LONG STORY I GOT ALOT ON MY MIND and i get way off topic but...
i got a 90 5 speed tpi (non g92 -215 hp/285 tq) now ive got a close friend who has a 87 5.0 mustang lx 5 speed and im always neck and neck with him. i went to the local friday night runs and lost twice to a 86 mustang gt by about a car and a half. which really irritates me because 90s are one of the quicker years i mean if i had a stock 86 i wouldve got my doors blown off. why did chevrolet do this? its not like they couldnt beat the mustang because a stock g92 car would beat a stock mustang of the same year. why didnt chevrolet just make the hot cam tune port 305 standard why did they even offer a weaker cam? why did they even offer throttle body injection? im sick of everybody even GM fans saying that 3rd gens are slow or garbage. they wouldve been way more popular if the standard engine was the 230 hp 5.0 and if they came in rs camaros. i do have to give it to ford for not being stingy with the good stuff because theyre brand was represented way better in the 80's and its also because of this i hate the corvette. the corvette is the reason why the 5.7 never came with a 5 speed, the statement from chevrolet saying the 5 speed couldnt handle the torque is a bunch of crap because they said the same thing about the tuneport 305 in 86 and then they offered it with a 5 speed the year after. the corvette is also the reason the Grand national got shut down. and then theres the monte carlo ss. its a nice looking car but why did they put the carb 305 in it? the monte carlo use to be known as a big bad *** MFer. in my opinion the ss shoulve came with the 5.7 tpi from the factory there was nothing wrong with that motor as far as emissions go. how can you put ss on a car that doesnt even have 200 hp? ford was putting there 5.0 litre in everything crown vic, thunderbird etc. and i think gm shouldve been smart and put the 230 hp 5.0 and 5.7 tpi in alot more of there cars.



Anyways back to my issues, im looking at 3 options either build my 305 find a 350 from another car or get my self a gm replacement 350

if i build the 305 it would eliminate the possibility of mustang guys giving me the displacement excuse and i might get a lightly better mpg, but it would be more limited on power

a used 350 out of another car would be cool but its only 30 hp more than my car and i could already hear the excuses like " its a 350 and it only got me by that much? if i had a 351 id smoke that thing"

the crate 350 would be cool cuz i could comepete with modded mustangs and there would be no excuses cuz were both far from stock but that engine isnt cheap its about 2000 dollars

so yeah im pretty torn on what to do

 

If you want to actually beat him, consistently, go LT1, or LS1

You're going to spend more to get less done with your current plans.

 

TPI itself is the problem.

Right answer, to the wrong problem.

They stuck with it MUCH longer than they should have.

Pure laziness and lack of attention to the marketplace of the day. They didn't wake up and smell the coffee and realize that they were TOTALLY getting their a$$ kicked in the ONE measurable characteristic of this mind of car THAT MATTERS. They ended up paying DEARLY for it; basically, GAVE THAT MARKET COMPLETELY AWAY, FOR ALL TIME. Gone, forever, permanently, never to get it back. Look at car sales to this day. Even Xler got let back into the game by the stupidity.

Would make a terrific MBA marketing class case study: "keep your eye on the ball", but first, you gotta know WHAT THE BALL IS. Which is what GM failed to grasp. Maybe I'll put that in one of my classes.

Get rid of the TPI. It'll choke a 350 even worse than it does that stooooopid 305 that GM NEVER SHOULD HAVE PUT IN THESE CARS IN THE FIRST PLACE.

 

"south san francisco california"

As big a limitation as TPI...

Since you said a $2000 engine "isn't cheap", I'll take it a "real", emissions-legal, performance swap (read: LT1, LS1) isn't in your future.

What can you legally do to a 305 TPI? Not much. Exhaust (emissions-legal headers and Y-pipe such as Hooker 2055HRK, then cats & cat-back), cam (must be computer-compatible), shorter runners (about the worst $'s/HP mod out there, but one you "have" to do if you've got TPI), and heads (basic porting and larger valves will do about as much as you can do and stay emissions-legal). This is almost $2k, by the way (and you'd have to do all of it to a 350 crate engine as well).

You probably have 3.08 gears in the rear, so 3.42's would help.

Then you'd need to get your ECM retuned to get anything out of all these changes.

 

Nitrous would help you beat some Mustangs.

 

100% what five7 said. Not much you can do "legally" because you're in California. The main problem you run into, is 99% of the aftermarket stuff is "49 state legal" because cali is stupid. Even the Hooker 2055's are only 49 state legal...not for use in California.

Switch to 3.73 gears, that'll get you out the blocks much quicker.

Port and polish your heads, 3" catback with high-flow cat.

