Hi, Im about to get a 1998 Camaro SS and turn it into a drag racing car. I do also plan on driving it around for a little bit on the roads every now and again. It comes with the LS1 motor and i was wondering what should my first upgrades be on it? Im not interested on making the exterior looking good until i have what i want from the motor.
Any help?

 

I have a 2000, same car, im shooting for between 5-600 rwhp.
If you need to go cheap:
373 gear
Intake
Exhaust
Dyno Tune
MS3 Cam
LS6 Intake Manifold
Comp Heads
You Should be close to 500 at that point,,, fun on the street and high 11s to low 12s on a track
If you have some money:
Intake
Exhaust
STS Turbo Kit at 9 psi
Tune
Youll be at about 500 that way too but with much better gas mileage and a turbo is much much different of an experience to drive than natuarally aspirated.

 

Thanks! ill defiantly check into that, I was also debating between the turbo or a supercharger, i personally wanted the turbo. And after i get some of it done do i need a special program to get the fuel to gas ratio on the ECU right? and tune it to max performance?

 

do you have a manual or auto?

Darkknight it sounds like a good plan but you cant just go for the a massive cam, unless you just stick exclusivly to the track as it will be a ***** to drive on road. If you dont mind too much then fine, but cam choice depends on what you want from the car.

Also even though you have the motor done you need supporting mods, suspension and tires to get a better hook, then the 10 bolt will detonate so you'll want a 12 bolt or 9" ( a must if you use it as a drag car) ,then the gearbox, the auto boxes are good but not built for more then 400 torques so you'll need a rebuild and a high stall, 3500 ish. If you have a manual you'll need a better clutch, ls7 style or better and the box will be ok as long as you dont miss a cog.

 

hes right i forgot that stuff i was just saying the power adders,,,
I have a zoom stage 2 clutch and fidanza stage 2 flywheel on my 6 speed and love it
And as for the rear end you only need to do 3rd member and axel shafts, you dont need and all new housing just hardened shafts.
And as for the MS3 its the best ive seen for a nice Street/Drag car. like i said lookin at about 500hp and if you get between a 2000-4000 stall youll be fine on the street, alot of guys by me run the same setup hense i suggested it.
When you order an STS turbo they recommend a custom dyno tune, its like $250-300 by me
And i have mickey thompson ET streets which i LOVE
and the eibach pro kit will do you wonders as far as springs

 

Ok, ill make sure i get that added lol.
I do have a Manual transmission, i personally prefer it.

One of my friends mentioned something to me that sounded like a good idea if i could get the money, but would you recommend boring 30 over?

 

i personally dont like boring or stroking,,, just not a fan,,, if you can get where youre going in hp without it the better,,, that stuff is just more to break or weaker block... i vote dont bore

 

The 383 is actually quite popular. Depends, if you can be without a Car while you do the rebuild.

 

yer a stroke or bore means full strip down as you'll be without you car. If you want 500 bhp, like darkknight says it can be achieved resonably easily with this amazing small block, (ls1 is AWESOME!)

The ms3 is good with a stall for an auto but with a manual?? I dunno whether there will be some low rpm surging, even with a good tune. Anyhow thatsjust my opinion fromwhat ive read, as the guys in the uk i know only have gm hot cams as they can order them here. I plan on ordering a custom comp when i know my aim ( dd but med stall 3500 so a ms3 or similar would be nice for me maybe)

I like shifting gears, every car in UK is manual usually, not like you guys who all have autos, but for the 'maro i like the auto and just been able to cruise around and i can manual down shift when i like so thats all good. Plus here it was £3000 more (about $5000) just to get a 6 speed , i dont think so ! my car was only £6000!

 

Im working on trying to get a hold of some of these parts

the 373 gear rear end, do you know any good sites to get that from?