just got a 99 trans am!!! Now for questions...

I had been dreaming of one of these badboys ever since I was stuck with a 97 v-6 bird. Now then, I will say that I love the power, I wanted a ws6 but oh well, the first mods I think I 'll get will be a carbon ls1 "whisper" intake box, k and n filter, and flowmaster exhaust. I'm pondering about a 3.73 gear ratio (auto tranny). Could I install it myself, and what would be the gains/losses? I heard it lowers 1/4 times but slows top end speed and also increases gas consumption. Any thoughts or recomendations on my first wave of mods? I only have about 500 bucks to spend on it at the moment.

Thanks!!!

First and foremost, you were on the right track with the Lid/Filter combo.

Whisper Lid and K&N Filter should be the first thing you do.
Although the Carbon Fiber model won't give you any additional gain over the regular plastic Whisper Lid, it looks damn cool!

The Flowmaster Exhaust isn't the best choice.
If you're looking for a catback thats going to sound BADASS (loud) and give you the best HP gain, take a look at the SLP 'Loudmouth' Exhaust or get a Flowtech Cutout welded in before your stock muffler (which you can cap to remain quiet and stealthy, or uncap to rumble the streets and give you maximum power). The Loudmouth runs around $300-$350 and the Flowtech Cutout costs about $35 plus the cost to weld it in (no more then $60).

The next best mod you can do to ANY automatic transmission equipped car is to upgrade the stock torque converter. Want to lite up your tires with a TAP of the throttle? Want to drop AT LEAST 5 tenths from your 1/4 mile time??? This will do it!!!!! Cars see an AVERAGE of a .4 to .5 second gain in 1/4 mile! A good torque converter for a bolt on car like yours would be a Vigilante 3200 Stall Torque Converter.
BEWARE - You WILL go through tires FAST, so a set of Nitto Drag Radials should be the next mod you concider.

Check out www.LS1Speed.com
Give them a call and talk to either Tom Izzo or Larry and they will point you in the right direction. They have the best prices, and if they don't, they'll match it! They're always willing to help, and will do whatever it takes to keep YOU satisfied.

Any other questions, check out www.LS1Tech.com the premier site for LS1 Enthusiasts.

i agree with blackbird, definitely get a torque converter, its the most important first-step upgrade automatics need. If you really wanna change your gearing, 3.73's are the way to go on auto's, but i doubt you could install it yourself, i've looked at install process things on sites and it seems that you need tools that you won't have. Not to mention you'd need to buy a PCM editor (LS1 edit, ect) to change the settings for different gears.

Exhaust is ALL about taste. If i were you i wouldn't get the loudmouth and a cut-out. If you wanna stay low in price, get a cut-out (i got mine on for $75 total) and a MPP2 (electric valve so you can open and close the cut-out with a flip of a switch, think its like $100), then leave your stock exhaust. If you are ok with spending cash, listen to recordings of different cat back systems, then buy whichever one you like most (and still do the cut-out;)).

I didnt mean to get Loudmouth AND a cutout...that would be pointless (Loudmouth itself is the freest flowing catback anyways)

Well, from a noise standpoint the loudmouth doesn't seem to sound an entire amount different from a cut-out from the clips i hear (i don't think there are any LS1's with loudmouths near me). I still say stock with cut-out untill you really wanna get a nice cat-back.

I agree.
If you get the Loudmouth Catback, there's no need to get a cutout along with it. They're essentially the same thing.

I had the Loudmouth on my car for a while (it was the cheapest and highest flowing catback), but it got too loud after I added the Headers and Off-Road YPipe. Trying to hide the fact that my car is BUILT and the Loudmouth just gave it all away. Now I'm going with the SLP Dual/Dual (catback off the Firehawk) and having a cutout welded in.

Blackbird01 wrote:

Now I'm going with the SLP Dual/Dual

Can this be ordered from SLP Engineering? If so, do you have a price?