my new ride

  • Thread starter Thread starter nitrorustler41
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don't forget, Nitro might also be one of us rednecks that live out in the boonies where you can get away with more. plus, the laws change from state to state.

right now, I'm the one who needs a kitty yanked. mines plugged solid (and the other two vehicles sitting here are in a similar state).

where are the Platinum theves when you need them? (we've had a rash of Catalytic thefts, here. they're stealing them right off of brand new cars in the dealerships!)
 
OBDI cars aren't exempt from emissions, atleast not here. They are the are the harder of the two to pass with. The OBDI cars get the sniffer hooked up to there car, mine they just check if the car is throwing codes and look for the cats under there car cuz it's OBDII. All I need to pass is a good tune right now since I just got rid of the EGR.

Toronado
Did I forget to mention that you lose gas mileage while most likely simultaneously destroying your torque curve? You might pick up one or two horsepower at high RPM (something Trans Ams aren't good at anyways) but you will lose tons of low end grunt because you will kill your exhaust velocity.
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He's right about the torque curve goin to crap down low. You need the back pressure for it.


And I don't know aobut LT1's mileage but I get 20+ mpg with my A4, 14 sounds too low unless you are racing from every light.


Rotary Junkie
Anyhow... Kill the kitty. Don't gut it, get RID of it. Aand 2.25" duals. No bigger, you don't need it. It's not boosted.

And yes, 4.10s dammit. It'll clock fairly high RPM on the freeway yes, but nothing massive and our friend Nitro doesn't care about gas mileage.

Lastly... Silly F-body owners... Y-pipes... :rolleyes: :p
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No if he plans on getting any more power in the future ie. Heads/Cam he will want atleast 3 in. If not then keep the 2.5 in exhuast.

With 3.23's at 70 mph his rpm's are 2100, 4.10's at 70 is 2700. Doesn't sound like much but will make a bit of a difference, atleast for me.

Good luck trying to get TD's out the back on these cars, there's just not enough room, not to mention you don't TD's to make power :rolleyes:

Unlike the mustangs I don't need a blower to make a decent amount of power, a head/cam swap will net me anywhere from 50-100 hp depending on the setup.


This is through a Y-pipe

PG6-14-07dyno2.jpg


Mod's listed here http://guerragroup.com/2000TA.htm
 
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Rotary Junkie
Oddly, I know of FAR too many 5.0 Mustang owners running without cats for that to hold up.
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That's nice. What's your point? All that tells me is that most 5.0 Mustang owners are just as dumb where you live as they are where I live.

Rotary Junkie
Remember, not everywhere is the same. In Michigan at least, there are no inspections and you can pretty much drive a rolling wreck if it has full working lights and moves.
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Yeah, break the law just because you might not get caught.
Except he lives in Illinois. And we already have an Illinois member saying it is a bad idea. And last I checked, Illinois was part of the U.S. And he will already be drawing attention to himself.

Rotary Junkie
Anyhow... Kill the kitty. Don't gut it, get RID of it. Aand 2.25" duals. No bigger, you don't need it. It's not boosted.
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Why not tell him to put big dual 3 inchers so he can completely ruin his exhaust system? You're already essentially saying "turn the big V8 into an S2000 just so it sounds better," so why stop at two and a quarter?
 
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Nice car. I had a 96 Firebird Formula with the LT1 V8, 6 speed, leather, Flowmaster, and T-tops. Went autocrossing with it. I loved that car. Simply one of the best and most fun vehicles I have ever owned (besides my 69 Camaro of course). :sly:
I have heard a few without the cats and they sound really good. You might get some slight backfiring while tranny braking or slowing down but thats no big deal.
You can also see me doing 3rd gear donuts in my 1996 formula here. http://www.adfabdesign.com/Videos/Formula donuts.wmv
Pic of my 96 Firebird Formula from over 5-6 years ago. Its the car that inspired me to install the 4th gen interior into my 69 Camaro.

If you ever decide you want a different gauge pod let me know. Here is what I designed a long time ago to fit 5" Autometer gauges. http://www.adfabdesign.com/Projects/GaugePod/GaugePod.html
 
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And I don't know aobut LT1's mileage but I get 20+ mpg with my A4, 14 sounds too low unless you are racing from every light.





yeah, my car never sees highway.....ever! never ever.


