RE: Spring Upgrades

3422 Views 13 Replies 2 Participants Last post by c6vette, Nov 20, 2012

c6vette

Discussion Starter · Nov 12, 2012

RE: Spring Upgrades

As you can see from my “siggy”, I currently have the A&A Vorctech V-3with the T-trim and a tad over 600whp. This spring I will be doing some upgrades to max out the 825hp that this head unit should support. I should be looking at making around 700 – 740 whp through the M6 when all is said and done.

I’ve talked briefly with the shop that’s going to do the work, but I wanted to get some other opinions here, especially from those who have similar set-ups.

Initial plans are to port the stock heads, pulley down to the 3.4” 6 rib, go with “Alcohol Injection Systems” c6 kit.. (chose this one because it has a larger tank... almost 2 gallons and it fits in the rear compartment out of sight), Aeromotive intank pump and fuel controller. Pump will support 1000 FI hp. RPS Twin carbon clutch, rear diff and trans brace and forged .408 stroker internals and mild blower cam. The original block only has 26k miles, so decided to keep it. I also plan to do a full Z51 brake upgrade front/back, which will include steel braided brake lines and changing the front caliper pistons to stainless steel.

A few questions I have are, will I need to have a "built" tranny and rear diff? I’m thinking the c6 diff should be good, but perhaps I should change the output shaft?? I won’t be tracking the car, but I can see some highway roll-on’s in its future.

I plan to start buying everything at the end of next month. Any ideas are greatly appreciated.

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Ragtop 99

· #2 · Nov 12, 2012

The rear is most likely to snap at launch. Wheel hop seems to be the big killer. If you are doing roll ons using street tires, I'd be inclined to leave the rear alone until you actually break things.

The Z06 rear is stronger than the base. Occasionally you can find someone with a Z06 that will swap with a regular rear (plus some cash) as part of doing a gear change (I don't know if someone finally came out with a 3.90 ring and pinion for the Z06).

Some shops just beef up the shafts on a rear rebuild, but others go well beyond that. At 700 RWHP, if I opened-up the rear, I'd probably go through it more completely.

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c6vette

Discussion Starter · #3 · Nov 13, 2012

Ragtop 99 said:
The rear is most likely to snap at launch. Wheel hop seems to be the big killer. If you are doing roll ons using street tires, I'd be inclined to leave the rear alone until you actually break things.

The Z06 rear is stronger than the base. Occasionally you can find someone with a Z06 that will swap with a regular rear (plus some cash) as part of doing a gear change (I don't know if someone finally came out with a 3.90 ring and pinion for the Z06).

Some shops just beef up the shafts on a rear rebuild, but others go well beyond that. At 700 RWHP, if I opened-up the rear, I'd probably go through it more completely.

I would have no issues at all with not doing any hard launches, but I also like to have durability in my set-ups. I will probably just have the shop "Build" the stock rear diff... At the least change out the output shafts. I'm also going to have a DTE differential brace installed for stability.

Any ideas on the tranny? I've heard of many guys with 700+ whp on the stock tranny, though I'm sure it's just a matter of time before IT goes.

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c6vette

Discussion Starter · #4 · Nov 13, 2012 (Edited)

I was thinking about the costs of parts and labor with regards to a "built" rear diff and started looking at the prices on fully built diffs. Here's an example of one of I found at Zip Corvettes:

http://www.zip-corvette.com/ProductDetails/ProductDetails.aspx?pid={f9f20ac3-9e7d-42fa-9708-c5573ec182ef}&gid={30672a20-ca50-41b4-bdd2-d05df0218d3d}&GroupName=C6+Differentials&pname=06-13+3.42+Differential+(New)&Referer=&Alias=&ptct=SGR-SR&CTitle=&

I sent them a message to find out what the hp rating was, but I'm sure that it's sufficient. It's one of their high-performance models.

I'm thinking that it just might be more cost-beneficial to buy a performance diff, instead of re-building my stocker. Perhaps I'll just wait until either the tranny or diff blow up, then replace both at the same time with "built" systems.

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Ragtop 99

· #5 · Nov 13, 2012

I haven't seen many M6 cars have problems with the stock gearbox. The clutch seems to be the issue, but it is guys who drag race with a good set of DRs and want to slip high HP on launch that have the most issues.

I don't think you'll find meaningful HP ratings on the rear. Rear survivability is a function of too many variables beyond power including road/track condition, tires, and driver skill (or lack thereof).

I have the DTE brace; added it when I did my rear swap. It hopefully helps with control during a wheel hop event. If you do grenade your rear, the brace can help save your tranny by keeping things aligned.

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c6vette

Discussion Starter · #6 · Nov 15, 2012 (Edited)

Ragtop 99 said:
I haven't seen many M6 cars have problems with the stock gearbox. The clutch seems to be the issue, but it is guys who drag race with a good set of DRs and want to slip high HP on launch that have the most issues.

