Cheapest way to make fast. 305
 

I just bought a 1990 Camaro Rs 5.0 v8 and I love it. I just wish it was faster. What are the cheapest things i could add to it to make it faster. Thank you.:thanks:

Re: Cheapest way to make fast. 305
 

nothing

sorry to burst your bubble

do a search of this site and you'll see your question asked by young uns like you a gazillion times

Re: Cheapest way to make fast. 305
 

hahahahahaha aololololol, its been seriously seriously tediously covered a thousand times like he said

Re: Cheapest way to make fast. 305
 

yup. first thing you gotta decide is how fast you want it to be. vortec heads, an lt1 cam, performer rpm intake with tbi adapter, and some EBL flash tuning, plus headers and full exhaust will get ya pretty fast. thier are a ton of threads on this. take a look see by doing a :search:

Re: Cheapest way to make fast. 305
 

Maybe diffrent gears if he just wants to make it more fun to drive.

Re: Cheapest way to make fast. 305
 

Yeah that'd be a great mod to do. I like 3.42's!

Re: Cheapest way to make fast. 305
 

step one is answer these two questions:

1. how much money do you have?

2. how fast do you want to go?

Re: Cheapest way to make fast. 305
 

theres no replacement for displacement! haha someone had to say it. (this coming from a 305 guy:) )

Re: Cheapest way to make fast. 305
 

:thumbsup:

Re: Cheapest way to make fast. 305
 

Cheapest way to make a 305 fast?

Buy a 350. :lmao:

Re: Cheapest way to make fast. 305
 

Seriously. Original poster. How fast you wanna go? You can find 350s cheap on Craigslist all day.

Re: Cheapest way to make fast. 305
 

A good use of your money is to get a full 3" exhaust with headers and gears for now, this way if you upgrade the engine later on you will already have those upgrades out of the way, and for now it will help your performance a bit.

Re: Cheapest way to make fast. 305
 

What's with everyone and speed these days? lol
I'd rather have my slow but torque-y GTA have everything else redone before I focus on speed.

Re: Cheapest way to make fast. 305
 

Well some people want beat up fast cars, some want clean slow cars, and some want both!

Re: Cheapest way to make fast. 305
 

my brother had a had 92 5.0 tbi auto rs back in 06 07... he did headers full exhaust cam(218 duration range) carb upgrade and was upset of the performance... my stock l98 with catback could still blow the doors off him.... so if your going for speed then id say its not worth it..... id swap to a 350 at least... besides no one will know the difference from 305 to 350 unless you tell them.....

Re: Cheapest way to make fast. 305
 

id go with cruisin 1980s answer

ditch the crappy stuck exhaust system headers back with something you could put onto a 350 if you choose to do the swap later

no real downside or risk + easier to get done than internal engine work, plus 305s can sound pretty awesome with the right system

Re: Cheapest way to make fast. 305
 

You mean tbi upgrade? He went with Holley huh? He didn't need that. He'd prolly be faster if he had a custom chip tuned

Re: Cheapest way to make fast. 305
 

If its still stock than a 1990 Rs.5.0 auto = 2.73 open differential
manual = 3.08 open differential
Its not real cheap but as said earlier a up grade to a Eaton Posi./LSD with at least 3.42 gear ratio. would wake the car up along with a timing advance to about 6*. That with a open air element or cold air intake and full exhaust would all help.

Re: Cheapest way to make fast. 305
 

yup even the 2.73 to 3.08 made HUGE gains for me. I gained 1/2 second in 1/4 mile just from that

Re: Cheapest way to make fast. 305
 

In the short run nitrous would probably be the cheapest route.

Re: Cheapest way to make fast. 305
 

The first thing you want to do is undo all that GM did to cut down the performance of the TBI engine, starting with the exhaust and intake.

It never ceases to amaze me that GM decided to use parts that choked off their TBI and LG4 motors so much that it would make buyers have to look at TPI and L69 engine choices for more power.