I dont know if its even possible to get 20 mpg city from a lt1......thats difficult for almost any v-8
 
I got over 26-30mpg with my V8 LT1 that I listed above but that was with a 6 speed tranny.
 
nitrorustler41
I dont know if its even possible to get 20 mpg city from a lt1......thats difficult for almost any v-8
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No it's not, you can get 20+ MPG with a V8 if you know how to drive it. The only V8 vehicles that aren't going to get great mileage a large SUV's since they are pulling a ton of weight around and typically have 4WD, however it's not always true with that.

You also really need to brush up on Illinois state law regarding vehicles.

Here is a link so you can do so:
http://www.cyberdriveillinois.com/publications/rules_of_the_road/rr_chap12.html

Right away I see two violations

Illinois Rules of the Road
Muffler
A muffler must be on the exhaust system to prevent excessive noise and smoke. This also includes turbine wheels used in the exhaust system of a diesel engine. Cutouts, bypasses and changes to the system to increase noise are illegal.
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and

Illinois Rules of the Road
Taillights
All vehicles require two red lights visible for 500 feet from behind. Only one taillight is needed for mopeds and motorcycles.

...

Stop Lights
Vehicles must have at least one red or amber stop light visible for 500 feet from behind in normal sunlight.
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You also don't appear to have a front license plate, which I'm fairly certain is need in Illinois as well. You are really begging for a ticket with everything and honestly that annoys me because it makes all custom vehicle owners look bad. There are laws that everyone must follow, but that doesn't mean the law doesn't allow for changes to your vehicle to personalise it a bit.
 
Joey D
Have you ever bothered to read the Michigan vehicle code? Obviously not if you think you can drive down the road with a wreck with working lights. There is a lot to what you can and can not do to your vehicle in Michigan. Please familiarise yourself with this:

http://www.legislature.mi.gov/(S(ba...cl-act-300-of-1949&queryid=6188878&highlight=
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Well, it's at least what I've seen. A bit of an exaggeration but... Yeah. I've seen cars so mechanically screwed up and/or rotted that they are entirely unsafe, but they don't get pulled off the roads.

xXSilencerXx
OBDI cars exempt from emissions, atleast not here. They are the are the harder of the two to pass with. The OBDI cars get the sniffer hooked up to there car, mine they just check if the car is throwing codes and look for the cats under there car cuz it's OBDII. All I need to pass is a good tune right now since I just got rid of the EGR.

He's right about the torque curve goin to crap down low. You need the back pressure for it.

And I don't know aobut LT1's mileage but I get 20+ mpg with my A4, 14 sounds too low unless you are racing from every light.

No if he plans on getting any more power in the future ie. Heads/Cam he will want atleast 3 in. If not then keep the 2.5 in exhuast.

With 3.23's at 70 mph his rpm's are 2100, 4.10's at 70 is 2700. Doesn't sound like much but will make a bit of a difference, atleast for me.

Good luck trying to get TD's out the back on these cars, there's just not enough room, not to mention you don't TD's to make power :rolleyes:

Unlike the mustangs I don't need a blower to make a decent amount of power, a head/cam swap will net me anywhere from 50-100 hp depending on the setup.
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OBD1 cars aren't exempt from emissions, no, but they don't have O2 sensors after the cat(s), and if you don't get smogged/inspected anyhow...

2700rpm ain't bad at 70. Especially if you are already driving the car hard enough to manage to knock it down to 14mpg, because at that point, it doesn't matter any.

Now then... As I didn't realize that you're forced into a y-pipe on F-bodies... 3" is too big unless you really care about power at 7000rpm, because anything before about 4 grand will be sacrificed. A 2.5" Y will be good until right around 5000-5500rpm if it's absolutely wide open (no cat, mufflers, crush bends, etc, just solid 2.5" but that's impossible), but 2.75 would probably be the most you'd want on the street. Ever. Unless you really have reason to wind it to 5000+rpm at all times.

Because otherwise you're just killing velocity and pissing away low end. That said... If an offroad Y kills velocity down low as bad as it's been made out to... It looks like he may as well keep the entire damn exhaust stock or go SMALLER. But wait... We can't do that now can we?

