Rep Power: 765

Well, my last thread was on WHICH rims to get, and it all cleared up when I found a SWEET deal on brand new 17inch Chrome ZR1's on ebay from a guy going out of business at his tire shop. 4 wheels and 1 tire (because it was a display). Anyway, there are SOOO NICE. I'll get pictures up when I put them on! Oh man those 275/40/17 tires look big .

NOW BRING ON THE QUESTIONS!! Im home for Christmas break and I want to do as many little/medium mods as possible! I was thinking the lingenfelter CAI for sure, and then a thermostat.

1) Which thermostat? Hypertech or jet? 160 or 180 degree? Whats the diff? pros cons :P

2)What else could I do for somewhat cheap to make my car look cooler or run better for the next few weeks im here? I was thinkin clear corners, white gauges ... Whats some other sweet stuff?






(NOW BRING ON THE RANDOM QUESTIONS!)

1) The 2.5 inch exhaust (opposed to the 3 inch), will never come back and haunt me when i start modding right? like it wont end up being too restrictive after many mods? And does work well with pace-setter headers? Or would you guys recommend just 3" with pace-setterz. Im asking because I know a guy with a deal for me on 2.5" exhaust. (The exhaust is Magnaflow, by the way)

2) The guy i might get it from says the v6 3.4 and 3.8 exhaust is echangable. Is this true? I would think so ... but ftpp.net sells them seperately for seperate engines.

 
Rep Power: 1036

Im not sure on the stock piping size after the headers on the 3.4s, but if its 3" then I think it would be interchangeable. You can buy the exhaust for the v8s and it works on v6s, so that doesnt really matter.

 
Rep Power: 809

You could get some clear corners, some black outs for the back, some rear CAMARO fill ins, paint the calipers, paint the interior? Those are all options..

 
Rep Power: 1069

1 go with a regular 180* (hypertec uses stant, the same one you can buy for half the price)I just pulled a 160* from my car becasue it was running funny, talked to zzp (3800 guru)and he said the 160* won't allow the engine to get warm enough for the computer to do a self diagnostic, and eventually goes into limp home mode. Make sure and do proper fill procedure (get all air out, and use the little vent on the t stat housing to do it while filling) coolant goes everywhere, but it will run much better with the system full of coolant
2.5" exhaust will be fine for a street car (heck many strip cars don't need a 3 in exhaust)

 
Rep Power: 748

im running a 160 with no tunning in my 3.8 and it runs fine.. your def right ont he hypertech being a ripoff tho.. much cheaper ones that are exactly the same.. only other thing i have installed to help it out is a manual fan thermostat.. which is turned down to 165 as well.. the car runs abotu 175 or so on the street.

 
Rep Power: 1069

from my understanding it took it a year before mine acted up

 
Rep Power: 748

mines been on almost 2 now

 
Rep Power: 765

Thanks for the info on Thermostats guys.

OKAY, soooo I'm calling around to see who can put the tires on my wheels and it came up that 275/40/17's won't even work in the front of a 96 Camaro. I (think that I) KNOW that this is wrong, because most of the people on this forum have 275's on all 4 wheels. Please tell me that I am right and that 275 is the widest tire that can fit all the way around without any wheelwell modifications. I was almost POSITIVE that I could just throw them on and it would be good, but please let me know, and as soon as possible!! THANKS!!

 
Rep Power: 896

275s all the way around on my car, no problems yet.

 
Rep Power: 910

either way...a thermostat is a waste of money. fo sheezy.

 
Rep Power: 765

You wanna explain what you mean? Like the idea of one makes sence to me, but you say its just a waste of money? You think the stock one is good enough ... is there any real horse power gain or potential from the swap?

 
Rep Power: 1069

there is no real gain that has ever been proven. Many experts have actually shown slower times from a colder tstat since an internal combustion engine makes peak power at 195*, the colder one makes the computer think the engien is colder so it dumps more gas.My problem was I had a idle air control valve go bad, and the way it's adjusted is have the engine at operating temp (gm set that at 180*) if it's below that the pcm can't learn the proper position, and the car may run rough.I figure zoomer from ZZP knows what he's doing and he runs a stock t stat (and very fast times too)