Specific Mods?

**WS6Dream** · 03-02-2011, 09:45 PM

Ok, so I have posted on here before about what mods I should get for my stock 2000 ws6 trans am but now I'm looking for more information.

Subframe connectors - what brand and type specifically are recommended and liked by people here?

Headers - what brand and type, also specifically, are very much recommended and will last a while.

I have stock exhaust, so should I do anything with that? I have been reading about cut outs and that seems like something I would be interested in, but don't know if I would have to change anything on my exhaust, and if so, what that would be.

I have been told I should get a lid too, what brand and specific part number is recommended for me to look at?

I have been told to look into intake and throttle body but I am clueless as to what would be the best.

Any other suggestions for me? I'm looking to keep it practical for daily use, keeping fair fuel economy, but I know that has to be sacrificed to some extent to gain power. If you aren't allowed to link specific stuff, PM them to me because I really am looking for specific links and details.

Also, I am looking for overall power, not just top end if that makes a difference.

What might be an estimate of my rwhp if all of these modifications noted above were done to a stock ws6, then tuned correctly?

Thanks

**Knight** · 03-04-2011, 06:32 PM

SFCs - I would recommend UMI - top quality and either the 2 point or 3 point is good depending on your needs.
There is a lot of debate on headers and exhausts - I would recommend checking out the stickies and soundclips on youtube to find a good combination. I personally run QTP headers and a non catted ORY with a Borla sysyem to the rear.
Cut outs are nice, because you can be both loud and quiet when desired.
As for a lid - most people will use a SLP lid and a smooth bellows. It will give a slight increase in power.
Intake and TB - the LS6 intake is a good upgrade for a mildly modded motor. Fast makes a good combo setup as well, but it is a bit pricey but does allow for future modding on the motor without upgrading.
Personally, I wouldn't worry about the power in exact numbers. You will definately see an increase. A lot of choices should be decided based on your intended goal for the car - 1/4 mile, road course, street machine, daily driver, ect.
I'm sure others will post up with personal suggestions as well. Good luck with the modding. Just beware, it's very hard to stop once you start - ask me how I know.

**WS6Dream** · 03-05-2011, 06:59 AM

What mods would be ones that would last me even if in the future I did a Heads and Cam swap? It wouldn't be very aggressive, but just a Mild H/C.

I don't want to spend a ton on items I may need to end up replacing anyways. I'm thinking lid, headers, all the exhaust, sfc I wouldn't have to re-upgrade (confirm all these please?)

Thanks for your help, I'm a newb right now and will be the first to admit it, just trying to learn and figure out what I am going to do to my car this summer.

***SMWS6TA*** · 03-05-2011, 07:08 AM

Many questions...Op.

Welcome to the Brotherhood.

Here's what you need to ask yourself. What are my plans for this car? What is my end goal? Do I want to invest the time and $$$ to get there? How long do I want to take? If I get a setback am I willing to spend what is necessary to fix it? Am I willing to do the research and ask the questions?

Getting the car is just the first and easiest step. Now comes the hard part.

The questions you asked in your first post you will find that everyone's opinion will vary like the wind. Some mods you will be limited to because of location and local laws. Headers for instance - if you have a heavy handed inspections you might not be able to do LT headers, ORY with CAT delete and EGR/Air Pump Removal. If you live in a state like mine - no inspections

Here are some things that are a must to do:

1) 2 or 3 point SFCs. Our cars flex even on stock power and the more you have the more you flex.
2) Air Lid - SLP* is pretty much the standard here, but others also use the Voolant kit to. I would stay away from CAI kits. They make it very easy to hydrolock when it rains.
3) Headers - Brands every one has their favorite and opinion.

Brands - Hooker, Pacesetter, Borla etc are good, only one I would not get is SLP.
Type - Race Style has the EGR tubes deleted, Mids and Shorties give little gains in compared to LTs
Coating - Jet Hot and Ceramic (Best) Stainless Steel (Good) Painted (Worse - paint will burn off then your headers will rust)
3) Intakes and Throttle Bodies - LS6 Intake is really good, others like the FAST 90, however FAST has quit making it so it may be harder or more $$ to get now. TB's- A ported TB is great, gives a quicker response and maybe 1 or 3 HP. On this I would not waste the $$ getting a top end TB. S2Performance has some great TBs for a low cost. I use them and Orion turned me on to them.

Weakness and areas to fix:

#1 Weak point is the rear. If your going North of 400HP it is not a matter of IF but WHEN your rear will go out. 9" Moser or 12 point are the ones to look for.

