this is for the people who have boldly gone b4 were i am going to go... what mod out of the 670 holley tb with a carb intake and adaptor... or headers and cat back... or heads... or cam would offer the best seat of the pants feel?
i am going to get a big chunk of tax money to play with but i can only spend around 1000 total but right now only around 400 the other 6 in a couple of weeks. i have been patiently looking for an lt1 cam but can't everfind any? is there a better cam i can get for around 100 or so dollars like in the jegs that is better than the lt1 but still comes with the lifters in the kit?i don't mind buying something a little better. also i have been doing alot of searches on the type of carb manifold to getand i think i want to get the xcelorator one that is 99.00 from jegs. it is a single plane but from what i have read it won't be too bad on the tbi. it is the one that is good from 2500 to 6000 rpm's for 99.00 i will just have to elongate the holes to fit. plus i have read several posts on people who have used the singles with better results that with a dual plane. plus i have a 5 spd with an aftermarket clutch so that should help a little... i hope.
i have also been debating the torker heads versus the vortecs. i kjeep reading on lie you can get them for around 400 a pair but the cheapest i have seen them is 250 a pair and you have to reuse you rockers.... isthat roughly the going rate right now? also the manifolds for the vortecs are cheaper now but i still would like to go with a carb intake instead of thetbi one.
decisions ...decisions... i also know you guys offer lots of good opinions. so any help will be nice and no i don't want to go to a 350 or tpi i like the tbi setup! of course i can always save up for a few more weeks and buy that 1400 weiand supercharger for the serpentinr equiped f bodies... hmmm!!!???

 

If this was my car I would do the exhaust first.

The factory heads, camshaft, and TBI systems are not nearly as much of a compromise as the OEM exhaust system. It's a pig and you will feel a seat of the pants difference by installing headers and a free-flowing cat-back. Honest.

I can't say the same for replacing heads, TBI unit, camshaft etc if you were working with the original exhaust.

Once you have an exhaust system that breathes a bit then you stand to gain by changing some of the other parts, but not until then.

 

Do gears, probably 3.42s or 3.73s, and a good posi first. If I started all over I'd do that before I even bought an open element. Its about the best thing you can do for our cars.

 

3:73 gears/posi and headers with 3"exhaust. If you had an automatic I would go with 3:42s. Keep looking for a LT1 cam. Post a WTB add on camaroZ28.com and have people e-mail you with prices for there cam. I would use a performer TBI manifold. They are better then most people give them credit. I would go back to one myself but I dont have center bolt heads any more. IMO if you dont do exhaust, everything else but gears will be a waste of time and money.

 

if you need an LT1 cam i woudl sugfgest teh classifieds at www.camaroz28.com , just look for anyoen parting out a 4th gen or cleanign otu their garage. or if you want i can put you in touch with soem oen that i know has one from a 93.
exhaust is definately a huige thing on our cars, you really need a y-pipe and 3 inch cat back at least. headers woudl be even better.
you are on a tight budget, so teh junk yard 3.42 posi is a good way to go. you cna do teh whoel thing for 250-300 including fresh brakes.

latr
tim

 

what kind of car would those gears come on? we have a u wrench it here and stuff is cheap but i need to know what to look for... also i was looking at the 2.5 inch exhaut that would bolt directly to a 2.5 " high flow cat and to a 2.5" y pipe. the part no.s i am looking at are from jegs... 289-17493 dynomax exhaust/ 500-68470 headers(headman) 500-17470 ypipe. 289-15038. all this w/o the cat is367.00 from jegs. i might even forgo the cat and slip a straight pipe from pepboys on there. i have already removed my smog pump and i am not worried about emisions in this car... tagged in tn. i couldn't find anything comparable anywhere else in a 3 inch... i will also have to weld in o2 fitting for those headers. i am looking for some without the air system on them. i also hope this will open the sound up on my rs. it sounds worse than a v6!!! my 300z sounds 10x meaner!!! i also wish there was away to incorperate one of those xpipes without having to fork over a big chunk!! well thanks for the tips guys!!!

 

hey i found a lt1 cam from a 97 ws6 for 50 bucks... also he has a3.42 gear for sale for 70... is this a good deal ...also will the gears work on my car they are from a 10 bolt rear...???

 

my vote without a doubt is 3.73 posi......
especially when you started talking seat of the pants...

 

Get headersw/ 3" y-pipe and a 3" cat/cat-back.

That and gears(3.73) put me into the high 14's at over a 3500lb race weight (me and the car).