TBI engines have some of the the most restrictive exhaust manifolds, y-pipes, and cat backs ever put on a third gen. Just putting shorty headers with 3" y-pipe, 3" cat, and a 3" cat back are worth over 30hp with no other real changes. You can pick up another 10hp if you slap on an L69 dual snorkel intake and K&N filter. That is 40hp or so without ripping into the motor. You can also get underdrive pulleys, change your rear gears (and probably get a posi) and some other small bolt ons. There is no reason to doubt that a TBI in good running order with the exhaust I mentioned, intake, pulleys, and gears combined with good traction can't run at least in the high 14's.

Re: Cheapest way to make fast. 305
 

It deffinatel can. A shiftkit andbstall converter will help too. Cam and heads and tuning your even faster

Re: Cheapest way to make fast. 305
 

Wasn't there JUST another guy, like less than 2 weeks ago, wanting cheap to nearly free power out of his 305? Fork over some cash or stay slow. 350 swap will be your best option if you don't mind spending more than 5 dollars.

It's not even about being young. Some people are just cheap. Since November I've put around another $5,000 into the Slowstang. SCT Livewire, T56 swap, the Vortech. Then just stupid things like the BBK mid pipe, oil changes (Since I wanted to flush the rear diff, trans, and engine all at once) and new tires really add up.

Now I have to blow another $500 on a boost gauge, wideband an A/F ratio gauge, gauge pillar, $269 on a fuel pump, already spent another $100 on 6 more quarts of engine oil for when the pan will have to be tapped for the Vortech oil feed lines, and some decent spark plugs. Making a car fast gets expensive for sure, so it cracks me up to see threads like this.

Re: Cheapest way to make fast. 305
 

a random punny JY chevy 350 isn't enough either.
-------------------

As the very next thing these jokers will tell you OP is you now need a stroker kit for that 350 to be fast.

until you race a guy with a BB

Buy a BB and then get trounched by a guy with an all billet BB.

It all ends up the same, 2000+ HP and 80K into a engine you can't drive more then a few blocks as its only designed to go a 1/4mile at a time.

If your gonna start digging a money pit, think ahead some.

what makes even well built BB guys nervous, even when they pull up in all stock granny trim next to them???

A Turbo V6 Buick, easy 9s, 7 with work and still street friendly and out turn anything with a big engine in its nose. [the new billet race block they got should take em into - numbers ;) ]


decide now where you want the car to go, do you just wanna go straight or do it all? As going up in size engine wise is a never ending battle, what ever you got, a bunch of jokers will stand around and tell you why its not fast and what you need to buy instead.


Ok not thiking that far ahead and just want to pass jerk offs easier, don't care about laws to much, go spend $400 on a NOS kit and keep upping the HP till your happy starting at 75. Not gonna hurt anything of value if it tosses a rod.

Re: Cheapest way to make fast. 305
 

No kidding. Its great to go fast in a straight line, but you also have to be able to stop & take turns relatively well. Engine mods are at the very bottom of the list of things I'm going to work on on my car. My list order goes Chassis, Suspension, Brakes/Wheels/Tires, Rear Axle, Transmission, Seats, then Engine. Last thing I'd want to have is a ton of money tied up in the engine and a thrashed to death car because of it.

Re: Cheapest way to make fast. 305
 

I like that!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Re: Cheapest way to make fast. 305
 

Dude read my cardomain for the answers you seek. Trust me, I have probably the fastest TBI 305 non power adder car on these boards, it doesn't take much to get them moving provided you spend your money in the right places.

Re: Cheapest way to make fast. 305
 

What kind of quarter mile times are you getting with that setup?

I've haven't posted around here very much over the past couple years, but back when I was posting regularly there was a guy who was getting low 14s with a 305 TBI.

Re: Cheapest way to make fast. 305
 

https://www.thirdgen.org/forums/tbi/...ferrerid=35855

Fast355 got his 312 (305 with .040" overbore) TBI to do the quarter in 11.8.

