i have about 3000 to spend on my 91 rs camaro. its all stock now with the 305 and 5 spd. how would i make the most power i can with the 305 and only 3000 to spend?

 

With that kind of budget, most will tell you that you're much better off just swapping in a 350 crate motor. You could easily get a good, powerful 350 for less the 3k and then use the rest to finish it up and get some add-ons. That would really be the best bang for the buck if you want good power. The 305 just doesn't have nearly as good of potential as a 350 due to its small bore. If you really do want to stick to a 305 though there are many things you could do to it for that, I'm sure others will chime in with some mods for ya.

 

Welcome aboard.

1) Exhaust. Doesn't matter if 305 or 350, all of it must go. Headers, $350, high-flow direct-fit cat, $120, cat-back $250. Get the stuff for '86-'90 TPI single cat (I know that's not what you have, just get the stuff for that application). With shipping & the like, that's about $750.

2) Cam. The stock piece, whether 305 or the typical crate, isn't worth a hoot. About $250 for a roller, another $100 or so for timing set, gaskets, etc.

$1100 so far.

3) Induction. If you stick with TBI, you'll have to figure on some upgrades. I'm no expert on that, but I'd think $500 wouldn't be unreasonable.

$1600 down, $1400 to go. If you can find a 350 for that, go that way. If not, the 305 still needs more.

4) Heads. TBI heads are boat anchors. Either get a set of 305 TPI heads, have 1.94" intake valves put in, port them, install screw-in rocker studs, get new springs. Or, buy a set of new World S/R Torquer 305 heads, at least pocket port them (full porting isn't much harder and yields good benefits). About $800 with shipping, porting supplies.

Now you've got $600 left. A higher-stall torque converter to match your cam would be a good idea.

Budget gone. Have fun!

 

well, I'd say don't swap 350 cause your tranny won't be good enough for a lot of power build up your engine along with your tranny

 

I'd put that last $600 into a set of gears... 3.42 would be a whole lot better than those 2.73s you have now.

You'd need the exhaust and gears no matter what motor you put in there; so do your figuring on those first, then see what you have left for the motor. No motor in the world can overcome that drinking-straw-sized exhaust system you're stuck with, or can push a car around very well when it's not allowed to ever run at over 3000 RPM.

 

start with the exhaust and headers. after doin just that u will notice a good diffrence. the exhaust and heads from what i hear are what make 305 so bad.

 

I have a 1991 RS, and did a 3 inch Flowmaster on it. I did the K&N Filter as well. I'm sure I got some improvement, but I can't remember what it felt like bone stock though. Also, I don't even think you can put headers on our year, because we have manifolds, not headers. (The thin little exhaust tubes for fuel efficiency )

 

Headers replace the exhaust manifolds for better flow.

 

there's a great article in the october and november 1989 issues of hot rod magazine where they took an '89 rs 305 tbi 5 speed, didn't touch the short block, changed cam, heads, intake, headers exhaust, etc., and went 14.30s on street tires.

they added 97 hp and almost 100 lbs. ft. of torque with careful parts selection and tuning.

there was too much low end torque and they spun the tires badly. better tuning would certainly have put them in the 13s.

i found the pdf files for the articles on a member's homepage. here are the addresses.

http://members.tripod.com/GRK_Taz/tech/camaro.pdf

http://members.tripod.com/GRK_Taz/tech/camaro2.pdf

the keys to the car were the cam, the adapter for the tbi unit to the intake and the chip. unfortunately, the company that did the work (traco engineering), no longer exists. i've tracked down one of the people involved, but haven't gotten a reply to my emails yet.

the article didn't give the specs on the cam, which they said were crucial. at the time, traco was marketing the cam and didn't want to give the secret away. same with the adapter. they tried the performer tbi and the holley adapter to use tbi with a regular performer intake and found them wanting, so they made their own adapter.

the only mods they made to the actual tbi unit was to switch to 350 injectors. looking at the hp and torque graphs, i think they would have been better off with a single plane intake rather than a dual plane to cut some off-idle torque so it could launch.

the heads they used were vette aluminum ones. i don't think world products torker sr 305s were available at the time. i'd either use those or shaved vortecs.

i'd do a compression check and a leakdown test on the 305 before i did anything. when your looking at a 305 with high mileage, i'd absolutely drop in a larger engine rather than spend money rebuilding the 305.

 

if you copy the hyperlinks from my previous post and paste them in a browser, they'll work, but they won't if you just click on them.

sorry, i have no idea what i did wrong.

 

Get a new engine. Definatly.Do some research on what you like and what you want your car to do. I have a '91 Z28 with a 305 TPI in it, I came to terms that it wasnt going to do what I wanted. So instead of putting any more into it I went out and got a Grand National engine. Thats me, speed AND fuel economy.