heres what im in the process of doing with my 89 l03 with a 700r4
1. im rebuilding the engine
2. adding lt1 cam and world 305 heads
3. I will be shopping around for someone to burn me a new prom
4. welding on SFC's
5. going with a 3" exhaust (flomaster cat back)
Has anyone done these mods? any pointers? Im hoping for another 70-90 HP which I think is pretty realistic. This car is my daily driver so I would like to have reasonable gas mileage... any opinions? (besides dropping in a 350.. its to late for that) thaks

 

Rebuilding a 305 is a waste of money.

I have a rebuilt 305 (because it was pretty much free)

and many mods, heavily ported416 heads
214/224 cam with a half inch lift
full exhaust, etc etc

youll need the exhaust either way , skip the SFCs and definately go with a 350, vortecs, and a hot cam

 

I had the same setup; except I ran a 204/210 cam with .450/.480 lift. If you want reasonable mileage make sure you get that custom chip, I ran the stock one on my setup and got about 8-10mpg in the city.

 

u gettin g the block bored out? if u bore it out .060 ... u can do it... I did it... worked fine... u can run 2.02, 1.60 valves... invest in some 1.6 rockers from jegs... they got some for like 170 ... full rollers. HiVo oil pumps are nice, same with water pumps, definately gotta squirt more fuel once u start getting more air in there... thinner head gaskets are cheap and up the compression a tad... well I have done what u are doing... did this over a year ago... good luck!

 

You asked for opinions.( I'm assuming that you're comitted to building a 305) . To get the most out of the cam and heads install headers and a Edelbrock TBI manifold at the same time.I have used that intake manifold and despite what some people say its not that bad. You will have fair power and good driveability with that combo. I dont think you will hit your power goal with stock exhaust and intake manifolds.

 

intake and exhuast is a definate must if you wanna gain that kind of power. you woudl prolly be better served to spend the money on the intake and exhaust instead of the heads to reach your goal.

later
tim

 

Burn your own chips. It'll cost about $150 for everything, so that saves you $150+ over a custom one. Put that money twards some Hooker headers and you'll be motoring

Posi and gears are a 100% definite must, I found that out the hard way

 

what sfc's are you looking into? sophn maybe
also nice choice on the 3 inch flowmaster cat back.

 

would the heads be a worth while investment right now? I have heard all over that the heads a cam on this car really hold it back. i think i will go with spohn sfc's i found a place here in san antonio that will weld in my sfc's ans exahust for 50 bucks....cheap labor rocks. does the intake really make much more power? I will either learn how to burn my own chips or find someone here who knows my setup to burn me one.

 

i know this is going to open up a can of worms but i wanted to stay away from headers for several reasons... ive been looking around for a better flowing manifold im hoping to find one of a vette or maybe a l69

 

teh heads are not great, but they are not as bad as many like to make them sound. the cam is the weakest part fo teh factory engine. that is the place to make a change if you have budget concerns.
why would you look for any stock manifolds instead of headers? even the best manifolds flow nothign compared to teh worst headers. if you are trying to save money on the exhaust just keep your stock manifolds and have a good y-pipe made at least, the y-pipe is the worst part of the stock set up anyway.

later
tim

 

I had headers on my 84 z28 and i had so many problems and frustrations with them (spark plugs impossible to get to, the heat melting everything, leaks) i swore off headers on my daily drivers. Plus with my budjet i will only be able to buy the bottom end headers so i might as well hold off.when I get the $ for a good project car i will go with headers. I looked at my y pipe today and it is pretty restrictive. does anyone sell the already made or do i just have to have on made at a shop?

 

slp sells them off teh shelf, but you will want to get teh iroc one and have it tweaked into place if you get it, the one that is a direct replacement for our cars necks down to the stock 2.25 cat. or you can just have your local exhaust shop make you one. all it really takes is a few mandrel bends and a (2) 3inch into (1) 3inch y section.

later
tim