my 1994 caprice classic 350 LT1

Can you tell me why my caprice takes 1996 impalas i have no work done to my engine. i have raced three diffrent impalas more than once and everytime i take them by atleast a car and a half. I know the car used to be a cop car.
What makes my car so fast? i think the chip theory is real.

If you are referring to the "Police Chip" there is no such thing.

then why is it faster than an impala? wutd does it have that i dont know about... i know it was a cop car it came with sirens which all i had to simply connect...

There is no 'police chip'. It's myth busted.

The only thing a police car has over its civilian counterpart is a programmed top speed of 255MPH, due to the fact that police drivers are trained to deal with blowouts at high speed.

Edit, nevermind, top speed is 147MPH.

Since yours was a police car, it was probably taken care of better in terms of maintanence. Since you are not the original owner, you don't know the car's history 100%. It's possible that the transmission was once rebuilt. A tighter tranny = more power to the wheels. Your injectors may have been replaced where the Impalas' may not have been and are still 10+ years old. There are many factors that can increase or decrease performance and maintanace makes a huge difference in the long run.

The drivetrains are the same, a 9C1 will have a speed limiter up to a possible 147mph the SS has 154mph.
The SS wheels and tires are like LEAD, you could easily be running lighter rolling stock and rotating weight matters, an SS may have more optional equipment other than that it would come down to different cars just are weaker or stronger, or maybe the Impalas have heavy stereos.

There was nothing special about the SS or 9C1 they are both Caprices one just wears and evening gown and the other work clothes.
They got 3.08 gears as opposed to 2.93 for a civilian car which is almost meaningless and they got INFERIOR disc rear brakes. It is not the discs themselves that are inferior though it is GM cheaping out and not redesigning a proper proportioning valve.
Before anyone disagrees with me on that, I have had both setups in the same car with no other changes, the drums stop better than the stock rear disc system. It can be modified to work right but that is not how GM sold it.

... and they got INFERIOR disc rear brakes. It is not the discs themselves that are inferior though it is GM cheaping out and not redesigning a proper proportioning valve.
Before anyone disagrees with me on that, I have had both setups in the same car with no other changes, the drums stop better than the stock rear disc system. It can be modified to work right but that is not how GM sold it.

I have to disagree. Just kidding. You're exactly right and once you modify the proportioning valve, they work excellent.

GM should have done the proportioning valve mod on these cars before they were ever sold.

Duane is spot-on with the prop valve for the rear discs. That's a prime reason why accountants should never be allowed to make business decisions over engineers. And the Man of Sand is correct that the "fix" is very easy, and the discs absolutely shine when they actually get hydraulic pressure to stop the vehicle.

That said, there are some minor differences between the "civi" B-Body and SEO vehicles (including the SS models). The SEO frame is reinforced. Also, the 9C1 and taxi versions actually had elastomer "doughnuts" in all the frame-to-body mounting positions, whereas the SS and other civi models did not. The 9C1s had brake cooling deflectors. The SS is lower, which should favor it at higher speeds if the air dam is actually keeping frontal air from under the car. Factory air dams do not help much with this, so that's pretty much a wash.

None of that will affect straight line performance, however. I suspect that you may have a better factory engine, less wear, less neglect, and potentially a better driver. There are plenty of 13-second B-Cars out there with 15-second drivers, myself included.

Further, on my particular '94, I've never encountered a speed limiter. There is a factory RPM limiter, but it is factory programmed at about 10,400 RPM, which is basically meaningless. The VSS-based speed limiter is programmed (at least on my '94) at 254 MPH, which is basically meaningless. If my digital speedo is close to correct (and they seldom are) my '94 will make 163MPH after about 4 miles. That's on a freshened stock rotating assembly, reworked heads w/bigger and lighter valves, better cam and springs, AFPR, exhaust, intake porting, PCM tuning, air dam and side skirts, and adjusted rear LCAs to correct pinion angle.

Some dyno runs have also proven that synthetic fluids from the engine to the axle are good for another 10-15 HP on the treadmill;, which would translate to better ¼ mile times. There was an article posted at Super Chevy for quite a while showing the results, but it has since been removed as far as I can tell. If your 9C1 was serviced frequently and treated to synthetic ATF and gear oil, that alone could make a minor difference. If it got the recommended replacements of fuel filters and fluids, the entire engine and drive train could be in much better condition than the average LT1 B-car.

Oh! I know what it is! The hole left by the spotlight in the A pillar makes the car lighter. That's probably why you're faster...

Enjoy your car for what it is, and for the fact that between the car and the driver, it's a faster package than the average B-Car still out there.

Thanks. Now i want more power and im not sure wut i want to go with. is a stroker kit reliable for an everyday driver? i was also thinking about a supercharger or turbokit. i was also thinking about borla v.s. magnaflow full exhaust wut do you think? also, do you think royal purple synthetic racing oil is top of the line?