Edelbrock sells an aftermarket TPI intake that's supposed tobe pretty good, but I don't know if it's legal in Cali. Hell, the inspectors may never know.

You also may be able to find a cam combination that will still pass california emissions, do a search on the boards here and see if anyone has any advice...

Here is a link to Popular Hot Rodding's 300hp 305 build. Not sure what you can do with it though being in Cali. That, right now, is your most limiting factor. Unless of course you know a guy who knows a friendly tester who likes to see Benjamin for a passing score. If you know what I mean.

http://www.popularhotrodding.com/eng...engine_blocks/

 

Commiefornia means its even more important to go with an LT1 or LS1 swap, you'll get FAR further power wise.

An LT1 can be done cheap if you re-use the T5, usually they say the engine has to match the transmission, though it shouldnt be very hard to claim its the T56, or it may just need to be another manual, you'll definetly have to make sure you take care of the vss issue when doing so, several ways to do this and its a non-issue.

An LS1 is a far better choice for the republik, but the budget for something that will legally 100% pass there is going to cost a good deal more than an LT1.

 

Per Holley's website: http://www.holley.com/data/Products/...al/2055HKR.pdf, CARB E.O. #D-164-5
Summit.com application note: "This is a 50-state legal header"

C.A.R.B. = California.

 

Alright, I pulled my info from the paperwork I have for my 2055's so they've updated it since I bought mine 7 years ago.

 

Yup:

CARB = California Air Resources Board

EO = Executive Order

That's the regulatory agency that's responsible for allowing such things, and the piece of paperwork it grants to the mfr. It's not cheap to get that done, which is why even things that might "seem" to be emissions legal, may or may not have that registration.

 

thanks for all the advice guys, yeah over here in california you cant do much to your car and keep it on the street at the same time. but is the TPI really that bad? cuz i really dont want to do a conversion. the extra money it would cost to do all of that isnt reallly worth it in my opinion unless its an LS but like i said i have a limited budget because im a college student. i just want to get close to 300 hp so i could really represent the thirdgens im tired of going to rideouts and all i see are 4th gens, foxbodies, 03 cobras, c5 corvettes, and hondas.

 

300 HP where? At the crank, running accessories and exhaust like the factory rates engines? Maybe, won't be easy with a 305 TPI, but possible. Do the stuff I said earlier, with proper cam selection and proper ECM tuning, maybe.

 

No, the TPI isn't "bad", you just have to understand it's limitations, specifically when you put a modified mtor under it. For a street car, it's perfectly fine.

300 Flywheel hp, is doable in a 305, but probably not with California's limitations.

1. As indicated, Exhaust, Hooker 2055's or Dyno don's emissions legal headers. 3" catback. Hooker/Flowmaster, doesn't matter. DO a search on the exhaust boards and see which appeals to you. This will be your biggest "gainer" most likely.

2. New heads. For replacement heads, look at World Products 305 Torquer SR heads. They feature 1.94" intake and 1.5" exhaust.
** You can also mod your existing heads to get this, may or may not be cheaper.

3. Cam..I'm not a "cam" guy, but I've heard good things about Lunati's 60102 cam. I'd search for it here though because like I said, I can't talk intelligently about Cam's...

and that's about it, this is keeping your emissions and everythign legal. If you go through the motor on a fresh rebuild, that will also help. WIth this, I can say you'll most likey be in the 220-250Hp range at the flywheel. If you also change to 3.73 gears, that will move your car down the road pretty quick.

 

well i gave it some thought and i decided to just yank the 305 and just keep it on the side as a spare motor , so im just trying to decide wether to get a l98 or the GM 350 replacement crate engine does anybody know about that engine??????

 

and yeah im just trying to get 300 flywheel hp im not all for getting shorter gears cuz i really like when a car just purs on the freeway.i like to cruise for long distances

 

I don't know that a 350 will pass emissions for your car, even with all of the emissions equipment hooked up. I'd ask around the site to make sure.

Chevy High Performance did a 300hp 305 build, pretty sure that would still pass emissions, but I don't know. Only a skilled mechanic might be able to ever tell that a 350 is not a 305 (they're physically identical from the outside) unless it fails the emissions or he sees something "totally out of the ordinary".

 

GM replacement crate engines are intended for service van fleets. While there have been plenty of magazine articles about getting more power out of them, they aren't sold as performance engines (or even replacement engines for our cars).

Since your car is a 1990 model, the TPI is the speed density system. Putting in a larger displacement engine will require ECM tuning to accommodate it.

 

well when went to go check that crate engine out it says in the description it can be used for pretty much any vehicle that came with a chevy small block trucks or cars. i know if i put a 350 in my car it will need to be tuned but im totally okay with that