Before someone says it, I DID indeed search, but there was too much to sort through and after 2hrs looking through thread after thread of info I WASN'T looking for I figured I'd just post up.

I'm looking into different mods for my stock 92 305/5sp car and had some intake questions, particularly about the HSR. I'd like to get each question addressed if at all possible.

1. Is it worth it? Car's a stock 305, some exhaust work, MSD 6AL, 3:42's. I want to go as far as I can with bolt-ons & make it run as smooth & efficiently as possible, but within a reasonable budget. May go cam at some point.

2. What parts do I NEED to convert to HSR, and what parts are OPTIONAL? A complete parts list would be amazing! (ie: fuel rails/injectors/lines/TB/etc)

3. Where can I find everything, including the HSR, cheap? My original idea was to convert to LT1 intake because it seemed like the best bang for the buck, but people keep telling me go HSR, and I saw an intake setup for $350, which isn't bad at all.

4. What fitment issues will I face? How do I remedy them? I read there are clearance issues with the hood, which I don't want because it's a 1LE car and I don't want to have to hack anything, or have anything getting screwed up.

Any help would be much appreciated!!! Thanks Everybody!!

 

Holley Stealth ram is the best bang for the buck. A Mini Ram is probably a little better but only a little and a lot more expensive. With the HSR all your factory Fuel injection will work and power will be inceased from about 4600rpm on up. TPI dies about 4600. I have a HSR on my IROC and just purchased another for my 92 Z convertible. There is an article on GM High Performance in 2002 where they convert a white 86 iroc to HSR and compare it to a modified SLP tpi system and the HSR is much better. Do a Yahoo search for Holley Stealth Ram Installation; and it will come up.

 

What did your setup run you?

 

The HSR is about $540 the lines and fittings are a little over $100. I got my first one back when they first came out and I had $330 in the intake and fuel rail. They are higher now but worth it. I had my first one welded and ported to fit a 1206 gasket. I was one of the first people to do that mod. It is matched to a set of track 1s that flow about 305CFM. Youv'e got to have exhaust too for the whole thing to work right. The air you put in has to come out. I got 2210s and a custom 3 inch Y pipe and custom 4 inch intermediate pipe into a spintech muffler with dual 3s coming out.

 

anything else i should know? How about the hood clearance?

 

Mine rubs a little but you can grind the hood.

 

My 305 with long tube headers and LT1 cam put down about 250whp untuned. Seems like a decent upgrade for how cheap it is. Upgrade to the Kirban adjustable FPR so you don't have problems with the Holley unit.

Don't forget to start tuning or have the car tuned after the swap.

 

To the original posters questions...


1. It depends on what your looking for, it will deffinatly help the little 305 breathe, and it can be transferred on to a 350+ later on if you do that so why not.

2. You need HSR(obviously), the fuel rail kit, braided lines as they hook up at the back instead of the front like stock TPI, stock TB works, stock throttle/TV/cruise control bracket works, EGR cant be used unless you purchase the EGR kit for the miniram as I heard it will work, you need to be running a small cap distributor setup, large will not fit, stock TPI waterneck doesnt work, use the stock TBI neck and hose, your stock injectors work. And thats all I can think of.

3. I got my HSR with the adjustable rail kit brand new for $450 shipped from a memeber on here. Keep looking they are always around, check LS1tech and a few other boards.

4. Some people have issues, some dont, from what I've heard dont put poly motor mounts in or it will deffinatly rub, stick with old stock saggy ones lol. If your really concerned about your hood, get a spare or cowl and keep your stock one stashed away. My motors not in the car yet so I cant give you much input there.

James

 

Thread revival!

so my stock 89 throttle body will work? ive heard that it dosnt.. how come holley dosnt tell you that you that the water neck wont fit? this is the first thread ive read that says it wont?

 

Your stock throttle body is a 48mm and it WILL work with the HSR Intake. However, to get the full potential out of the HSR it would behoove you to get a 58mm, tune and have exhaust for everything to work at it's full potential. Plus if you've got a 58mm already that's great for your future build up of the engine.

 

HSR probably will rub on your hood if you have new engine mounts. Stock saggy mounts it may not. Mine did with poly mounts but dont think it touched on stock motor mounts.

ALot of those questions are answered in various threads, i'm surprised you didnt find anything relative.