Re: Cheapest way to make fast. 305
 

Yes im curious about that too

Re: Cheapest way to make fast. 305
 

I haven't gotten a "true" 1/4 mile run out of it as of yet and I know its not a dead accurate measurement but from where we've marked out our 1/4 and from the people I've beaten I easily have a 13.7 to 13.5 car as it sits. I will take it to the track as soon as I can but the nearest one to me is over 100 miles away.

Re: Cheapest way to make fast. 305
 

make a weekend trip to firebird raceway or something Rob! dammit man! haha! Sounds good and quick

Re: Cheapest way to make fast. 305
 

Ok i have a 90 iroc-z tpi 305 same question and don't say 350 my dad wont let me have one becaluse i rolled his truck. Any advice about timing any thing to just do with whenches to incress 1/4 mile time??? I have a race at 8:00pm so a fast reponse would be helpfull.

Re: Cheapest way to make fast. 305
 

Advance the distributor initial timing a couple of degrees. If you go too far it will retard due to KC's.

Re: Cheapest way to make fast. 305
 

Put a rollcage in

Re: Cheapest way to make fast. 305
 

Actually now that i think of it would be a 150HP shot of N20....

Re: Cheapest way to make fast. 305
 

Boost is the replacement for displacement...

Re: Cheapest way to make fast. 305
 

i agree street lethal .as soon AS I GET MY FUEL PUMP IN AN INTAKE ON IT TURBO TIME .

Re: Cheapest way to make fast. 305
 

Cheap? Underdrive pulleys, electric supercharger, stickers, HUGE wing(don't skimp out on this one), lots of gauges, and a rattle can paint job. All of this should get you a 7 second 305 easy! In all seriousness though, speed isn't cheap.

Re: Cheapest way to make fast. 305
 

... seven second sixty foot. :p ;)

Re: Cheapest way to make fast. 305
 

:lmao:

Re: Cheapest way to make fast. 305
 

fyi,lots of v6 camaros came with 3.42 rear gears.the rear end is a bolt in swap and is as strong as the v8 rear.[which isn't strong at all.]thats what i did.100 dollar junkyard rearend,much quicker.

Re: Cheapest way to make fast. 305
 

fyi, lots of 93-02 camaros came with 3.42s and are much stronger AND an upgrade to discs if you have drums for about the same price at a junkyard It is also a bolt in swap.

Re: Cheapest way to make fast. 305
 

i have the simplest answer for this. a 305 simply cannot make good amounts of power or be "fast" you can do alot to make the drive and feel of one much more enjoyable but the only way a 305 can be fast is if you use these step by step directions
1) remove engine
2) replace engine with something with more displacement and power
3) drag 305 behind newly acquired fast car

Vuala fast 305

sorry thats a ******* response but 305s are a waste of time, if you want more then save up and pay for it otherwise enjoy what you have

Re: Cheapest way to make fast. 305
 

doesnt your username contradict this post a tad? :huh:

Re: Cheapest way to make fast. 305
 

Itd be cheaper to sell your car BEFORE you ruin it, and get a v-tec civic and adding 4 inch muffler too the list.

Re: Cheapest way to make fast. 305
 

its also four inches wider.

Re: Cheapest way to make fast. 305
 

If your going for rear end swap just do 3rd gen. Same width, and can get same gears. And discs dont make you go faster. Yes stop faster, but i doubt that is what the original poster is looking for.

Re: Cheapest way to make fast. 305
 

I have a .040" over 305 with a Q-Jet in a 1980 C10 truck that would walk away from any factory V8 thirdgen save for maybe a SLP Firehawk. It ran mid 14s in the 1/4 on the primaries while tuning the Q-Jets primaries and that was with 2.73 gears and an open differential. Its hit 13.7s after the secondaries were tweaked and a 3.73 posi was swapped in place of the 2.73 open. Just a mildly cammed, 10:1 compression, iron swirl port headed 305 with shorty headers and a 2 1/2" dual exhaust system feeding power into a TH350 with a 2,800 rpm stall converter.

Re: Cheapest way to make fast. 305
 

The 4th gen rear makes it easier to put bigger rubber on the back, so I don't really see the advantage to the shorter axle, unless the OP has a mini tub.