M6 - Stock Clutch is weak IMHO, need to upgrade to a LS7 at least or a SPEC or Monster Clutch. Those depend again on what your plans are.
A4 - Stall Converter, again on what type depends on your plans

Passenger Window - DO the window fix, cost about $40 and it will save you many headaches in replacing the motor. The wiring is a design flaw from the factory. They used the same positive wire for both windows, when it gets to the passenger side it has weaken and doesn't give enough voltage.

Free Mods - these are free mods that will help in freeing some hidden HP. InstallUniversity.com has them.

PCV Issues - This is an area that new comers haven't come across yet. The PCV design for our cars is junk IMHO. When the LS6 came out it was fixed. In case you don't know the LS1 and LS6 parts are interchangeable with some exceptions like the oil pan. In the tech stickies you will see something call the LS6 Valley Tray Conversion, this plus a Catch Can fixes the PCV issues and for cheaper then replacing the PCV hose.

Other Points:

If you get headers you will need a tune eventually. It is not necessary to run out and get one if your going to do a H/C/I after it. But in order to get the most benefit from the headers you will need to get one. Also to remove the SES light that will come on if you delete the rear O2's

* - SLP only sells 2 good items IMHO -Airlid and Line Lock kits. SOme ppl have filment issues with the Air Lid but their are easy fixes for that.

On our site in the General Help Section there are a list of stickies. These are problems that others have worked on that have put together threads to help others.

Sorry for the long post but I'd figure I try to answer as much as I can up front.

**Knight** · 03-05-2011, 07:49 AM

SMWS6TA mentions some good things. I do disagree with the rear end though, as our cars have been known to destroy them in stock form. If you get traction, the rear end cannot take it. It is usually a matter of time. Don't bother with trying to build up the stock one - it doesn't work.

If you do a H/C swap, look into upgrading your valve springs and such. It's relatively inexpensive, and well worth it. You also might want to look into a different torque arm - a tunnel mounted one as opposed to the stock tranny tail shaft one.

Don't be afraid to ask questions, it's the only way to learn.

**KMdef9** · 03-06-2011, 06:44 AM

Originally Posted by WS6Dream

Ok, so I have posted on here before about what mods I should get for my stock 2000 ws6 trans am but now I'm looking for more information.

Subframe connectors - what brand and type specifically are recommended and liked by people here?

Headers - what brand and type, also specifically, are very much recommended and will last a while.

I have stock exhaust, so should I do anything with that? I have been reading about cut outs and that seems like something I would be interested in, but don't know if I would have to change anything on my exhaust, and if so, what that would be.

I have been told I should get a lid too, what brand and specific part number is recommended for me to look at?

I have been told to look into intake and throttle body but I am clueless as to what would be the best.

Any other suggestions for me? I'm looking to keep it practical for daily use, keeping fair fuel economy, but I know that has to be sacrificed to some extent to gain power. If you aren't allowed to link specific stuff, PM them to me because I really am looking for specific links and details.

Also, I am looking for overall power, not just top end if that makes a difference.

What might be an estimate of my rwhp if all of these modifications noted above were done to a stock ws6, then tuned correctly?

Thanks

SMWS6TA had a ton of good points. All of them have good detail in the sticky areas of each section if you wanted to read into more detail.

I, as well as some others, try to take on the "safe approach" I guess you could call it. By this, I would fix the possible problem areas of the car and move forward with other things from there. So I would def. do the SFC's first, window fix, door panel crack fix, and the free mods. SFC's, UMI 3 point bolt-in's is what I would recommend b/c they can be welded in later and are super easy to bolt in, just make sure you suspension is fully loaded. The window fix is available from the autotrix in the sponsor section. Alot of the sponsors here are very helpful, so feel free to contact them as well with addition questions. In the mean time with the windows, my habit, which has been a life saver for the past 3 years, is to only roll one window up or down at a time and make sure you do it while the motor is running (the motors go due to lack of voltage, the car off ~12V, car running ~14V). If your door panels haven't cracked yet, I would take the preventive precautions. These seem to "problems" that our cars have and should be tended to immediately.

The LID is a cheap, easy mod to do that allows alot more air flow, I'd follow it up with a new bellow as well. LEAVE THE MAF ALONE!

After these, if your automatic, I'd get a tune. Then a stall, as mentioned. Frost has knowledge on tuning, I believe he's ~150 for a mail order bench tune, which is well worth it.

If manual, I'd look into the rear end next after the previous mods. I'd look into it if automatic as well, but the auto is easier on the rear end than the manual, so it can wait alittle longer.

After those, I'd look into some suspension mods followed by the clutch (if manual). Once all of these are done, you got one solid machine and it will be able to handle all of the motor mods!

