a few s/c questions

[Dale18]

I have a few questions about my s/c on my 98 riv...whats the best bang for my buck when it comes to s/c pulleys?where do i buy one?my car has 81,000 miles on it,is it ok to change out the pulley without damaging it? are there any supporting mods i need to do in order for this to work?i've taken off the cats on my exhaust, i would really apreiciate your comments guys!!and you'll be seeing a lot more of me on here!

[96riviera18]

the best bang for the buck would be a 3.4" s/c pulley but it is highly recomended that you have a scanner and supporting mods to keep from blowing a piston. you can but a 3.4" pulley from any 3800 mod vendor like zzperformance.com for around $60. you will also need to rent a pulley puller from someone online to swap them out. they can not usually be found in any auto store unless they are performance shops that work with superchargers.
to keep from blowing a piston you will need some way to monitor air/fuel and KR (engine knock) and the best way to do that is with a scaner like ls1m or auto tap. (just make sure it can read KR!!) to help fight and lower knock you will need 2 range colder plugs and a colder thermostat along witha very well running engine. autolite 104's work best for plugs and napa 180* t-stat is also good. since you say you had the cat (ther is only one) removed then you are one step ahead and the next mod will be a 3" downpipe or PEM's if knock is still a problem. i know this is alot of info so it you want it broken down more go to regalgs.org under the riviera forum there is a moding guide.
good luck,
matthew
i also almost forgot, you must also alow more air into the s/c by opening up the intake either by building a custom FWI or gutting the current box and always keeping a clean filter in. replace you fuel filter and make sure your cooling system is running well and you should be good to go.

[98 Riv]

Matthew did a good job of answering your questions.

If you are not interested in, or able to afford a scan tool, and not looking to mod TOO far, another option is dropping from the stock 3.8 SC pulley, down to just a 3.6 or 3.5 pulley. I'm personally only looking for moderate improvements over stock, and will be installing Autolite AP 605 plugs (one heat range cooler than stock), a 180 deg t-stat, I already gutted the airbox and will swap in a K&N or S&B air filter, and will be buying a modular pulley system(MPS) from ZZP most likely, next spring. I'm thinking a 3.5 will be as far as I want to go. Not interested in the cost of a good scan tool, and in general you can get by w/o scanning until you drop to a 3.4 pulley. If you go too small with the pulley, w/o doing other necessary mods, you'll end up with a lot of KR and performance will suffer, and you can seriously damage your engine.

[Dale18]

so if i go with a 3.5 incher what mods do i have to do to make it work?and how do you gut the air box?i already have a k&n filter

[96riviera18]

a 180* t-stat is a must for any drop in size, 605 plugs should work with a 3.5" but 104's cost the same and protect even more. exhaust is optional up to a 3.4 but having a higher volume air intake is a must with anything and it will increase your gas mileage. there are instruction on how to gut an air box on this forum and on regalgs.org (much better write-up's). just be sure to have all other areas of the engine in top shape if you dont have a scaner. how hard do you drive the car? you need to take that into consideration when looking into supporting mods.
good luck,
matthew