Just got my Z back from Bill Boudreau...

[KILLSHOTS]

Took it to him for several projects, including installing OBX headers, Corsa exhaust, new silicone hoses, rebuilt tensioner from Marc, a new rear spring and one of his signature shifters. He also modified my thermostat to run cooler and relocated the MAT sensor and replaced a bunch of hardened hoses and lines under and around the plenum.

My impressions of Bill:

Perfectionist. Highly-detailed and treated my car like it belonged to him. He detailed my plenum and cam covers at no charge and they look great. He hand-washed the car before I went to pick it up. He filled the car with premium and did not charge me for it. He took his sweet time with it; the job took MUCH longer than I originally thought and I became frustrated at times. BUT, it was well worth it in the end. He’s a great guy and I will take my car to him whenever it needs anything more complicated than an oil change. I HIGHLY recommend him.

My impressions of the car:

LOVE the Corsa system; it has a great Jekyll & Hyde thing going on…quiet when I want it to be and straight pipe-loud when I don’t. Just took it out and beat the hell out of it for 20 minutes in 107 degree heat and the coolant gauge never exceeded an indicated 170ish. Bill’s shifter is AMAZING! So direct and positive! I can’t believe how much slop there is in the stock unit; I thought the new one was broken at first, it felt so different. It ain’t broken! If I had it to do over again, I would have installed cats. Not because I care about my 2K per year car hurting the atmosphere or even because I care about the smell in the AIR, but after my quick drive I walked into the house and my clothes smelled like a garage! It’s like hanging out in a smoky bar for an hour and I didn’t expect that nasty side effect. Lastly, the car is very, very fast but honestly, I’m having a hard time sensing a SOTP difference going from stock manifolds/straight pipes to OBX headers/Corsa, even though I had Marc’s chip calibrated for the change. Surprising indeed.

[PhillipsLT5]

Good to hear your up & running & happy, come on OCT.

[Racinfan83]

Keep in mind the smell will probably go away - you drove it with new headers, pipes, etc and all the "new" has to burn off...;)

[Blue Flame Restorations]

Always good to hear of great work and more PERMAGRIN!!!!!

[GOLDCYLON]

Keep in mind the smell will probably go away - you drove it with new headers, pipes, etc and all the "new" has to burn off...;)

Yep and Bill installed my used corsa system I bought from Dom when he picked up a complete system on EBay with a set of Watson headers. Chris did you get you headers coated as recommended?

I added hi flow Magna flow cats as well

[KILLSHOTS]

Keep in mind the smell will probably go away - you drove it with new headers, pipes, etc and all the "new" has to burn off...;)
I hope you're right...it already has about 100 break-in miles on it. My fingers are crossed that this is going to go away.

[KILLSHOTS]

Yep and Bill installed my used corsa system I bought from Dom when he picked up a complete system on EBay with a set of Watson headers. Chris did you get you headers coated as recommended?

I added hi flow Magna flow cats as well
Sure did, D. Had them coated by a local company. Called the J-H company and found out that their Phoenix branch closed 2 years ago. Called around and most local companies seemed flaky, found one good one and his price was EXCELLENT! Saw his work, it looked great. Talked further, found out he was the J-H coater until they closed down! Coated inside and out and they look great. Bill thought he was going to have to dimple the driver side at first and he said he couldn't even get it to heat up with a torch!

[PhillipsLT5]

You can always add cats later, Bill had told me about the smell so I went with
Random Technology

[PhillipsLT5]

Took it to him for several projects, including installing OBX headers, Corsa exhaust, new silicone hoses, rebuilt tensioner from Marc, a new rear spring and one of his signature shifters. He also modified my thermostat to run cooler and relocated the MAT sensor and replaced a bunch of hardened hoses and lines under and around the plenum.

My impressions of Bill:

Perfectionist. Highly-detailed and treated my car like it belonged to him. He detailed my plenum and cam covers at no charge and they look great. He hand-washed the car before I went to pick it up. He filled the car with premium and did not charge me for it. He took his sweet time with it; the job took MUCH longer than I originally thought and I became frustrated at times. BUT, it was well worth it in the end. He’s a great guy and I will take my car to him whenever it needs anything more complicated than an oil change. I HIGHLY recommend him.

