Thread: i cant decide

yeah, i know headers are supposed to be better than downpipe and plog. ive read all about it now. since the good headers are out of the budget i'm stuck on what to do. i'm scared of the sd and ssac headers. they look cool in the car. no doubt. but not knowing how they are going to install is bothering me. i can do bolt on, but i don't want to be cutting and welding and bending for something that doesn't fit right, or pounding in firewalls. i will have to pay someone else to do that stuff. and buying different clamps the hidden costs go up. plus, i want (need, depending on what you read) to have a cat. so that is going to drive the cost up too. and it seems that there is no way to know what you are going to have to do and how it's all going to fit until you start actually doing it ( i can't figure this out, really. seems if you are going to sell something for a mass produced car it should fit with no issues).

the plog and dp is easy. and i'm not planning on running anything lower than 3.4 ever so i don't know if headers are really going to be worth the hassle.

which leads to two other questions...on zzp they say that anything 01-03 must run the 3.5 pulley in the same circumstance that a 97-00 would run a 3.4. i've never come across that on gpf so i'm wondering why and if any 01-03 people run the 3.4 with the standard mods to get you there.

and....i was going to order their pcm and am wondering if that tune is done with specific mods in mind or if the tune is flexible depending on what you want to do. its 130 bucks. that would be good if i could find a tuner in kc area that could do that for around the same price but i'm guessing i'm going to be hitting 300+ for that.

i'm looking at spending around 700 total. plog, dp, pcm, 3.5 pulley, belt, snout seal, and renting a puller is looking to be around 550 (if I remember right). but i can do all the work myself this way and i'm more confident it will fit right. i have some other odds and ends to do, like make cai and maintenance stuff.

p.s. the downpipe, i'm thinking 2.5, not 3", since there is no other point in they system that is 3"-- is my thinking correct? also got two conflicting messages about the effects on the zzp tune for the transmission. one side says it will be better for its life and the other says it will be worse because of firmer shifts (max pressure, if i remember something like that).

i'm not going to be dragging the car or wot a lot (maybe more than i normally would, though).

sd are 240 on website now, no shipping. ssac are 175+50 shipping.

Bottom line is this...

Dont rush, read and make a plan, talk and ask questions, revise your plan,
plan it again and the when done... DONE with the plan, go for it and don't look back.

Too many just jump into modding, then want more, then it's not enough and mod again, etc. cost 2-3x what they would've spent had they made a plan.

Seems you've established your wants and plan... So go for it!

Good luck and have fun!
.

Whatever route you go just make sure and buy something to scan for KR before you go dropping pulley sizes...Plog+DP will work fine if you don't plan on doing much else to it

Originally Posted by wa04compg

Whatever route you go just make sure and buy something to scan for KR before you go dropping pulley sizes...Plog+DP will work fine if you don't plan on doing much else to it

can this be done with one of those 250 dollar 0bd II scanners you can get at the parts store? not the ones they let you take outside, but the ones you can actually buy.

or this

http://www.grandprixforums.net/get-s...ase-74269.html

i googled the other day but didn't go that far in depth.

With whatever you plan on doing. This is my experience with speed daddy and ssac within the last month. I purchased speed daddy off of ebay for 220 shipped. They said they had plenty more in stock and then took my money out on the day I ordered (2-12-2013)..then on 2-15-2013 the shipping was voided according to me tracking the package. Next I emailed them and tried contacting back n forth for a few days. And they told me id have to wait untill they were I stock (3-15-2013) they told me. So I told them I wanted my money back because I didnt want to wait, and on 2-20-2013 I spoke with them on the phone and they told me if I left them a good review theyd process my money faster, so I agreed and I still havrnt got refunded my money yet. Maybe im impatient or w.e you wanna call it but to me thats just bad business. I deal with buying a lot online on ebay and amazon and never had a problem like that.

And then also with ssac, I was I interested in just purchasing theirs since its the same design and I emailed them 3 times in the last week asking if theyre in stock and they never even got back with me letting me know. So theyre communication skills were just as bad in my experience. Just giving you a heads up and idk if im just being too impatint or w.e but I know a lot of people have had good experiences with them and maybe I just didnt get lucky.

Originally Posted by Shiftingshaddow

can this be done with one of those 250 dollar 0bd II scanners you can get at the parts store? not the ones they let you take outside, but the ones you can actually buy.

or this

http://www.grandprixforums.net/get-s...ase-74269.html

i googled the other day but didn't go that far in depth.

