Topic: GEARHEADS NEEDED!!!

[ThE KiiD]

Ok so i have this job, and made my list. As promised the modding has begun. And im going big this Spring BUT I NEED SUGGESTIONS ON THIS 

My dads 2002 Trans Am conveniently no longer needs the Intake Manifold or Throttle Body....so its now the Avys intake. I did some research and the Intake Manifold WILL FIT WITH ONLY THE FUEL RAIL... well my dad said ok i can do it  told yea i might be only 18 but im psychaotic and im on a mission.

do yall think it will work out? i have great confidence in it and cnt wait till spring cause then ill have the money ( i hope) for the Heads/Cam work to be done and i will have the Volant CAI and Headers with hopefully the custom dual EXTREME exhaust. what headers do you guys like...i heard kooks and hooker make great headers but do they make em for the avy KOOKS doesnt  but is Gibson good?


so plz all help is loved and appreciated here this Avy will be complete....sooner then i said it will be im on a mission 

[Enkei]

JBA,Hooker and Gibson are very well known.....  As for the intake from Pops TA just make sure you don't have to go get some custom tuning done to make it all work together..  I start my new FULL time job today info on that later...

Good Luck Kiddd.....

[Main One]

I don't think the T/A's manifold is an improvement over the truck's stock manifold.  The truck manifold takes advantage of a bit more room under the hood, although the T/A manifold does look nicer.  Depends on if you want bling or power.  If you want power and want to spend the money, the FAST manifold supposedly gets a little more out of the engine, but the increase/$ spent isn't very good.

On the exhaust side, I don't think there's that much reported difference between the various shorty headers available - I'm running JBA.  The long-tube headers are supposed to gain more HP than the shorties, but cost some torque.

[Main One]

I start my new FULL time job today

Great news Enkei!!!   

[ThE KiiD]

I start my new FULL time job today info on that later...

congrats man  goodluck with the job

I don't think the T/A's manifold is an improvement over the truck's stock manifold.  The truck manifold takes advantage of a bit more room under the hood, although the T/A manifold does look nicer.  Depends on if you want bling or power.  If you want power and want to spend the money, the FAST manifold supposedly gets a little more out of the engine, but the increase/$ spent isn't very good.

the FAST Intake n Throttle Body is what the T/A is getting so idk if i can "switch" for that one  ...but you would think that the LS1 Intake Manifold would be a little better right considering its for performance?

[Main One]

If I recall correctly, I believe the 2002 LS1s came with the intake that was first used on the LS6, and is a bit better than the original LS1 intakes.  However, both are shorter due to hood clearance issues on the T/A and Camaro than the truck intakes, and the data I've seen shows the truck intake performance to be pretty comparable.  The higher profile allows the intake runners to be a bit longer, which gives the truck intake a bit of a peak torque edge.

[ThE KiiD]

The LS6 is actually the better of the intakes..its used for Turbo and SuperCharger applications by most LSX builders but i just did some more research and found this is

http://www.truckinweb.com/tech/engine/0904tr_5_3l_vortec_v8_engine_buildup/intake_manifold.html

so i believe ill be getting my own Intake Manifold  and Throttle Body considering this is built for performance and HAS to have the same Bolt Pattern and Injectors..what do you think of this?

this will all be done in the spring pretty much i mainly need the money for the head/cam work so everything will be done at once and tuned immediately

[Main One]

I was surprised the Truckin build didn't show any dyno numbers after spending that much money.   

That manifold per the dyno sheet on professional products web site shows gains from the mid 5000s up compared to the LS6, and losses from the upper 4000s down.  How much time will your truck spend above 5500 rpm?  You're going to have to reprogram your shift points to see any gain at all relative to the LS6 intake - just how high do you want to go?  I get lifter tick above 6300 with my stock lifters - you could go higher with aftermarket lifters, but the tranny is limited I believe to about 6500 in stock form, mainly due I believe to the pump.  I've changed a spring in mine to allow higher rpm, but my cam supposedly floats the lifters at 6600.

Truckin was pretty conservative with their cam choice.  I've gone bigger with my Crane HR-216/3241-2S-15, which if anything if I had to do it over again I would have gone bigger than that, even with a stock torque converter.

How much does that manifold cost?

[Enkei]

Thanks guys...  Here is a hint.....  But before I forget....

[ThE KiiD]

I was surprised the Truckin build didn't show any dyno numbers after spending that much money.   


How much does that manifold cost?

yea me too about the dyno... and as for the manifold it costs 600 for the one they used but i think ima go with either the LS6 or FAST 102mm because the guys at Cartek Racing said if you are gunna boost a LS engine then the LS6 intake manifold is the best out of ALL AfterMarket and GM intake manifolds and if your doing all motor then the FAST 90 OR 102MM .... im going to go with the 102mm although i have turbo plans later in years but also cuz i like to be different but also cuz it only takes 2hrs to switch manifolds  i took my dads apart.

as for my cam size im still debating if i want Cartek to do a custom grind and their custom heads..they do GREAT  work and the money paid is well worth it but i thnk money is going to be an issue ( got save a lot big time...thank you for christmas cards  )

heres a link to their site they're only 20min from my house luckily so AAA Towing is free

http://www.cartek.net/CustomerRides/AlexV.htm

i think ima go with either 3x or 4x package.

[ThE KiiD]

Thanks guys...  Here is a hint.....  But before I forget....

HEY i dont mind a thread jack with a sweet looking ride like that being involved 

what do ya do detail shop? or something to do with customizing rides????

