I am making pretty good progress with my 96 2500 with 380,000km on it. I changed the oil on it today and to my surprise no shavings in the pan! so with that confidence booster i am slowly tuning up my performance. Heres what I am doing due to many hours of research:
- cut the mufflers off (get flowthrews for sharper sound) and the cats if the O2 sensors are not after the cats. If they are you can shop around and get cheap O2 simulators, or just get performance cats.
-Install longtube headers for better torque through the rpms
- I did put a power tower on, it was cheap and easy to install, and you will notice the power when you hit 2800 rpm (definitely made for hualing purposes)
-get a "blackbear tune" heard its a great mod
- use Lucas 5w-30 full synthetic with a K&N oil filter. Drop in a third of dextron to clean out carbon build up. And put a bit of lucas synthetic into your tranny for smoother shifting. A 5$ engine flush wont hurt either, you can pick it up at Canadian tire.
- definitely open air intake, and also you can pick up an aftermarket throttle body blade, which gives you better response because of its slimmer design, about 40 bucks easy to install.
- I dont know about the chip but get a programmer for shifting points and idle. Mine was programmed previously and it is smooth sailing and almost acts as jake brake when slowing down.
- And i am also looking at the plugs and wires and i found this site
http://www.autotrucktoys.com/chevy_s...1896C3408.aspx
shop around and you can find cheap easy to install upgrades without ripping your engine to pieces.
Think of your engine as a giant air pump, the more you put in, the more it puts out
1996 silverado C/K 2500 longbox
128 liter gas tank
383,000km
No rust
650km a tank
OUCH