Bought a 2000 SS...what mods???
 

Hello everyone. About 3 weeks ago I picked up a 2000 SS camaro with about 40k on it. I love this car. I sold my 94 z-28 a few weeks back and have been dying to get another Camaro.

Anyways, I bought this car off the second owner, a women who said everything was stock. I wanted it stock, no one messed with it and no surprises. Except a K&N air filter and synthetic oil has always been ran.

I want to modify the car to get it somewhere in the high 12s and keep it as reliable as possible. (no bottle) I only drive about 10 miles to work, but I like to travel and plan on traveling a lot in it. I don't want to get stranded when my $150 EBay header cracks, or I destroy that weak 10 bolt rear. Or are those inexpensive headers on EBay good?

Were should I start? I imagine exhaust....

I am kind of an old school guy, the computer stuff is new to me.

Also, under full throttle, the car barks the tires into second. Is that normal? Maybe the first owner tweaked the computer, because that doesn't seem right in a stock car.

Thanks for reading....

when you have over 300hp barking it into 2nd is nothing :D should be able to bark it into third lol...Exhaust is always a good start.

An aftermarket air lid, headers and a full exhaust is a good starting point for mods.

It is almost certain that the car is all stock except for the K&N. Chirping the tires going into 2nd is completely normal. The LS1's are known for having tons of power right out of the box...:D

I guess that I should have said that car was an auto. But still, I have a feeling that you guys understood.

So an aftermarket air lid? What is a good one? I imagine that a cold air style isn't that great considering that I have the hood scoop.

I think that I am going to go with Hooker full length headers. Hopefully they will fit ok.

The exhaust might not be completely stock. The exhaust pipes both exit the back on the drivers side of the car. I hate the way it looks. The 2nd owner thought that the original owner did something, but it certainly doesn't have headers. The car sounds ok, it's a little quiet for a 300+hp car.

I think that I am going to have one of the tail pipes moved over to the passenger side and get an electric cut out somewhere. That thing was on my old Camaro and I loved it. Sure it ain't gonna last forever, but it was really cool.

How much do the cats rob? How about a good muffler?

An absolutely sure way to get in the 12's would be an intake, headers, full exhaust, and 3.73 gears(since it's an auto).
I know you're afraid of breaking the ten bolt but as long as you don't put slicks or race it at the strip all the time you won't have any problems.

I have 4.10's in my car with a cam, nitrous, etc... and since I don't run slicks or take it to the track but once a year or so I'm not worried about it.

It sounds like you have the SLP 2OTL(Two on The Left) exhaust. It is a stock exhaust but is considered an upgrade so when you change it don't throw it away, sell it for some cash.

As for an air lid I bought the Whisper one but they are all pretty much the same thing and will give you the same gains.

Hooker headers are known as good headers for the LS1's so go with them.

I think Magnaflow makes a good catback, it's not to loud at idle but with headers and no cats it'll still sound mean at WOT and cruising at higher RPM's.

Go to http://ls1sounds.com/ to hear different exhaust setups on LS1's.

Oh and welcome to :yeahpc:

welcome to the forum!! got any pic's of the SS!

welcome to the site sounds like a good start...cant wait to see some pics

The gear idea sounds like a good one. With the 4:10 what kind of Rpm are you running on the freeway? I imagine that it's a little to high for me and that a 3:73 is the way to go.

The exhaust sounds site is really cool. I am still debating about what to go after. I didn't realize that my exhaust was an option, but it sure is.

I think that the first thing that I am going to do is put a gear in it. What gear comes standard? I don't even know what gear they have stock. 3:31?

I'll post some pictures shortly. It ain't anything that great. It's that gray (pewter) color with the aluminum non-polished rims. Pretty standard looking. Which is good for me, I don't want the attention. Full tint, which I also had on my old Camaro and I never got ticketed. Hopefully it stays like that.

Don't quote me but I believe the stock gears for the A4's was 3.23's.

The 4.10's aren't bad on the interstate but I do have the six speed and both fifth and sixth gears are both overdrive gears. A lot of people go with 3.73's unless they are building the cars strickly for racing when using the automatics.

Here's a website that you can use to to see at what RPM's you'd be at with different gears.
http://www.f-body.org/gears/

After I swap out the gear, what do I have to do in order for the computer to correct my speedometer, traction control and ABS? I imagine that I have to buy something and reprogram the computer.

You just need to havesome with HP Tuners or something like that and have them change it. It won't take them more than a second to do it. They literally just go into the computer and change it. You don't have to worry about the Traction Control or ABS at all.

lets see... my friend has a 02 CETA... he has a Lid, Bellow, Mangaflow muffler, a cut out and a tune and some nice sticky tires and he is running 13.007. he has a auto with 3.23's..

I have a 2000 SS and have Pacesetter Long tubes, ORY, Custom Single Chamber Flowmaster, Lid, Bellow, LS6 Swap, Msd Wires, and some New Spark plus, a slight tune, and subframe connectors and with with ok street tires i ran a 12.76 at 111... Since my slave is going out and i have put Rear Lower Control Arms, Panhard Bar, and a Strut Tower Brace, some new falkins, and a new slave cyl.. i should be able to run 12.5 easy...

Car launches pretty good trust me do some LT's,ORY,LS6 Swap, Lid, Bellow, Tune, and some subframe connectors and you should be in the 12's.

Welcome to project camaro! do't you have some pics of it?

do wut im doing. Def full exhaust and even more important is to get rid of the stock air box. it is the most restrictive box in the world. After i put on my catbacks i through a k n n intake kit n now it runs much better too. pending if u hav an auto tranny get rear end gears n a bigger stall. Try to develop a relationship w/ ur local performance shop n they should b able to get u sum better deals. for example i got my intake kit for 320 instead of the horrible 380-390. now im running roughly 365 n my 02 z28

Modding is an expensive disease................

but a fun 1

It seems everyone has missed the NUMBER ONE THING TO BUY!

HPTuners, LS1Edit, or EFILive (I personally have had LS1Edit and now use HPTuners)

Until you have one of these, you are an idiot to do anything else (yes....I said it!) It won't give you any "power" but it is by far THE BEST $500 you will spend. You can change anything and everything then to make the car drive as you wish. Then when you actually MOD the car, you can adjust for it.


I personally would not blow the $500+ to install gears into the 10bolt. Yes they will "work" for a while (mine held up to 500RWHP till I put drag radials on), but you are better putting that money towards a 12 bolt.

Hooker/Pacesetter/etc (steel headers) are very good quality (overall) and nobody ever has problems with them. With that said, being where you are they will eventually rust (would think rather quickly) so I would invest in stainless instead. For now, 1-3/4" primaries.

Personally there is NOTHING that compares to true duals with an x-pipe. ANY "catback" sounds HORRIBLE in comparison. There were (as of a few years ago....probably more now) companies building "pre-fabbed"/bolt-on true duals that ran back to the rear axle and dumped. These are an option, however you WILL want to have someone extend them back behind the rear axle as it is LOUD (noise/drone inside) otherwise. Or you can have a shop fab up a system. It really isn't hard at all (I have built several for my car as well as a few friends).

Lids are all the same
Filters are all the same
if you want a MAF, get an LS6/Z06 85mm (don't mod the stock one...you will mess up your auto tranny shifts)
do all the "free stuff"
converter
LCAs
Torque arm
cam
heads
etc....the list gets $$$ quick from here out....