Hi. I'm Ryan. <waits for the obligatory crowd response of "Hello Ryan">
I have been the proud owner of a 2001 Bonneville SSEi since early this year.
I got an incredible deal on the car and then rapidly found out that the deal wasn't so great.
First, new brakes all the way around...then new air shocks in the rear...then struts...then tie rod ends...new A/C compressor which turned out to be a sensor which turned out to be the lines...and just when I thought I was FINALLY done...engine has a rod knocking.

OK...no big deal...I found a 2002 GTP with some serious eletrical issues and bought the engine for $300 with similar mileage to mine. Pulled the oil pan during the swap and checked all the bearing clearances...still within spec. Bolt everything back together and drop the "new" engine in.

3 days later, I start the car up after visiting a frind about an hour from home and hear the faint hintings of a rod knock...so I call my brother who is also my primary mechanic and drive over to see him for a listen. He doesn't even bother to lift the hood...

Our diagnosis was that due to the misfire on cylinders 1 and 3 due to "eletrical problems" the cylinders not firing was masking the knock. Once the engine was dropped into the car and the good electronics were bolted on, the knock reasserted itself.

So after some phone calls and some serious consideration, I ended up sending my old block out to the machine shop along with the crank and a brand new set of GM rods and new pistons to have everything balanced and then the bottom end reassembled.

While that is going on, I have ordered a set of headers, downpipe and high flow cat, MSD coils, a 3 inch press on pulley, a reprogrammed ECU, a cold air intake and a few other odds and ends. Once the block is back, I will bolt everything back together bigger and badder than before. And hopefully she will last me until I pick up that G8 GXP I have been lusting after...

Anyway, enough of my hardships with the car...I love the thing and feel comfortable dumping the money into it now.

So there it is. My sad little introduction.

:Welcome

Sounds like you know what your doing. But, a 3.0" pulley? Hmm, dangerous. I would like to see what other supporting mods you have. I'm running a 3.1" pulley and I'm running headers, rockers, ported and polished supercharger and LIM, as well as a intercooler. I expect to drop to a 3.0" after my cam is installed, I upgrade my MAF and injectors. I know for a fact that stock MAF and injectors are running at about 98% on a 3.1" pulley.

Something to think about indeed...

What cam are you going with? I have been tossing the idea around while everything is apart but all I can find are non-supercharged 3800 cams...well at least anything the local suppliers can come up with anyway.

ZZperformance has the XPhot cam, and intense racing has the S1x blower cam. Both are the biggest cams you can run on stock heads. Upping the clearance on the heads allows you to add high ratio rockers.

Hi Ryan and Welcome to the Bonneville Forum!

You can run the S1X cam on the stock 1.6:1 Rockers with no clearance problems.

There are lot'* of recipes out there to get more HP from the 3800. Be cautious on your mod path and do thing now that can help you in the future with more serious mods. Those things include increasing air volume in with a CAI, opening the exhaust, staying on top of routine maintenance, keep the engine bay clean, etc.

Don't fall in to the belief that boost is power. It'* not, flow is power. You really don't want more the 14psi of boost with a intercooler, without one try to stay in the 10 to 12 range. The single best thing you can buy to gain HP is tuning software. Simply put, it'* the best $500 you will ever spend. Now figuer you will spend over $100 on a box tuned PCM, that'* only $400. We have a fair number of members here using HPtuner, so you would have a lot of help.

X2.... Increasing boost increases heat. If you cant move the boost volume through the engine, heat increases and you increase the chance of pre-detonation (KR). Boost stacking decreases HP opportunities and increases engine damage opportunities. You need lot'* of mods and programing to gain the HP potential for increasing boost to the Max of 13 to 14 PSI with inter-cooling.

Hello Ryan. Looks like you getting the help you need, and from the right people. Welcome to the Bonneville Forum. Please add the model and year of your car to your signature line (User CP at top of page, Edit Signature in menu on left of page that opens up) to help us answer your questions more effectively.

If you get a chance, take pics as you are proceeding through all the work you are doing to your car, and post em up. We learn through our members' experiences.

Great advice here so far...

I had a feeling the 3 inch pulley was going to be a bit of overkill...I may back that off to a 3.5 just to put my mind at ease. In stock form I was already close to the 8-9psi range under hard throttle.
Don't worry about me too much though...I have a heavy mechanical background (6 years as a disel mechanic in the Army, 2 years wrenching cars at a Dodge dealership, some time working for a Cat dealer (you haven't lived until you have bolted a supercharger AND a turbo onto an engine!) and several years drag racing cars and bikes and roadracing bikes). And I definitely know when to get the advice of those wiser than I.

I was actually considering purchasing the HPTuner myself. I am something of a hardcore tech geek these days (LAN/WAN/Systems Admin for the largest beer distributor in Iowa rkr) and have done several custom maps for my fuel injected bikes that worked out pretty well when confirmed on the dyno.

Honestly, a bump in the neighborhood of 40-50hp is more than enough for me...famous last words I know right?

Anyway, here is a picture of the girl. The 18s on it in the picture have since been replaced with a set of 20s of the exact same manufacturer and model. Felt like the 18s didn't fill the wheel wells enough. Sorry for the quality...it is from my phone.

Car looks great.

Keep in mind we're not coming down on you. We all want your car to be safe and give all the power it can. With a little work in the right areas, you can have that thing doing 13s in the 1/4 mile.

Headers is a big deal, without those, your not going to go far. Porting, another big thing, consider a ported LIM and supercharger. Intercooling, a good idea at any point, but cost anywhere from $500 and up. Rockers are easy, but a cam is about the same over all price, just more work to install. But the return is way worth it.

I've had many a car here for a tune and I have the same conversation over and over again. I want the smallest pulley. Then I draw it out and show, drop from a 3.4" to a 3.3" and you gain about 10 hp, but loose 4 or 5 degrees of timing due to knock. Each degree is about 3 or 4 HP, you do the math. Aim for about 18* of timing with the smallest pulley. If your over 20* you can pulley down. Do this on pump gas, then at the strip on race gas you can drop one pulley.