Full bolt on TPI stuff will run as good as the HSR on a stock motor and make more peak torque doing it. Even on an L98, siamesed SLP runners with a good port matched aftermarket base will run as hard as a HSR L98 I believe. I ran my HSR against a friends TPI L98 and he ran the same times as I did, maybe 1-2mph short on my trap speed.

For a 305, you can go either way.

 

A full bolt-on TPI 350 will not touch a HSR equipped 350 that is stock much less if the guy driving the HSR 350 is souped up with some good mods. But the thing with HSR that I'm not a fan of is the fact that some low end torque will be lost but more than enough made up in the mid-high end range with alot more horsepower than the TPI could produce in the mid-higher range.

 

I've been there done that. I had the HSR L98. My friend had the full bolt on TPI setup. BOth 89 MAF L98s. My HSR may have been a tenth or so faster out the box with no tuning. But he ran 3.70 gears with stock converter, on street tires full street trim. Ran 13.5x's-13.6's at 99-100mph in high 70's low 80's heat. His setup with same converter as me would have matched my HSR times easily if not surpassed them.

To put that in perspective, my stock TPI car (with just exhaust mods) which ran 13.63 at 97 in 50 deg weather with 2800 stall and slicks was running 13.8s that day with same 60's as that guy because I spun a touch on old slicks. When I ran on street tires I ran 13.8s-13.9's since the 60's were the same as spinning old slicks. He'd get my by 2 tenths or roughly a car length each race on even starts.

My HSR L98 swap results:
Out of the box run was in hot 70's degree weather, doing 13.58 at 98.7
Similar weather, more tuning work (just timing added) i went 13.49 at 99
Pullies went 13.46 at 99.xx but in slightly more humid weather
Drag Wheels i went 13.3x's in somewhat similar weather as above
Cooler weather it went 13.2's at 100-101. Same 50 deg type air when I ran 13.6 with stock TPI.
1.6 rockers and good 40 deg air, i went 12.95 at 103.8.

HSR will open up performance, but so will full bolt on TPI on STOCK heads/STOCK cam motors. Just need to stall and gear to match both intakes power bands.

 

Your problem though is that the TPI will be limited no matter what kind of bolt-on's you got even if it's a full bolt-on set-up. That's one reason why alot of people know to switch out their TPI for a better intake. If a full bolt-on TPI is that great then I guess there's no reason for anyone to swap out their intake for a HSR or Miniram since the TPI will keep up? I'm speaking strictly for this topic, I'm not even touching other issues.

Then your results are between you and your friend. Frankly everyone's results will be different for various reasons, some of which you mentioned. Alot of my friends/associates including myself who are Camaro/car racers, mechanics & enthusiasts who know alot about cars will disagree with your statement because of the general consensus/data between a TPI/HSR. Once I get my HSR on this weekend I'll do some testing to see what's going on.

Currently, I have a full bolt-on TPI with a non-stock cam & other mods and it's alright. It's not a dog but it's not going to wipe up the floor with some of these cars running around here. But I've been working on cars for along time & I respect/think your analysis is noteworthy for research reasons. I'll come back on here later to look at some of your info when I get something's in order this weekend. Ciao.

 

Your not understanding the situation here. We are not talking about a fully modded car. We are talking about BOLT ons only. That does not mean cam or heads. On a stock 350 L98, HSR/Miniram have a slight advantage on a full bolt on setup but the right TPI setup is NOT giving up much if anything at all. On a 305 I think its dead even heat. I've been on this forum a long time to see what guys are running with full bolt ons TPI vs HSR. HSR may have slight advantage in hp but does give up abit of torque. Once you go heads/cam, all bets are off since short runner intakes will support the higher rpms the heads/cam will give, thus more hp.
See below:
He wants to go as fast as he can with bolt ons...maybe go cam some day. If bolt ons, its easier to stick with TPI. IF cammed up at some point, HSR may work a touch better if the cam is big enough to command higher rpms, which is more than likely with any cam over stock size.
305 doesnt need much to work well. The heads only flow in the 180's range stock so what good does a short runner 275cfm HSR have on a setup like that? Most TPI setups are in the 240 range. Thats plenty for a 305.

 

I'm gonna disagree with running a 58mm on a 305. I have a Vortec HSR on a mild 350 (220/224 .474/.474 hyd roller) I'm not sure about peak power, but in terms of drivability, the 48 is much better for me. Whether or not the difference would show up in dyno numbers, it is definitely noticeable driving around on real roads. The 48(with generic air foil thing) has much better throttle response in my setup.

-Dave

 

Get a cowl induction hood