Hi all. I have never had a TBI car before and was wondering what some good first mods may be. I was gonna focus on suspension work first but a little more power can't hurt either : )

It's a A4 with 156,000 miles on. I will also proly give it a good tune-up if needed. I would also like to know some of the short comings of the TBI set up, and some of the good aspects of it.

Thanks in advance for your comments ( if i get any )

Keith

 

Well, as you will soon discover, the TBI is shunned upon by the other "better" engines, but the more you know, the more you'll see the full potential of the LO3. As a matter of fact, there is an open challenge right now to break into the 13's w/o NO2 and totally NA. I believe we have some guys sitting on the 14.1 mark at the moment.

Of course the most important thing to do, is a tune-up. I prefer MSD parts, but it's your choice. As far as spark plugs go, I prefer the AC Delco Rapidfires @ .045 gap. (.035 is stock) I definately noticed a crisper throttle response with these.

Most people will tell you to first do the ulimate TBI mods, which is in the tech articles. For the part about making the TBI unit flow better, you can send it off to Camaroracer1992@aol.com (I think that's his email?) and he can do that for you along with some other stuff for $45 or so. Unless of course your that mechanically inclined, then do it yourself.

After this, you start hitting a difference of opinions. Exhaust or suspension. I'm hitting both at the same time, but it's up to you on that one as well. The exhaust on our cars is miserable to say the least, but any suspension with 154K on it, could probably use some help. Here's a link about upgrading it. I have a pretty long post in there with both the part name and price of it.

https://www.thirdgen.org/techbb2/sho...hreadid=132075

After this, my suggestion is the drivetrain. For the tranny: Trans-go shift kit, Corvette servo, and an external tranny cooler. Some would say to also go with a higher stall converter, but that's subject to your needs.

As for the driveshaft; the LS1 driveshaft seems to be rather popular and is a direct replacement (or so I've been told).

In the rear, you should have a stock peg-leg with 2.73 gears. A lot of people like the Zexel-Torsen posi unit with 3.xx gears. You can find that at SLP's website.

And finally the internals. There are a wide variety of opinions on it, and I myself am just now starting to understand a little about all the in's and out's of it. I will say this though; our stock heads and cam suck! As far as the intake manifold goes, Edelbrock's TBI intake seems to be a popular choice.

Hope this helps, and congrats on your new purchase....it is the best looking camaro ever

-The Gunny

 

14x3 open element air filter with a flat bottom base

 

the edelbrock intake is a piece of crap. it works ok, but it was supposed to be built specifically for the TBI engines, but i had to drill a hole, and put a stud in it. I have always found such faults with edelbrocks products. I expected fitment issues with my sb olds motor, but not on the chivvy. (The Olds performer wouldn't work with the edelbrock carb that it claimed was a perfect match. WTF?!)

 

Well, like I stated, I was just repeating what I have read.

I was not all that impressed with the parts I bought from them. I liked their water pumps and timing chain. Everything else I bought from them didn't do a whole lot for my car. However, they were of very good quality. It was more of a performance issue with me than fitment issues.

 

I still say for an intake that is the least amount of trouble and a definite gain in performance... (especially if you go to the extreme of an engine swap...) is the Holley 300-49 or 300-66.
They are built well, work well, and are very easy to hook up.
I've had no trouble with the intake manifold.
Just my input on the matter. I'm happy.