My recommendations for your OP:
SFC = 3 point UMI bolt-in
Headers = Kooks, you pay for what you get.
Exhaust = catted y-pipe with magnaflow catback with cutout. Should tide you over power wise for a while. The sound is all personal preference, and there's a thread for that in the exhaust section.
Lid = SLP is fine, PIA fittment, but not too bad.
Intake/TB = If your going to do heads and cam, I'd line all three up at the same time and get the FAST 102mm with matching FAST TB. However, if your thinking forced induction, FAST isn't the way to go.

Wow ^ this ended up longer than expected, lol.

**WS6Dream** · 03-06-2011, 04:21 PM

Thanks for all of the posts and information, it helps a lot.

As for Intake/TB, if I were to look into just a MILD cam and intake setup, would I still need fast 102mm with FAST TB? Or would the LS6 be fine?

It is an automatic, and my goals for the car are to make it a pretty fast, awesome sounding street car that is reliable and won't be breaking parts on me. Which leads me to the fact that I may not ever get heads/cam because I don't know how much that would decrease reliability and increase the possibility for broken parts.

This is my daily driver, so that is why I can't be breaking parts and have it broke down all the time.

Also, what is the diameter of the exhaust for a stock 2000 trans am? And I have heard of cat deleted orys, should I look into those since they flow better even though they are "illegal"? Or should I get catted ones?

Also where I live I don't have to pass any inspections so I don't have to worry about that.

Thanks guys, I'm learning a lot. I just can't wait to put what I learn to practical use to get real world experience with it.

**Knight** · 03-06-2011, 04:32 PM

With a mild cam, I'd just go with the LS6 intake. Being an auto, you could look into a stall converter, which will liven the car up decently. Depending on how you like your exhaust to sound, you may want to use a catted y-pipe. Check out the exhaust sticky in the external engine section - there are lots of good soundclips and info there.

**KMdef9** · 03-06-2011, 04:57 PM

Originally Posted by WS6Dream

Thanks for all of the posts and information, it helps a lot.

As for Intake/TB, if I were to look into just a MILD cam and intake setup, would I still need fast 102mm with FAST TB? Or would the LS6 be fine?

It is an automatic, and my goals for the car are to make it a pretty fast, awesome sounding street car that is reliable and won't be breaking parts on me. Which leads me to the fact that I may not ever get heads/cam because I don't know how much that would decrease reliability and increase the possibility for broken parts.

This is my daily driver, so that is why I can't be breaking parts and have it broke down all the time.

Also, what is the diameter of the exhaust for a stock 2000 trans am? And I have heard of cat deleted orys, should I look into those since they flow better even though they are "illegal"? Or should I get catted ones?

Also where I live I don't have to pass any inspections so I don't have to worry about that.

Thanks guys, I'm learning a lot. I just can't wait to put what I learn to practical use to get real world experience with it.

Like knight said, LS6 sound be fine with a mild cam, I wouldn't bother with FAST 102 unless you were going heads and a more aggressive cam.

Since it's a auto, you could go with a mild stall as well and a tune. That would really wake the car up alot.

The stock exhaust diameter is 2.5' I believe. Most aftermarket products up to 3'.

**Firebirdjones** · 03-06-2011, 06:12 PM

These guys will have no problem spending your money for ya

I like to keep things simple and cost effective. Since you mentioned dependability, mileage, daily driver etc.... I'd do a few things.......

Long tube headers and an off road y, or a catted Y, which ever you need in your area. Any of the many 3" catback systems on the market that appeals to you.
An LS6 intake to keep the costs down.
The free mods like the throttle body coolant bypass. Throw a cooler thermostat in it. And the best bang for your buck would be a converter since you are an automatic. Keep it around the 3500 range and it'll make you happy (not to mention you'll need it before a cam change anyway). From there a mail order tune from Frost is cheap HP,,,and it's needed after the mods I mentioned anyway.

That's really all thats needed for a solid mid 12 second car. Fun to drive, still dependable, and you haven't really even cracked the engine open.
Drive it for a while and decide on your next move

**WS6Dream** · 03-06-2011, 07:10 PM

Great advice, I definitely think I will start with Long tube headers, ory, catback system, a cutout and will look for a LS6 intake manifold.

I will see where I am at that, then will also look into the "free mods" that Firebirdjones was talking about.

Then of course I will get a tune from Frost to bring out all the power it's worth.

One question though, if stock pipes are 2.5" diameter, then how do I put a 3" catback system on with ory? This may be a really dumb question, but I honestly don't know. Will I have to change anything extra before I get the catback system?

