hey everyone i have been thinking what i should do to my 89 trans am. i want it fast. i have the LO3 engine. i'm not doing this right away but i would like to start planning what to do.

LO3
(chip, 3.42 gears, headers, cat back, LT1 cam)

stock is 170hp so i don't think i would be too much over 200 if over at all.

OR

trade my car in for a 91 z28. 60k original miles, 350tpi 5 speed. stock. 1 original owner.

OR

my 89, crate 350 from jegs. if i do this i want to get one that is like 330hp or so. like i said i want it to have guts. if i did this, i would have to get the 3.42 gears anyways. how would the 700r4 tranny hold up with that hp?

well like i said i want to do something for next summer so your input would really be greatful..

by the way the motor i would probably get would be

http://www.jegs.com/cgi-bin/ncommerc...71&prmenbr=361

and i would get headers for it and then the tbi setup thats on my 89 so i wouldn't have to do anything huge to get it in. so that engine with the throttle body and intake, headers. would that work?

 

If it were me I would stick with what you got. The L03 can be made into a pretty good performer. And yes you will have over 200 hp with just the headers alone. If you are looking for some serious hp you should ditch the swirl port heads as well. Your plan so far sounds good, but with that cam and if you plan on getting heads I would go with 3.73's instead.

 

wow great.. headers would give that much? i'm looking at the edelbrock tsi (tse) whatever they are headers.the 2 headers that go into 1 pipe, then the cat back. hooker cat back that is. i been thinking i'm not going to do the motor swap though it's either build the LO3 or trade for that z28. the z28 has like 245hp and 345torque. i would like the LO3 to have somewhere around that hp. the car is $5,000. i was thinking 2500 cash and my car, if i go that route. and i know it won't take 2500 to put out 250hp from my LO3. i don't need massive hp, but like i said at least 250. i know getting 300 from a 305 is pretty hard but it can be done, but like i said i don't really think i wanna go over the $2,000-$2500 mark no matter what road i take. so with that said building the LO3

headers
cat back
chip
LT1 cam
3.42 gears

what kinda HP am i looking at around? what else would i need?
maybe ported heads i don't know if i wanna go that big into getting the swirl ported heads, but like i said if i won't go over the 2500 mark with the mods i want then the swirl port heads will go on my list. what about pistons and what else? what kind of hp would i be looking at?

 

Check out the tbi board. They can help you out a lot. Also, dont get the edelbrock headers. I would recommend the hooker 2055's.

 

I have the l03 as well and personally I would go with the Z28 cuz The 350 tpi is the power I would be happy with.. My TBI is good and pretty easy to work on compared to the tpi but with all the stuf i'm doing.. headers, intake lt1 cam 373's and poci.. It sound like a better deal with the Z and get all that stuff with the 350! just my two cents though

 

correct me if im wrong guys, but if that 91z28 was stock, i find it hard to believe that it has a 350 backed by a 5 speed, to my knowledge it was either a 350/auto combo, or a 305/auto/5 speed combo.

 

oooooooooh i just saw that! i think somebody (the dealer) is bsin! thanks for pointing that out.

 

if you are gonna buy a USED car from a USED car dealer. you might want to run a carfax cause it will be very USEFUL.

btw, if your car runs good and you know it does because you take care of it well. I'd keep your car. there's nothing like taking on someone elses' neglects.