Trying to get back into the hobby

[Capster78]

Been out of the hobby for some years, had some adulting to do, I know, boringgggg......

I have owned a 1999 MBM TA, 00, and 01 TA's as well. All of which had boltons. Probably set $100K on fire over the years modifying and racing these cars.

I currently own a 2011 SS and am finally in a position to play around a little bit......but not too much. I think I might be restricting my budget to $20K, including labor, on this one just to built a streetable car I can have a little fun with.

The direction I would like to go is boltons and a supercharger. I know with 4th gen's there were weak points such as the stock rear end, lifters, injectors, fuel pump, transmission, and just generally stiffening up the body with some tubular suspention add on's. Since I have been out of the hobby for awhile I am unfamiliar with some of the weak points in the next gen cars and am looking to catch up on some of the pitfalls that await, if any, of modifying a 2011 SS auto.

Previously I owned a 99 with all the boltons, tubular suspension, stall converter and gears and it ran 11.87 @ 114 all motor. That was probably 15 years ago and I know a lot has changed.

Goal for this car is $20k, bolton's and a supercharger. Any recommendations?

Also, hello everyone.....

[hrpiii]

Well you started with the fastest color, so that a good thing. L99 pretty strong with just adding the supercharger, headers, tune and upgrading suspension.

I have the TVS2300, Kooks headers, and a whole lot of BMR goodies in the rear. I later added the G Force half shafts and driveshaft. She's pretty solid on the track and I have a lot of fun on the road, with no issues. I started with upgrading all the suspension first, then added the supercharger. I didn't see a need to add a lot of power and not get it planted on the ground. You will need to upgrade the fuel pump, the ZL1 fuel pump will suffice.

[SynergyGreenSS]

You could build a sweet car for 20k! Stock bottom end will be your limiting factor for how much boost you want to throw at it. The l99 has cast pistons. I would recommend an LSA supercharger, it’s gonna be your cheapest option and it’ll still make plenty of power without putting unnecessary stress on the motor. There are a few companies like boost district or ADM that can get you set up with a full LSA kit. Something else you should definitely address if you’re gonna be making any kind of power would be your suspension. Poly bushings in the rear make a night and day difference. They’ll also help a lot with wheel hop so you won’t destroy your stock axles. If you plan on drag racing, 1/le axles are a decent upgrade for like $200. If you’re not going crazy with the car and your not drag racing there really aren’t many very weak points. I would say the only things you would need to look out for would be bottom end which won’t be a problem if you don’t go crazy with boost, and rear end, spider gears specifically but axles and driveshaft can obviously also break just like any car if you hook hard enough. For reference though, I have an LSA blower, cam, full bolt ons, and I used to drag race with 17” drag radials on stock axles and driveshaft and never had an issue. Of course it wouldn’t hurt to upgrade just to be safe but if you don’t plan on hooking super hard and you mitigate wheel hop with an anti wheel hop package for the rear, you’re probably not gonna break anything.
TLDR: LSA blower, bolt ons, anti wheel hop package, and supporting mods like fuel pump and injectors should build you a super fun car for under 20k

[DRKS1D3]

I Googled Hampton, VA and found several LS speed shops in and around your area. Do your homework and look at all of their reviews.

When I wanted some more snot under the hood of my Camaro, I went with Complete Street Performance in West Chester, PA (~300 miles for you) after doing a lot of research. The guys were great and the work is top-notch! I called them, told them what I was looking for and they suggested a custom cam and the accompanying goodies. They have a very hearty YouTube page.

With that being said, if you're going SC'd, you'll also want some longtube headers, intake, tune and a quality suspension upgrade, in order to put that power down. I'd research some shops, give them a call, tell them your goals and get pricing to compare. Don't skimp, but don't overpay either. Us guys at C5 are always here to help. Let us know how you make out. Good luck!

[Greenhornet2]

If you don't do your own work that may be your limiting factor for $20k. I did my work and am at about $14k right now. Just bought my cam and valvetrain stuff with jms voltage booster that I haven't put in the car yet. If I blow the rear I'll be putting in a ZL1 rear can get them around 2k for the rear cradle when they pop up online. Trans and clutch will be about $4k when that goes so I'll be at $20k, should be around 700WHP and be pretty bulletproof until a piston or something goes... Tho I think I will also be adding meth which will be a little under $1k haven't bought that yet.
Note tho an LSA will be less than half the price my Whipple was if you find a used one, So add in labor for that stuff and you might be around $20k. To be tame you don't have to do injectors or a fuel pump. You can do a Boost a pump only but will be limited to around 500-550WHP. You'll want more and end up doing the fuel system and so on. I knew I would which is why I started with the bigger stuff out of the gate.