It takes a lot of modification before the car is ready for internal engine work or boost.

Adding a stroker or boost without all the supporting stuff will result in very little gain for the money.

My setup on the otherhand will walk all over most of the strokers guys are building, I will say I worry about the longevity of the stock shortblock with the 200+hp over stock I am pumping though it. Properly done heads and cam setup will make a lot more power than a stroker with poor heads. On the heads aftermarket is the WRONG choice.

http://s39.photobucket.com/albums/e179/95SStorm/?action=view&current=ChevySucks1v2.flv
This was 150 miles from home a few nights ago. Excuse the ugliness, deer damage I have not bothered to repaint yet, I have this problem where I keep buying speed parts instead of paint supplies.

This is NOT typical results, there are no other street Impala/Caprices I know of running these time with heads and cam on a stock shortblock, some running close but are not true street car and one running a bit faster but is 700lbs lighter pure race car.
That said if a guy had a mind too it would be easy to duplicate my combination and performance, most just fall for lesser products with a better marketing campaign so nobody else has tried to duplicate it YET.

Really need to start with things like cold air induction, headers and a good catback, rearend gears 3.42-4.10, new posi, aftermarket rear lower control arms, transmission rebuild with a higher stall torque converter a good one, not a $200 B&M, and this all just gets you started but it also makes a HUGE difference in the car even without having to go into the engine.

You start modifying a car and you can not believe the amount of money you can spend on this hobby. It is an area where the most important piece of advise will be admit and learn from your mistakes, I see a lot of guys throwing good money after bad rather than admit a core piece they tried to use is junk.

Nice vid, Duane. :thumbsup:

All that, and you could put the Fox body in your trunk as a spare.

On the heads aftermarket is the WRONG choice.

I'll second that. It's pretty easy to get here on stock castings:

http://72.19.213.157/files/HeadPortingSample.jpg

thank you for the advise. Wut do you guys think borla full exhaust or Magna flow full exhaust? i think borla sounds sick i've never really heard magnaflows. Which one do you think gives you the most hp? i was also hinking about k&n intake????

Also i want to slap some 22inch sevas s-10 drop the car and still be burning impalas. i know that takes alot of time to do. But i need some ideas.

The Borla is a nice system and is fine for near stock but will restrict an engine making real power.

A 2.5" system with Magnaflows should handle quite a bit of power without being a restriction.

The Borla is a nice system and is fine for near stock but will restrict an engine making real power.

I'm going to have to disagree with that... a Borla cat back system like I have on my truck, yes is great for stock applications but will suffer in high performance, but borla makes complete engine-back systems for all sorts of applications from completely stock to street/strip to racing to towing, they have setups specifially for certain applications. An exhaust system can hurt or enhance any engine, but it's a matter of finding the right combination of parts for what you want the engine to do.

The Borla b-body system is 2.25", going to choke a serious motor. Now if you are talking a custom system using larger universal fit Borla mufflers than fine but I was refering to the available catback.

Most people would say my car needs more than 2.5" but sofar I am getting by, think the x-pipe is what is making the dual 2.5" work as well as it does, gain little opening the exhaust.

For easy boltin, good sound, and flow I like the Dynomax system. Deep and mellow and never too loud.

It is what I started with and then added an x-pipe, get lots of compliments on the sound, closest thing to a negative comment is some guys say it is too quiet especially for the times it runs. That is a good thing though loud exhaust gets old if you are an adult(not just chronological age applies). I leave for work at 5:20am and the neighbors have no complaints.

Can you tell me why my caprice takes 1996 impalas i have no work done to my engine. i have raced three diffrent impalas more than once and everytime i take them by atleast a car and a half. I know the car used to be a cop car.
What makes my car so fast? i think the chip theory is real.

The reason for that is that the impala weights more so it slows it down a bit. impalas have carpets and heavier seats etc. there is no chips or anything that make them fast they are the same. And if they did they would not give you the car with the chip.

The reason for that is that the impala weights more so it slows it down a bit. impalas have carpets and heavier seats etc. there is no chips or anything that make them fast they are the same. And if they did they would not give you the car with the chip.

Wrong.

The Impala does not weigh more than the Caprice. The rubber flooring that's in many 9C1 cars is actually heavier than the carpet it's used in place of. It also has lighter seats - 9C1 seats are heavy duty meaning they have more metal in them, as well as shielding on the back of them that prevents a perp from slamming a knife through the seat.

You're right about the chip in that it doesn't exist. Do you really think they'd keep stock chips on hand to replace? Hell no. Most times, they even leave the wiring in the car, and sometimes they even leave wigwags and such in the car. I still have the electronic wigwag that was in my car.

