Getting Bored of my Car... - NJFBOA - Home of New Jersey's Camaros and Firebirds

SeanC · 03-12-2012, 01:26 PM

Hey guys, I have a 96' Trans Am with basically full bolt ons, but am getting bored with the car. Its run a 13.1 at 106 with drag radials (not a good 60' - had my shocks set too soft and the car would just bog). Basically my problem now is I want to go faster, but it seems like i'm at the point where I have to spend a ton of $$$$ to do so. If I spend the money on a heads/cam package, im most likely going to need a new rear and probably a new bottom end soon after....It seems like f-bodys are extremely expensive to go fast.

I've been playing with the idea of selling my car and getting a fox body mustang. I could probably pick up a decent 5.0 for $2500 and have all of the extra money from my car to put into it. Think I could have a faster car for much cheaper than its going to take to build my F-body...

What do you guys think? I know it takes money to go fast, but I just dont have the funds to get my current car to the next level. Just getting bored with the project I guess. Thanks!

Jersey Mike · 03-12-2012, 01:38 PM

Get a stall.

Blackbirdws6 · 03-12-2012, 01:39 PM

To go fast it takes money, some cars are more "economical" than others. With that said, it sounds like you are bored with the project but how fast are you looking to go? How many miles do you have on the car? You could give it a shot of nitrous and add a rear if it happens to blow to keep it fun.

SeanC · 03-12-2012, 02:13 PM

The car has 114,000 miles on it right now. And its a 6-speed (sorry, should have said that initially). I was debating adding nitrous...Would just a basic Zex wet kit be fine?

BlackBird, i'm not sure what my ultimate goal is in the future, but i'd really like to see the car hit atleast 11s down the road... If I could get myself in the low 12s right now shooting for 11s i'd be less bored. Just kills me that its still in the 13s.

Blackbirdws6 · 03-12-2012, 02:34 PM

What was your best 60'? Getting that down will get you into the 12's.

If you are thinking nitrous, I would suggest a Nitrous Outlet plate nitrous kit over a Zex. Throw a 100 shot at it and it will wake it up significantly. Make sure to get the safety items to keep everything happy.

Do you take any weight out of the car when you run? Time of day and weather conditions play a factor. All I'm saying is you have some decent money in your current car so upgrading a few things might allow you to hit your goal of 11's. We know a few people on here are still on the search for that elusive number.

Whoboy580 · 03-12-2012, 07:18 PM

mustang are more expensive to build. Only good thing about them is there a lot of used parts. stick with the F-Body you will be more happier, I got over 12k in mine and I would hate to have to part with it. I guess I just like the challenge.

SeanC · 03-12-2012, 08:04 PM

I do like my car, its just killing me that I can't do much with it right now because the next step is so expensive.

BlackBird, my best 60' has been a 2.0. I know this is really bad, especially with drag radials. Like I said, I think my suspension setup was fighting against the car. It feels much better since I have adjusted it, just havn't gotten to the track yet. I know the car has 12s in it, but even then, I'm still going to want more haha. When I race the car I pretty much pull all the interior out. Removed the AC and AIR. I also have racestar 15s with skinnies on the front. The car is starting to already feel like a tin can...Not sure I can pull too much else out. Does anybody have any builds that have a nice, weight saving interior? I hate the stock interior...any ideas on how to save some weight and still make it look nice?

Could you point me in the right direction of which nitrous outlet plate system I should be looking at? What else do I need to get that doesnt come with the kit? The MSD box to pull a little timing? I've never used nitrous before, so any info would be great. How safe is it to run on a motor with my miles on it?

Thanks again guys, your starting to make me feel better about it! haha

deadtrend1 · 03-12-2012, 08:41 PM

Put nitrous on it.

coolmanvette75 · 03-12-2012, 09:11 PM

Spray it. Nitrous outlet plate ftw. Ur gonna need an ignition box to pull timing, colder plugs, an rpm window switch, purge, and a heater. The list goes further but those are the main things you will need...

SeanC · 03-12-2012, 09:27 PM

Is there a nitrous outlet kit that comes with the window switch, etc? I was under the impression that the kit had everything you basically needed to get up and running.

deadtrend1 · 03-12-2012, 09:32 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by coolmanvette75

Spray it. Nitrous outlet plate ftw. Ur gonna need an ignition box to pull timing, colder plugs, an rpm window switch, purge, and a heater. The list goes further but those are the main things you will need...

You sure about all if that??

coolmanvette75 · 03-12-2012, 09:41 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by deadtrend1

You sure about all if that??

