Third Generation F-Body Message Boards - Tech / General Engine

383 gta exhaust

george88gta — Tue, 02 Jun 2026 15:12:36 GMT

I recently purchased a 383 forged blueprint engine for my gta after installation I realized that the driver side exhaust from the header has no room between the crossmember and oil pan. Have any of you come across this and if so how did you run your exhaust. I'm assuming you changed the oil pan anybody out there have any recommendations?

87 camaro cam upgrade questions.

Chaddyboy — Sun, 31 May 2026 22:25:23 GMT

So upgraded my cam on my iroc sbc 305 to a crowler hydralic roller cam which has a max lift of 484.Can I reuse the lifters which are in good shape and reuse the factory pushrods and valve springs.

Cheers.

Gas tank pressure 2026 edition

EDGE — Sat, 30 May 2026 18:25:40 GMT

I realize this has been discussed in multiple threads. Thought I'd revisit this because I had the problem again and figured it out. My setup had changed since this last happened. This time it was a problem with the BBK 52MM TB. A little backstory. My 87 ran a 32B mask and was an auto. Now it's a T5 running a 6E mask. That means the EVAP system tests differently and the purge parameters are also different from the 32B ABWT BIN. I'm running a tuned 6E APYP 1989 Corvette BIN.

I've also since done more engine mods. Aluminum heads. MSD, full roller 1.6 rockers, Lingenfelter 74211 cam, Beehive valve springs, 3" catback to a magnaflow parked under the tank. And the 52MM BBK. I thought all was well. Always had some pressure in the tank before and after mods. The last time I had this issue was a few years back. Turned out the nylon vacuum line was burned and welded close and the EVAP can was saturated. Rectified that and it seemed to be okay.

Fast forward to today with all the new mods. This is the first spring/summer that it's all working together since the new parts. Couple days ago went for a drive and almost blew my face off when I opened the tank. The giveaway was all the banging and popping in the tank and the fact the fuel pump sounded like a wood chipper. It's a racetronix. So down the rabbit hole I went. Started looking at the BIN. Made some changes to the purge conditions. Everything seemed to test fine. Went for a drive with live data and a light bulb tee'd into the purge solenoid circuit to see what the purge solenoid was actually doing. It all seemed to be working fine, until....

The BBK 52mm. This was the problem. The EVAP is supposed to use ported vacuum off the TB. Per the manual the system should get 15Hg of vacuum. The BBK Port on the bottom of the TB had 0. At most 0.5Hg. it actually was producing around 0.5 positive PSI upon throttle cracks. I removed it and had a look. It's a joke of a setup. That first pic is the stock TB. That large machined groove is the ported vacuum source. The BBK has that small hole under the throttle blade. Maybe 1/4 the size of the stock TB, throttle blade hole. The BBK Port hole is about the size of a sewing needle.That is not going to provide 15Hg to two valves. There's one between the tank and canister and one on the canister splitting that vacuum source. I switched to manifold vacuum and no longer have a fuel tank pressure issue. What a nice waste of time that was. Not sure how BBK managed to eF that up.

Carb to efi questions

87iroz-c — Sat, 30 May 2026 15:00:35 GMT

My current setup is a 350 with a holley 670 carb on an edelbrock intake with a mild cam. Was thinking about either a holley or a fi tech efi.

Is it just a strait swap or should I look into upgrading other things while I am doing this (intake, cam)

The car was originally a 305 tpi so it does still have the fuel pump for a fuel injection setup.