Can you tell me why my caprice takes 1996 impalas i have no work done to my engine. i have raced three diffrent impalas more than once and everytime i take them by atleast a car and a half. I know the car used to be a cop car.
What makes my car so fast? i think the chip theory is real.
I know of two people that have installed a performance eprom. this will greatly give you more off the line performance. but at a cost. I did not install this because, the gas mileage they both agreed, went from 25mpg to 18 mpg maximum. I don't know if it is still available, hypertech I believe did have this as well as a eprom progammer for this car. eprom performance chip was $275 programmer was $600-800.

The software to be able to truely tune is under $100, allows complete control over fuel, spark and transmission.

Hypertech is garbage.

Far as milage if tuning is done right it can increase fuel economy. My car is not really tuned perfectly I had a professional email me a program which I loaded into my pcm using a program called Tunercat even with a setup as powerful and far from stock as mine with 3.73 gears and a 3400 stall converter I still get about 19mpg mixed and feel with new O2 sensors and some tuning time I could improve that number.

With injection power and economy can be had in relative balance. If you are always deep in the throttle well then economy will suffer but with normal driving no problem.

EPROM? The PCMs in these cars a flash-ROM (E²PROM), not EPROM.

I'd agree with the 96mgr - Hypertech is a compromise product, and is not anywhere near optimal. Never has been.

The programming of these systems is relatively easy - Even I can do it. It is also very easy to enable Highway Fuel and Highway Spark modes, raising cruise fuel mixture to 17:1 (or higher if you dare) and to have cruise spark advance well over 50º BTC. That makes for some serious mileage gains, and with a judicious application of EGR, completely prevents detonation and overheating. On the other end of the spectrum, Power Enrichment mode is very adjustable, and PE mixture and spark map, VE tables, and MAF tables are configurable enough to make plenty more power than the factory provided with no mechanical changes. Add some good heads, a reasonable cam, and allow more air through the engine, and the limits are a lot less of a problem. If you want noticeably more power, and 29 MPG when you're cruising, it's not impossible. The factory programming is very conservative, and left lots of room for improvement if you want to take the time to monitor your specific engine and tune several times to get it just right. the reverse flow cooling can be used to great advantage to keep the chambers cool at some fairly lean conditions, and the Detonation Attack and Recovery rates can be tightened up to control any problems and prevent damage. I'm almost certain that's why the factory left so much potential on the table, since they needed to provide a warranty with the engine and could not control the nut between the steering wheel and the seat.

I'd send you my program, but the guys in the black helicopters would have to kill you (government regulations). ;)

but the guys in the black helicopters

You called? ;)

To give you guys an idea of how much the computer can handle, when I became interested in cars everything I read said 180-190psi cranking compression was the maximum you could get away with on 93 octane. Now a bone stock b-body cranks 200psi and runs on 87 octane, my car with 11.2-3 static compression cranks more like 230psi, 93 octane is fine. The stock L99 starter turned it over just fine too untill I broke the solenoid removing the wires.

GM got a lot more right with these cars than they did wrong.

another thing... sometimes from the rear end it smells like pure gas!!!!also inside the car it smells like gas... wut can that be?

another thing... sometimes from the rear end it smells like pure gas!!!!also inside the car it smells like gas... wut can that be?

A leaky line or fuel filter. There's really not much else that can cause that.

sup guys havent been online for a couple of weeks. i've got dynomax full exhaust and a k&n cold air filter so far i dont know what type of headers i should go with.... any suggestions??? what else do you guys suggest that i buy in order to make the ar faster.. without opening that block?

Im also getting new tires very very soon i want some big boys. i got impala wheels and i wanna know whats the fattest i can go???

Last time I tire shopped I settled on the stock Impala size, best balance of height and width I could find. You can get wider if you go shorter but then you are pushing the tire to it's limits because it should be on a wider rim. Think 284/40/17 is what some guys use but they are 26" instead of 27" tall and I was not willing to make that compromise. It should also have more like a 9.5" rim instead of the Impala 8.5".

On the headers is emissions inspection a concern? Probably the biggest single concern when considering headers.

Next mod would need to be headers or gears and posi.

thank you what gear ratio would you guys suggest for my car to be faster on a quarter mile then on the highway?

also no emissions inspections are of no concern...

With the OD highway speed is not limited till you go beyond 4.10s and then is still double the legal limit anywhwere.

Most guys like 3.73s for daily drivers some even swear 4.10s are great for daily drivers.

I have tried 3.42s and 3.73s and when I put 20K a year on the car 3.42 was just right. Now it is more a toy and only sees 8-10K a year and 3.73s are fine even on 500 mile trips. Keep considering 4.10s.

To keep the ABS you need a custom reluctor, I can get you the email address for the guy if you want but it is not cheap, want to say around $100.

Headers you have a lot of choices ranging from cheap in every sense of the word headers meant for other cars that will take some fabrication to make work to stuff that can cost a little over $1000 but is of heavy construction and completely boltin with no fabrication or trip to the muffler shop necessary.

focuztech.com has a few choices and is good to buy from, great service.
Either ceramic coating or stainless should be considered as both insulate and protect the things near them from heat damage.