I would go with a aeroforce gauge but that scangauge will work also

Originally Posted by GrandPrix06GT

With whatever you plan on doing. This is my experience with speed daddy and ssac within the last month. I purchased speed daddy off of ebay for 220 shipped. They said they had plenty more in stock and then took my money out on the day I ordered (2-12-2013)..then on 2-15-2013 the shipping was voided according to me tracking the package. Next I emailed them and tried contacting back n forth for a few days. And they told me id have to wait untill they were I stock (3-15-2013) they told me. So I told them I wanted my money back because I didnt want to wait, and on 2-20-2013 I spoke with them on the phone and they told me if I left them a good review theyd process my money faster, so I agreed and I still havrnt got refunded my money yet. Maybe im impatient or w.e you wanna call it but to me thats just bad business. I deal with buying a lot online on ebay and amazon and never had a problem like that.

And then also with ssac, I was I interested in just purchasing theirs since its the same design and I emailed them 3 times in the last week asking if theyre in stock and they never even got back with me letting me know. So theyre communication skills were just as bad in my experience. Just giving you a heads up and idk if im just being too impatint or w.e but I know a lot of people have had good experiences with them and maybe I just didnt get lucky.

Start a ebay complaint against them that will speed of the process!

Originally Posted by wa04compg

Start a ebay complaint against them that will speed of the process!

Yep I am going to monday if I dont have the money in my account. Its some bs.

Originally Posted by GrandPrix06GT

With whatever you plan on doing. This is my experience with speed daddy and ssac within the last month. I purchased speed daddy off of ebay for 220 shipped. They said they had plenty more in stock and then took my money out on the day I ordered (2-12-2013)..then on 2-15-2013 the shipping was voided according to me tracking the package. Next I emailed them and tried contacting back n forth for a few days. And they told me id have to wait untill they were I stock (3-15-2013) they told me. So I told them I wanted my money back because I didnt want to wait, and on 2-20-2013 I spoke with them on the phone and they told me if I left them a good review theyd process my money faster, so I agreed and I still havrnt got refunded my money yet. Maybe im impatient or w.e you wanna call it but to me thats just bad business. I deal with buying a lot online on ebay and amazon and never had a problem like that.

And then also with ssac, I was I interested in just purchasing theirs since its the same design and I emailed them 3 times in the last week asking if theyre in stock and they never even got back with me letting me know. So theyre communication skills were just as bad in my experience. Just giving you a heads up and idk if im just being too impatint or w.e but I know a lot of people have had good experiences with them and maybe I just didnt get lucky.

thanks for letting me know. i had pretty much decided and now for sure i have decided against these headers.

97-03 used all the same s/c so you can run a 3.4 on the later models as well if you have very low kr. but of course a 3.4 will make more boost therefore more heat then a 3.5 but plog is easy to and a dp is where your cat is. hence catted dp

i haven't even thought of this yet.....i know what kr is but i dont know what i'm looking for if i'm scanning. ie how to test it.

i know our cars have kr sensors and a code scanner can cost from $60 on up

is it a simple diagnostic where the car flat out tells you what kr it is getting or do you have to analyze some numbers and deduce?

it's an output from the PCM, but you need a way to read that number (a scanner of some sort).

Originally Posted by Bio248

it's an output from the PCM, but you need a way to read that number (a scanner of some sort).

i've seen the scan gauge and the aeroforce mentioned above. both said they can scan for kr I was just wondering if it just says it in a simple read out or if you had to deduce by looking at numbers and stuff.

i'm thinking hard about just buying one, not only for that, but for the abs communication. seems like everyone i know has gm with abs lights on (including my gtp and silhouette). so that would be another adventure to try to figure out. my luck it won't help any, though. i wish they didn't have any of that stuff. its just been a hassle, really. i drove for 10 years without abs or tc just fine and it doesn't seem to be as advertised to me anyway on the gm cars--just a broken bell and whistle. my wife wanted her abs working when i told her what the light meant. i told her to just pump the break, don't mash it and she was fine after that.

you just read the numbers, there's no formula to it. KR is a simple measure of how much ignition timing advance the PCM is pulling based on detonation that has already occured. KR is a reactionary measure, not preventative.

and most of the time an ABS or TCS light is because of a bad wheel bearing or a break in the wiring somewhere.

Originally Posted by Bio248

you just read the numbers, there's no formula to it. KR is a simple measure of how much ignition timing advance the PCM is pulling based on detonation that has already occured. KR is a reactionary measure, not preventative.

and most of the time an ABS or TCS light is because of a bad wheel bearing or a break in the wiring somewhere.

replaced them, still light on. wiring is fine. i just wish there were an easy way to find it, or at least isolate it, instead of playing columbo.

a snap on scanner can scan ABS codes. find a local shop that has one.

Originally Posted by Bio248

a snap on scanner can scan ABS codes. find a local shop that has one.

when i use the ones from the parts store they say the vehicle does not support abs communication. that was on the minivan. i haven't tried the gp's yet but from what i've read on the board here i don't think i'm going to have much luck there either. at this point its not worth me paying a shop to scan it.