Thanks for any suggestions/tips

1990 camaro 305 tbi cant get bolts out of water pump pulley

JimRockford — Thu, 28 May 2026 15:59:41 GMT

I have a 1990 Camaro RS with a 305 V8 and throttle body injection. I am trying to replace the water pump today I left the belt on the pump and the pump in the car so that I would have resistance to try and back the bolts off however the bolts are not moving they will not budge none of them. I've tried putting a wrench on the end of them tapping it with a rubber mallet and it's starting to strip the head of the bolts out. Is there some sort of trick to get these damn things out? I don't remember it being this difficult years ago when I did it on a firebird. Left is loose on the pulley bolts,correct? Tried 10mm socket and wrench,wont budge

Question about 1990 Camaro 305 water pump back cover

JimRockford — Tue, 26 May 2026 18:30:01 GMT

Hi,I have a 1990 Camaro Rs with 305 v8. Yesterday coolant started spraying from tiny holes in the bolt on back cover of the water pump. Since the water pump itself isnt leaking is it possible to buy just the back cover plate and replace that? If so where can I find that piece

Clogged service line from tank to evap canister.

DigitalDan3 — Mon, 25 May 2026 13:12:09 GMT

1988 Formula Firebird 305 TPI.

I�m suspecting that line from the gas tank to the evap canister is clogged. I�ve taken off vent valve and put a vacuum pump to the line to the tank. It�s holding vacuum indicating to me that it is clogged. Shouldn�t there free flowing air going from the tank to the canister?
I�m going to disconnect the line from the sending unit and see if it holds a vacuum there. Y

Car sat for 19 years.
Replaced tank, sending unit, pump
Having stalling issues, excessive pressure at tank, hard to fill.

305 build cam question; Engine Power TV show

dwwebste — Mon, 25 May 2026 13:01:58 GMT

I have an 84 Z28, 305HO (VIN G) and this is the engine I plan on rebuilding, so no detractors please. I already have the engine and this is what I am going with. Engine Power made 305hp with a cam from comp cams (Xtreme Energy CL -12-422-8: 218/224, 0.495/0.502, LSA 110). I was looking around and saw the Melling 22135 (214/206, 0.490/0.470, LSA 112). It is considerably less expensive, but the numbers are not quite as good.

Overall, this is a daily, not a race car. It is a ragtop with the idea of just nice street cruising, but if I hit the gas I want to be able to get there a little more quickly and with a smile. I currently have an Edelbrock Performer intake, Edelbrock 650 cfm carb, and plan on roller rockers, shorty mufflers (would love suggestions for that as well) and a Flowmaster exhaust. My goal would be 300hp at the wheel, but even 250-300 should be a little better than the 195 (dyno tested) that I had at the wheels on the stock (other than intake and carb) setup.

So primary questions: is the Comp cam worth the extra money to get me over the 300hp line, or will the Melling get me there, too? Or is there another you would suggest? For headers, any specifics to look into or avoid? And finally, other than start over with a different engine, suggestions?

Gas tank excessive pressure and overflows while filling.

DigitalDan3 — Sun, 24 May 2026 21:23:02 GMT

1988 Formula 305 TPI

I just read through this post from the forum who has had the same symptoms as my car.

https://www.thirdgen.org/forums/tbi/...-gas-tank.html

I am having stalling issues when stopped or putting the vehicle into gear, there seems to be an excessive amount of air I believe getting sucked in when I take off the gas cap. I also get the "fog horn" noise intermittently after I shut off the engine. It's more like a screaming goat. Gas also shoots out of the filler if I pump too fast.

Is there a way to blow air through the line from the evap canister to the junction at the sending unit? The car sat for so long I am wondering if it's clogged. The old tank was crusty inside and the gas was like varnish. When I opened the gas cap at the junk yard it did suck in a bunch of air.
Just for reference I put in a new tank, sending unit, pump, filter. I also put in new distributor, IAC solenoid (reset it), adjusted TPS. New MAF sensor.
I can't seem to find a replacement for the canister nor the electric solenoid on top. I will test the 2 vapor canister purge valves tonight after I purchase the vacuum tool.
I put a vacuum gauge on the brake boost hose to see if I had any leaks. The vacuum stayed in the green zone even when I put it into reverse with the hand brake on. It still stalled. Stalling issues happens once the car is warmed up as the rpms are higher when its cold.

I'm looking through the illustrated parts catalog and it only shows one of the evap valves. My system has 2. You can see the second one under the coolant reservoir.

