Upgrades

[jrobb57]

I recently decided to keep my 94 Bonneville SE, and will doing some restoration, and performance upgrades. What would you guys recommend as far as perf. chips, intake, and suspension equipment ? (1200-1500, budget) Also, what about a OEM seat cover replacement thats not going to cost a arm and a leg.

[willwren]

Pretty much your only option for a chip (PCM) is having your eprom flashed by GMtuners/sinisterperformance. The best bet is to get a spare eprom/pcm so you don't have to take your car down during programming/shipping. Contact them for more details. A tune by itself will gain you very little though. Your best bet is to mod first, then tune.

Port-match your lower intake slightly. The L27 is pretty good from the factory, but you can squeak 5-10hp out of it if you're careful. 1.8 ratio rockers can be purchased from INTENSE. That's a good 20hp as well, and a FWI will complete the package. Your exhaust manifolds are great and will fully support the mods mentioned here. After the rockers and intake, send an Eprom over to have tuned. This all falls well within your budget.

Get replacement seat covers from the wrecker.

[jrobb57]

Thanks for the input. That's about the range I was looking at. What about suspension? I'll be replacing struts pretty soon, so any upgrades would be practical then. I would like alittle more stability with cornering. Plus, would lowering be sensible?

[willwren]

The best thing you can do for your suspension is to upgrade to the SSEi FE2 springs and swaybars, using new polyurethane bushings for the endlinks front and rear. The difference will be immediately noticeable and remarkable. You should be able to get all the components from a wrecker for under 100 bucks, and the endlinks should run you under 50 new for all 4 corners. Monroe Sensatrak are greatly preferred and highly recommended.

[jrobb57]

Once again thanks for the info!

[JMH1950]

As an EX- '94 SE owner I can vouch for the difference the FE2 sway bars and poly end links make. It will be a totally different feeling car when it's done.

[willwren]

A word to the wise, do NOT do just the swaybars. You'll be left with an oversteer condition. You need all 4 springs too, and good struts. In addition, the ELC (Electronic Level Control) is a calculated part of the FE2 suspension package. If you're not up to the task of gutting the whole system from the donor car and installing in yours, get manual-fill rear air struts (gas strut with air assist, monroe-matic) and fill to about 10psi.

Not doing the ELC or manual air assist will result in an understeer. I've spent hours upon hours tuning my suspension for neutral balance, and can give you pointers on fine-tuning when you get close to your goal (for very little cost).

[jrobb57]

Thanks for all the info. I'll let you know how it goes when I start.

[JMH1950]

A word to the wise, do NOT do just the swaybars. You'll be left with an oversteer condition. You need all 4 springs too, and good struts. In addition, the ELC (Electronic Level Control) is a calculated part of the FE2 suspension package. If you're not up to the task of gutting the whole system from the donor car and installing in yours, get manual-fill rear air struts (gas strut with air assist, monroe-matic) and fill to about 10psi.

Not doing the ELC or manual air assist will result in an understeer. I've spent hours upon hours tuning my suspension for neutral balance, and can give you pointers on fine-tuning when you get close to your goal (for very little cost).

Strange, I never had any problems with under or oversteer just doing the sway bars and end links. Maybe the new struts and shocks helped with that. But then, I'm not a professional race car driver either, and I guess each car will have a different result.