I have a 1986 Camaro Z/28 Iroc-Z, 4bbl 305. I bought it during the summer a while back. It had been sitting since 1990 outside with a cover on it. It runs pretty well, except for something with the idle and carbuerator. Besides that its coming out great. I have thought about suping it though (who hasn't). Im afraid that if i get it up to around 250 or 300 horsepower that the connecting rods might break and kill the car. I want to take it to the Dragstrip and do donuts and burnouts and go all out. Do you think I will need to replace them, maybe even along with the crankshaft and transmission?

 

Stock connecting rods and crank should be fine well past 300 HP.

 

Like Apeiron said stock should be fine. You could spend a little and have the rods shot pened, then balance the rotating assembly.

 

I was talking to some one with the same car and they said that if i try a burnout or race it every weekend it would never last.

 

I once had a small block 70 Nova with cast crank, rods, pistons. It ran 12.50's without any problems. It had a couple seasons at the track and I cruised it around town for a couple years. The thing is most folks cant stop modifying when they start so you try to plan ahead for future mods, thats where the stronger blocks, cranks,rods, pistons come into play. For your application you should be fine, it just depends on how far you want to take it

 

and what about transmissions. Even if get it up to around 300 horses and do burnouts and donuts and pop the clutch all the time, i have a feeling it wouldn't last.

 

Some of the standard folks will have to answer that, I dont have a clue when it comes to standard transmisions.

 

dont even worry the about connecting rods breaking at all. my old 78 malibu had a well beat stock 350 in it when i got it, and then i sprayed the hell out of it (175 hp jets) and ran high 11's with it no problem. I sold the car and now it is a bracket racer running high 12's with the same un-rebuilt short block. and really, in all my years (i used to race modified production in the mid - late 70's, which means i know about high rpm, my 311 used to spin 9,800 in my old camaro) ive really only seen connecting rods break in high rpm applications, your 305 should be fine.

 

That LG4 is a pig. Step one would consist of getting it to move out of its own way. The bottom end will be plenty strong for "donuts" and other pointless 16 year old kid moves. The T5 is a bomb waiting to go off, as is the stock 10-bolt. No offense, but how old are you anyway?

 

I just had a set of factory rods magnafluxed, shot peened, and resized back in March. It was only $85.