Need some help with HP upgrades

[xeroinfinity]

thumbs up on the hood. Headers are great. my engine ran cooler with headers, rather than stock.
Upgrading the drive train is a good idea. they are weak to begin with.

Nice article on headers there Ridenour, never heard it put more simple.

[Ridenour]

Originally Posted by xeroinfinity

thumbs up on the hood. Headers are great. my engine ran cooler with headers, rather than stock.
Upgrading the drive train is a good idea. they are weak to begin with.

Nice article on headers there Ridenour, never heard it put more simple.

Thanks. Yeh I agree - I thought it was great when I stumbled upon it a while back, so I bookmarked it.

What kind of headers are you running XI; SS or Togs? Did you get any coatings or ever have any issues with cracks or seal leaks?

[xeroinfinity]

i dont know if they are ss or what, i bought them from RSM http://www.rsmracing.com/Lrg_Images/3400headers.jpg
with the nickle coat. I made sure the flanges were welded up good and not bent or twisted before i even started. Havnt had any cracking or leaks, been on the car for over 1yr. Well I guess the flange that connects to the converter blew out the gasket about a week after installed. I just put in another one and made sure it was tight, along with everything else. I hate exhaust work. XI

[rockfan0005]

Do they make manual transmission kits for my car by the way?

[Ridenour]

Originally Posted by xeroinfinity

i dont know if they are ss or what, i bought them from RSM http://www.rsmracing.com/Lrg_Images/3400headers.jpg
with the nickle coat. I made sure the flanges were welded up good and not bent or twisted before i even started. Havnt had any cracking or leaks, been on the car for over 1yr. Well I guess the flange that connects to the converter blew out the gasket about a week after installed. I just put in another one and made sure it was tight, along with everything else. I hate exhaust work. XI

Sweet. As far as the gasket goes; you mean the gasket that mates that flexible flange on the downpipe up with your cat blew? Was that brought about by the headers? And you haven't had any problems since I assume.

And no; Rockfan; there are no manual transmision kits made for the car. You would have to do a DIY manual swap; which is a giant pain-in-the-ass; entails of changing too much stuff; and is totally not worth it. That engine was never available in stick. You'd do so much work with finding a tranny that would fit (I think the 65te would fit); changing stuff like the PCM and so much other stuff; it'd be easier to buy another car

[xeroinfinity]

Ya know, I'm not sure, I havent seen any transmission parts at RSM. So you hav a 5spd in a 2001 with 3.4? Trany parts are hard to find, but if you dig deep, you can find about anything. Or if you hav the $$ so someone can make custom parts.

[xeroinfinity]

I was right, i knew the 3.4s werent ever with a manual trany.

Ya Ridenour, the down pipe(w/O2) had a gasket blow at the conv. Probley didnt tightin it up enough, should hav welded the damn thing. i dont hav to much Flex in anything under there. I wraped the headers w/heat protec and put the stock heat sheilds back on to keep the heat contained. So if anythings cracking, i havent heard/seen it leaking. I'd just tig them up at that point, i believe the warrentys up anyway.

[rockfan0005]

Oh well, guess I'll have to go with the auto. Not too bad though.

[rockfan0005]

My friend was surfing the net, and he thought this would work in it:
http://www.en.getrag.de/179/179

I have no clue if it would or not, they don't have my model listed though.

[xeroinfinity]

Probley wouldnt work rockfan0005. Its even tough to find any ungrades for the Automatic trans.

An aftermarket transmission cooler really improved my trans. performance on 99'. It was tricky finding fittings so I wouldnt hav to cut my trans lines up. They're like the power steering hoses, rubber with metal compression fittings. I'm sure yours is the same way. A 5-6 spd manual trans. would be sweet though. XI

[rockfan0005]

what do you guys suggest for the trans upgrades before the supercharger then?

[rockfan0005]

Alright basically, I'm looking for a chip (or whatever it would take), that would take off the 105 MPH cap on acceleration. (Meaning it would be able to go past 105 MPH).

But I don't want some kind that will require premium fuel (91 octane) because gas prices are already terrible.

If you guys have anything that will do this, please let me know, thanks.

EDIT: By the "cap at 105" I mean the governor.

[Ridenour]

DHP makes a relflashed PCM that will remove the govenor. But it's there for a reason - that's what your tires are rated for. If you're going to be exceeding your govenor speed, you'd better get some speed-rated tires, or else your going to have one blow out.

[darthnefas]

I hate to be a nitpicker, but high performance and cheap don't go together.

You'll never find a chip that doesn't require '91 octane and if you did it would cost more than the regular chip would only give a tenth of the performance gain and the chip comes with the supercharger also, so instead of spending the $260 on the chip just buy it with the supercharger when you get there.

Trust me, if you guys go to a performance shop and walk in with the chip asking for less than '91 octane and asking how cheap it's going to be they're going to point you to the door as they heckle you out.

If you can't afford it in the long run you may want to rethink your upgrading plan to something a little more conservative. It's just good planning.

[xeroinfinity]

rockfan, if you put premium gas your GA will go a little over 105mph. Heres a programer/chip its not cheap. You search around, you can find a cheaper one with the same capabilities.
http://www.autopartsperformance.com/...ped_brand=true

You can buy a GT chip get it flashed for less and your limiter would be 120mph. But as Ridenour said, tires arent made for that fast. A Z-rated or above, they arent cheap either.

My SE has a GT chip, I used a computer program on my laptop to tune/modify/adjust the setings to my liking. I like HP but I dont like 18mpg, maybe 20mpg w/premium.

If it were me, I'd sav and get the SC w/programer. I hav spent way over $3500 on my motor and I hav no where near the HP a SC would give. Now if I put on a SC, I'd hav way to many HPonys for the trans. to handle.