 

sorry everyone else that kinda crap ticks me off! i am looking for honest opinions here this site is starting to sound like a flaming import site!!! i thought i was done with that crap whyen i bought the camaro!

 

what are u getting mad at ?

 

I editted my post above in hopes to not turn it into a flame war thread.

 

the specs on this page say my car came with a 3.08 does that sound right for the gearing??? i am guessing that is what it means cause some of the others came with 3.73 and 3.42, also why did the tpi v6 come with the 3.73 in the 92 model and not the lo3??? that is weird?

 

does anyone have a list of cars with certain gears so i can go junk hunting?i also have seen a few tpi v6's at u wrench it and theyhave cheap parts!

 

does anyone know if the performer intake will fit under the stock hood? also would i get more power by going to a carb intake vs the perfromer tbi intake... that thing is like 216.00 most carb ones are around 150 for the 87 and up heads. i could also get the stealth for like 109.00 but i would have to elongate the bolts.
if i got the stealth does anyone have a diagram of which bolts get elongated? i have lots of tools and i just need to know where to put the drill!!!

 

Sounds like your getting alot of voting and not alot of answers. If you have a 3.08 rear end your going to need a new carrier to upgrade to 3.42's or 3.73's. The difference is that there is one carrier for 2.**--3.08 gears and a carrier for 3.23- 3.** gears. If you don't have a posi your going to need one so pick one up. As for what cars have what your best bet would be either v-6 camaro's or s-10's the reason is they got sick motors so the factory put in some deap gears to make them feel like they had some pep. You can never trust the spec sheets on this page your best bet would to crawl under the car and check the gear ratio by hand. If you don't know how let me know. The lt-1 cam paired with a good exhaust will wake your beast up and probably put you in 14's. For the intake i would hesitate to go with the excelereator it's probable the best flowing intake that will fit under a camaro hood. My first choice would be a performer rpm, but it won't fit unless you do some funky modifying with the air cleaner. You'll need to elongate the two center holes your best bet would to do it when you pull off your old intake and set it on the block to see where you need to remove material, just don't get any metal shavings down your engine. You'll also need an adapter plate for the tbi. You'll also have the egr to contend with and thats a pandora's box. Do a search and you'll see what i mean. Your best bet would to do a 3 inch exhaust don't waist your time with 2.5 inch you'll outgrow it later and don't do anything till you get headers, and get the gears for now. That will really open her up. When you feel up to it do the intake and cam next. This is just my two cents on the subjuct i'v spen alot of time scrounging the junk yard and workin on 305's and this is what i have learned. Ohh and my 350 is soon to be tbi'd.

 

so why would i go with the performer since the xcelorator flows better? like i said b4 i am new to gm stuff? also i was looking at the stealth intake by weiand as well. that is much cheaper and looks like it will fit under the stock hood.
also the headers i am buying are 2.5" for the collecter side. but the only decent cheap catback i have seen is the 2.5 inch one the the next cheapest 3" one is the edlebrock one at like 270 something. but it said it was for a 2.75 i pipe kit. but it says it has a 3" in and 2 2.5 inch outs ... now the flowmaster 3" kit for 230.00 has onlt i single outlet instead of 2 and the 3" dual outlet one is 330.00 thats a big diffrence if you ask me and i am on a budget so thats why i wanted to go wiht the mandrel bent 2.5 dual outs unless ya'll think the 3" flowmaster single outlet will give me more power than a 2.5 i am not paying 330 for one more outlet... i don't think it can make that much of a diffrence on a 305. my 3.0 liter 300zx has "true duals on it and they are 2 1/4 and it flows great .

 

You might be confused between the performer and performer rpm the rpm is worth 20 hp or so over the regular performer. The performer will fit under the stock hood the rpm will not. In my opinion the dual plane intake is still worth a little bottom end torque. Not as much as say with a carb but still the runners are a longer and that builds torque just look at the tpi setups. You won't miss it too much with the axcelerator intake, it's deffinately better than the regular performer and miles ahead of the performer tbi intake. As for exhaust i'm almost positive you can get a hooker 3" catback with an aerochamber muffler and dual outlets for somwhere in the 240 range it sounds great on my buddies tbi 305 and he still has the stock manifolds. You might want to look into headman headers they are a 100 bucks and you can get a y pipe that will bolt right up for another 100 and forgoe any exhaust shop work. If you don't see this stuff in the magazines give summit or jegs a call and they should be able to tell you anything you want to know.

Ohh sorry i just noticed that you said that you are buying the headman headers. Are you sure they are 2.5 inch? or does that merge into a 3 inch main pipe?