My impressions of the car:

LOVE the Corsa system; it has a great Jekyll & Hyde thing going on…quiet when I want it to be and straight pipe-loud when I don’t. Just took it out and beat the hell out of it for 20 minutes in 107 degree heat and the coolant gauge never exceeded an indicated 170ish. Bill’s shifter is AMAZING! So direct and positive! I can’t believe how much slop there is in the stock unit; I thought the new one was broken at first, it felt so different. It ain’t broken! If I had it to do over again, I would have installed cats. Not because I care about my 2K per year car hurting the atmosphere or even because I care about the smell in the AIR, but after my quick drive I walked into the house and my clothes smelled like a garage! It’s like hanging out in a smoky bar for an hour and I didn’t expect that nasty side effect. Lastly, the car is very, very fast but honestly, I’m having a hard time sensing a SOTP difference going from stock manifolds/straight pipes to OBX headers/Corsa, even though I had Marc’s chip calibrated for the change. Surprising indeed.

SOTP dyno not accurate, time for dyno for a baseline now before more mods

[RICKYRJ1]

I have no cats and no smell ever, 1st I have heard of that. Glad to hear a positive review enjoy :proud:

[XfireZ51]

When you change the MAT location to what then becomes an IAT, the calibration should be modified to take that into account. Otherwise, the ECM always see an air temp where it adds fuel. This was a work around before people hacked the ECM, sort of like Mid America's TPS switch.

[Karl]

Sounds like it's time to port the top end!

[PhillipsLT5]

Maybe some FBI power

[Z06scentair]

Maybe some FBI power

Bill had told me about the smell so I went with
Random Technology

Absolutly Correct

Two of my previous C5 Z06 cars, one car had SW headers no cats. The car always smelled of raw fuel inside the cabin area.

The second C5 Z06 had SW headers with random tech cats. There was never a smell of raw fuel.

Both cars were tuned on the same Dyno with similar fuel trims, with that being said the cats really do help isolate the raw fuel odor.

As far as SOTP, never have I ever felt that significant of a gain from headers. Matter of fact the majority felt as though they lost low end torque.

Stand firm that when you have a vehicle that produces 350/400 RWT, it becomes very difficult to notice the torque 15-22 RWT that's gained in the midrange to upper rpm.

Please remember I've never added headers to the LT5 and all insight is provided via early chevy V8 and LS motors.

Glad you had a positive experience with Bill it's always good to have someone like this to provide service as such for their customer's

Brad

[edram454]

headers give you that mid range and top end deep breathing capability. I have had headers on all my sports cars I have ever had and I have always felt a difference. they gotta be long tube headers. My c5 melted and blew out the guts from the new catalytic during a dyno pull. I kept the guts as they shot out of the exhaust pipes. I no longer run cats. My lt5 does not have a gas smell and revs up freely and quickly with longtube headers and no cats. I feel that headers are the best power adder you can do to gain free horsepower.

ed ramos #3028

[mike100]

Please remember I've never added headers to the LT5 and all insight is provided via early chevy V8 and LS motors.



The engine defies convention- I lost nothing with 2" primaries on longtubes vs the oem 91 manifolds (which are 1-7/8's).

I had top end porting on mine and couldn't really feel that much- maybe a little on a cool day on the freeway in 3rd or 4th, but the reason is that is a torque range extending mod, and just manifests itself as more hp over 5000 rpm, but nothing much gained at torque peak in the mid range. Now then i put on headers---That was noticeable, but admittedly, in combination with a couple of other mods.

To the OP- drive your car when it isn't 107 degrees outside and see what you think. Mine felt snappier the next morning when the roads were clear and I had room to play. I ended up using C6-LS7 catalysts which more than handled the unburnt hydrocarbon smell wafting in your car every time you stop at a light with the windows down.

