Some money to spend...

[Aurora40]

My wife and I have sort of "allowances" each month to spend, and generally we allow any sort of work bonus type stuff to be spent on personal things. The rest of our financial planning/etc comes out of our regular salaries. It's not perfect, but she's less savings-oriented than me, and it works ok.

Anyway, so I've already set aside my allowance for new tires. But I recently got a nice bonus from work, and I'm thinking about spending it on the ZR-1. I don't have to, and don't want to spend just to spend. But I'm considering some stuff. After the various governments help themselves, I'll have about $2-3k to spend.

So I'm thinking along these lines:

Blow it all on some nice wheels like Dymags (either "gen"). This is sort of appealing because I like them, they should last forever, they weigh less so it's sort of a performance mod. But I don't like shelling out that kind of money on something largely aesthetic. I'm not really a bling kind of guy. I'd like to have them, I think they are cool, but don't want to pay for them, if that makes sense.

Flywheel/clutch upgrade. This is kind of appealing to me because it's very sleeper. Adds power but no one would ever be able to tell. One issue is where to have it done? Drive far to a known tuner like Vette Docs or Haibeck? Or take a chance on a local place like Tony's Corvette Shop in MD? I wonder because the Z had a flywheel balanced to the engine and whatnot, there's a bit more to it than a swap on a regular C4 ZF, isn't there?

Exhaust upgrade. I kind of like the sleeper effect of stock, and I actually like the sound of it. I also really don't like shiny tips on black-molding C4's. The Corsas appeal to me in design, but not the look of the tips. B&B is somewhat better looking, but I absolutely don't want a droning car. My '87 droned like mad and I grew to hate it. I could maybe do headers on a stock exhaust, or a stock '93+ exhaust? I need to retain AIR and cats, though. Not sure headers would even be worth it on a stock exhaust, though? I really don't want to commit to a $1000 exhaust system without hearing it on some cars first also.

Brake upgrade, but in reality the stocks work fine for me. Maybe some stainless lines would be good, and possibly some new pads. I don't care about the bling look of slotted/crossdrilled. A hugh pie-plate filling the wheel is enough for me.

Or I could just do nothing significant. Maybe get some Supercars instead of GS-D3's and damn the expense... And I've thought about the '94+ Lear seat swap so other people can sit in the car more comfortably (I'm a bean pole, so I like the stock seats a lot). Maybe rebuilt Bilsteins for the heck of it, and get my CD player fixed (I never use the radio though).

I could probably do the flywheel and maybe headers or a whole exhaust depending on how it priced out. I'm not too sure I want to do headers myself, it seems like a huge pain...

Any ideas or thoughts? On one hand I of course always want more power (I want to eventually do a head package on the car, but staying 350 is fine with me), but at the same time I can hardly ever use the power the car has now. It's really a lot to have on the street. Two gears puts you in reckless-driving speeds... I like having a clean, attractive, fun car. It will mainly be driven on the street just to drive, though I still want it to be streetable and not beat me up. I plan on hitting the drags now and then because I think it is fun, not because I am uber competitive about it. It's a cheap way to safely open the car up for a bit. Road courses sound awesome, but I'd hate the wear/tear and risk to my car. Though I could spend the money on a driving school adventure. I'd love to do that, but they are so pricey.

[Kevin]

I'm not sure if jeff is still doinig it but talk to him about the porting/pcing deal he has going on

[Demps]

Supercar tires are no longer available. Stick with the GS3s.

My 25 cents:

1) Port and polish the top end
2) Chip--for the mod and better performance overall
3) Short shifter

or

Coilovers. You'd be amazed.

Ted

[Aurora40]

I already have a ported top end, chip, and a Hurst shifter... And AFS replicas (back from when they were deep lugged and made in the USA).

Coilovers seem interesting. But won't they add weight? And didn't the leafspring serve to augment the anti-roll bars? Would I be amazed on a car driven on the street mainly and mostly only driven hard in a straight line?

[Demps]

Originally Posted by Aurora40

I already have a ported top end, chip, and a Hurst shifter... And AFS replicas (back from when they were deep lugged and made in the USA).

