Hello all, I am considering doing the unheard of and **** off all of my family and friends. I am considering selling my '96 laser red Cobra for a new '03 LS 5.3 3.73 SB/RC (is all that correct forum jargon). The dealerships have great incentives right now and I would like to get into a new/different form of fun and functionality. I have been impressed with the LS1 based motor since it came out, but it is a totally different beast from the ford's mod motors. with only having one cam and all what do these motors smile the most on? Headers/exhaust? Intake? Cam? Tune? All of the above in that order?

 

welcome to the board...

You've got the right idea. Most guys start out with intake, exhaust and a tune. The tune can give nice results by itself. You really won't need headers right away unless you go with bigger mods like a cam or forced induction.
I'm sure you'll get other opinions, but it really depends on how far you want to go with modding a brand new truck.

 

'deezel' thanks for the reply. this will be my first vehicle that is actually under warranty. how are the dealers about warranty work on trucks with mods. i have a 03 honda interceptor (motorcycle) and the honda dealers could care less with what you have done to the bike just as along as that is not the reason that you are bringing it back.

 

Warranty work varies by dealership. What one may overlook, the other may refuse any work - like what happened to me. Call and ask them would be your best bet, depending on what you want to do. If your worried about your warranty, that is.

Anyway, welcome to the site. Trucks are more fun anyway.

 

Dealers will ignore a catback exhaust. They will raise an eyebrow at an intake, but will ignore it unless you have a problem that is directly caused by it (example being anyone that over-oils a filter and messes up the MAS. Service dept. will flip if their computer scans a custom tune.

 

They never noticed mine...

I think most service depts have no idea what to look for to tell if the tune has been changed. I don't think they have the capability to view and edit the tables in the calibration, just install a factory GM calibration from a database.

 

I think you would be making a wise decision. I went from a '95 Mustang GT with a supercharger and a bunch of other stuff (best of 7.70 1/8th mile) to this truck which has now gone 7.29 1/8th mile. There is just something about driving a performance oriented truck. You will understand the first time you beat some punk in a Mustang with the truck!!

The day I bought mine before I signed the papers I went back to the service dept and told the service manager that I was about to buy a new truck with the intentions of supercharging it, racing it every weekend, and generally beating the crap out of it. I asked him point blank "If I bring it back with a rod hanging out the side are we gonna have a problem?" He told me not to worry, he would take care of me. Since that time I have gotten to know the guy and he is a retired semi-pro drag racer so that helps I'm sure. The only thing it has ever been in for is a defective seat cover, so I never really needed warranty anyways.

I agree with Ben-it just all depends on the dealer. The Ford dealer who voided my warranty on my Lightning is singlehandedly responsible for the fact that I will never own another Ford. They were total jerks/crooks. Otherwise my wife would be driving a new Cobra right now.

 

im not one of those guys that will take something to the dealer just because it has a "new noise" or it "feels funny" I just want to know that these trucks are made well enough that my sensibility in decisions of mods wont be shot down just because a particular service manager feels that the factory "did it right from the factory".

I will miss my cobra. one thing i must have is torque. i think that hand in hand it is the most important attribute to the fun we have in automobiles. the DOHC 281 could definatley produce the torque needed to have fun. I am looking forward to getting into a sorta old-world-brute-force-push-rod-motor-meets-tchnological-ingnition-tuning.

 

warning--minor hijack of post
Deezel,
I had heard the stories of dealers trying to reflash a pcm that has been tuned with a handheld. The PCM is set back to stock, but the handheld is rendered useless. Any truth to that one?