**WS6Dream** · 03-06-2011, 07:32 PM

This is insane. I went to the exhaust sticky and there is SO much information it almost does not help at all in deciding haha. I will probably end up trying to find a reputable shop to go talk to because with so many set ups/ideas, I just don't have a clue what would be the best bang for my buck and have the loud, growlish sound I am looking for.

**KMdef9** · 03-07-2011, 03:37 AM

Originally Posted by WS6Dream

Great advice, I definitely think I will start with Long tube headers, ory, catback system, a cutout and will look for a LS6 intake manifold.

I will see where I am at that, then will also look into the "free mods" that Firebirdjones was talking about.

Then of course I will get a tune from Frost to bring out all the power it's worth.

One question though, if stock pipes are 2.5" diameter, then how do I put a 3" catback system on with ory? This may be a really dumb question, but I honestly don't know. Will I have to change anything extra before I get the catback system?

Your long tubes can/should/will have 3" collectors. You should buy a 3" ory to match and your all set. Most products come 3" for the ls1.

**Firebirdjones** · 03-07-2011, 06:26 AM

Originally Posted by WS6Dream

This is insane. I went to the exhaust sticky and there is SO much information it almost does not help at all in deciding haha. I will probably end up trying to find a reputable shop to go talk to because with so many set ups/ideas, I just don't have a clue what would be the best bang for my buck and have the loud, growlish sound I am looking for.

All the 3" catbacks perform virtually the same. They just have many different sound qualities to choose from and that's all you really need to decide.
LS1sounds has many sound clips that you can listen to. As long as they provide enough information as to other changes that affect sound, you should be able to find something you are looking for.

Look into the other free mods and decide if they are something you want to do. I only mentioned a couple.

**WS6Dream** · 03-07-2011, 06:50 PM

I am looking high and low for specific header, ory, and catbacks, but everywhere I go I cannot figure out what I should be looking for. Should I just go to a local shop and see what they recommend? Even though I would definitely rather getting information from true ls1 enthusiasts, rather than some guy who does exhaust systems for ricers and such...

Is there a header and ory kit that I should be looking at? That come together in a package? If you know of one that I should be interested in, can you link it or send it in a PM?

Btw, the header/exhaust section hasn't been the greatest of help

**WS6Dream** · 03-07-2011, 09:10 PM

These Pacesetter ceramic coated headers and ory what I should be looking at? Price wise good? Quality? Also for the ory that it comes with, should i get the TSP 3" ory or pay 10$ more for Pacesetter 3" ory? Tell me what you think. $490 for these.

*Edit: Removed Links*

Been looking and listening at catback sound clips and still don't know what I prefer. From what I heard, magnaflow and flowmasters are nice. There any general preference over one or the other here? How long do they last if that is an issue?

**WS6Dream** · 03-07-2011, 09:25 PM

Also is it necessary to buy a $750 cat back set? Or could I just buy the muffler and have a muffler shop fabricate the rest of the exhaust? Then just buy whatever tips I want to put on

**'02 WS6** · 03-08-2011, 02:39 AM

Pacesetters are good. I ran the ceramic and had a buddy run the cheaper painted version. Both performed well, although his had more surface rust on the primaries than I did. There's a strong and devout following for Kooks and other stainless headers on here, but for you I'd highly recommend Pacesetters, and for the price you can't beat 'em unless you run the Ebay headers.

The Catbacks are usually stainless and replace the crap stock intermediate pipe. You'll restrict your exhaust leaving the I-pipe on with Headers and a shop muffler. Get a catback and do it right. Check out Magnaflow or SLP Loudmouth...but beware with headers the Loudmoud is.....well loud lol.

**WS6Dream** · 03-08-2011, 06:40 AM

Alright, did you look at the off road y pipes that are available with that $480 package from texas-speed? Which ones do you advise? TSP or Pacesetter ory?

And around $750 for a catback system, is that about right? And for the catback, I am interested in probably magnaflow from some soundclips I have heard? Any positive or negative remarks from anybody regarding that brand?

**KMdef9** · 03-08-2011, 07:15 AM

Originally Posted by WS6Dream

Alright, did you look at the off road y pipes that are available with that $480 package from texas-speed? Which ones do you advise? TSP or Pacesetter ory?

And around $750 for a catback system, is that about right? And for the catback, I am interested in probably magnaflow from some soundclips I have heard? Any positive or negative remarks from anybody regarding that brand?

As headers typically go, you get why you pay for. I have heard alot of people wishing they had spent the money on kooks instead of cheap headers. If your limited by a budget, kooks will be out of reach. I think they run ~900. that's not counting the y pipe.

For a magnaflow catback, it should be closer to 700 I believe, check out kyspeed's site, they have very competitive prices there.