If you had $1,100 to spend

[Boostian]

Ok local folks, here's my dilemma. Ran my car last year at Cecil, pulled a 12.1 at 113. Had a 114mph with a slower ET. Mind you, high 1.8 60' on BF street tires.

I have all basic supporting/reliability mods done, including just cleaned/balanced 009's and chip. Tranny is built with a 2800. Only go fast parts are Alky and a TE60. I am still running the stock intercooler and can only handle ~22psi before I start getting some real knock at the top of third.

My next thought was intercooler upgrade. I researched and save up the cash for a RJC 315, having really liked its design and functionality for a street driven car. A front mount is overkill for what I have but I'd rather do it right now than have to upgrade a stock location later.

Ok, so the question. What would you do in my shoes? Do the very expensive and full price front mount? Do something else to go faster?

My bottom line is to go faster. Not focused on track times, seat of the pants mainly. But I do occasionally take her to Cecil on a test night.

 

[79transam]

I can tell you I don't have to many mods TA49 turbo. 42lb injectors. had a SLIC. I just did the timing chain, ESP FMIC an LS1 MAF with translator and a hooker exhaust, and wow let me tell you woke the car up big time. and sounds badass at that. I think the intercooler is worth it. opens the car up

 

[87GNT]

What are your goals? I would think with the go-fast setup you have now you should be into the high 11's easily with a stock IC.

 

[87GNT]

IMO...before going the FMIC route I'd start with porting work....plenum, LT1 or LS1 MAF etc...if you haven't done so already

 

[bison]

Find the reason for the knock at the end of 3rd before spending any $$$. The stock intercooler sucks beyond 4800rpm but I've tuned a lot of cars with chips and stock intercoolers and had no problems with detonation. Verify timing and run the correct timing for the loading. If your flash rpm is more than 4400rpm a converter adjustment or replacement could help a lot. Anything that I've worked on that ran fast with a stock intercooler and heads always had a flash rpm in the low 4000's and converter slip at the trap at 8% or better with 3.42 and 28" tires. If you are not seeing those numbers that's where you will find e.t. If you want to go faster/quicker "seat of the pants" won't help your cause. You actually need to go faster/quicker. Not feel like you might be. Plenty of loose converter cars that spool fast and feel good for 3 seconds but lose a lot of time because of the operating rpm going down the quarter


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[murphster]

I'd get a second set of rear wheels with drag radials on them for stoplight fun. If you drive a lot in the summer with AC, a bigger stock location intercooler is probably your best bet. You can get used stock location CAS V4s for a decent price. You won't be able to outflow a good stock location for a while, they install easy enough and can always resell if you ever build up the rest of the combo. Big front mount just not needed. I went 11.0 and 122mph on a CAS V4.

Besides the IC, a good downpipe should be the first thing to do if you still have a stocker. Some kind of port job on the heads and a small cam are probably the next bang for the buck. For $1,100 a used CAS V4, RJC downpipe, and a flat tappet cam can be had. Solid foundation and a port job away from a 10sec combo.

And like Bison mentions, tuning goes far. At a minimum, get a Directscan so you can log the stock stuff. Very cheap and simple.

 

[Pronto]

A set of 275/60/15 MT drag radials mounted on a set of lightweight 8" rims for the track and an aftermarket slic. After that its boost and tune. Street "seat of the pants" is subjective. I've been in cars that "feel" fast but are not.

 

[achalmersman]

Bisons posts are always worth printing and saving for later

I think you should be able to run more boost on the alky. 27ish psi here with timing in the low 20's. No knock. Stock heads, stock torque convertor, stock intercooler with stock neck. I have the alky cranked up though. I trapped 119.5 but I think I may have been over 27psi when I did it (also had an unbelievably good DA at Cecil that night) I wasn't logging that night as I was in the middle of my Power logger troubleshooting which was discussed in great detail in another thread.

 

[TRICKSIXPA]

Completely agree on the down pipe! Its good money spent. At the very least a Dutt neck on the innercooler would be fine. I have always gotten my TB and Plenum ported at the very least eliminates a leaky throttle seal. More important is finding what is causing the Knock!! how much are you seeing and what were your O2 at the time?

