What parts should I use for tune up & maintenance on possibly high mile engine?

[impala20]

Hi I had the previous post of Need help picking the right parts for performance or crate engine, so now since the car has been sitting since the day I bought it last year and I still don’t know if the engine has 80,000 or 200,000 on it & I know it wasn’t running on all cylinders I’m going to have a mechanic tune it up and maintain everything so I could see if its running right so I could do heads & cam.

What should I do because the mechanic I’m going to have work on the car is pretty good but his English is not so good so I would like to tell him or give him what parts need to be changed besides what he suggests or I think he’s saying?

I was thinking E3 spark plugs at $6.00 a piece, MSD wires at $125.00 and the auto parts guy suggested doing a Cardone water pump at $100.00 & ACDelco Cap & Rotor $190.00 since I would be taking apart that area already. If my Optispark is bad does the eBay one come with a cap & rotor?

When I changed the rear axle to an Impala since the car had a Caprice drum rear end it started leaking so it needs to be fixed and I’m also going to put 22” wheels on & try to improve horse so I was wondering what gear ratio I should change to? I was thinking 3.73 because it’s going to be a summer street driver and that’s what was in my Mustang and is $600-$650 a good price for parts and labor lifetime warranty at a highly respected rear end shop?

Please list any suggestion on what I should do and actual parts because I’m trying to get this done this week and I like to buy quality parts to do it once or until it’s time to change the part again thanks.

P.S. I’m going to post this in multiple LT1 forums for fast responses and different opinions in case nobody responds.

[Z28pr0jekt]

Do not get those E3 garbage plugs, use NGK or Autolites. Msd or taylor wires will be good.

Why do you think larger wheels are going to improve horsepower?

[impala20]

The wheels are for looks.

[Z28pr0jekt]

I’m also going to put 22” wheels on & try to improve horse


Okay cause you said it like that so it was a bit misleading... you know that heavy ass 22" rims are going to make you slower and less stable right?

As for other stuff

Air filter
Full oil change/filter change
Fuel filter
Radiator Flush
MSD or a new stock coil

I'm sure there are a couple other I'm forgetting

[MeanGreen94Z]

22's arent going to fit the looks of a camaro, now if you had a impala SS or something the RIGHT set would look SICK on air ride...

[Z28pr0jekt]

He has an impala or caprice i think from his other thread

[MeanGreen94Z]

haha im a moron, i didnt even look at his name :( i would say 22's are the BIGGEST you SHOULD get, personally i would stay with 19's or even 18's... as for plugs stay away from the companies that say "change this , it will pick up 30 horsepower!!!" or anything that makes you think of the Sham WOW comercial

[Tarheel'Z']

im thinking maybe some metallic green paint with 10lbs of metal flake,,,maybe some tires with the colored stripes in the tread for those 22's,,,maybe like 10 of those little tweeters for the dash...im probably missing something

[TechF1end]

haha im a moron, i didnt even look at his name :( i would say 22's are the BIGGEST you SHOULD get, personally i would stay with 19's or even 18's... as for plugs stay away from the companies that say "change this , it will pick up 30 horsepower!!!" or anything that makes you think of the Sham WOW comercial

i agree with meangreen94z, stay away from anything that reminds you of sham WOW LMAO that made me laugh. I used for wires the jegs 8.5mm cause i never heard of any body using them so i thought i would try em out for i think 30 or 40 and they work really well, for spark plugs i just bought the ngk tr55s and couldnt be happier. i bought the msd blaster coil also for like 40 or 50 and they all work really well for me and cost wise pretty cheap, all i need now is cap and rotor

[MeanGreen94Z]

im thinking maybe some metallic green paint with 10lbs of metal flake,,,maybe some tires with the colored stripes in the tread for those 22's,,,maybe like 10 of those little tweeters for the dash...im probably missing something
was that really necessary?

[Camaro_94]

I think I had NGK plugs in my Formula. They worked out good. I wouldnt buy the heads/cam package until you know for sure your motor is a good to mod.. That would be my advise. And the MSD wires are a good choice also. ;)

[Tarheel'Z']

was that really necessary?

actually, no it wasnt,,,and i would like to say im sorry to anyone who was offended.i took my bad day out on the OP and im sorry for that and i appreciate you calling me out on it.no hard feelings i hope..?

