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Modified Rockers on Daily Driver

9

99GTPMLA

New member
I'm debating on purchasing and installing the ZZP 1.9 modified stock rockers om my 1999 GTP. I have 119,000 miles on it, and have the Plog and 3" downpipe for modifications. Otherwise it is all stock. I still get between 3-5 knock retard at 3rd gear WOT. This is my daughters (17 years old) car primarily and I drive it once and a while. We plan on putting a lof of miles on it and want it to be reliable when she goes to college with it. My question is, how reliable are the 1.9 modified stock rockers? Are they designed to last 50 - 75,000 miles? Anyone have any experience with putting a lot of miles with these? I may in the future put a 3.5" pulley if the KR is all gone.
 


They are very reliable. They work great for daily drivers. I put about 40k on a set that I bought used. They probably have well over 100k on them now.
 
Mine are just fine, why rocker your daughters car anyway? If you want it reliable leave the stockers in. If you wanna get rid of some of the KR, go with a set of headers.
 
dsmuts said:
I ran some in my gtp for about 30-40K miles with no problems. I'll sell them to you :D
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Thanks dsmuts, I would be interested. Send me an email. ([email protected]).

Elite6, I chose not to do headers because I knew I could do the Plog and downpipe myself. I'm kind of going through my mid-life crisis so I thought I would do it cheaper this way instead of buying a 2006 GTO.
 


99GTPMLA said:
Thanks dsmuts, I would be interested. Send me an email. ([email protected]).

Elite6, I chose not to do headers because I knew I could do the Plog and downpipe myself. I'm kind of going through my mid-life crisis so I thought I would do it cheaper this way instead of buying a 2006 GTO.
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Headers would be cheaper than rockers and overall provide more value esp. KR reduction. Doing them yourself is pretty easy, search "BillBoost headers in the easy way" - while a 3.5 pullied GTP will be reasonably quick it won't make up for GTO powah. No matter what you do to the L67 (short of a full size IC) the lack of headers will be your biggest constraint.

Keep your daughters car stock, then you go buy a cheap GTP for yourself - cam, headers, ssic, pulley down then you may not want the gto as much. However, FWD = for the birds....
 
Em he already has a plog/downpipe combo stop trying to persuade him to go the header route to late and the plog/downpipe is still a pretty lethal combo. Plus it's a easier install.
Modified rockers will last awhile I wouldn't worry about them being less unreliable.

I would still get a gto though :)
 
get the dam GTO it has 400 hp with no limiter on it. and with a cam you can make tons more power then modding a gtp. You can mod the LS2 TB so it can stay cooler. put a CIA on it and a cam then your in the 500+ hp, and drop some headers on that bad boy goat. Let it eat that asphalt up with the smell of burning tires lol
 
Had modified rockers in my car for about 2 years now. I hardly noticed the difference for the work and money I spent. Save up for a cam. You'll thank me later.
 
Headers aren't worth it for bolt-on cars. You won't see any gain over what you already have, plus there will be lots more maintenance involved with keeping them leak free.
 


Thanks for all the comments. Sounds like the modified rockers are reliable. If I could do the cam myself, I would go that route but the modified rockers would be a lot easier and I could do that on a Saturday.
 
REDCOMPG said:
Em he already has a plog/downpipe combo stop trying to persuade him to go the header route to late and the plog/downpipe is still a pretty lethal combo. Plus it's a easier install.
Modified rockers will last awhile I wouldn't worry about them being less unreliable.

I would still get a gto though :)
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Ugh, its never too late to mod & there is nothing lethal about a plog & downpipe. I do agree on the easier to install part. Yes, GTO is ftw.

GTPpower said:
Headers aren't worth it for bolt-on cars. You won't see any gain over what you already have, plus there will be lots more maintenance involved with keeping them leak free.
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He still has 3-5KR with his current exhaust mods, headers are worth eliminating that & seeing some more timing imo. I have zero leak problems with my Speed Daddys. If headers are installed correctly you should never have a leak other than a ****ty flex blowing out (a one time fix)
 
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99GTPMLA said:
Thanks for all the comments. Sounds like the modified rockers are reliable. If I could do the cam myself, I would go that route but the modified rockers would be a lot easier and I could do that on a Saturday.
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Rockers have no reliability issues but you should technically upgrade to stronger springs to get the full benefit (albeit I didn't). Good luck
 
Elite6 said:
He still has 3-5KR with his current exhaust mods, headers are worth eliminating that & seeing some more timing imo. I have zero leak problems with my Speed Daddys. If headers are installed correctly you should never have a leak other than a ****ty flex blowing out (a one time fix)
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You have no idea what kind of knock he's seeing. Whether it's none, or 10*, headers won't help at all.

The flex is a big maintence issue with cheap headers. SD's and similar will keep breaking. I was going through about 1-2 a year, back when I was still driving my car everyday. Not worth the effort of keeping it leak-free. Especially when rockers offer truly maintence free operation.
 
GTPpower said:
You have no idea what kind of knock he's seeing. Whether it's none, or 10*, headers won't help at all.

The flex is a big maintence issue with cheap headers. SD's and similar will keep breaking. I was going through about 1-2 a year, back when I was still driving my car everyday. Not worth the effort of keeping it leak-free. Especially when rockers offer truly maintence free operation.
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Not sure what you are reading or perhaps saying, but the OP is seeing 3-5KR, headers always help reduce KR - you get hot exhaust gas out faster & less KR
I have had my SD's on roughly 9 months through a nasty salty road winter with no problems on the SD flex. When it breaks, get a good quality one & done... why would you keep replace the flex with a ****ty quality one?
 


Elite6 said:
Not sure what you are reading or perhaps saying, but the OP is seeing 3-5KR, headers always help reduce KR - you get hot exhaust gas out faster & less KR
I have had my SD's on roughly 9 months through a nasty salty road winter with no problems on the SD flex. When it breaks, get a good quality one & done... why would you keep replace the flex with a ****ty quality one?
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Then, why did my KR stay the same when I put my headers on? Headers will give absolutely no gains at that level, especially since he's got a Plog and DP already.

The flex I use to replace the SD flex is an interlocking stainless steel piece. It costs about $70. Don't assume, as you know what they say about people that assume.
 
a tune would better resolve the knock than putting in headers.

i would not change the plog/downpipe setup he already has. in fact, that's what i'd be running if i had a grand prix still because headers are a total pain in the ass with the sets produced nowadays.
 
GTPpower said:
The flex I use to replace the SD flex is an interlocking stainless steel piece. It costs about $70. Don't assume, as you know what they say about people that assume.
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I have yet to hear anyone on this forum or any other forum complain about having to replace a nice SS flex 1-2 times a year. That is why I assumed you used a poor quality flex. I don't see why a good quality one wouldn't last for a long time. On my GTP before this I replaced the flex with a similar unit to the one you bought & had 2+ years with zero problems. Something is wrong with your car or the way you treat it to be chewing through good quality flex pipes twice a year...

I can agree that headers are not 100% needed at this point & a good tune/rockers might do more for the car than anything else, if he pulleys down to a 3.4 eventually he should have some headers. Many threads on this forum suggest people have reduced KR through the addition of headers.

Either way he can't go wrong with rockers
 
Elite6 said:
I have yet to hear anyone on this forum or any other forum complain about having to replace a nice SS flex 1-2 times a year. That is why I assumed you used a poor quality flex. I don't see why a good quality one wouldn't last for a long time. On my GTP before this I replaced the flex with a similar unit to the one you bought & had 2+ years with zero problems. Something is wrong with your car or the way you treat it to be chewing through good quality flex pipes twice a year...
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Assuming again, huh?
 
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