CheshireCat

I have a stock 94 Z28 Convertible. It has 112,XXX miles on the odometer and has never been modified or raced. I just bought the Z from my father who had owned it since it was new.

Are there any modifications that I can do that will improve the reliability of the car? I was thinking about adding an aftermarket transmission cooler. Maybe a 160* thermostat and have the PCM programmed to turn the fans on accordingly.

I live in South Florida so it is HOT and HUMID all year down here.

The car has an automatic transmission, 2.73 gears, and all of the fluids were changed as part of routine maintenance.

Thanks for your advice!
Steve

Hyperspeed97z28

tranny cooler is a good idea both of what u said are...

maybe a cold air intake and cat back, could help with gas mileage as well as give your car a lil more power....

CheshireCat

Thanks Keith,

The CAI has me a little confused. I know that it will improve performance and throttle response, but I have read that the "high flow" oiled cotton filters do not filter out small particles as well as paper filters. Lower filtration in my mind leads directly to higher wear. Although I would love to add a little performance, I don't want to sacrifice engine wear to do it.

I'm going to be watching the FL region message board for a cheap used cat back. That sounds like a great idea with no drawbacks that I can see.

Thanks again,
Steve

Jibberish18

If you're that worried about the smaller contaminants you can buy that new cover K&N is selling for their filters. It comes in different colors and it apparently filters out very small particles that your regular K&N filter couldn't. I would get that any day rather than oil my filter...I hate oiling filters.

CheshireCat

I'll check out that new K&N fliter cover. Sounds like it might address my worries about lesser filtration with that type of filter.
Anyone have any other "relaibility mods?"

Zack

anything that will help parts run cooler. heat kills

Hyperspeed97z28

perhaps an electric waterpump as well...

I highly advise with reprogrammin of the fans and a 160 thermo.. My coolant never sees above the 1'st line on the coolant gauge with a 160 thermo and my fans programmed also forgot to say welcome to the board bro

93Z4ME

Changing to a full synthetic motor oil like Royal Purple or Mobile 1 has proven to reduce friction and free up ~7 hp. Bypassing the throttle body coolant lines is also a good free mod for ~6 hp (according to Dyno tests by WS6.com). Anything that reduces engine operating temperature may help the longevity or at least help the car be more consistant in making power. Some people use Redlines Water Wetter to help lower coolant temperatures. There is a debate over how helpfull it is but personally I trust the people at Redline to know the effectiveness of their product.
With that many miles you should change the motor mounts, I just did mine during a header install and was worried the the Energy Suspension mounts would feed too much engine vibration, but my stock mounts were so bad that it actually rides much smoother with the new harder mounts and it will help reduce the load on the tranny mount.
Some recomend spacing the coil away from the head to improve relaibility of the coil/module (search for instructions, it's easy to mod).
Pulley kits may not free up much power (certainly not as much as they claim) but if you can find a cheap set it will drive your AC, Alt and power stearing slower which will reduce were and extend the life of those accessories. I installed a set of ASP's from Summit ~$69 and felt a noticable difference of how much less the AC loaded the engine when it came on. I live in a hot climate and use my AC alot so the benifit of installing the pullies was significant for me (reduced wear, reduced load, improved milage and no loss of AC performance).

CheshireCat

Thanks for the welcome Keith! I've been "lurking" around here for several years but until last weekend, I didn't have a LT1 to play with. I'll keep the electric water pump in mind, but the water pump was replaced last year with another stock type pump. I'm generally not inclined to replace good working parts. I'm sure I'll have plenty of not working parts to replace over the next couple of years and need to keep some $$$ for replacement of those.
93Z4ME, fortunately, my father was good enough to use Mobil 1 5w30 for every oil change since new. Given that he was a fairly tame driver, (VERY TAME by the standards of this board) the motor should be in great shape mechanically. I'm more worried about the transmission. The throttle body bypass looks like a good idea since I'll NEVER have to worry about it freezing up. I'd never thought about using an underdrive pulley system... I assumed that AC and Alternator performance would be hurt because they would spin slower. I guess that would improve their reliability though. How much does a Pulley kit cost and is there any specific things I should look for?
Thanks again,
Steve

Bud M

The covers don't filter finer particles than the filters and do require oiling just like the filters. It's not the material that catches particles, it's the oil. From K&N's website: "The K&N Airforce Pre-Cleaner is a specially designed foam filter wrap made to extend the service interval of your K&N Filtercharger when used in very dusty conditions. They are made from large, open cell foam. The Airforce Pre-Cleaner will stop 90% of the dirt, yet only add a 2% restriction to the airflow of the filter. The Airforce Pre-Cleaner is designed to be used with K&N Filter Oil and must be cleaned with K&N Cleaner or soap & water."
As far as mods to improve reliability, a transmission cooler and a fan switch are good ideas. Also regular fluid changes including the rear end, and opti replacement before it dies on the road. Other than that, if you baby it it should be very reliable and if you beat it you will break or wear out parts...

94 CAMRO Z28

I would agree with what has mostly been said already. A tranny cooler may help a bit but also a 160stat, fans that turn on sooner, and probably a throttle body bypass would all be good mods to consider. As far as the CAI not filtering out the dirt/dust, I wouldn't worry about it. There are tons of people on here that run them without problems. Keep your filters clean and oiled and it shouldn't really be a concern. The throttle body bypass as mentioned before is good for a few extra HP but will also help to keep the air coming into the intake cooler. Best part about it is it can be done for free with a few spare parts laying around the house...or maybe it'll cost you a couple dollars at the hardware store. Either way its worth it. Best of luck and just so you know, once you start modding you aren't going to be able to stop When I first joined the board I wanted to mod my car lightly but mainly keep it stock. Well a few years later I put headers on which then led to a different cam with roller rockers and a custom computer tune. Then that led to a traction issue so then I bought drag radials and next year I'll have a set of ported heads going on. I gotta stop!!!

Aaron

stlws6

if it was me a would do cat back, headers, roller rockers, cold air induction,and a good tune, tranny cooler, deep pan tranny and full synitic fuilds, and dont rev the **** out of it that will help it last longer

CheshireCat

Thanks again for the advice! It seems like everyone agrees that adding a Transmission cooler, 160* thermostat, programming/manual fan switch, throttle body bypass, catback, and CAI are all good mods that will help or at least not hurt reliability.
Of course the best advice seems to be "do regular maintenance, and don't rev the motor too high."
Thanks again,
Steve

TedH

I would avoid synthetic transmission fluid and I would avoid synthetic gear oil. It is too slippery for a well used transmission and the '94's typically had Auburn differentials which do not work with synthetic gear lube. I would go to a synthetic engine oil, a K&N filter, and if doing any exhaust work I would do coated smog compliant headers as that is the single largest exhaust restriction. Anything that help the engine breathe easier and run cooler and more efficiently is helpful. I agree with adding a good quality transmission cooler too.

96 WS6

Use a thicker oil, 5w30 is way too thin especially for Florida's hot and humid climate. I would say a 10w30 or 0w40.

Also, "heat kills" can't be stressed enough. If you keep the heat in check and do your normal mainteneance and don't rev the engine past maybe 5700 or 5800 it will last for a long time. Overrevving is a real killer because it can break the bottom end or bend a pushrod or weaken a valve spring etc etc.

Good luck, have lots of tire smoking fun.