Was it worth it? ( Stock vs. Modified)

[KYTY]

Let me start by saying thanks to all who work so hard to keep this forum going. I am a new member a long time lurker and a long time Ty owner. I am Jim the local guy who helped with nats 09 and 13. I have met many members over the years and all have been glad to help with my education on these addictive machines. I am in the process of building an engine and I have one which is bone stock and low miles but has been setting for years it just needs freshening up which will cost less than a thousand dollars and I have one which just came out of machine shop with stock bottom end balanced but it needs a cam and that's where the problem starts. As you all know its that 1 thing calls for another thing and it seems there is no end. Don't get me wrong I have loved every minute of it but crackheads love to do crack but that doesn't mean its smart.
So my real question is to all who have done the cam, l35s or vortecs ,tune, headers, intakes etc was it worth it or in hind sight do you wish you had just gone stock and enjoyed your truck and the fact that it is rare and you are usually the only one at a car show, cruise, or at the track.
Just a simple yes or no will do I am confused enough already.
thank
Jim

 

[Quickstop [UK]]

Re: Was it worth it

Re: Was it worth it

Stay as stock as you can unless you have money and time. :2cents:

Welcome!

 

[T-Bone]

Re: Was it worth it? ( Stock vs. Modified)

yes....absolutely.

 

[Maxtor]

Re: Was it worth it? ( Stock vs. Modified)

Keeping it as close to stock as possible will lead to a much happier and more wealthy owner who has a lot more free time.

Vortec heads (or L35's but not as good), better rods (don't have to go forged), and forged pistons will make the engine stronger while staying with the stock theme; plus won't break the bank and require a special tune. If I did nothing else I would have a hard time not changing the heads if the motor had to come apart for freshening,

 

[Icarus-54]

Re: Was it worth it? ( Stock vs. Modified)

Jim,I have 2 of mine modded and one that's stock.The modded ones are a pia but when things are right,they are a thrill.My white ty I've kept stock as a sunday cruiser but even that sometimes fails me(remember the nats,you helped me out).Is it worth it?Only if you keep one stock and buy a project truck to play with.
Jack

 

[nello]

Re: Was it worth it? ( Stock vs. Modified)

Definitely worth modding IMO. I've owned two Syclones, one really nice stocker, and the other with a pretty decent mod list and tune. Both were and have been extremely reliable for me.

I feel I out grew stock performance rather quickly. My modded truck is so much more fun to me, especially when I can scare the shit out of myself at WOT while laughing the entire way to 100mph+ before remembering I'm driving a truck. :doh:

 

[wildphil]

Re: Was it worth it? ( Stock vs. Modified)

Keep it stock. You will enjoy your truck much more and longer. If you start modding. It won't take long to double the amount you have invested in your truck.

 

[atkonkler]

Re: Was it worth it? ( Stock vs. Modified)

Every god dam penny has been worth it to move that flaming pile of GMC poop down the road and laugh hysterically as I go to town on all those no talent ass hats that think they are badass in daddies mustang, camaro, 300c etc. etc.. It was worth it to see the looks on their faces when they get stomped.

 

[autoaddictions]

Re: Was it worth it? ( Stock vs. Modified)

Make it better. How much is entirely up to your skill level. This way you know how to deal with the little issues that will pop up from time to time. I agree with jack. When a high modded truck is right. It's a blast to own and drive. You just don't want to go to far so it keeps breakage to a min.

 

[Matt]

Once you ride or drive a modded truck your mind will be made up

 

[Maxtor]

Re: Was it worth it? ( Stock vs. Modified)

1000 years ago, I had Promgrammer and I burned my first chip... That got me started. I bolted on.. Then upgraded more, then upgraded more. Then 4 syclones later I have one of the most "reliable" fast syclones around and it is amazing. I have never stopped with these damn things. The truck I have today is fast and almost never has an issue. It cost me an incredible amoount of money since 1997 to get to this point (not inccluding the new sonoma GT I bought in 92).

With that said, to this day my wife stills says she wishes I had the stock syclone I started with so we could just go out and cruise stress free. No $20k motor, no race gas, no BS. Part of me wants to go back there. That's why I said keep it stock. For every success story there are a dozen failures with SyTy builds. Almost 20 years of SoGT and Syclone ownership and north of $100k in these things and that's where I am at. Maybe I am getting old

 

[KYTY]

Re: Was it worth it? ( Stock vs. Modified)

Thanks for your response. It looks about 50/50. I change my mind every day. I am thinking about a 412 cam on stock block with L35 heads, stock turbo and 40# injectors.
Hood suggested turbo tweak chip to be safe and get a little experience with tuning and data logging which I have never done before but have access to several good people who can help teach me. Other than 3 bar and wide ban are there any thoughts on what would be a necessity while the engine is apart? Reliability is the number 1 goal. It will see some track time which is why it is apart now.
I should have mentioned in the original post this is a 50k mile Ty with no rust and not hacked up inside pretty nice truck.
thanks
Jim

 

[digitalastross]

Hello all Jason here long time lurker like your self . Just baught my first time a few months ago lovein this thing it is great ... It has vortex heads on it already and that seems to be about it. the kid I baught it from didn't even tell me that I noticed it when looking at it . But to the point I've put 4000 miles on it already and has been so reliable other then the ign mod goin on witch they do on every 4.3 I( I keep one Spair in glove box) I've seen so many talk about modded ones and all the fixin they have to do . IMO keep it as close to stock . Just my thoughts and thanks for a great place to read about our hobbie !


North jersey ty guy

 

[nello]

Re: Was it worth it? ( Stock vs. Modified)

Thanks for your response. It looks about 50/50. I change my mind every day. I am thinking about a 412 cam on stock block with L35 heads, stock turbo and 40# injectors.
Hood suggested turbo tweak chip to be safe and get a little experience with tuning and data logging which I have never done before but have access to several good people who can help teach me. Other than 3 bar and wide ban are there any thoughts on what would be a necessity while the engine is apart? Reliability is the number 1 goal. It will see some track time which is why it is apart now.
I should have mentioned in the original post this is a 50k mile Ty with no rust and not hacked up inside pretty nice truck.
thanks
Jim

To me, you seem to have a pretty mild mod list going on here. If reliability is your #1 goal, IMO just changing out the stock heads to L35s could improve the reliability of your truck by two fold. Stock heads are knock machines/aka the SyTy kryptonite.

 

[It's just a six]

Re: Was it worth it? ( Stock vs. Modified)

You need to get a larger turbo than stock, it's a restriction. A bolt on turbo. L-35's, small cam, 2400 stall, forged pistons, might as well run better rods.

Stock is OK, but it needs just a bit more to really have fun & enjoy, running 12's & smoking most cars on the street.:2cents:

With a low dollar build can be reliable run 11's & get better mileage than stock.