What should I do to my VP SS?

[danielanastasi]

Hey guys,

This is my first post on this forum so If you think I sound like a ********, you're probably right....I don't know a heap about cars, and that's why I'm here.

I have a stock standard 1993 VP SS, with the only mod being a full exhaust system.

I want to get a bit more performance and economy out of my car. Keeping in mind that I'm only 20 and I dont want the cops to yellow sticker me, and that I havent got $$$$ to throw around.

I was thinking about getting extractors and a cold-air intake. Would these mods do enough to my car to be worth it? How much would these se me back including installation? Would the cops make me remove them?

Any other suggestions of legal enhancements that will improve my car?

I've heard about those chips that can increase the kW of your car - are they a good way to go?

Any suggestions would be really appreciated

(I am also hoping to get the engine rebuilt soon as she has nearly done 220,000...)

Thank you in advance,

Dan

 

[Morton]

I think the best value-for-money mod you could do, would be to have a set of diff gears thrown in. The V8s are a very good car to work on, and respond well to mods such as head porting, extractors, etc... but they're also quite expensive mods to do. I wouldn't go online for a chip - you never know what you'll get.

Diff gears (3.45:1 up to 3.89:1) will make your car launch harder, and bring your gears closer together, at the expense of a little bit of highway economy. For around $400 you will notice a good difference

Other than that, have a look at "my ride" threads where other people have modified a VP SS or other 5litre and see what they have done greenfoam's thread is particularly good.

If you can get a good tune properly made for you (not online bs) then you'll get some brilliant gains out of that, too. Good luck!

 

[danielanastasi]

Thanks for the reply mate,

much appreciated - I'll have a look into those diff gears shortly

Cheers,

Dan

 

[Wagon_Wheel]

Its definatly worth getting your car to breath better, with a decent set of extractors and full exhaust system, with a CAI and high flow filter. Thats pretty much the first thing everyone does, because its basic and effective.
Next as morton just said, you could up your diff gears to a higher ratio which will give you much more up and go, it wont change your KW reading, but will bring the power band down lower, so much more accelleration and less top end.

Then you COULD get it all tuned and have it running very nicely, should be a very poky car, but if you plan on doing anything internal like a cam or anything, there is no point getting a good tune until thats all done.

 

[VLDavo]

when u go to rebuild your engine chuck in a new cam and up the compression a little bit to get it movin alot better aswell

 

[danielanastasi]

Hey guys,

Thanks for the replies. I rang a performance centre today regarding a CAI but the guy told me the the SS intakes for the VP's were not worth putting on...

He suggested I get a set of extractors and put in a 2nd cat with the performance filters and such...(I think thats what he said.) He said they would custom the 2nd cat to my car.

He quoted me $2300 for the lot but thats more than I want to spend right now...Is that a good way to go in the future? Should I do anything else now or wait and do that?

Cheers,

Dan

 

[Emackulation]

If your going to buy a CAI drop into your holden dealer and ask for one there, they shouldn't be too expensive since the V6 ones are roughly $50 including all pieces. The SS inductions CAI is just the same really but with a higher price. Now, there is also the option of a home made CAI, all you need is a bit of imagination, the basic principle of a CAI is to draw colder air from away the engine/engine bay into your engine, give that a think over and have a look around these forums and you will see many different variations of home made CAI's.

Since you say youve already got the exhaust system done, but not the headers/extractors, that would be the first thing on my list, get a pair of headers. Allot of people use pacemakers, but you can choose a different brand, whatever works for you, looking at about $700? for the pacemakers then installation of roughly $200? Then next on my list would be differential gears. Of course having the engine running nice, with new sparks,leads,oil,dizzy cap,dizzy rotor button etc is always the way to go.

 

[PaRaDoX]

man no no no no

1. your not making the flow yet
2. your not making the flow yet
3. your not making the flow yet!!!!!

dont bother with bigger exhusts yet or crappy bolt on mods, you'll spend heaps too much for not much gains... do it right and go for the good stuff

i ran open headers at the drags and it got me 0.05 of a second off my ET,

i ran a CAI and picked up 0.2 (thats HEAPS)
foams manifold was too big for a stocker...

get a chip, the chip cut 0.4 off my ET aswell thats going froma HSV tune, off a stocker it will work WONDERS like nearly a second off


so this should be how you do it


1. Retune ecu, HSV tune or a custom one, ask foam he knows a place u can buy new hsv memcals for $40 or something, then hook up a knock sensor like the hsv's had

2. Custom CAI

3. put a cam package in it... cheapest power u can get

4. heads, shave heads + port n polish (raise comp to suit cam so you can go bigger

5. retune for mods

shouldnt cost you more than $1000

im doing a cam ATM, ran a 14.96 @ 32deg few weeks back on a stocker..

i ordered
New lifters
New heavy duty valve springs
Billeted Collets
wade 818 cam (276 duration. on the border for stock comp)
VRS kit (valve stem seals, inlet gaskets etc)
running in oil

total cost $550


im hoping for a low 14 when air temps normal, like 20deg, soo slow in the heat but at night its brilliant..

also check your throttle cable, get a mate to sit in the car push his foot all the way down, and look at the throttle and see if the throttle plate hits the stop, if it does check to see if the throttles %100 open, if it is brilliant if it isnt then they'res some free power for you (Y)

im hoping to pick up a fair bit of top end from valve springs are its sluggish and they feel pretty loose (compress easy with my compressor)

anyway consider what ive said, persoanlly im not doing diff gears because i live out on the highway and do 110km/h alot

but yeah throw some 3.45s in there out of a VL diff

 

[Wagon_Wheel]

As if getting all that done for under a grand.... parts yes, installation is the killer unless you do it urself which most ppl wont do
How much would installation be roughly, if a cam was bought seperate? just for someone to put it in?
And doing it properly wouldnt mean, getting it tuned in stock form..... then modding it.

 

[Pub247]

There's a point to having a better flowing exhaust and intake stock motors do gain power with these. As for putting a cam in yes, it's good and will work even better with a better breathing motor. Better flow or cam first? does it really matter? your going to need both in the end.