Basic Bolt On's list and some explanations

[sobaka79]

Just a note for the SLP lid -
I sometimes send in a sample of my oil for analysis. When I installed the SLP lid on my WS6, my oil started showing a high silicon content. Blackstone Labs told me that dirty air was probably getting past my filter. I removed the SLP lid and reinstalled the stock lid. The next oil sample was normal. I tried the SLP lid again and I had high silicon again. Also, when I removed the SLP lid there was a small blade of grass stuck to my MAF screen.
I was very careful installing the lid. It simply does not seal as well as the stock lid. It does not seem to fit as tight.

i had this problem as well, i used the K&N gasket on the bottem side of the intake and this pushed the air filter up enough to seal the lid. I then took the box back and told them the gasket was missing and put the other gasket in the appropriate place on the lid. i also made my own silicon gasket and basically glued the filter to the lid.

the problem appears to come from the seal around back toward the MAF/TB

[ArmyCPT]

i installed a throttle body spacer and smooth bellows on my 02 WS6 convertible. it produced a noticeable increase. staying with the stock lid.

[anotherhustler]

did you use the nx tb spacer? port the maf next its pretty funny

[aspkkr]

I actually had my airlid come apart which allowed all kinds of stuff to flow over my air filter. When I noticed it and took off the maf the screen was covered with feathers and sticks and yes ROCKS!! So I strongly recommend leaving the screen where it belongs.

[csess]

what does the egr and air block offs do?

[Wesman]

what does the egr and air block offs do?

Blocks off the AIR and EGR ports on the exhaust and intake manifolds. Basically just metal plates shaped like the ports to prevent leakage of exhaust gasses or intake air.

However, if you just block them off, you will get a Check Engine Light. You need to tune them out of the computer with a custom tune, and then you can block off the AIR/EGR ports.

[scooley]

where is the best place to start modifying with bolt ons?

[sethta]

I would start with airlid and catback first. Then I would do headers and ported throttle body.

[FORD RECOVERY EXPERT]

+1 For Teh Lid And Full Exhuast

[Semperfiws6]

1. Best bang for the buck mod by far is a lid. When it comes to the different manufactureres, just remember, a lid is a lid. If you're looking for something cheap and affordable, check out the SLP lids. Great fit overall. I personally run the whisper lid but the fit isn't as good as the SLP.

2. Don't fall for the trick, stay with the stock MAF. DOn't spend the money for a bigger MAF or a Cold air tuned MAF. It will only give you more problems than gains. Detonation is a big issue! The most you should do with the MAF is porting and descreening the MAF which is a free MOD.

3. If you're running a 98-99 LS1, look into an LS6 or FAST manifold. Very good MOD and it makes a difference.

4. Freeing up your exhaust IE headers and cat back not only gives you more bark, but it will help you with the bite later after a cam install.

5. Pushrods are fairly easy to change. If you have an M6, Pushrods should be the first thing to change. The stock length is 7.400". The upgraded Chromoly's are only $150 approximately but it will save you from heartbreak when you ding past redline leading to bend or in my case, pushrods snapped in half.

6. Quarterpanel flex, leaky t-tops, twisted frames, it's all too common in our cars. Invest in a good set of Sub Frame connectors. Have them professionally installed, bolted, or welded on a loaded lift, not a frame off. On a frame off, once the car is lowered onto the tires and the suspension is preloaded, the welds will break and the bolts as well. For those who have questions on the loaded lifts, it's just a lift you drive up on and the whole car is lifted. Most shops have a roll on lift or a pit.

7. Rearend is a weakpoint when it comes to high horsepower. You can run a rebuilt stocker and be fine. The axles are usually what goes first.

8. Nothing beats a custom tune from a performance shop. Check out some local shops to see if they do any custom tuning. A programmer can cause some issues like pulling the wrong timing, wrong A/F Ratios, etc.

There are more mods than can possibly be listed, but this is a basic list. Pick and choose the route you take and do your research. On this site, you'll find a lot of informative sponsors. When shopping for a cam, look into Thunder Racing, they have some great custom Cams with full explanations and a few with Dyno Graphs. This site is full of info as well, do your research and surf through some posts.

Ok guys, if you want to add any more info into this list, feel free to add!

when you say the loaded lift, you mean like an alignment lift, correct?

[TimsLS1]

Hey guys i need help with my 2002 LS1 im not really sure what items to add to it just to get enough power that wont kill my daily driving of the car. do you have any ideas?

[sethta]

Start with a lid, good performance gain that doesn't effect driveablity. If you don't mind it being a little bit louder put a catback like hooker on, but if you want it really loud put a borla or corsa on. Also depending how loud you want a daily driver you can do headers, but make sure to have cats on unless you want to smell like gas. Depending on how many miles your car has a good tune-up will give a small gain and improve driveability.