I don't think you'll find meaningful HP ratings on the rear. Rear survivability is a function of too many variables beyond power including road/track condition, tires, and driver skill (or lack thereof).

I have the DTE brace; added it when I did my rear swap. It hopefully helps with control during a wheel hop event. If you do grenade your rear, the brace can help save your tranny by keeping things aligned.

Thanks for the info! I'll hold off on a built tranny/diff for now, and just add the brace. I don't track the car and therefore wouldn't be doing any high rpm clutch dumps. I usually roll into it, or I'm doing hgwy roll-on's.

One last thing, do you think my 6 rib will hold? Most people that I've seen with the 6 rib set-up's aren't having a "slipping" issue at that power level.

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Ragtop 99

· #7 · Nov 15, 2012

I've seen the 6 rib issue come up, but I don't have enough knowledge with that to give you a meaningful answer. I'd call A&A and discuss it with them. They'll know which head unit and pulley sizes you are using.

If you need to switch to 8 rib, then during your motor swap is the time to do it since the blower will be out and the crank pulley will be off. Very little marginal labor cost compared with discovering you have problems and need to do it after the car is back together. On that basis, I'd certainly look at the cost of doing it now. Besides, if you get bored in a year and want a bigger head unit, you'll almost certainly need to switch.

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c6vette

Discussion Starter · #8 · Nov 16, 2012

Ragtop 99 said:
I've seen the 6 rib issue come up, but I don't have enough knowledge with that to give you a meaningful answer. I'd call A&A and discuss it with them. They'll know which head unit and pulley sizes you are using.

If you need to switch to 8 rib, then during your motor swap is the time to do it since the blower will be out and the crank pulley will be off. Very little marginal labor cost compared with discovering you have problems and need to do it after the car is back together. On that basis, I'd certainly look at the cost of doing it now. Besides, if you get bored in a year and want a bigger head unit, you'll almost certainly need to switch.

I'll check with A&A on the 6 rib, but I have a feeling that I'll need to jump up to the 8 rib. Good point too with regards to doing it while the motor is out. I think that I'm just going to go ahead with the 8 rib setup and head-off any additional costs and worries.

I don't forsee as of yet jumping up to the YSI anytime in the future, but it's always possible. For now, I'd like to see what kind of traction issues I'll have. If I jump to the YSI, there's little I can do as far a de-tuning goes. 700+ whp will be a lot, but the V3 T-trim will allow me some room for detuning if needed.

Thanks again for your input! :thumbsup3:

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Ragtop 99

· #9 · Nov 16, 2012

I think switching to 8 rib is the smart thing to do, but I like to be careful when spending someone else's money.

I'm guessing you're not local, but if you are, I'd like to go for a ride when it is done if you need some ballast in the passenger seat. 700 RWHP has to be scary fast.

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c6vette

Discussion Starter · #10 · Nov 17, 2012 (Edited)

I've seen a few guys say that their 6 rib was good to 800+ whp, but most said that I should bump up to the 8 rib and the OD if possible. I was also told by guys with similar set-ups that I should throw out the max hp listed for the head unit, as most surpassed the max hp comfortabley. So looks like I'm going with the 8 rib kit and the OD Balancer.

Looks like I could be easily see 750-850whp given the set-up I'm going with! That will indeed require some ballast!

Looks like I'm going to have to bump up my fuel pump to the Aeromotive Eliminator. Want to be able to provide plenty fuel.

I'm currently doing some contract work in Afghanistan, but I'll be back in early spring. I'm originally from MD, but haven't lived there since I left for the service when I was 18. I still have family there that I visit from time to time, so I'll be sure to let you know when I'm in the area. :thumbsup3:

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Ragtop 99

· #11 · Nov 17, 2012

I have a friend with a modified CTS-V heading back over there on contract next month. It's great coin, but stay safe over.

atriot:

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c6vette

Discussion Starter · #12 · Nov 19, 2012

Thanks, I appreciate it. :thumbsup3:

I'm prior service, and my skill-set pretty much ties me to the hip of the DOD.. which is good. It's still nice to be able to provide great service to those men and woman in uniform.

Unfortunately, as I'm sure that your friend can attest to, some people only show up for the "coin", and don't care at all about the quality of the product or service they provide.

Next May will be 6 years, after that, I'm done.
Have some things that I need to get underway in the states.

Thanks again! :thumbsup3:

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Ragtop 99

· #13 · Nov 20, 2012

He's ex-military too, so he's there to do his job well.

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c6vette

Discussion Starter · #14 · Nov 20, 2012

Ragtop 99 said:
He's ex-military too, so he's there to do his job well.

I hope that he get's back safe and sound. Would love to check out that caddy!

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