Alec Bryant

First off I want to say this is going to be a daily driver. The engine is an 86 l98 out of a corvette 2 bolt main. The engine is stock and as of now stripped to just the crank and pistons. passed compression test fine but we are rebuilding it regardless. Its going in my 90 firebird I am converting it to a SD system I have a harness and computer from a 90 305. Now before I send the heads out to be rebuild, ported and polished. What should I do for parts wise to gain at least 300 horsepower. Here is my idea list for mods tell me what is good and bad about them this is my first TPI build and I'm Still a noob to them.

NOTE: As of now I am making minimum wage so this is gona be a reliable street car. All bearing and gaskets will be replaced and the block will be inspected to ensure the cylinder walls don't need work.

Keeping the original roller lifters they are like new
Roller rockers
New cam either OEM or mild any recomendations?? If so I want a kit that includes the timeing chain and roller rockers
As of right now I'm deciding on an edlebrock lower intake and having the rest of the top end ported and polished the crap out of them. Can anybody tell me if this dent repair kit is any good for the runners? It claims a 9% flow increase
http://m.ebay.com/itm/221650249189
It seems ridiculous I know but just curious

If the above is a joke who makes runners that actually preform better but don't charge 400+$$??

I hear a lot of bad about aftermarket throttle bodies and hear a lot of good about these air foils : https://www.tpis.com/parts/view/1

Will headers for a firebird tpi bolt the same to the vette aluminum heads I know the vette heads won't fit in the birds. If so what should I go with for headers and Y pipe?

About the chip. I'm really gona go for mpg with this build. Best I've ever gotten is 21 in the 3.1 I'll prob do better with the mods from over the winter but usually get 17 mixed normal driving. I know for a fact The V8s do much better. I know of people who have gotten 27 highway 21 around town. Close to that as possible is my goal and I know a lot of it is in the exhaust

I'm looking all over the boards for what do go and hear so many different things a lot of which are out of budget its going to be hard enough with all the wiring I have to do. Heading to a swap meet next weekend anything I should look for? I have an aluminum driveshaft upgrade and are prepping the suspension now for the swap hopefully it will be ready next winter. I got this engine and the tranny cheap $350 including an aluminum driveshaft. This swap will be really fun for me and my father considering we already restored the car. New engine twice the power and better mpg. Why not?

I would really be happy at the 300 horse mark but anything over that Within a decent budget I'll go for as long as the engine is reliable enough where I could drive it down south if I wanted. Thanks guys

aliceempire

iTrader: (14)

As far as rocker arms, if you go rollers don't cheap out. Either spend real money now something like Harland Sharp or stay with stamped steel, you'll be better off.


A good cam would be along the lines of comp 8-500-8 or 8-501-8. I run a 501 and it works out well. So many people could recommend so many cams that'll put you in the performance area you're looking. Just make sure the heads have the proper springs for your cam.


Getting aftermarket runners is suggested. They are the weakest spot of TPI from the factory. Check the classified boards. Ported TPI stuff comes up often, good way to save coin. The original runners have little room to port so I would treat the ebay ad as snake oil as far as that's concerned. People have used them on the boards, do a search.
I never ran a aftermarket TB, mine is just rebuilt. The air foil has been reviewed as great and as snake oil. I don't run one. I doubt I'm missing out.


Headers, Dyno Dons are probably the current favorite for size and fit. Hooker 2055 are also popular. Or hunt down a set od SLPs on the classifieds.


My suggestion for tune is to either find a tuner to get it dyno tuned or buy EBL, Megasquirt etc and tune it yourself. Mail order tend not to cut it. I've only had bad luck that way too.


FWIW mine dyno'd 250 RWHP using a factory TPI manifold, edelbrock headers, a 501 cam and mild 083's (iron L98 heads). It has lots of low end power and fair mileage. Thru a T-5 and 3.08 9 bolt axle. It won't be hard for you to reach your goal, don't cheap out where it counts.

Alec Bryant

Thanks for all the info! Ill be sure to look all that up but when I get a nice can should I get s kit that includes the rocker arms and timing chain that was recommended by a friend. Or am I better off buying better things seperatly?

aliceempire

iTrader: (14)

Most of the hydraulic roller cam kits include lifters, if your lifters look good, you're better off disassembling, cleaning and reusing those. Saves you some money to put other places. The springs are the only part you need to match to the cam. You can mix and match whatever other parts you prefer. Those kits also include push rods and you don't know for sure if those are the length you need till the heads are bolted on and you check the geometry. Good chance the stock length will be fine but if they're not then you have 16 push rods you wasted money on. Not like they're hard to get so it doesn't hurt to wait.

Alec Bryant

Yeah that would really save some I have an entire transmission to think about too thanks