[Capster78]

Originally Posted by Greenhornet2

If you don't do your own work that may be your limiting factor for $20k. I did my work and am at about $14k right now. Just bought my cam and valvetrain stuff with jms voltage booster that I haven't put in the car yet. If I blow the rear I'll be putting in a ZL1 rear can get them around 2k for the rear cradle when they pop up online. Trans and clutch will be about $4k when that goes so I'll be at $20k, should be around 700WHP and be pretty bulletproof until a piston or something goes... Tho I think I will also be adding meth which will be a little under $1k haven't bought that yet.
Note tho an LSA will be less than half the price my Whipple was if you find a used one, So add in labor for that stuff and you might be around $20k. To be tame you don't have to do injectors or a fuel pump. You can do a Boost a pump only but will be limited to around 500-550WHP. You'll want more and end up doing the fuel system and so on. I knew I would which is why I started with the bigger stuff out of the gate.

I think your build is probably exactly the way I will be going with it. What stock mechanical weaknesses have you found you had to correct to maintain reliability with your setup?

[SynergyGreenSS]

Forgot to mention L99’s are prone to lifter failures

[Greenhornet2]

Originally Posted by Capster78

I think your build is probably exactly the way I will be going with it. What stock mechanical weaknesses have you found you had to correct to maintain reliability with your setup?

I haven't broken anything yet. I have trailing arms and toe links to install to rid me of wheel hop which I do get sometimes currently. I am an LS3 so I don't have the afm lifters. When you do the cam you will want to get rid of the AFM. I have a CHE trunnion kit for the rockers as the needle bearings in the stock ones are a known issue. If you aren't putting slicks on and drag racing the driveline is pretty stout. I am still on the stock clutch. When it goes I will pull the trans and have it upgraded to hold more power. If/when the rear goes I will upgrade to ZL1 then it is pretty bulletproof. I haven't been to the track yet and it will be drag raced only occasionally so it should be pretty reliable.
up to about 800WHP the stock bottom end seems ok with a good tune from all the info I have gathered. It I blow a piston I will either stroke it to a 416 or just replace the pistons and rods with forged. The cranks are good for 1000WHP plus. This is why I went with the Whipple 2.9, so I have the option to go pretty big.

[Greenhornet2]

I misspoke, You wouldn't need the fuel pump, but injectors I think you do need to do. Pretty sure the Whipple kit comes with new injectors for the base kit with a fuel pump booster. Not sure what the stock injectors will max out at. If you are going to go with cam as well you definitely want to go with injectors. Try and figure out where you will end up being happy with power and just buy things once. It will save you money in the long run.

[Capster78]

Originally Posted by Greenhornet2

I misspoke, You wouldn't need the fuel pump, but injectors I think you do need to do. Pretty sure the Whipple kit comes with new injectors for the base kit with a fuel pump booster. Not sure what the stock injectors will max out at. If you are going to go with cam as well you definitely want to go with injectors. Try and figure out where you will end up being happy with power and just buy things once. It will save you money in the long run.

Maybe I will eventually do a head / cam upgrade, but for now ill stick with the stock head / cam and just upgrade the intake / throttle body / LT headers / 3" exhaust / supercharger..

Ill wait awhile to do a head / cam upgrade and when I do, It would be a good time to upgrade some internals.. But Im not sure I will ever get that far because then your talking about big $$ with rear end / transmission / fuel system / driveshaf upgrades.........

Im want to have fun with this car without it putting me in the poor house.

[Vegas Bound]

IMHO, do cam, lifters, springs, LSA supercharger, injectors, ADM FPCM, headers, cold air intake, tune and BMR anti-hop package and call it a day. This should net you 600-625 whp and be fun and strong enough to survive.

Or you could do what I did and triple your budget.

[davidscamaro]

I see a lot of recommendations for twin screw supercharger's, while there is nothing wrong with that. If you want to go big power in the future with out fighting tons of heat problems I'd would go centrifugal supercharger from the start.

They don't break as many parts "diff, axles, driveshaft " , less load on the motor to spin = more power per pound of boost. They use air to air intercooler for lower boost temps = more power . Less fuel demand per hp. And faster at the track

A vortech ysi can get you well past 1000whp maxed out and cost less then tvs 2300 that will hit the wall of power to heat at about 650whp

[silversleeper]

OP; I and others sat down with a calculator and if you are Ok with a lower hp goal an SS with limited bolt ons is the better value.
If you get up to supercharged prices and supporting mods the used ZL1 market holds a better value.

You could trade your car in and get something already done. Your car+$20k mod budget is more than a good low mi ZL1. With that you have something reliable that will also hold its value better than a heavily mod'd SS. If you look you can find a <$30k ZL1 with under 50k miles in good condition. It might have some mod's already done for you too.
If someone wants e.g. 1000rwhp the value choice might flip back to the SS. This is because a different SC or twin turbo is used and different transmission and short block etc.


I wouldn't want a L99 without the lifter mod, then might as well do a cam.
https://www.phastekperformance.com/2...-L99-s/613.htm
Phastek has some kits, then consider tune and install and fuel upgrades.

[Greenhornet2]

You don't really need to mess with the heads with what you're looking to do. Money wise LSA and what i'm doing to mine and you'll be right where you want to be.