i have an 82 trans am with cfi(195 000KM). Will putting 3" headers, installing new plugs, wires, rotor, that z max stuff, and
k &n air filters increase or restore any worthy horsepower.If so, what kind of difference should i see after doing theses things.
One more thing..whenever i stomp on the gas the car usually stalls...like it idles ok but when i put it in drive the first few rpms are sluggish and rough.WHAt is this????

 

You'll gain tons of power swapping the manifolds and horrible Y-pipe with the headers and aftermarket Y-pipe. All that other stuff will just restore the horsepower you used to have.

That Z-Max stuff is kinda questionable. Do a few searches on that product on this board. The FTC was trying to file a lawsuit against them for false advertising I believe.

There's a few things that could be causing the roughness. I'm always the first to say excessive backpressure in the exhaust system; usually generated by clogged cat or destroyed muffler. How new are those components on you car? I had roughness awhile back and it turned out to be a bad ignition module and a distributor that had almost seized up. Does the SES light come on at all?

 

thanks for the reply..well i think it is a clogged cat because when it was cold i looked underneath and there was exhaust coming from the sides of the cat..however, when it was cold, i also looked under the hood and i could see exhaust coming from the sides of the exhaust manifold. And i think i saw a bit of blue smoke coming from the exhaust.......But i what really got me wondering was that when it is in idle..it idles low and the oil pressure guage is pointing near zero..but then when i give it some gas the guage points past max psi.????what is this..what will solve the damn oil burning...zmax..so i can finally get on with real performance mods...PLease reply..I Need to know ASAP

 

The problem with the oil pressure readings is more than likely the sending unit located above the oil filter. They tend to fail quite easily, sending an incredibly inaccurate reading.

If you're seeing blue smoke coming from the exhaust, it will be a leaking intake manifold gasket, or failed valve seals (which is quite common with the GM O-Ring style seal).

 

ok thanks so much..thank *** its that retarded manifold..thats going anyways and headers are going in..i thought it was burning oil..

 

i would forget the z-max crap

 

thanks alot for the replies..please more replies would be great.

 

I dunno about the CFI motors, but most early oil pressure sending units were located on the back side of the intake manifold although I could swear there are some years in there that used 2 sending units (one for the guage and one for the idiot light). I know the '86 Z I used to have had the one at the back of the manifold, but can't remember if it had one above the oil filter or not.

Definatly do not touch zmax... heard all too many horror stories about it.

195K kilometers? that equates to about 140K miles right??? If I were you I wouldn't completely rule out the valve seals yet for your blue smoke on startup. Seals aren't too terribly difficult to do while the heads are on the block (use the rope trick), but it can be very time consuming... esp. if you mess up and the valve drops into the cylinder.

 

In most cases through the 80's the oil pressure unit for the guage was located over top of the oil filter; unless it's truck then it's located in the back of the intake manifold. GM does wierd things.

There's an oil pressure sending unit located in the driver's side of the head that signals the dummy light.

My valve seals were bad at 160 kilos (100 miles).......

 

Mine (seals) we're bad too at 100,000miles. I had the puff of blue smoke when it started and that was all. I had a friend change out his valve seals (so he said) by making an adapter that fit onto a compressed air tank and screwed it into the spark plug hole. He then applied pressure keeping the valve in place while he change out the seal. The only thing about that is you have to make sure you have sufficient air in case there is a leak or something. It should work though.

 

the other day i went to part source and they had an edelbrock performer intake manifold...I have a crossfire 305 so it should fit..they have it posted for $219 . I really want to get it but is it efficient on the 82 305 crossfire?