And please do not revive the backpressure vs velocity debate. VELOCITY is what you need for torque at any given RPM, backpressure is restriction. Keep it straight.


EDIT: And that TA is done right BTW. 12:1 compression but cammed so it's not quite as high.
 
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That was a typo, I mean't it wasn't exempt from emissions.

True, but for me personally I'd go with something else.

You can get TD's on a F-body but like I said it's a real PITA and wrong anyway since you cannot get the pipes equal lengths unless you dump it or go under the axle.

I'm running a 3" cat-back all mandrel bends, it is not killing my power, I plan on running 1 3/4 headers to a catted y-pipe, to the 3" exhuast. From what I've seen that will help you not hurt you. Even if I'm wrong and it does hurt the low end at first, that problem will be solved when I do my H/C swap and be at or over 400 hp.

I do not know enough about exhuast flow to even debate that. lol I'm still learning about all of this, most of what I've said is what I've been told and observations of what mods do to these cars.

It is a badass car, dude built it great....too bad he sold it.
 
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Joey D
No it's not, you can get 20+ MPG with a V8 if you know how to drive it. The only V8 vehicles that aren't going to get great mileage a large SUV's since they are pulling a ton of weight around and typically have 4WD, however it's not always true with that.

You also really need to brush up on Illinois state law regarding vehicles.

Here is a link so you can do so:
http://www.cyberdriveillinois.com/publications/rules_of_the_road/rr_chap12.html

Right away I see two violations



and



You also don't appear to have a front license plate, which I'm fairly certain is need in Illinois as well. You are really begging for a ticket with everything and honestly that annoys me because it makes all custom vehicle owners look bad. There are laws that everyone must follow, but that doesn't mean the law doesn't allow for changes to your vehicle to personalise it a bit.
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alright buddy. the front shot is when I got the car for the first day, and took pics, I didnt go to the dmv yet. I dont drive around without the front plate. I drove through my neighborhood to take some pictures
 
well, I have a better idea for myself.


weld on a reducer, so I take my 2 pipes from the manifold, and "y" them into a single 3" pipe. I will then clamp in a striaght piece of 3" tubing and hook that up to my existing 3" catback.

that way. it will seem to be a test pipe, and if by the slight chance a cop looks under my car, I can tell him its a test pipe, and my cat is being tested. yay! :)


anyway you slice it, the catalytic converter is comin outta this car, and the taillights are going blacked out with a new bumper installed. all within a month.....hopefully.

yeah, I'll post back about how many times I get "arrested, and pulled over, and fined $2,500"
 
its gotta nasty tear in it. I am gettin a already primered better condition one for $170. might as well.



since its torn, it sloses a lot of strutural strength, and it sags a good bit around the exhaust tip on the right
 
okay, yeah, for all you haters out there:

my y-pipe is 2.5" from the factory.


so.....are you saying GM put on too big of an exhuast......absolutley not. its goin bigger. I am gettin 1 3/4" hears, with a 3" collector, and 3" Off road Y-pipe.
 
I don't get it. You ask people's opinions about your car and then you turn into a complete dick when they give them to you. You honestly shouldn't be expecting much different of a general consensus, and if you knew ahead of time that saying you would do things that were against the law would cause community backlash against you, why did you bother posting at all?
 
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nitrorustler41
okay, yeah, for all you haters out there:

my y-pipe is 2.5" from the factory.


so.....are you saying GM put on too big of an exhuast......absolutley not. its goin bigger. I am gettin 1 3/4" hears, with a 3" collector, and 3" Off road Y-pipe.
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I'm going to say YES, GM DID put on too large of an exhaust if removing the cat kills low-end as others have said and it is a street vehicle and not a drag car only. And in that case, it should already have slicks, high stall converter, transbrake, and HCI + OJ or boost. And the exhaust wouldn't matter much so long as it was free flowing.

3" is as I said too big for low end, but yeah, with your attitude, screw it, you'll just do what you want anyhow.

BTW, unless you plan on CONSTANTLY doing 5000rpm or more, a 2.75" Y-pipe will make you much happier. And even THEN it's a waste of low-end with only minimal gains up higher (would, with mufflers, only become a restriction right as the stock LT1 stuff starts choking anyhow).
 
