2010 Report Share Posted March 20, 2010 so it sounds like your staying N/A. so i think most would say LT headers, cam, stall with tranny mods or built tranny with that many miles. not meaning in the exact order. but those are always good mods to start with. of coarse you have other supporting mods like efans, bigger ATF cooler, rearend upgrades and so on. IMO i like to do supporting mods first to handle the new additional power so i dont waste money later fixing as much broken stuff. hope this helps. happy modding. gary Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
[email protected] Posted March 20, 2010 Author Report Share Posted March 20, 2010 I definitely agree with you on the supporting mods first theory. I'm thinking about LT headers next, maybe OBX w/ hollow cats. Efans are also definitely in my future. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
J_kuhn82 Posted March 20, 2010 Report Share Posted March 20, 2010 so it sounds like your staying N/A. so i think most would say LT headers, cam, stall with tranny mods or built tranny with that many miles. not meaning in the exact order. but those are always good mods to start with. of coarse you have other supporting mods like efans, bigger ATF cooler, rearend upgrades and so on. IMO i like to do supporting mods first to handle the new additional power so i dont waste money later fixing as much broken stuff. hope this helps. happy modding. gary I agree with this. I say do your supporting mods first! It might save you some downtime. I started off with a cheap supercharger and had nothing but problems. took it off and put another one on and the transmission went out. built the transmission and now threw a rod. I know your not going F/I but you can bet if you put anymore to your tranny its going to go, its a ticking time bomb! GL on your build and don't go cheap. just my .02 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alex.t Posted March 20, 2010 Report Share Posted March 20, 2010 long tubes will louden it up to, but you could go try electric cutouts if you like. prob the most recommended thing you will see would prob be long tubes and then prob some tranny mods. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
04CHASE Posted March 20, 2010 Report Share Posted March 20, 2010 ill go a different route and say save your money for a few months and then get the one big mod out of the way ( blower, turbo , cam and heads combo) then you will really feel the difference in power and get to enjoy it .after that you can add the supporting mods and feel them really wake it up . from my experience and the vehicles ive owned it seems that getting the big stuff done right away is better . you will get tired of the vehicle after a while and my as well have the big mod done for the majority of your time with the vehicle not owning the vehicle for a while then finally adding the big one and then selling it after dumping money into it and not enjoying it. my vote is save for the big one , do it and then support it . kind of like a kid. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
2bfast Posted March 20, 2010 Report Share Posted March 20, 2010 ill go a different route and say save your money for a few months and then get the one big mod out of the way ( blower, turbo , cam and heads combo) then you will really feel the difference in power and get to enjoy it .after that you can add the supporting mods and feel them really wake it up . from my experience and the vehicles ive owned it seems that getting the big stuff done right away is better . you will get tired of the vehicle after a while and my as well have the big mod done for the majority of your time with the vehicle not owning the vehicle for a while then finally adding the big one and then selling it after dumping money into it and not enjoying it. my vote is save for the big one , do it and then support it . kind of like a kid. Stock pile parts. Use ur research youv been doing Roger and start gathering. Then when you get everything do it all at once. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
[email protected] Posted March 20, 2010 Author Report Share Posted March 20, 2010 Stock pile parts. Use ur research youv been doing Roger and start gathering. Then when you get everything do it all at once. This is kind of what I'm thinking, only on a smaller scale. I would like to add 2-3 things at a time, so I'm not getting a retune every other week lol. Keep in mind I'm not planning on taking it to the track very often, I just want to take care of all the little things like supporting mods so I can wake her up a little. Also, I have to take installation costs into consideration, since I really can't do too much on my own here. I'm sure I can find a buddy or two every now and then to help out with minor installs, but that's probably about it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SSplaytoy Posted March 21, 2010 Report Share Posted March 21, 2010 Do the small supporting mods and beef up the trans. You'll feel a little difference with headers, maybe upgrade to a 90mm intake and throttle body if you plan on doing heads and a cam later, or just save up for a big mod like Chase suggested. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sleepingcrna Posted March 21, 2010 Report Share Posted March 21, 2010 Save money for as long as you can. It's gonna kill you doing it so it won't take long before you have to spend it. See how much you have at that moment and decide from there. Knowing you, it's gonna be about $10 and you'll go fu$king crazy and have to spend. But seriously, everyone has good advice, but in the end you'll have to decide who has the advice that best fits how you feel at that given time based on how much money you've saved up, then your plans will constantly change. You're like me....you can do some basic stuff but won't do anything that will require a lot of money to fix when you screw it up. So a lot of what you do will be dictated by how much you have in hand and how much it'll cost someone to do it or help you do it. I look back on the supercharged 03 i had and can't wait to get back to that, but if i had to start over again, i would buy it already done the same way, OR i would slowly work my way up to the blower. I.E. i would do things that keep me interested and show me modest gains with a dream of the end result of whatever i thought would be the last thing i would do....blower. Guys like you and I can be happy with 15-30 hp gains with fairly simple mods on our way up to the radix. That way, if you lose interest or your life changes, hopefully you've done things right and spent your money wisely so that you aren't really over your head or upside down in expenses on your SS. At the same time, if you plan it right, you still position yourself for a hell of a decent setup for that tax return you plan to blow on a twin turbo. Just my thoughts from a guy that has NO BUSINESS talking horsepower mods. BUT, i'm pretty qualified to comment on pissing away a lot of money on my SS's. Good luck bud. I'll look forward to watching this one. Hope you make it back around here sometime soon. Glad you're doing well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
[email protected] Posted March 21, 2010 Author Report Share Posted March 21, 2010 Save money for as long as you can. It's gonna kill you doing it so it won't take long before you have to spend it. See how much you have at that moment and decide from there. Knowing you, it's gonna be about $10 and you'll go fu$king crazy and have to spend. But seriously, everyone has good advice, but in the end you'll have to decide who has the advice that best fits how you feel at that given time based on how much money you've saved up, then your plans will constantly change. You're like me....you can do some basic stuff but won't do anything that will require a lot of money to fix when you screw it up. So a lot of what you do will be dictated by how much you have in hand and how much it'll cost someone to do it or help you do it. I look back on the supercharged 03 i had and can't wait to get back to that, but if i had to start over again, i would buy it already done the same way, OR i would slowly work my way up to the blower. I.E. i would do things that keep me interested and show me modest gains with a dream of the end result of whatever i thought would be the last thing i would do....blower. Guys like you and I can be happy with 15-30 hp gains with fairly simple mods on our way up to the radix. That way, if you lose interest or your life changes, hopefully you've done things right and spent your money wisely so that you aren't really over your head or upside down in expenses on your SS. At the same time, if you plan it right, you still position yourself for a hell of a decent setup for that tax return you plan to blow on a twin turbo. Just my thoughts from a guy that has NO BUSINESS talking horsepower mods. BUT, i'm pretty qualified to comment on pissing away a lot of money on my SS's. Good luck bud. I'll look forward to watching this one. Hope you make it back around here sometime soon. Glad you're doing well. Mike, you hit it right on the head. It's like we're the same person! And as you know (since I almost bought your blower/tranny) I have had the $$$ on hand for months now, I've just been waiting to find job so that I didn't f*ck up and drain the account and next thing you know I can't afford rent... So now that I have a job and my rent is covered with the $$$ I got out of my S-10, I have a couple grand to blow if I really wanted to, plus my paycheck. I'm going crazy!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
[email protected] Posted March 23, 2010 Author Report Share Posted March 23, 2010 Just a quick update, got the Volant scoop in the mail (Thanks Neil!) it's going on tomorrow. Also waiting on the diamond clear headlights in the mail (Thanks Chris). That takes care of my immediate need to mod, lol. Still waiting to powder coat the wheels. I got a few quotes from around town (looking at ~$100/wheel) but since it's going to take 7-10 days, I don't know how I'm going to get to work and back with the SS on jack stands. I'll post pics in a few days, if anyone cares. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SSplaytoy Posted March 23, 2010 Report Share Posted March 23, 2010 Is there anyone around you that could loan you a set of wheels or give you a ride? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sleepingcrna Posted March 24, 2010 Report Share Posted March 24, 2010 Just a quick update, got the Volant scoop in the mail (Thanks Neil!) it's going on tomorrow. Also waiting on the diamond clear headlights in the mail (Thanks Chris). That takes care of my immediate need to mod, lol. Still waiting to powder coat the wheels. I got a few quotes from around town (looking at ~$100/wheel) but since it's going to take 7-10 days, I don't know how I'm going to get to work and back with the SS on jack stands. I'll post pics in a few days, if anyone cares. If you didn't move away, you dipshit, i'd have loaned you a set. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kcsilveradoss Posted March 24, 2010 Report Share Posted March 24, 2010 If you didn't move away, you dipshit, i'd have loaned you a set. me too, mine have been up in the air for two weeks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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