[impala20]

I’m not offended and I know where you were going, most people think that when they hear 22” wheels but here is a portion of an old reply to my own older post.

I know in most application when building a car with a lot of HP you need to build up all the weak links to be safe & I know this because I’ve owned a 1994 Mustang GT 5.0 that I completely customized the body, lights, wheels etc that was all done classy not tacky & I did the 3:73 gears, Bassani X pipe & Headers, Side Exhaust, Performance Automatic Transmission, Stall Convertor, Cold Air Intake, Tune and since I never built the engine up I was never happy with the performance & as time went by the car started to have many problems even though it had low miles & I babied it and then I was just turned off to pour any more money in it but that’s a Ford for you I guess.

I tend to customize my cars like Chip Foose in regards to taste not as well and with as much money (that’s just respect for him and I’m not trying to say I’m the shit when it comes to customizing cars) but before I knew of him are styles were similar for example Eleanor from gone in 60 Seconds looked just like a 67 version of my Mustang & I customized it a few years before it came out & I’m only mentioning this because I want to give a example on how I want the car to turn out in regards to performance & looks best of both worlds not all bling with no bite sort of how my Mustang was but with Chip he’s obviously a car building legend that has the money to build all the rest of the stuff up so he can run something like 22” wheels with performance with no problems I just want a poor man’s version & I don’t want that drag racing look with fat racing tires etc if that’s what needs to be done with that 400+ power.

I also have customized 10 other cars some I still own and the rest I sold. I have a good eye for customizing and I also don’t like the pimp my ride tacky look you are referring to but when this car is done I will post some pics even though my mustang was ahead of its time referring to there was nothing like it in 1998 and that was around the time modern cars were starting to get customized in the east coast and there was no eBay or computer sites only special orders but this body style Impala has been done to death so mine might have similarities to others but with my own twist .

[MeanGreen94Z]

actually, no it wasnt,,,and i would like to say im sorry to anyone who was offended.i took my bad day out on the OP and im sorry for that and i appreciate you calling me out on it.no hard feelings i hope..?
no sandy vaginas here :)

[TechF1end]

I’m not offended and I know where you were going, most people think that when they hear 22” wheels but here is a portion of an old reply to my own older post.

I know in most application when building a car with a lot of HP you need to build up all the weak links to be safe & I know this because I’ve owned a 1994 Mustang GT 5.0 that I completely customized the body, lights, wheels etc that was all done classy not tacky & I did the 3:73 gears, Bassani X pipe & Headers, Side Exhaust, Performance Automatic Transmission, Stall Convertor, Cold Air Intake, Tune and since I never built the engine up I was never happy with the performance & as time went by the car started to have many problems even though it had low miles & I babied it and then I was just turned off to pour any more money in it but that’s a Ford for you I guess.

I tend to customize my cars like Chip Foose in regards to taste not as well and with as much money (that’s just respect for him and I’m not trying to say I’m the shit when it comes to customizing cars) but before I knew of him are styles were similar for example Eleanor from gone in 60 Seconds looked just like a 67 version of my Mustang & I customized it a few years before it came out & I’m only mentioning this because I want to give a example on how I want the car to turn out in regards to performance & looks best of both worlds not all bling with no bite sort of how my Mustang was but with Chip he’s obviously a car building legend that has the money to build all the rest of the stuff up so he can run something like 22” wheels with performance with no problems I just want a poor man’s version & I don’t want that drag racing look with fat racing tires etc if that’s what needs to be done with that 400+ power.

I also have customized 10 other cars some I still own and the rest I sold. I have a good eye for customizing and I also don’t like the pimp my ride tacky look you are referring to but when this car is done I will post some pics even though my mustang was ahead of its time referring to there was nothing like it in 1998 and that was around the time modern cars were starting to get customized in the east coast and there was no eBay or computer sites only special orders but this body style Impala has been done to death so mine might have similarities to others but with my own twist .

geez i feel ya there!

[LT1Blackbird]

I would personally steer you from just replacing the cap and rotor on the opti-spark. I did that once and it didn't last long. Do yourself a favor and IF YOU MUST replace the opti, replace the whole thing with a Delco one.

[MeanGreen94Z]

^^^ smart man, couldnt have said it better myself