OEM Oil Cooler Line Setup

rtd16 — Sun, 24 May 2026 20:59:17 GMT

My 1988 IROCZ has the factory oil cooling set up that connects to the radiator and the filter housing. The metal part of the lines are in pretty bad shape and found aluminum replacements on Hawks. My current set up has rubber hoses connecting the ends of the metal lines to the radiator and to the filter housing with hose clamps you would get at your local hardware store. Is that what the factory used? I looked around and can't really find any rubber OEM hose specific to this oil cooler set up

Wiring help

Brzagod21 — Sat, 23 May 2026 16:36:10 GMT

So the starter for the car came in and i finally had time to go see the car put it up on jack stands and took some pictures found out one of the ring terminals was busted bought new ones to replace and need to also buy bolts for the starter since it didn�t come with the bolts to hold it in place also ever since i bought the car this wire has been here is this part of the car or no?

Crossfire injection

cc+ca — Sat, 23 May 2026 03:23:32 GMT

Hi everyone
Im Claudio�.. and I have not been here in a long time��. Not sure where the CFI section is�.. but I�m looking at getting into an 82TA LU5 so I have questions and ideas to bounce off the other CFIers in here��. First I�d like to find that area or section before I start listing questions��. I don�t want to get in any trouble�.. I�m also not a stranger to the F Body as I�ve had my fair share�� a few KITTs GTAs TAs and a couple of verts�.. not a third gen but I also had a few Transport vans�.. ( yes the space ship�.. ) a 69 and a few second gen�s�.. oh and a few Fieros��.. anyway back to finding the CFI guys�.. and gals�..
thanks

Cold starts with MAF unplugged only

Alippman — Thu, 21 May 2026 02:10:56 GMT

I have a 1989 camaro iroc-z 350 tpi. I bought the car a few months back not running. I had to install a vats box as someone previously cut it out and I bypassed the resistors. I�ve recently replaced the Tank
Sending unit
Fuel pump
Injectors
MAF
Fuel pump relay
MAF relays
TPS
IAC
CTS
Oil pressure switch
Plug Wires
Spark plugs
Cap and rotor
Coil
My Problem is that the car will just crank and crank and not want to turn over unless I unplug my MAF. If I plug the MAF back in right after the car starts, it will stall. I�m thinking it�s maybe a fuel issue, but it�s weird because once the car has been running for a bit and it gets warm I can plug the MAF back in and it will run fine. And once the car is warm it will start right back up fine with the MAF plugged in and idle just fine. I�m very confused and any insight would be helpful!

Engine Removal trips and tricks?

Boostmaster — Wed, 20 May 2026 18:02:40 GMT

Ok. before anyone asks, yes, I know how to pull an engine and trans.

The reason for this thread to see if folks who have pulled their 3rd gen power plants have some tips and tricks to keep things moving smoother or quicker. (Like another I've worked on where it was advised to pull the wiring harness first. I discovered that you could keep it on and install the engine and trans back into the car with the harness mostly connected- made the process significantly easier)

I'm working on an 87 GTA with the 5.7L. Really just thinking about removing the air pump stuff (pump was seized anyway)- I'd like to remove all the piping to make some more room in the engine bay. I'd like to avoid damaging any of it in case I need to reuse in the future. Since all the connections are rusty as heck- figure it might be easier with the engine out.

Since I do not have a lift, I prefer to pull engine and trans together. (Frankly, I wish there was a way to remove the rusty bits without damage because if I pull the engine and trans I will likely go down another rabbit hole with cleaning and re-sealing, etc...)

So, what do you guys have as far as ways to save some time or damage to my knuckles?

Belts/Alternator Location

rmd21 — Wed, 20 May 2026 17:04:21 GMT

My �86 alternator is on the passenger side of the engine. The A/C compressor is on the drivers side. Could someone explain why to me?
thanks in advance

Nevermind. This is normal for an �86.