To do it safely, yes. OP could just hook it to a button and spray it though every shift (instead of a window switch), but there is a lot more room for error there. Dont pull any timing/run colder plugs and you run the risk of running too lean and putting a hole in your piston. Dont get a purge and any air in the main feed line will get sprayed into the engine. This will cause it to run rich for a second (fuel and air instead of fuel and nitrous) and bog. Dont run a heater (or Nano system) and after a few passes the pressure will do down causing the amount of nitrous being sprayed to decrease. There are many more accessories but like I said, those are the main things you will want to have...

deadtrend1 · 03-12-2012, 09:41 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by SeanC

Is there a nitrous outlet kit that comes with the window switch, etc? I was under the impression that the kit had everything you basically needed to get up and running.

I use the WOT microswitch

coolmanvette75 · 03-12-2012, 09:51 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by deadtrend1

I use the WOT microswitch

Yes I did not include that because It comes as part of the kit. Nitrous outlet sells their brand window switch which is what I have. It is nice because it also lets you lock-out first gear if you dont want to kill your rear on the launch...

SeanC · 03-14-2012, 07:51 AM

Thanks for all of the help everyone, getting excited about this project. I'm going to need help getting through it though, this is my first nitrous experience and i'm really not trying to blow my car up. So here is my list so far:

1) Nitrous Outlet Wet Plate Kit
2) Nitrous Outlet Window Switch
3) Bottle Heater
4) Timing retarder
5) Colder Plugs
6) Possible FPSS
7) Air/Fuel ratio gauage (thinking this is smart to have to be safe...?)

What kind of timing retarder do you guys use? From what I have found so far, you can use an MSD or mallory box and use the MSD wire harness that connects right to the coil on the LT1. I have a walbro 255 L/hr pump in the car, but do not have the hotwire kit that is offered...is just the pump going to flow enough?

Also, is it safer to run nitrous setup like this (assuming its setup correctly) on a higher mileage motor than it is to do heads/cam? Starting to think that this setup is going to cost more than a LE2 heads/cam setup....

Thanks!

coolmanvette75 · 03-14-2012, 07:54 AM

I will be using a Mallory 685 box...

SeanC · 03-14-2012, 08:13 AM

I was thinking about using that the mallory 685 box since it incorporates the window switch into it, but it looks like the nitrous outlet window switch has a gear lockout function (I dont want to spray 1st gear). Does the 685 box have this capability?

sweetbmxrider · 03-14-2012, 08:19 AM

You will put more immediate stress on your bottom end with the nitrous kit. If you run a smaller cam with a lower shift point, your bottom end should hold up alright. Its really a guessing game as no one knows the condition of the internals. You could spin a rod bearing starting the car up later today. That being said, you could do a cam only swap and when your budget allows for heads, bottom end, then larger cam, you can do so and have fun and learn some things along the way.

If I were you and the budget is under $2k, I would do a cc503 for now. If you are more in the $3-3.5k, I'd spring for an LE2 setup. Keep the cam a little smaller and tell Lloyd you want a lower shift point say around 62-6300rpm and you should have fun for a while.

coolmanvette75 · 03-14-2012, 08:27 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by SeanC

I was thinking about using that the mallory 685 box since it incorporates the window switch into it, but it looks like the nitrous outlet window switch has a gear lockout function (I dont want to spray 1st gear). Does the 685 box have this capability?

No but this is the combo I have...

deadtrend1 · 03-14-2012, 09:02 AM

Im hitting my 110k mile shortblock with no problems yet with it.

I'd recommend taking it to someone that has real experince with these systems. I had Josh from JSPerformance set my system up since I was new to it.

SeanC · 03-14-2012, 10:37 AM

If I'm going to put in a cam, I think I want to do heads at the same time (just makes sense...). I guess the consensus is that the higher mileage stock shortblock won't hold up against the LE2 combo without being redone, huh?

Good to know your car is holding up on the spray DeadTrend. Would you mind telling me more about your setup? I'm sure JSPerformance would do a great job setting it up, but the whole goal of me doing stuff like this is to learn and have the pride of doing everything on my car myself.

sweetbmxrider · 03-14-2012, 10:55 AM

There is no arguing that nitrous will add more stress to the motor than a mild heads/cam setup (So long as it isn't a bitch shot

) You can run an le2 setup, just be wary of your shift point. The higher you rev, the more stress you induce on your stock shortblock. There's nothing wrong with doing just a cam now and getting heads later on. I am just trying to work with a budget here as you mentioned bang for your buck dollar wise and fbodies being expensive etc.

WildBillyT · 03-14-2012, 11:02 AM

I agree with Adam, I'd do a heads/cam swap instead of the N2O, just be wary of your powerband.

SeanC · 03-14-2012, 02:49 PM

I may go that direction now...My heads were "freshened" up about 10,000 miles ago when I overheated the car and blew a head gasket. I unfortunately I don't know all of the details of exactly what the machine shop did...I know the heads were atleast milled (not sure by how much), the springs shimmed, and a simple valve job done. Is this a problem when it comes to getting them ported by Lloyd?

Blackbirdws6 · 03-14-2012, 02:52 PM

If they didn't do much more than a clean-up and mill of the heads, it likely won't be a problem but talk with him first.