[Bob Eyres]

I agree that you shouldn't expect you to feel the 20+ h.p. Increase from the headers & exhaust, unless you were at ideal temps and in the upper rpm's.

On that smell, it's possible that Marc's chip, while an improvement over the stock setup, may not have the ideal mixture for your car. The very best combination can only be obtained by a skilled tuner, and a dyno. As Marc would tell you it's only a very educated long distance guess as to what your LT5 needs. If it's a little rich,(and smelly),at least that's the safe way to go.

BTW, how are those Toyo Proxes working out?

[KILLSHOTS]

I agree that you shouldn't expect you to feel the 20+ h.p. Increase from the headers & exhaust, unless you were at ideal temps and in the upper rpm's.

On that smell, it's possible that Marc's chip, while an improvement over the stock setup, may not have the ideal mixture for your car. The very best combination can only be obtained by a skilled tuner, and a dyno. As Marc would tell you it's only a very educated long distance guess as to what your LT5 needs. If it's a little rich,(and smelly),at least that's the safe way to go.

BTW, how are those Toyo Proxes working out?
Hey Bob,

The Toyos are awesome, probably the best tires I've ever owned. VERY wide, aggressive looks, and the stick is amazing. I probably could have burned my Sumitomos to the ground with one burnout, but I have to be extremely aggressive with the throttle to get these to break loose at all. I wouldn't recommend them for a daily driver, as they will wear quicker. But especially for a car with more HP, they are ideal.

[Fully Vetted]

My impressions of the car:

LOVE the Corsa system; it has a great Jekyll & Hyde thing going on…quiet when I want it to be and straight pipe-loud when I don’t. Just took it out and beat the hell out of it for 20 minutes in 107 degree heat and the coolant gauge never exceeded an indicated 170ish. Bill’s shifter is AMAZING! So direct and positive! I can’t believe how much slop there is in the stock unit; I thought the new one was broken at first, it felt so different. It ain’t broken! If I had it to do over again, I would have installed cats. Not because I care about my 2K per year car hurting the atmosphere or even because I care about the smell in the AIR, but after my quick drive I walked into the house and my clothes smelled like a garage! It’s like hanging out in a smoky bar for an hour and I didn’t expect that nasty side effect. Lastly, the car is very, very fast but honestly, I’m having a hard time sensing a SOTP difference going from stock manifolds/straight pipes to OBX headers/Corsa, even though I had Marc’s chip calibrated for the change. Surprising indeed.

I just got my car back from Corey and I'm with you on the Corsa's. It is absolutely intoxicating! There is this howl at about 2800 rpm and then again at about 5800 rpm that is so cool. I have no issues with any smell. You may want to check your O2 sensors. Last year I had one go bad but not enough to throw a code. I could hardly breathe at stop lights. I swapped out both O2's and it cleared right up.

[efnfast]

My car doesn't smell in the cab, but my daughter was behind me on the on ramp when I stomped on it. She told me I stunk up the whole highway. No cats BTW.

[Fully Vetted]

I'm catless as well but it was tuned by Corey this way.

[XfireZ51]

On the subject of O2 sensors, try the AC 74S sensors. More consistent and accurate.

[Hog]

Yanking cats on various different vehicles will give them a bad smell at the tailpipe. I think its the increase in hydrocarbons that gives that smell.

Random Technology cats are high quality cats, which is why they cost. The cheaper the cat, the less actual precious metal catalyst the cats have in them.

I got a couple years out of cheap Cat-Co cats.

[Fully Vetted]

On the subject of O2 sensors, try the AC 74S sensors. More consistent and accurate.

That's actually what I used...

[XfireZ51]

That's actually what I used...

Dave,

Just switched over to them on recommendation of someone who knows. I was having an issue w the motor going in and out of C/L in light throttle or trailing throttle conditions. The ACs completely eliminated it. You couldn't really tell when it went in or out but LEARN is off in O/L so was not getting benefit of
BLMs being updated.

[Fully Vetted]

Mine was stuck in demand mode. As in demanding more fuel all the time. It was horrible at stop lights. Corey told me to use those and it's been great ever since.