[Main One]

yea me too about the dyno... and as for the manifold it costs 600 for the one they used but i think ima go with either the LS6 or FAST 102mm because the guys at Cartek Racing said if you are gunna boost a LS engine then the LS6 intake manifold is the best out of ALL AfterMarket and GM intake manifolds and if your doing all motor then the FAST 90 OR 102MM .... im going to go with the 102mm although i have turbo plans later in years but also cuz i like to be different but also cuz it only takes 2hrs to switch manifolds  i took my dads apart.

as for my cam size im still debating if i want Cartek to do a custom grind and their custom heads..they do GREAT  work and the money paid is well worth it but i thnk money is going to be an issue ( got save a lot big time...thank you for christmas cards  )

heres a link to their site they're only 20min from my house luckily so AAA Towing is free

http://www.cartek.net/CustomerRides/AlexV.htm

i think ima go with either 3x or 4x package.

I don't see any info on their site as to what is a 3x or 4x cam, but I assume you know.

I was impressed when looking at their tuning page that they use HPTuners, EFI Live, and LS1/LS2 Edit, depending upon application.  From that alone I would assume that they do A LOT of tunes for a variety of vehicles.

[MyBigToy]

IIRC, I believe Cartek is pretty heavily into tuning Vettes and has a really good rep.

[ThE KiiD]

I don't see any info on their site as to what is a 3x or 4x cam, but I assume you know.

yea as far as that goes its like 3x over stock n 4x over stock i think but yea when i brought my dads T/A there they were like yea we can do the avy with no problem...that made my day 

IIRC, I believe Cartek is pretty heavily into tuning Vettes and has a really good rep.

Vette Doctors in Long Island admitted they cant compare to Cartek when it comes to building an all motor car. they are "small" but their rep is known nationwide...GM HIGH TECH includes them in numerous issues and they're working on their own supercharger kit thats a lil cheaper them VORTECH

[OH3_Z71]

The LS6 is actually the better of the intakes..its used for Turbo and SuperCharger applications by most LSX builders but i just did some more research and found this is

This is true, but...... The LS6 is better for horsepower applications. You will actually lose torque if you swap to an LS6 intake. The large intake runners on the truck manifold maybe ugly but those large raised runners produce a ton of torque compared to the car intakes. IMO if your not going to be running 4500 rpm all the time and racing, stick with the truck intake.

But since you plan on doing heads and a cam, a LS6 intake may work well with your setup. I recently did a 5.3 LSX build with ported/polished 862 heads, Trick Flow 228/230 cam and a LS6 intake and that setup I was told would produce 400+ horsepower/torque.

[ThE KiiD]

But since you plan on doing heads and a cam, a LS6 intake may work well with your setup. I recently did a 5.3 LSX build with ported/polished 862 heads, Trick Flow 228/230 cam and a LS6 intake and that setup I was told would produce 400+ horsepower/torque.

yea, ive actually decided that the set-up im going with is the following

102MM FAST Intake Manifold / Throttle Body because i dont plan on boosting for awhile and cause i really dont wanna lose much torque....

im trying to gets custom Hooker Headers but idk how much that will cost cause i wanna do a custom Cherry Bomb Extreme dual exhaust...

what headers do u guys recommend?

[MyBigToy]

If you want to go with long tubes get a set of Dynatech stainless and be done with it. You can buy the whole setup that includes a hi-flow replacement y-pipe & hi-flow catalytic converters. They aren't cheap but they are top-notch quality. I put a set on my Vette when I had it.

If you go with shorties just pick up the cheapest set of stainless and/or stainless/coated. There's not a lot of difference in hp on the shorties.

I don't recommend that you go with any type of mild steel headers. I had a set of Edelbrock TES mild steel headers on my 94 Sonoma and they rusted through in about 6 years. I was able to keep them going by welding over the rusted-out holes but it obviously just kept getting worse and worse.

[ThE KiiD]

If you want to go with long tubes get a set of Dynatech stainless and be done with it. You can buy the whole setup that includes a hi-flow replacement y-pipe & hi-flow catalytic converters.

jus checked them out and 

well i guess you gotta pay if you wanna play so im adding them to the list 

thanks a lot man  appreciate the help...i jus cant wait til this Spring and this work gets done but i do gotta start looking at transmission parts now  cant have the problem like my dad and the 94 big engine lots of power...lil trans that lasted 2months

[MyBigToy]

If you want to try a cheaper route there are some made in China knock-offs that you can buy on eBay. I've read mixed results, both good and bad, on them. Personally, I don't mind paying a little extra if I get a quality product that I never have to worry about again.

Good luck with the tranny - you'll probably spend somewhere around $1000 just to marginally build the existing tranny like I did - Transgo HD2 shift kit, hardened separator plate, Alto clutches, wide band, Beast Sunshell, aluminum accumulator pistons, and billet servos. Mine has held up pretty well so far. When my tranny gives up the ghost I'm planning to go with an FLT level 7 and then I won't worry about beating on it too much. It's not for someone on a budget but then again, neither is forced induction.

[ThE KiiD]

yea id rather jus pay the 900$ knowing what im getting wont fail me or blow up on the highway and yea as far as the trans im definitely gunna get some essentials so when winter comes it can be completed

[Blingah]

..........so was this another all talk thread??? no updates??

[ThE KiiD]

no i had quit my job then got a new one then was laid off again so i dont have the money...but my truck has the straight pipe exhasut blue led interior and soon to have hid highbeams and im working on getting more work done to her so my plans are jus on a money delay...mind u im only 19 and im going to be heading back to school so i can get my old job back and then ill have way more money then i had before because ill be going to school for auto mechanics not jus what my dad taught me.