 

[achalmersman]

Just noticed the 009's. Do you monitor fuel pressure? Are you running out of fuel and that's what is causing knock? I'm new at this but I drove my car some yesterday with a new LS1 MAF setup, and some other slight changes and noticed my injector duty cycle is around 78% at 26 psi in 3rd @ 5200 rpm. This is with 60's. Where do 009's top out at guys?

 

[Boostian]

Tons of good info here guys. Let me clarify some things here.

I have a TH downpipe, ATR single shot with a test pipe (open when running at the track), LT1 MAF w/ translator, newer Accufab fuel pressure regulator. I have an older XP pump and older Hotwire kit on the car, have a new Walbro and Hotwire I need to put on. I have KYB shocks on and airbags in the rear.

I have checked FP rising with boost but it is something I need to recheck.

I drive the car 2-3000 miles a year tops. Knock top of third is around 3*, O2 at around 760

My next mods to throw on, not in order:
Intercooler
Powerlogger
Sticky rear tires
Electric FP gauge/sender
Wideband
LCA's

I know I am not basing my goals mainly on track times. with a good set of slicks and a 1.6 60' im 11.6-11.7 as I sit right now. I'd love to hit a low 11 before delving into a cam/heads.

I guess, being honest, the front mount is more of a "want" for me right now. Reading this info, responsible way to spend my money seems to be an upgraded SLIC and powerlogger.

I also feel I should be able to get more than 21-22lbs from the 60 and Alky but figured the stock IC with stock neck were choking me.

 

[murphster]

You're probably right in that the stock IC is starting to choke you. But you won't be able to take much advantage of a huge FMIC with stock heads and cam so thats why I would recommend a better flowing SLIC. And the front mounts do make the temps go up in the summer with AC blasting, but then again that may not matter to you. With alky, the SLIC are not as big a drawback compared to FMICs. The bigger deal is the pressure drop across the stock IC. Even just a bigger neck will help.

Once you want to get past low/mid 11s then all the other stuff comes into play. Need more airflow... heads, cam, IC, headers, etc.

 

[TRICKSIXPA]

You can get a power logger and buy a $18 transducer to send to the power logger that will monitor your FP. There is a SlIC on FB someone posted for $450. I would get that Fuel pump and hot wire done. What do you have for Boost controller?


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[Boostian]

Hallman boost controller. I don't have FB. What kind of SLIC is it?

 

[Boostian]

Bump. Anyone know of a local SLIC for sale?

 

[Dreamn4GN]

Bump. Anyone know of a local SLIC for sale?

Can try searching craigslist. But gbodyparts and GN1 parts has solid SLIC from 599-750. Which I'm sure you've checked. Keep surfing forsakes section, I'm sure something wil come up. But waiting around for it sucks.

 

[Boostian]

Yea checked CL. And the ones on here are either priced high, damaged, repaired, or missing parts and people are still asking too much for them.

Waiting does suck, but I'm not jumping the gun at some junk. SLIC and powerlogger will give me a little more power and let me know where I'm running my injectors and give me data to work with. 60s seem to be in order also, and then may need to look at a converter.

 

[achalmersman]

Yea I would personally buy the powerlogger ASAP. Because then you can find out what you really need. Then if you find out you need more injectors, the injectors, chip, and PL will have eaten up a good chunk of $1100.

I would think you could be trapping more than 114 with the alky and your setup

 

[Dreamn4GN]

Yea checked CL. And the ones on here are either priced high, damaged, repaired, or missing parts and people are still asking too much for them.

Waiting does suck, but I'm not jumping the gun at some junk. SLIC and powerlogger will give me a little more power and let me know where I'm running my injectors and give me data to work with. 60s seem to be in order also, and then may need to look at a converter.

I hear Ya I was going to get the duttneck on my stock IC for now. But I was able to grab a Gbodyparts 23 row slic for 300$. I couldn't turn it down. I was dreading having to dump 500 plus on an upgraded IC. I bought 60's from the get go, work my way into their full potential if at all. Wasn't trying to buy two sets of inj. Logger,trans and converter are also in my future. Good luck with the search. Something will pop up.

 

[Boostian]

What I need is someone who is going big to sell a good condition SLIC/60s/powerlogger combo for 750-800. Toss in a wideband for $1000 and I'll be all in