2002 SSEI Mod Questions

[Renegade]

Hello to everyone,

I recently purchased a 2002 Bonneville SSEI with 58k on it. The car is in fantastic condition and is alot of fun to drive. I did have some questions regarding upgrades to the performance on my vehicle. I am not the most mechanically inclined person but I know the basic in's and out's and I am more then willing and excited to learn some new stuff.

So my goal is to go for the "American Muscle Car" theme.
I would like to reach 300 hp and have some fun with the car. Bonnevilles have always been a car of choice in my family and now that I have my own I would like to go the extra step.

I have decided to do a few outside changes to my vehicle including a pair of dark grey racing strips and hash stripes. I am painting the calipers red and the chrome wheels will be blacked out. I have already done alot of research on those items and will be ultimately doing the painting hopefully this weekend. I also plan on getting the windows tinted at 35% according to PA law.

Some of the upgrades I was considering, please comment.
1. Fenderwell Intake system
2. Magnaflow 3" mufflers(I am just going to get mufflers for now, I want the deep muscle car tone, I will purchase a full system later on down the road when I have more money.)
3. Supercharger pulley (I did do some research one this, is there any size that is better then stock that wouldn't need any other further mods?)
4. Angel Eye style lights http://www.carid.com/universal-headligh ... 56330.html

Those are some basics I wanted to start with, any suggestions for increasing my hp? I am overall trying to get another 60hp added within the next 6-12 months.

Thanks, looking forward to hearing your comments.
Macson

[Zeik75]

First off Welcome to the forum.

Second you simply will NOT get a muscle car sound out of this car, various reasons why but ultimatly its just that the 3800 doesn't have a good exhaust sound to it. Some people have done mufflers and such and like it, but its still not "Muscle Car", look on youtube and you should find plenty of 3800 exhaust sounds to compare if you really want to change mufflers.

As far as the pulley goes I don't believe you could go down sizes without mods to support it. Check out Intenseracing.com and ZZPerformance.com for some ideas on parts and costs.

To reach 300hp there are a couple ways I'm not 100% sure everything needed for that number, but some basic things would be a FWI (fenderwell Intake) from Intenseracing.com, headers, 1.8 rockers or a CAM (rockers are a more DIY part than a cam), port and polished S/C would be beneficial, a tune and you could drop to a 3.4 pulley. someone else could tell you what is needed to get 300hp but this should get you started.

Before all of that however I suggest you check out this thread http://www.pontiacbonnevilleclub.com/fo ... 40156.html

[yourgrandma]

Welcome to the forum!

First and foremost, do NOT put magnaflows on your car. Especially in a larger size. I have magnaplows in 2.5" along with a full 3" system from the headers back. It sounds absolutely horrible. I refuse to even drive the car most of the time. Extremely loud, droney and raspy. Unless youre going completely insane with the engine, the stock system is actually very adequite.

For about 300hp at the crank, youre looking at a FWI, 1.8 or 1.9:1 rockers, headers, 3.4" pulley and a tune. Youll also want lower heat range plugs and a 180* thermostat. Anything beyond this power level starts to get more involved pretty quickly. A good 3.4 setup is sort of the sweet spot in my opinion.

[nos4blood70]

A good 3.4 set up should net you at about 300 ponies. You can drop the pulley size on headers, but not with stock exhaust manifolds.

These cars don't sound too great exhaust system wise. If you want just a little more noise, I'd suggest a pair of Flowmaster 44's but LEAVE the stock resonator. My car sounds very mellow and isn't very loud. Plus there is NO rasp. It just sounds like the factory exhaust but a touch louder. On a warm motor, you wouldn't even tell the difference between stock standing behind the car at idle.

If you're willing to do the angel eyes, maybe give doing a projector a shot as well. That's a good way to modern up the headlights and it would make the rings look better.

[00Beast]

You're not going to get deep muscle car tone out of a V6, especially a 3800. Not gonna happen.

Have you read this? http://www.pontiacbonnevilleclub.com/fo ... 25655.html

[Renegade]

I want to thank everyone for their input, it is really appreciated!

I will check some more you tube vids regarding the exhaust tone. I understand that an actual "muscle car" sound won't be achieved but I was looking for a bit more aggressive sound and volume. If you think I should keep it stock then I will consider doing such.

I did read through the links, thanks for those guys, really appreciated.

I will post pictures and info as the car comes along. I hopefully will be able to get to get to the wheels on Sat.-Sun.

Just on a quick not, is there a common place for my ssei to leak coolant? The elbows that normally go were just replaced, but I seem to have a small leak still (looking in from the outside, it seems to come from the right side of the engine.) At the valvoline oil change they said they didn't see any coolant in the oil or any leaks. So that rules most suspicion of a head gasket. Wasn't sure if anyone knew anything. I also had have a small oil leak as well, I can smell the burnt oil after running the car hard. I was told that its common on the Bonnevilles, my 1999 did the exact same thing prior.

Any comments are appreciated.
Thanks,
Macson

[Renegade]

Please post how you think I can get sound like this.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Z4LApTKzOg (This is the tone I prefer, maybe with a touch more volume.)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GKJUExkYjSw (This is good sound to but I prefer the first.)

Obviously not anything obnoxious like this.........http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JXWf5RxEpt0

Thanks
Macson

[Zeik75]

The oil is probably the valve covers it will leak out a drip onto the exhaust, its a fairly simple replacement. http://www.pontiacbonnevilleclub.com/fo ... c6879.html

The coolant could be the LIM gaskets, very common on the 3800's with dexcool. http://www.pontiacbonnevilleclub.com/fo ... c3591.html

Both of these are on a N/A engine, but the basic idea is the same and should give you an idea on wether you want to do it yourself or not.

[Zeik75]

You won't get either of those sounds, the Bonnie is a 4.6 Norhtstar V8 and the GP is an LS4 V8, the 3800 can't sound like either.

Your pretty much stuck with the sound of the 3rd video.

[Renegade]

Thanks for the info on the coolant and oil.

So the third vid huh....:( I really just want a loud purr, the stock exhaust is pretty quiet...any recommendations at all?

[Jfridge92]

Honestly leave the cat back stock. Most 3800s around my area with exhaust systems sound like a baby airplane throwing up. They just don't sound good above idle.

[yourgrandma]

Headers with a catless downpipe and high lift rockers will make it sound impressively badass. I rocked that setup for a couple years and really loved Tue sound. Especially just off idle rolling through a gas station or something.

[MattStrike]

Also, an NIC cam will make the 3800 sound good and lopey. But then you're looking at valve springs, timing set frequent changes or a roller, pulley down, a tune, etc.

[RJW50312]

Hows it going. Nice find on the Bonneville sounds pretty sweet. I have an 03 with double the mileage. I did the performance kit from intense-racing.com. I have not one regret. It really woke this car up. The sound the supercharger makes is just awesome. Plan on doing the heads next after taxes.

check this out:
http://intense-racing.com/Merchant2/mer ... de=3800_PP