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Just Starting to Mod...Questions....



Normally, I too would consider headers to be a maintenance headache, between leaks, cracks in poor quality ones, etc. I assume these SD headers are made in China, for that price? What's the quality of them? If I'm going to gain, say, 7-8hp from a PLog, or 15-18hp from cheap headers, to be honest, I'd rather take less apart and do a Plog.

Although, admittedly, happiness with the performance of a PLog seems to vary based on my searches...
 
Your list appears to be solid. If its a little daily and you aren't planning on going balls to the wall(cam) then a plog setup is perfect. Sounds like you are wanting simple things to do that won't require a ton of work. You might consider adding 1.9 rockers to the list as well. I noticed a huge difference on my old S/C setup. From what you are saying you want a more throaty sound and honestly I would skip the catback. Save some bucks and just throw a set of mufflers on there. Use the money you save to pay for the 1.9 rockers or other mods.

And I agree with the plog as most headers on the market have huge primaries. If you are planning on a mild setup there is no sense in going with big primaries as it will be inefficient for your setup.
 
If I add rockers, with the above setup, how much HP am I likely to add? What total HP range would I be looking at with this setup?
 


Don't do a catback. The Southampton police will be the biggest pricks about it and follow you all over the place. ask me how i know
 
Dtrick22 said:
Don't do a catback. The Southampton police will be the biggest pricks about it and follow you all over the place. ask me how i know
Click to expand...

I know they're pricks...I've lived here for almost 6 years! They seem to be a LITTLE better to residents...I have 3 Camaros (2 with SLP catbacks) and a Sierra Duramax with a Banks turbo-back on it. Amazingly, they've never given me an issue.

So even adding rockers, I'm still in the 230-ish range...seems a little low, but you guys know better than I would. I'm surprised that with rockers, I'm still sub 300 at the crank. I would've thought I was getting close to 300 without the rockers. Maybe I need to do some more research?? :)

DTrick, have you had issues with MA inspection with your mods? Either with the cam with emissions, or headers and catback with noise? I understand why many of you say skip the catback, as 3800s don't sound great. I guess I wanted a little something to help it stand out, but I realize in terms of power a catback adds pretty much nothing...
 
Hence why I wonder if its worth the effort. I wanna put as small of a pulley on it as I can, safely. Maybe an intercooler is going to be more beneficial than I thought. Here's my overall goal...

1) How do I get into the mid 13s safely?
2) How do I do this and impact gas mileage as little as possible?
3) How do I do this and keep the car as close to OEM reliability as I can? The car has only 64k on it currently, but will now be used at about a 15-20k per year clip. I plan to run this thing in the ground, and in 3 years when my truck is paid off, I'd like to buy a new Challenger (I'm a Sales Manager for a Chrysler dealer) and keep this as a winter beater.
 
If you do headers, ic, rockers then you'll likely get better gas mileage than stock and have a lot more power. It'll be very reliable as well. With that setup you should easily be in the 13's.
 


Jason I have had a set of SD headers since 2011 they are now on their second car with the stock flex and the only issue I ever had with them is the dumb u bend in the downpipe scraping on everything and I managed to punch a hole in it. And I daily drive my car all the time. To me the power log downpipe combo is a waste of money because for about $90 less you can get headers and if you ever want to take your car further you will be ready for it. And the performance difference between the stock manifolds and a plog or headers is so miniscule that you won't even notice.

Sent from A Galaxy Far Far Away.....
 
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Sounds like an intercooler is what you want. Lots more power. Extremely reliable. No maintenance. Same MPG as stock. Easy 13's.
 
I was just looking at ZZP's intercooler kit for around $1,300 with the ported intake, before the $100 core. It claims I can run a 3.0 pulley with 0 KR? For roughly $1,200? Where do I sign up?? :)

So it appears this, headers and rockers may be the way to go. Any thoughts as to what I'd be pushing at the flywheel at that point? Am I hurting the Gen V at that level of boost? Actually, now that I think of it, how much PSI am I putting out with a 3.0? Where am I with a stock pulley?

Any other supporting mods I should be looking at? If I can get better MPG, not hurt reliability, and make it a solid mid 13s car, I'm sold. If I went to the track a couple times a year, did, say 10 runs a year, and drove it aggressively at times around town (no "YouTube" burn outs or any of that crap), how will my transmission hold up? I will be doing my second fluid change this spring, and will have about 70k on it by then.
 
I've run a few different setups over the years.

Headers vs Plog/Downpipe will always be a huge debate around here. I've never had an issue running either headers or plog/downpipe, both made a difference. If you're shooting for higher hp (325whp+) I would say definitely go for headers but other than that p-log and downpipe you'll notice a difference. Most on the forums go with headers because the cost of the SD ones are extremely competitive in pricing with having decent quality.

1.9 Rockers
#90 springs
P-Log
3" downpipe
3.4 pulley

That setup I ran for years and was able to get 34mpg all day long on highway trips. Trans held up fine for 5+ year (totally dependent on driving habits)
 
When I was saying that he wouldn't notice a difference I meant if he didn't do any other mods. As in a plog or headers alone won't change your performance any, at least nothing noticeable.

Sent from A Galaxy Far Far Away.....
 
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Jason E said:
I was just looking at ZZP's intercooler kit for around $1,300 with the ported intake, before the $100 core. It claims I can run a 3.0 pulley with 0 KR? For roughly $1,200? Where do I sign up?? :)

So it appears this, headers and rockers may be the way to go. Any thoughts as to what I'd be pushing at the flywheel at that point? Am I hurting the Gen V at that level of boost? Actually, now that I think of it, how much PSI am I putting out with a 3.0? Where am I with a stock pulley?

Any other supporting mods I should be looking at? If I can get better MPG, not hurt reliability, and make it a solid mid 13s car, I'm sold. If I went to the track a couple times a year, did, say 10 runs a year, and drove it aggressively at times around town (no "YouTube" burn outs or any of that crap), how will my transmission hold up? I will be doing my second fluid change this spring, and will have about 70k on it by then.
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Keep in mind that just about everything on zzp's website was written for 97-03 GP's. 04+ cars are different. The fuel system on the 04+ cars won't handle what the 97-03 cars will.

On your car, if you want to run smaller than a 3.6 pulley, you should put on injectors. A good tune is also necessary. Tranny's are hit and miss, but I would recommend keeping the shifts soft.
 
What's with all this modding advice?

Pffft.

Tune the car with some big injectors on E85. **** the gas mileage, get a cutout and some slicks...3.0"~ pulley? Make 275+WHP...run 12's.

But seriously, I'd go with Nick...intercooling is huge for the gains if you want stock like driveability. Full size IC, injectors, pick up a wideband and have someone tune it close to you...a solid dialed in tune will REALLY effect how the car behaves...very much worth your time after you get everything put on it. Also, there are plenty of people in your area. On larger injectors (42's) I don't see why you couldn't get away with a 3.2"~ area pulley with a PLOG/DP combo. Get a 3" catted downpipe, leave the stock catback...hardly any noise...and just toss a filter on the end of the MAF sensor, that'll make lots of whine and no ugly exhaust note. Hell, with a good launch, and maybe if you did the rockers, that might net you 12's.
 
Headers, IC, 1.9 rockers, 42.5lb injectors and and a 3.0.... you will def notice a difference, ask me how i know :th_thumbsup-wink:
 
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