Hey...i was just wondering what were some good, relativley cheap performance upgrades for a 1996 Bonneville SLE.

I already installed a short ram intake, and now i am in the process of creating a ram air intake for it.

I was wondering if it was a good idea or not to install a shift plus kit and a shift improver kit on the car...will it do any noticeable performance upgrades?

Also later in the future i am going to put the dual/quad exhaust and i was just wondering if i would need to install a new rear fascia or could i actaully just have a body shop make the cut outs.

Also if it all possible im open for other suggestions...THANK YOU

There'* a lot of inexpensive things you can do. Exhaust work, UD pulleys, colder thermostat. If you want to spend a few more dollars, you can get a PCM, or better TB.

There are a few people with shift kits here that can give their insight on it.

Here are some great sites with lots of products for the L36 engine:

www.3800performance.com
www.zzperformance.com
www.intense-racing.com

What does a UD pulley do on a L36? Is it for performance or reliabliity, like the 180 Stat.

It makes the waterpump spin a little slower. Since the engine dosen't have to work as hard to make it spin as fast, this frees up a few hp. There'* also one for the alt too.

I would definatley make a heat sheild if you hadn't already,
instead of the dual exhaust (if your thinking about splitting it after the cat and running 2 mufflers), you should get ported exhaust manifolds ($100+ clubgp.com'* for sale page), and possibly a 2.5" MANDREL bent downpipe not crush bent (custom so somewhat expensive) although your stock downpipe isn't that bad those two will have the most gains as far as exhaust. but if your looking for sound + a couple hp you can get a highflow cat and performance muffler.
Then that'* about as far as you can go without getting higher ratio rockers+valvesprings or a cam, or other expensive stuff.
I've gotten close to as far as i can go engine wise, so if you need someone to try and convince/help you really mod your L36, i'll try to help. he he

Yup, like 95naSTA said, heat shield the short ram intake, ported manifolds, and a custom DP -(3" crush bent is cheaper and flows about 95%+ of what a 2.5" mandrel does).
Also, with the DownPipe get a 2.5" high flow Catalytic convertor from either www.justmagnaflow.com or ebay (Key words: Magnaflow Carsound Cat Convertor).
Also, before you spend all your money on modding do a full tune-up (plugs, wires, fuel filter, pcv valve, tranny flush, coolant flush, and clean the Throttle body out). Even a full tune-up can regain you as much as 10-15 lost hp.

Yea i forgot that i was gonna order the UD pulleys, but does the lower temp thermostat work well enough to the point i should use it because my father keeps warning me against it?

A 180 is perfect for your application. It will keep it at the temps it should be at, and it will protect your intake manifold from going bad ... which is the engine'* only weakness. And the car will still be plenty warm in the winter.

It'* one of the most basic mods anyone should do before bolting on more HP.

Ive already replaced the intake manifold about 5000 miles ago, and man was that a pain in the ***

Try rebuilding a supercharger.....