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I never asked for opinions. I stated what I am gonna do, and thats it.


how about a little dyno action. heres a shop about 10 mins from my house.....a few pulls for $90
 
nitrorustler41
I never asked for opinions. I stated what I am gonna do, and thats it.


how about a little dyno action. heres a shop about 10 mins from my house.....a few pulls for $90
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Unless you're taking it to get tuned, don't bother.

Your $90 is better spent elsewhere.
 
$90 US is a rip off for a few runs.
 
nitrorustler41
I never asked for opinions. I stated what I am gonna do, and thats it.
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Welcome to the internet.

VIPERGTSR01
$90 US is a rip off for a few runs.
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I think typical dyno runs cost about $60 depending on the shop around here, $90 seems awful high but I have seen shops charge that much though.

===

There is no reason to dyno your vehicle though unless you can find an F-body group doing it somewhere and it's fairly inexpensive.
 
Save the $90 and get a tune after you've gotten rid of the cats. Much beter use of your money, expecially since dyno numbers don't mean much at all. Track times do.

I don't know about where your at but I can get a tune for $300.
 
update!!!!!!!!!


I just ordered stainless racing headers. 1 /34" stepped to 1 7/8", and has a high velocity merge collector with a spike. also, I got a 321 stainless Y pipe with not cats. I am gonna buy some MSD plug wires, and NGK plugs to put on while I am under there. then, its off to FLP for a full Dyno tune. I am excited for the sound and power gains.


I cant wait to hear it!!!!!!!!!
 
keep an eye out, I'm not having too good a luck with the NGK's in mine. I think they're out after 40k or so (or I need new wires. why do I always need new wires :P)
 
nitrorustler41
update!!!!!!!!!


I just ordered stainless racing headers. 1 /34" stepped to 1 7/8", and has a high velocity merge collector with a spike. also, I got a 321 stainless Y pipe with not cats. I am gonna buy some MSD plug wires, and NGK plugs to put on while I am under there. then, its off to FLP for a full Dyno tune. I am excited for the sound and power gains.


I cant wait to hear it!!!!!!!!!
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Good deal dude. I got the MSD wires and NGK plugs on mine. Runs like a champ.

Post up a vid when you get it all setup. Gunna sound nasty good.
 
Enjoy your TA, fun cars... bang for buck factor is great!
 
xXSilencerXx
Good deal dude. I got the MSD wires and NGK plugs on mine. Runs like a champ.

Post up a vid when you get it all setup. Gunna sound nasty good.
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yeah, I will make a before and after video or somthin


its just funny how the car sounds totally different inside then outside. inside, it sounds real deep, out side its higher pitched.

cant wait to hear it from the outside when I get the headers! I bet it'll scream!
 
What's this about removing the cat hurts the low-end torque? The LT1 has huge torque everywhere. The cat is the single most restrictive part of the exhaust. On an engine moving as much air through the exhaust as the LT1 removing the cat would make a power gain noticeable on a dyno, especially at high rpm. I would suspect power to gain everywhere, but probably not more than one or two horsepower. The power and torque peaks would probably move higher in the rev range, but both measurements would go up.

I think instead of worrying about the exhaust you should try getting some better flowing headers. The stock manifolds on those engines are also very restrictive. If you want to gain easy power then that'd be a way to snag 10 or 20. Also, that engine is sucking in a lot of air. A better intake pipe and filter would make a difference.

A modification like headers and a test pipe wouldn't necessarily lower your low end torque. It would go up, but not as much as torque higher in the rev range. The stock parts certainly aren't making torque, they're just restricting it at higher rpm so it feels like its got a ton of low end grunt. If you slap on a bunch of flow parts the torque will go up everywhere along with power, but it'll go up a lot at high rpm.

EDIT: I guess I'm late to the party cause you already got headers. Anyway, look into that intake if you haven't already.
 
Sorry. One of his pistons is only more than half of your engine. It needs room to breath.
 
out of idle curiosity how much does it cost to upkeep? insurance, gas, tires, everything?

just a ballpark i'm not asking for specifics. i've been thinking about getting an older 84 celica but around here it is too expensive so drive to college and back.

great car BTW i'm envious
 
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