 

I think you are talking the size diameter of the exhaust outlets behind the tailpipe. That would be 2.5, but more than likely it is a 3" exhaust into the muffler, dual 2.5" tips.

Look at the Dynomax exhaust if you are on a budget. I git the Super Turbo system, 3" with dual 2.5" outlets for about $160. I have had it on the car for a little over 2 years right now and it looks fine, sounds decent and would work fine for performance.

You can find this system through Summit.

 

the 160 super turbo system that i saw and am looking at right now says it is a 2.5" mandrel bend with dual 2.5 outs.

 

call summit- I know they have a 3" sysyem, or at least did. I would be surprised if they still don't. Just call and ask for a price on their 3" Super Turbo system, I'm sure they still have it around.

 

Be careful trying to use square bore intakes with TBI. The square bore flange isn't wide enough for the large 2bbl TBI to fit neatly on top. Use a spread bore intake.

Brian

 

I'm kinda in same boat. I have a '90 RS stock LO3, and a tight budget.

I haven't decided on which headers yet, but I've been saving cash and buying parts for install in the warmer weather. I actually found and bought 2 LT1 cams from two camaroz28.com sellers - 1 for myself, 1 for my brother (he's modding an '87 T/A) - and I got 'em for under $40 each!

I got a set of #416 heads from an 1985 LG4 that I bought for parts (I need new doors) and will attempt to port/polish - they are suppose to be decent, and better with some porting - #416 heads are around for very little, and there are many posts here on porting them - my set looks like it needs very little done to it.

I'll do 3inch catback, with a hi-flo cat and a muffler not too loud, but with some flow. Whatever headers I choose, I picked up an electric oven for $25 so I can do my own header coating with this Cermakrome stuff or something similar and save some cash there. I also have to remain emmissions legal, so I need O2 and AIR.

I also picked up a spare air cleaner assembly, and I'm going to try and make a dual snorkel set-up with cool air from below, and a K&N filter. I went with the Weiand Action Plus intake #8000 (I hope I picked the right one given the heads) - It has EGR provision. And I'm hunting for 3.42 posi-rear locally, while I decide on headers. And I guess I'll just try to get it all ready, and do it all at once - maybe 1 or 2 weeks out of commission.

I'm not looking to win any races, or be "best in show" - just have a fun ride on a limited budget.

 

The reason I sugested a Performer TBI is,
1. You would have to have a very radical 305 to need more then this manifold will supply. Too much breathing capacity on the street is miserable to drive, and the rest of your engine is stock. If you were to put a single plain on right now it might even run worse.
2. The performer TBI bolts right on with out having to modify everything. If you go four brl manifold, add the price of a adapter and also a different EGR valve to the swap. Be prepared to plum a vacume source for your brakes and also need to tweak your fuel lines to get them to fit. Might have to modify your cable brackets alittle. I had to mod my coil bracket also.


LT1 cam is about the max for a stock chip. (and it needs a vac. refferenced AFPR to run right at an idle). If you ad a single plain manifold that is designed for a larger, higher reving motor, you will definantly need to do some prom tuning.
Other then that, knock your self out.
Good luck!

 

joker, what engine mods are you running on your lo3 and what kind of power do you have? im in cali so im restricted by emmissions (b@$t@rd$) and im still torn between beefing up my 305 tbi or moving up to a 350 tbi.

 

mods in sig. I am running a 4 brl manifold because my heads are pre 1987 bolt pattern. After running it awhile, I wish I could go back to the performer TBI.

 

i was told by a guy from camaroz28.com that he used a zz4 crate carb intake on his lo3 and got great results!!! but i have no ideza what that intake would cost??? or where to get it.
well i made most of my purchases thanks to all you guys.!! i got some headers with the y pipe and a 3" collector and the dynomax cat back has a 3" flange but its only a 2 3/4 mandrel bent pipe into dual 2.5's they said at summit there is not a 3 inch intermediate pipe only the one with the flange... but hey i figured 2 3/4 is enough for me right now it was in da budjet...
also i got the msd blaster coil #6226 i think??? i'll have to look to be sure? and i got an lt1 cam from someone along with the gratelli however you spell it... panhard rod and lower control arms. now i need to give it a good tune up install the cam and exhuast syst and i should be good i hope to at least bereak into the high 14's i still have a little over 120 to spend so i might go to u wrench it and get a rear end cheap... or i'll try to find some cheap heads to mod from a 305 tpi just to play with i hear you can get them some places for around $40.00 bucks a pair...i have a guy here with some in va but his is an 86 and i don't think i am going to switch intakes just yet... well see though. thanks for all the info... the good the bad and the ugly!