Coilovers seem interesting. But won't they add weight? And didn't the leafspring serve to augment the anti-roll bars? Would I be amazed on a car driven on the street mainly and mostly only driven hard in a straight line?

Sorry, I forgot about the top-end. The heads will make a big difference. I have a car that is pure stock with Corsas--nice "noise" (don't like Corsas). One of my cars have headers, B&B, chip, K&N and it rumbles and goes. The fun one has a Haibeck 500hp with coilovers, Wilwood front brakes, lightweight flywheel, 4:10s, etc. It is a blast to drive. I put an x-pipe in with the Triflos and it revs faster than anything I've seen. The coilovers with the roll bar make this car unlike any C4 I've ever been in or around. It is the way the car should have been--torsional rigidity wise.

So, all this means jack to your question.

The flywheel is great (in my opinion). You MUST be around a car with one before you decide to go that direction. It can be annoying!!!

Dymags are almost an investment, not a mod/driver choice.

Exhaust gives a rumble that makes the car sound even better. They are the best with headers. Talk to Ron Kreigh and see how he's passing emissions with the bullet cats. This will wake the car up!

Ted

[Z Factor]

Exhaust is very subjective as to the note, but the performance is certainly a plus. Headers + high flow cats + resonator + B&B cat back should keep it legal, yet give you a decent sound without the dreaded drone(resonance).
I have headers, no cats, x-pipe, and B&B cat back which is the best performance wise, but it is really loud. If your inspections are so extensive that you need to keep your air hooked up, then you should try to find a used set of Watson headers.

P&P of the top end is also another good mod in that better breathing and exhaust are two key components in performance. Of course gears are probably one of the best bangs for your buck, so you might consider that mods as well.

[WB9MCW]

I did the clutch/flywheel and it is noisy... I would endorse doing it and my local "very good and my best friend" mechanic did it...His comment (and he owns an auto c5 vert.) was the gear rattle would drive him nutz...but then he is a mech. for a living and maybe it would be others opinion he was worred abt rather then the actual noise...the gains are there and I do like the quicker rev's the lighter fw provides and the race clutch I got from caraloina clutch(ceramic) is great! But the noise (gear rattle) is there and folks are going to ask(and razz) you about it...but once they see and feel how it goes the smart azz comments stop!!! LOLOL



http://www.carolinaclutch.com/C4%20Performance.htm click here to go to the CC site. Tell em who sent ya!!!

[91MinuteMan]

I bought my 91 last fall from an owner in Md. who kept his lower miles Z. The major upgrades from stock are port matched intake and exhaust, a double-d callaway exhaust and a 4.10 rearend. I had it dynoed and I'm pulling 350hp & 347 ft/lbs to rear tires. All the work was done at Tony's corvette and the seller couldn't say enough good things about them. My vote, however, would be a 2-3 day package at a performance driving school and next year's bonus can go towards performance mods.

[Aurora40]

Originally Posted by 91MinuteMan

I bought my 91 last fall from an owner in Md. who kept his lower miles Z. The major upgrades from stock are port matched intake and exhaust, a double-d callaway exhaust and a 4.10 rearend. I had it dynoed and I'm pulling 350hp & 347 ft/lbs to rear tires. All the work was done at Tony's corvette and the seller couldn't say enough good things about them. My vote, however, would be a 2-3 day package at a performance driving school and next year's bonus can go towards performance mods.

How do you like the Callaway exhaust? It appeals to me in a few ways, one being I think it looks nice on the car, two being it seems to be reasonably maximized in terms of flow on a car of my output, and three they have a reputation for power and civility. But the problem is they cost a lot. $1850 for the cat-back system.

What do you think of the sound? How would you describe it if you were to? Is it loud at all, or is there much resonance? I mean, I realize compared to a modern car the stock exhaust is fairly loud. But say you were going to drive around a work aquiantence or a date (not that I plan on doing those, but you get the idea), would you tell them before they got in "sorry, it'll be a little loud" or anything like that? Thanks for any info on it.

[A1990]

Can you still get a Callaway DD exhaust?