I am not sure what to upgrade next

[TulsaGN13]

I am trying to decide what will give me the most bang for the buck, between porting heads, upgrading turbo or maybe something else you might suggest. I am trying to pick up the largest gain from where I am now. Here is my current setup : Stock intercooler with Dutt Neck, Stock Turbo, Stock Heads, stock cam, LS1 MAF and Translator, 60# Mototron injectors, Red Armstrong XP Plus fuel pump, Hot wire kit, TT chip with Alky, Razor Alky kit, RJC Power Plate, RJC boost controller, Cottons Audible Knock sensor, LT1 Valve springs, Extreme Automatics Stage 1 Trans, PTC 3,000 RPM stall, Scanmaster and Powerlogger.

Thanks for any suggestions!
Bill

 

[Pittsburghkid]

Since you already have a higher stall converter and an Alky kit, I would say the turbo would net you the largest gains. Stock turbo's I believe are best around 23lbs max boost and depending on your tune you should be able to go above that with the alky. Get a bigger turbo, say a 6262, and turn up the boost with the Alky. After that I would say ported heads would be the next big power maker followed by an IC.

 

[TURBOPOWERED68]

THDP and no cat

 

[TulsaGN13]

Sorry I forgot to mention I have a 3 inch DP and 3 inch exhaust with test pipe in place of cat. Good point though, my friend has port work and larger turbo and just got around to the 3 inch dp and he said it's like driving a different car. That is what I was looking for Pittsburgh, I think I will go larger turbo first and then port the heads and put in a roller cam at the same time. Then I will go with the front mount IC. I just wanted to make sure I was doing it in the right order to make power and not break stuff.

 

[Pittsburghkid]

I'm going down the same path except i'd already bored .030 with ported heads and all the goodies you have mentioned also including the FMIC but still the stock turbo. I'm gonna max it out see what results I can get then bolt on a bigger turbo and hope to pick up a full 1-1.5 seconds.

 

[Chuck Leeper]

Your wallet comes to mind.............

 

[machinegun]

First as with most questions like this is what are your goals?

You can buy a number of items to help performance but what are your goals.

Not sure why you did a 3K convertor seems like alot for your setup, of course if you were thinking of buying a bigger turbo then you did make a good investment.

Based on what I see and if you were asking my professional opinion I think the best bang would be a turbo upgrade.
You could probably pickup a used 60-1 or ta-61 which would work well with your current setup.

This is of course just my opinion but I think would be a good upgrade without having to open the engine.

 

[TulsaGN13]

First of all thanks for the replies and advice all! My goal is a low 11's daily driver that I can drive anywhere and not be worried about reliability. I have only had the car for about 8 months now and I have already taken it on two road trips of almost 2,000 miles each and I will be driving it on a 750 mile trip in the next few weeks. When I first got it the cooling was inconsistent, so I put an ultra high flow aluminum radiator in it with dual electric fans. Now I can sit in rush hour traffic on a 90 degree day with the A/C on and it will idle at 175-180* all day long.

When I bought the car it had the 3k converter in it, the previous owner installed it after the stage 1 trans rebuild. He was planning on a larger turbo and I couldn't be happier because that is the direction I want to go now also. I am thinking about going with a larger turbo, possibly the TA-61 or 6262, then porting my stock heads and installing a roller cam setup and then installing a front mount intercooler. I also plan to go to a wideband 02 setup.

I was mainly seeking advice about which turbo to go with and if this is the smart order to do the upgrades in. Also, if anyone has any suggestions about what to do or not to do to increase reliability, I'd love to hear it. Thanks!

 

[TulsaGN13]

I changed my mind. After I saw this, I am not going to upgrade ever, lol!

 

[Steve]

What kind of times are you running now? Based on the mods you listed you should be in the very low 12's or possibly high 11's depending on weight and traction. Make sure you are getting everything your combo has to give before you start to upgrade and that will save you a ton on money in the long run.

 

[turbocamino1]

it looks like your at the point where a wideband or power-logger tuning aid should be considered. I feel alot better now, with my PLX wideband,when i make a hard pull.

 

[TulsaGN13]

What kind of times are you running now? Based on the mods you listed you should be in the very low 12's or possibly high 11's depending on weight and traction. Make sure you are getting everything your combo has to give before you start to upgrade and that will save you a ton on money in the long run.

I haven't been to the track with this combo and the nearby one is closed for the season. This is the second 87 GN I have owned, the first ran low 12's and this one is much faster in it's current setup. It is freshly tuned up with a clear air filter, new fuel filter, new IAC, new TPS, new o2, new plugs etc...

If I get on it at 25mph it will smoke the 255/50/R17 Nitto's on the back I think it is probably a high 11's car if I throw on a set of slick's.

 

[Pittsburghkid]

Actually before the heads, cam and FMIC you should probably get a set of e/t streets. The 6262 is very street friendly but with the power your gonna make the the radials aren't gonna make it long.

 

[TulsaGN13]

it looks like your at the point where a wideband or power-logger tuning aid should be considered. I feel alot better now, with my PLX wideband,when i make a hard pull.

I just installed my powerlogger and started tuning my timing and boost with that but I plan to fine tune it with a wide band o2. Do you have any recommendations about which wide band to go with? Do you recommend the PLX? Do you have any complaints about it?

 

[turbocamino1]

when i bought it 3 yrs. ago i did the research and didnt see any negative info on the NGK PLX and the price seemed fair at around 300, i recall. It has remained consistent to date with minimal calibration needed,which is easy. I have zero complaints.I believe Eric at TurboTweak used one and liked it, and that helped make up my mind as well. Also, when he (Eric) made my chip, his aim was 11.3 and that is exactly what i saw on the w/band at WOT. Hope this helps.