[jrgswhitels1]

MAF...what is the deal with these suckers!! My buddy gave me an 06' GTO MAF, which by the way is much larger in diameter than my stocker,and now Im having problems with fuel trim(-14 up to -24) constant at cruising speeds and seems like its bogging down! I even maxxed out my Diablosport powertune enrichment all the way to lean and it only dropped down to -13 and as high as -14. Took to track and definetly felt slower. Had code of engine misfire and stuff like that. Can the MAF really screw things up that bad??

[99blueZ]

MAF...what is the deal with these suckers!! My buddy gave me an 06' GTO MAF, which by the way is much larger in diameter than my stocker,and now Im having problems with fuel trim(-14 up to -24) constant at cruising speeds and seems like its bogging down! I even maxxed out my Diablosport powertune enrichment all the way to lean and it only dropped down to -13 and as high as -14. Took to track and definetly felt slower. Had code of engine misfire and stuff like that. Can the MAF really screw things up that bad??

yes it can really screw things up. Put your stock MAF back on. Not worth the headaches.

[djvaly]

you need to retune with a pro tuner like LS1Edit. the Air and Fuel table constants and layout has changed...

[clg82]

i currently am running a ws6 with a k&n filter....with the slp smooth bellows connecting the maf and throttle body......if i purchase the slp lid will that eliminate the bellows and if i do get a lid will that still be a good hp gain even though i already have the ws6 intake and lid? and if so how is the slp lid better???

[Hurley711]

1. Best bang for the buck mod by far is a lid. When it comes to the different manufactureres, just remember, a lid is a lid. If you're looking for something cheap and affordable, check out the SLP lids. Great fit overall. I personally run the whisper lid but the fit isn't as good as the SLP.

2. Don't fall for the trick, stay with the stock MAF. DOn't spend the money for a bigger MAF or a Cold air tuned MAF. It will only give you more problems than gains. Detonation is a big issue! The most you should do with the MAF is porting and descreening the MAF which is a free MOD.

3. If you're running a 98-99 LS1, look into an LS6 or FAST manifold. Very good MOD and it makes a difference.

4. Freeing up your exhaust IE headers and cat back not only gives you more bark, but it will help you with the bite later after a cam install.

5. Pushrods are fairly easy to change. If you have an M6, Pushrods should be the first thing to change. The stock length is 7.400". The upgraded Chromoly's are only $150 approximately but it will save you from heartbreak when you ding past redline leading to bend or in my case, pushrods snapped in half.

6. Quarterpanel flex, leaky t-tops, twisted frames, it's all too common in our cars. Invest in a good set of Sub Frame connectors. Have them professionally installed, bolted, or welded on a loaded lift, not a frame off. On a frame off, once the car is lowered onto the tires and the suspension is preloaded, the welds will break and the bolts as well. For those who have questions on the loaded lifts, it's just a lift you drive up on and the whole car is lifted. Most shops have a roll on lift or a pit.

7. Rearend is a weakpoint when it comes to high horsepower. You can run a rebuilt stocker and be fine. The axles are usually what goes first.

8. Nothing beats a custom tune from a performance shop. Check out some local shops to see if they do any custom tuning. A programmer can cause some issues like pulling the wrong timing, wrong A/F Ratios, etc.

There are more mods than can possibly be listed, but this is a basic list. Pick and choose the route you take and do your research. On this site, you'll find a lot of informative sponsors. When shopping for a cam, look into Thunder Racing, they have some great custom Cams with full explanations and a few with Dyno Graphs. This site is full of info as well, do your research and surf through some posts.

Ok guys, if you want to add any more info into this list, feel free to add!

WOW! Can't believe no one has said anything about this. #3 lists 98-99 cars as needing LS6 manifold or FAST manifold, should list 98-00 cars. Little Easter Egg there

[02Hawk]

WOW! Can't believe no one has said anything about this. #3 lists 98-99 cars as needing LS6 manifold or FAST manifold, should list 98-00 cars. Little Easter Egg there

Not true I have an ls6 block and intake... stock in my 2002 many 2000 - 2002 came with ls6 intakes and some blocks... so look up part numbers before you go out and buy one for you 00 - 02

[JayErnie]

About the grill into the MAF sensor, on some cars it's there to keep the air incoming into the intake straight, whithout any swirl or disturbance caused by irregular surfaces in the intake pipes such as waved rubber tubes like the ones on about every car. Sometimes that grill serves as a protection against backfires so it doesn't actually set the airfilter on fire. The last purpose of that grill is simply to be a screen right before the intake, preventing incomings shrapnel or useless stuff for the combustion (like a rock or w/e could get there) to enter the engine.

Now on Fbodies LS1, I don't see any particular uses I mentionned above to be fulfilled by the grill xept for the fact that it serves as a screen. The air comes alredy straight into the engine with the air box and as the engine being longitudinal. Plus, that kind of grill won't protect much from a backfire. So, assuming you have an airfilter in good conditions, you can carefully remove that grill and polish the interior of you MAF safely.

[clg82]

I would start with airlid and catback first. Then I would do headers and ported throttle body.

where is a good place to get a ported throttle body and what exactly does it do in regards to horsepower gains and performance? and finally are they hard to install?