Black Bomber

Ok fellas, thanks for even looking @ this thread.

I bought my truck a few months ago and it looked nice when I bought it.
It needed a new left bedside, so I got it for about 3k under book value.
2002 Silvy, it now has 60,1xx miles
I got the bedside fixed and powdercoated the pitted chrome wheels, other look-goodie what-have-yous and it looks like it should now.


So on to the performance aspect...

When I bought it, the prevy owner had a hypertech and cat-back flowmazers on it. (that's it)

So I have done this so far:
K&N fipk (now knowing this is almost useless. Hindsight being 20/20)
Corvette servo
Texas Speed SS longtubes(1 3/4), PS ORY, 3" i/o Magnaflow (dumped in front of axle)

I have a Circle D 3200 stall @ my house waiting to be installed.
I also have a friend that is VERY good @ tuning LS motors. He has an insane n/a TBSS and a Camaro SS that freaks me out.

That being said, I'm not sure what my next step should be, aside from the stall installation and tune.

I'm looking @ an eaton posi.. but should I go with a larger rearend first?
Transmission cooler for the stall?
I really need some electric fans too...
220 cam possibly?
It seems the 220 would benefit the mods I already have tremendously... but I read that one should replace the valve springs. I'm not sure if I have the time(and I'm lazy) to warm the motor to operating temp for aftermarket hardened springs every time I drive it...

Any thoughts/ recommendations would be greatly appreciated!
Thanks!

Oh yeah, I guess I should add this:
I work up in Pa, but live in La.
I'm up here for 3 weeks, and home for 2 weeks.
The truck will be driven 2 weeks out of every 5.
While I'm home, it is my daily driver. I don't plan on 'racing' it, but I definitely want it to be fun(and reliable) for me.

Thanks again,

-Ben

AndysC3

iTrader: (14)

Good buy.
Look for the Trucool 40K trans cooler
Efans from a 05+ Gm truck will help out. Blackbear and Neilson sell wiring harness for the efan swap.
The TR220 or TSP220 would work well with the mods you have listed.
If you plan on FI or nitrous I would recommend the 14 bolt rearend. Is your trans stock? If so you might want to build it up some. Atleast a shift kit and vett servo.
I have PRC duel springs and I let it warm up for about 5 min. Not bad and a aftermark cam has to have better springs. Dont forget about the hardened pushrods. Shoud be a fun truck.

jrmchevyman

I would get some kind of tranny cooler when you do the converter upgrade, a lot of guys buy the tru cool 40k. You don't have to get the electric fans, but that is your choice. Yes when you upgrade the cam you will need to upgrade the valve springs and get some hardened pushrods.

You don't necessarily have to warm up the engine every time before you drive the vehicle, just don't floor the vehicle on a cold start up without it warming up some. I do like to let mine warm up for a few mins when I can. As for when you first install the new aftermarket valve springs, yes it is a good idea to do a few heat cycles on the valve springs before you give it a lot of rpm's. Also a lot of guys suggest changing your oil after the heat cycles or after a few days.

If you get a cam that doesn't have a whole lot of lift, you can actually run OEM LS6 springs that can be bought fairly cheap and they generally have a longer life than aftermarket springs.

A lot of guys go for a 212/218 low lift cam and run the LS6 springs. Some guys have ran the Tr220 with LS6 Springs before, but I would probably run the pac 1218's.

I think the 220 cam would be a good choice with pac 1218 springs.


*Edit* looks like AndysC3 beat me to the post lol.

batboy

iTrader: (6)

Derale makes good trans coolers. I've seen plenty of B&M super coolers work ok on GTOs and Camaros.

Electric fans free up a good amount of power. If you have the smaller radiator, I'd just upgrade to a 34" rad and fans from a newer truck or Flex-A-Lite 282 fans will also work.

Yeah, anytime you get a bigger cam, you need better springs and pushrods. With a 220 cam, I'd get the beehive single springs. Texas Speed has a great cam kit that has what you need and it's currently on sale right now.

Texas Speed Camshaft Package w/ Single Beehive Valve Spring

SloStepSide

iTrader: (8)

Ye you will need a trans cooler, bout to order mine. Temps run around 190-200, and that's on a 80 degree day. Just put in a tsp 220 in mine but still waiting on my tune. There are a couple guys in Shreveport that can help with the cam springs and rods. Took them abut 5 hours. I can pm his number if you want. And far as a tune he guy I'm talking about has a friend that does them at his house.