What should I do?
09-24-2002, 01:51 PM
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Car: 1988 Trans Am
Engine: 305 tbi=LO3
Transmission: Automatic
What should I do?
Ok. I'm 17and I bought a 1988 Trans Am last month. It's a 305, V8, TBI, with t-tops. It's been sitting in a garage for the past 5 years, so needless to say, i had to fix some stuff. It has new spark plugs, a new rotar and distributer cap, a new fuel filter, and i had to clean out the oil holes in the valves(it wasnt draining back to the sump and i had 2 quarts stuck in the valve area
). The only thing that I've done to improve performance a bit was to add a K&N Filter. What else should I add to make this car better? I'm thinking of adding one of those X-Stream lids to the filter, putting on a higher flow muffler and catalitic converter, and maybe getting a new chip for the computer. Should I get any of these things, and if so, what brand do you suggest? Or are there any other things that you suggest?
). The only thing that I've done to improve performance a bit was to add a K&N Filter. What else should I add to make this car better? I'm thinking of adding one of those X-Stream lids to the filter, putting on a higher flow muffler and catalitic converter, and maybe getting a new chip for the computer. Should I get any of these things, and if so, what brand do you suggest? Or are there any other things that you suggest? 
09-24-2002, 02:02 PM
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the best place to start is always by looking at your goals and how you use the car. ask your self soem questions first: do i need this car everyday? this will determine how big any individual mod can be. how fast do i want to go? are you plannign to get to the track on a regular basis, do you have a specific et or type of car yopu wanna hang with or beat?
start with the little things that you can find in the tech articles and go from there. since you are a kid i am gonna assume you don't have a fortune to spend(no offense if you do, but most young peopel aren't millionares yet
). this means you have to maximize your bang for the buck more than just doing a bunch of stuff.
any off the shelf chip is a waste of time, don't bother spending any money on them.
you said you have a k&n, is it an open element air cleaner or a replace ment filter? a 14x3 open element air filter with a flat base is a very nice gain in both performance and mileage. the replacement filter helps a little, but not as much. save the money from the extreme lid for now, it will be more useful once you get further into your mods.
check out the ultimate tbi mods parts 1 and 2, and the diy afpr for tbi tech articles. the are free/really cheap and will net you some nice gains in performance.
exhaust is a good early mod too, it will add soem power plus it lets the cool V8 sound out to scare the imports
the biggest bang for the buck gain you can have is a posi and soem gears. this sounds expensive, but can really be doen for very very cheap in only a few hours. there will be a tech article on this in a few weeks.
just set your goals and keep them in mind before you even get started, it will help you avoid wasting time on parts you don't need later.
if you have any questions, just ask.
later
tim
start with the little things that you can find in the tech articles and go from there. since you are a kid i am gonna assume you don't have a fortune to spend(no offense if you do, but most young peopel aren't millionares yet
). this means you have to maximize your bang for the buck more than just doing a bunch of stuff.any off the shelf chip is a waste of time, don't bother spending any money on them.
you said you have a k&n, is it an open element air cleaner or a replace ment filter? a 14x3 open element air filter with a flat base is a very nice gain in both performance and mileage. the replacement filter helps a little, but not as much. save the money from the extreme lid for now, it will be more useful once you get further into your mods.
check out the ultimate tbi mods parts 1 and 2, and the diy afpr for tbi tech articles. the are free/really cheap and will net you some nice gains in performance.
exhaust is a good early mod too, it will add soem power plus it lets the cool V8 sound out to scare the imports
the biggest bang for the buck gain you can have is a posi and soem gears. this sounds expensive, but can really be doen for very very cheap in only a few hours. there will be a tech article on this in a few weeks.
just set your goals and keep them in mind before you even get started, it will help you avoid wasting time on parts you don't need later.
if you have any questions, just ask.
later
tim