It's been a few weeks since my initial post and I just wanted to update it. Thanks to everyone who replied, both by posts and PM; I'm a member of several car forums and the members here are as helpful as any I've run across.
I took delivery of my car a few weeks ago and have been very pleased; it ran well, got great mileage, and was basically everything the seller cracked it up to be. It had a pretty bad exhaust leak, however, and I decided to get a set of American Racing headers and an x-pipe, have them installed by Cory at Henderson Performance, and get a dyno tune at the same time.
While waiting on the exhaust I picked up a Vararam B-2 via a member of this forum, and bought a new K & N filter for it off of eBay. When the exhaust came in from AR early this week I called Cory, made arrangements to drop the car off at his shop, and waited for the week to pass.
I dropped the car off last night at about 7 p.m. Previous experience with tuning shops dictated that it would be a week or more before my car was ready, and the number of cars being worked on at Cory's shop told me that I would be waiting at least that long for my 'Vette. I was surprised, then, when he told me that the car would probably be ready Saturday morning.
Actually, considering I had added installing the Vararam to the to-do list, I was amazed (and maybe a bit skeptical).
Cory asked me to touch base with him this afternoon, so I called him at 3:30, expecting to be told that the car was not going to be ready and that I should check back on Monday. Instead, he told me the car was all done, dynoed, and ready to pick up whenever I wanted! I was again pleased, and surprised. I was coming in from out of town and told him I probably couldn't pick it up until sometime in the evening, and he told me that was "not a problem".
Long story short, less than 24 hours after dropping my car off it was back on the trailer and headed home, with a very pleased me behind the wheel of my truck.
My car has had an MTI Stage 1 head/cam package installed since 2000. Other than that, a B & B muffler, shorties, and an x-pipe, it is basically stock. I have a dyno sheet from several years ago reflecting 402 rwhp/375 rwtq, but the run conditions were a very ideal 68 degrees. Today, with about 50,000 additional miles and several track days and quarter-mile passes on it, my car made 409 rwhp/385 rwtq, with the intake air measuring a toasty 102 degrees and a very conservative tune by Cory. The numbers pleased me, since they would be significantly higher had the temps been closer to those of the original dyno run, but driving the car after I got it home REALLY brought a grin to my face. Talk about being woken up! It feels like a totally different car. The 0 - 60 mph run was amazingly quick, and it pulls like a bear all the way through the rev range. For a very, very mildly modified car I couldn't be happier.
Oh, and the price for installing the exhaust and Vararam, dyno-tuning, and returning the car in less than a day? $500. I was very pleased at that, too.
Sorry for this lengthy post but I have had many more bad experiences with automotive shops than good ones, unfortunately, and wanted to share a really, really good one with the world. If you're in South Texas and need something done on your 'Vette, I give Henderson Performance my highest recommendation.
Corvette Store
Austin, TX Tuner recommendations
Did both of my Vettes....
and usually answers the phone
