Jtufts

i never really been big on cars till i got my 3rd gen

i loved it and had a blast with my little 305

i recently bought my friends 1980 c-10 pick up with a early 70's camaro 400 engine in it , connected is a th-400

as far as me and him know its all stock and i plan on dropping it into my camaro but for now i plan on keeping it in the truck for the winter(after winter i am swapping 305 to truck and 400 to camaro)

so right now i have $2,000 saved up(and i always put 100 away each check) i planed on doing suspension work to the camaro cause i known for the last few months that i was gonna have this engine

but i would rather drop the cash onto the engine cause i got it earlier then i thought i was going to

i would love to just have 300 or more RWHP from this engine thats really all i am interested in i probably don't have enough to make it any higher (maybe in the future)

what would be some good all around mods i could start with $2,000 dollar's ?

from what i was reading around , intake , cam , 3 inch exhaust from manifolds to true duals , cam ? new carb set-up ?

just looking for any suggestions i dont wanna spend my cash on useless things

sofakingdom

iTrader: (1)

SFCs

"True duals" = the perfect example of "useless things"

Get your exhaust work done first. You need to change out EVERY SINGLE PIECE, starting at the heads, and proceeding to the back bumper. Get a set of chassis-specific headers. Good quality ones, not just the cheeeepest thing you can find on the "headers" page of the catalog. I'd recommend SLP or Edelbrock; I've had good results with both although opinions differ, and I've never used the others such as Hooker for these cars so I can't comment on those. Whatever you get, get them ceramic coated. Get the set for something like a 89 350 TPI, and the same application of direct-fit cat, and the cat-back of your choice from Hooker, Flowmaster, Dynomax, Borla, Edelbrock, etc. etc. etc. in a 3" version. That's all you'll need; "true duals" won't make any more power, they'll cost more, and they'll forever be a PITA.

Those 2 things right there (SFCs and exhaust) will eat up about $1000.

Hard to say what the 400 itself might be like; since Camaros never came with them. It's safe to say though, that having been wrapped in Camaro sheet metal for a time, didn't alter the nature of the parts that it's made out of. It'd be worth finding out what it is: what pistons, and above all WHAT HEADS. Once you know all of that, then and only then, you can figure out what to do to make it better.

Depending on what gears you have, those might be a better mod than anything you can do under the hood. Likewise, a torque converter.

A "new carb" is probably somewhere FAR down on the list of effective uses of money. Same for the intake. Mostly, that will only make the car go faster by lightening it; with all weight savings concentrated in the region of the driver's wallet.

Sonix

iTrader: (1)

I do think that your car probably suffers from 2.73 gears, and a low stall speed converter, while upgrading both are great upgrades, I would venture to guess you have a typical early '70s vintage 400cid small block, pumping out a solid 170Hp, and getting a stellar 15mpg if you're lucky.

That's if you're lucky, unlucky would be you actually have a 350 block. very very lucky means the engine has a few upgrades done to it.

A lame 400cid, box stock is kicking out 170HP say. I'd try to up the efficiency of the engine before anything else. That's just my personal preference. I think more power out of that big engine would make the car faster, vs better gears and more stall, out of the wheezy engine.

Exhaust is definately number one priority. A better cam and heads would be right after that. I think you could do some basic heads with an entry level cam and lifters for $1000. With the SFC's and exhaust your $2000 is gone, but I think that's a very good way to spend it.
With a stock shortblock and dished pistons (again, check first before assuming), some basic Vortec heads and a compxe268 would make that engine a runner.

Jtufts

thanks for the imput

i have no reason to believe that its not a 400 from an early 70's camaro but i haven't confirmed any engine codes yet

i trust my friend cause the trucks been his fathers sense it was new and was a diesel then he swapped the 400/th400 combo into it

i have 3.23's from an 88 GTA rear end in my camaro and stock stall

i have a shift kit sitting next to me which i never installed cause i crashed my camaro and decided to find a new roller or nice v6 and just play swap it(still in search of)

i had SFC's but i sold them when my friend got a camaro and i crashed mine

the shift kits a transgo shift kit from summit

thats pretty much all i got for the car so far

Sonix

iTrader: (1)

Yea, since the 400cid was never a factory engine in any Camaro ever - it's doubtful that it's a "400cid from a Camaro". Sofa was saying that it may have at one point been in a Camaro, but it's not "from" a Camaro, in the strictest sense.

But yea, alright. Find out what you've got and go from there.