Prioritizing My Mods... a little help please.

[Naaman]

Yeah, I've read that pulleys can do that to the charging system, that's why I'm not 100% sure I want one. I was thinking that if I got an electric water pump and maybe deleted the power steering, those could compensate instead. Not sure I want to drop power steering, though... I once had my ps belt break on my pick up and while I noticed a MASSIVE improvement in the communication through the tires, parking the car was a chore.

I wish there was a power steering option that shut off above 10 mph...

[SMWS6TA]

Add LS6 Valley Cover tray, 99-02 Knock Sensors & wire harness, Catch Can. DELETE THE SLP MAF - OEM MAF is better. Other then that nice build list.

[Naaman]

I know you're responding to JoshuaGrooms83, but now I'm curious, too.

What's the purpose behind those mods?

Valley Cover Tray? Is it more reliable? Improve performance?

I have a 98. What would the 99+ knock sensor and wire harness do for me? Is it necessary for compatibility with the valley cover?

I've read up on the catch can. Will probably get one. Will be keeping my MAF for now... unless I can upgrade without losing more than 0.5 MPG.

[JoshuaGrooms83]

Got the New Knock sensors and new style harness on the way.

From what ive been looking around, GM has designed new knock sensors that are fine for our younger ls siblings, but for us red headed 99 and under ls's, some of us have different style connections, therefore when you get new knock sensors, you usually need to buy the harness to hook them up to. not that expensive, just another annoying fact that gm hates us first borns lol
The reasoning behind getting new knock sensors is sense your already in, isstead of digging out probably rusty old KS's, just put new ones in the new ls6 valley cover and be done with it. then hook up your new harness and be done with it.
My SLP MAF is a product of free gifting a guy gave it to me for free and I stuck it on there. Havnt had any issues with it on since i put it on in 07. Not sure what the big deal is about them?

[Naaman]

My Short List after some more homework:

FTP Ram Air Kit
S3 Throttle Body
Short Throw Shifter

I wish the bottom end were not so expensive... for now, I just have to focus on maximizing induction...

A question about the shifter:

Does it actually change the way the shift feels, or does it just make the throw shorter? Does a good shifter make gear changes smoother?

[SMWS6TA]

I know you're responding to JoshuaGrooms83, but now I'm curious, too.

What's the purpose behind those mods?

Valley Cover Tray? Is it more reliable? Improve performance?

I have a 98. What would the 99+ knock sensor and wire harness do for me? Is it necessary for compatibility with the valley cover?

I've read up on the catch can. Will probably get one. Will be keeping my MAF for now... unless I can upgrade without losing more than 0.5 MPG.

The Valley Cover tray mod removes the PCV piping from around the back of the engine and moves it to a tube that is in front just under the Throttle Body on the passenger side. When installed with a catch can that filters the oil/air crank case vapor it eliminates the need for a PCV.

The way that the PCV is currently set up, you have 2 areas that PCV tubing will fail at. One is the PCV itself and the other is where it splits behind the back of the Intake. Most vacuum leaks are from this too. This mod fixes this.

Got the New Knock sensors and new style harness on the way.

From what ive been looking around, GM has designed new knock sensors that are fine for our younger ls siblings, but for us red headed 99 and under ls's, some of us have different style connections, therefore when you get new knock sensors, you usually need to buy the harness to hook them up to. not that expensive, just another annoying fact that gm hates us first borns lol
The reasoning behind getting new knock sensors is sense your already in, isstead of digging out probably rusty old KS's, just put new ones in the new ls6 valley cover and be done with it. then hook up your new harness and be done with it.
My SLP MAF is a product of free gifting a guy gave it to me for free and I stuck it on there. Haven't had any issues with it on since i put it on in 07. Not sure what the big deal is about them?

GM has stopped selling >98 knock sensors for the LS1. JoshuaGrooms83 is right in that you might as well put new parts if you've already gone this far. You also have to remove the KS in order to remove the Valley Cover Tray. And after many hot/cold cycles these things are brittle and are due to go out anyways. I've read every 60k miles they need to be replace, but don't hold me to that, I could have a bad source of reference on the exact time to change them.


JoshuaGrooms83 - Many ppl in the past have has loads of problems with aftermarket MAFs. SLP has had some of the biggest complaints. But hey, if you got it working, I can't complain.

[Naaman]

So... As it happens, my brother-in-law bought me an SLP CAI... I have heard that they don't actually yield any performance gain, but some people report that they noticed the difference after installing it. I was planning on getting the FTP ram air, and noticed that they have an upgrade kit for the SLP CAI. Looking at the pictures, the FTP ram air looks a lot like the SLP CAI. I'm assuming that they are both built on the same principle (maybe even virtually identical products). Does anyone know if the FTP Ram Air is just an SLP CAI taken to the next step?

That seems to be the case, looking at the pictures. If so, that would be nice.