does changing the thermostat do anything to the hp? and is it hard to do?

 

correct me if im wrong but not really, all a thermostat does is open and close to allow coolant flow depending on how hot the coolant fluid is and depending on the location they shouldnt be hard, ive never changed one on a camaro but on other vehicles its like a 5 minute job

 

my v6 3.8 camaro is like a 2 min job not even 10 and in the old days people used to take them out all together because it allowed the car to take longer to heat up, but now we have heaters and defrosters for the winter so we keep em to get it warmer in the car faster

 

u dont want to change just the thermostat. unless its the same as the one u have in it. a lower temp one can mess with the sysem. the main computer (also called ecu, also called ecm) tells the fans to come on and go off at a pre set temp. if u change the thermostat without changing (tuning) the ecu the thermostat will be open all the time because the fans will not come on untill way after the thermostat needs them on and will go off well before the thermstat closes to allow the radiator to do its job. it can trick the ecu into thinking the car is cold all the time and confuse it.

 

I wouldn't say it adds horsepower, just changes the operating temperature of your engine.
Craby is right about needing the tune for the fans. I also hear that you shouldn't use too low of a thermostat unless you have some serious mods, because the factory thermostat allows the engine to operate at its optimum temperature to keep the oil at it's recommended viscosity, among other things, such as increasing your engine life. I would do some research before deciding what you should do.
I changed the thermostat in my Z28 when I had it, and it was really easy. Not a difficult task at all, consindering the hardest thing to do was to pull the hose off!

 

ive heard that messing with your thermostat will change your engine efficency so usually youd wanna leave it around the same opening temp

 

For the LT1 Camaro's they only offer a 180 deg. thermostat or atleast Stant Cooling Products that we car at CARQUEST does. Truly its not going to add any hp, but if you old thermostat is crap and making the car overheat, it will act like it is because it will keep your car running at the optimum temp like craby and sk8rax were talking about.