Upgrading intake on a stock LS1, questions, questions.......

Have a stock 2000 ls1 with the "egr" system. Was wanting to upgrade to an LS6 intake. The 102mm LSXR seems like it would be overkill for my ultimate goal of making in the neighborhood of 450 naturally aspirated horses (after intake/heads/cam/exhaust upgrades). I remember SLP used to offer an ls6 intake with a provision to keep the "egr" system but I noticed they don't sell it on their website anymore. Will the PCM set a trouble code if I remove the "egr" system in order to use a regular ls6 intake? And does the ls6 intake support an 85mm TB? I believe I would have to upgrade the MAF as well to an 85mm unit. When you upgrade to a larger TB and MAF, do you have to replace the ducting between the intake / MAF and MAF / TB? Surely someone has been down this road and would be kind enough to share their knowledge! Thanks.

I believe that you can still purchase the LS6 intake from GM or other suppliers. You will need to have the EGR error reporting tuned out so as to avoid tripping your SES light. Your stock MAF will work just fine up to about the 500 h.p. level -- I wouldn't even consider swapping it for an aftermarket unit. However, if you want to ditch it completely, you can swap over to a speed density tune which a lot of guys have done without any issues. I think Shaner makes a nice ported throttle body, not sure who else.

I appreciate knowing I can keep my TB and MAF as it will support the HP I'm looking at. I'll try removing the screen and perhaps doing some porting on the MAF and TB. I will continue to look for an LS6 intake that has a provision for the "egr" as that seems like the easiest route to take. I'll probably get a "shop" to reflash the PCM once I swap out the heads and cam as I don't really want to buy the software or have to do the tuning myself. Just another thing I'd have to learn when I can get someone who know's what they're doing to take care of it. Thanks pajeff02.

:no: Actually... you should not touch the MAF at all. Any alteration to the MAF throws off its calibration and results in unmetered air entering your engine. The MAF works by maintaining a heated wire at a certain temperature. By measuring how much current is required to heat the wire, the MAF can determine how much air is entering the engine. The MAF then sends a signal to the PCM in hertz telling it how much air has entered so that it can calculate the appropriate amount of fuel to inject. When you change the size of the MAF opening by porting it, or de-screening it, the MAF does not know this and continues to calculate airflow based upon the factory MAF dimensions. As is, the MAF will easily support your intended power levels so please leave it alone. The only thing you should do to the MAF is occasionally clean it with CRC Spray MAF Cleaner. Crud on the wire will act to insulate it and throw off the sensors ability to read incoming air flow. Our car had an off idle stumble when we bought it and the problem was a de-screened and ported MAF. I purchased a replacement MAF through GM Parts Direct and the problem was instantly solved.

Got it, you're just making my life easier. Thanks again.

No problem. Glad I could help out. I highly recommend Tuned by Frost for your PCM update. He has a mail order service and has worked his magic on lots of members' cars over the years. I think his shop is down around Richmond somewhere.

Solid advice from Jeff. My MAF supports my supercharged Camaro. I also had my car tuned by FROST and I have nothing but great things to say about the guy. He is a miracle worker when it comes to tuning our cars.