Hey, Im pretty new to cars and motors in general. But i have an 87 Firebird Formula with a 305 in it. The 305 was about dead when i got the car, so i had a '78 350 rebuilt, .030 over. This motor has a low-end cam, flat top pistons...and from what i was told, was a really well-built motor. I have a set of Flow-tech shorty headers, as well as a Holley 600 carb. My question is, is how can a cheap college kid like me get this thing running sufficently. Am i under carb'd with that 600? its a 600 economy carb too. So far from driving it, i think i am. She has a great accel from a stop, but i can't help to think i can get more out of this motor when it should be pushing 300+ ponies. Also i don't have a passing gear at all, it doesn't downshift at a speed. What could make this problem? The guy i had install the motor owed me money, and i can't help to think he did a sub-rate job. Everything else is from a stock 350 motor. I guess im looking for some pointers on what i should check, or tune when getting done with a swapping job, or tips on how i can improve this motors preformance, without throwing away BIG bucks. I mean, being a firebird owner, of course i can chuck out some. Thanks, this is my first post. Also, i was think about getting a street avenger carb...soemthing in the 700-800 range. Good idea? Also, i don't have power going to my 700-R tranny...would that be a source of my shifting problems?

 

The usual cause of "low power" complaints is poor head choice. What head castings are on it? Also, you say a "low-end" cam; what is it?

Another common mistake is to leave a bad-flowing exhaust system on a car when doing motor upgrades. If your 87 was originally a LG4 (carb 305) car, then you need to get rid of every piece of the exhaust all teh way from the heads to the street, and put on something larger than 2¼". Headers is a first good step; but if you had a Y-pipe made to fit the tiny LG4 exhaust rather than changing the whole exhaust out and getting a 3" system all the way from the headers on back, they're dumping into a drinking straw.

Your trans issue is probably a misadjusted TV (throttle valve) cable. It goes from the carb to the trans. Do a search or look in the tech data on this site, you'll find the adjustment procedure.