I have a bone-stock 1992 RS with an L03 and I'm dyin' to upgrade its performance. I've been looking through the message boards and gotten some great ideas, but I have a few questions. I'll try to keep this short and sweet:

TBI spacers-it seems like it makes sense to make your own. I read something about making one out of a cutting board or something...anyway, I've noticed that everybody is using 1/2" or 3/4" thicknesses. Is there an "ideal" thickness?

Air cleaners-it looks to me like adding an open element air cleaner assembly is the way to go, even though it's only inhaling hot air from the engine compartment. I'm thinking about getting a K & N...can I fit a 14" x 3" non-drop base under the hood with a 3/4" spacer?

Exhaust-I think I'm going to go with a Hooker system. Everybody seems to be pretty satisfied with them and they look awesome...any thoughts? Also, is it worth it to change the cat to a high-flow version?

Ultimate TBI mods-sounds great, but I'm a little hestiant about gnawing away on my TBI with a Dremel tool. Does anyone have some good pics on how to do this?

Performance chips-it looks like a lot of people go with ADS. What are the benefits of going to a 160-degree thermostat and a chip that works with it? Does it make more sense to just get a regular performance chip?

Power pulleys-I had a friend in high school that put some one his S10 and he had some charging problems. Has anyone else had any trouble with using them on a Camaro?

I guess that's it for now. Sorry about posting all this stuff under the TBI section, but I really want the input from the TBI crowd on this.

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1992 Camaro RS
305 TBI, 5-Speed
http://www13.brinkster.com/scbaeb/camaro.html
scbaeb@hotmail.com

 

Answer to mod questions:

TBI spacer w/ that size air cleaner will probaly not fit under the stock hood(you can alway's try it and send the parts back if it dosen't though)

I Have an edelbrock system with a Catco hi flow converter, I definetly think the hi flow cat is worth the $100 bucks i paid for it. But it is a big pain in the *** to get it to fit onto the rest of the exhaust system.

I have the Hypertch power pulley's, and have not had any charging problems at all. When i had these installed i noticeda slightly lower charge level at idle, but it is fine when the engine is under a load, which is 95% of the time.

I think most people get ADS chips because they are the cheapest, not because they are especially great or anything. I have a fast chip Prom in my car, and before that i had a hypertch stage 1 and stage @ chips, the Fast Chip is better if you ask me, plus they will remove the speed limiter that comes on RS camaros(this is especially important if you put in 3.73 gears or something, without changin your speedo gears your top speed will be about 80-85, then BOOM fuel cutoff. That Sucks.)

I don't know anything about the TBi mods, so i can't help you there. But all of the other mods(except TBI spacer) that you listed worked well for me. I would also highly recommend some new gears and a limited slip, for the money theres not many mods you'll feel or enjoy more(except nitrous of course)

hope that helps.

 

I also have the dreaded, well not so dreaded now, LO3 92 RS. However all the little mods you can do do seem to help in total. I do agree about the chip tho, I think pay extra and get a GOOD custom chip, you'll be happier in the long run.

My Mods, top to bottom;
Open Element Breather w/ K&N air filter
TBI spacer 1/2", thats as tall as would fit.
AIR system, air pump, a/c removed.
Undrive pulleys, hypertech w/ no problems.
1.6 Comp Magnums rockers.
Hooker Shorty Headers
Hollow CAT, Full Boar Muffler.
Perf Dist Dyno Ignition Module & Coil
8mm spark plug wires w/ 0.65 gap on the plugs
Custom Chip from Super Chips, NOT ADS
Base Timing 4* BTDC

It all goes to Ed Wright next week for a dyno run. Then the new intake and cam get put in, then another dyno run.

 

Use mods that you can swap onto a 350. Like headers, open element, spacer, etc... and then like gears, transmission stuff. When your done with that. Get yourself a nice crate engine from http://www.paceparts.com Most of my mods will swap onto my ZZ4 I am getting. But I am swaping to carb so not the tbi stuff but the rest will mostly. That way you don't waste your money.

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Eric Natzke
91 Firebird 305 TBI (ZZ4 summer of "01")
ASCD Ram Air Hood-3" custom exaust-Flowmaster 80 Series-No Cat-Edelbrock TES Headers (coated)-March Pulleys-TBI Spacer-K&N Open ELement-TransGo Shift Kit-B&M Supercooler 28,000 GVW-Hypertech Thermomaster-160 Stat-3:42 GM Gears-Auburn Posi Unit-Edlebrock Strut Tower Brace-MSD Superconducters-Accel Cap & Rotor
-Rapidfire Plugs
265/50/R15 Tires-Emmison's all Gone

http://hometown.aol.com/J007Golden/index2.html

 

Air cleaners, I'm using a 14x3 non drop with a 3/4" spacer. Now that the spacer is on I wish I would have got a drop base. Remember the spacer pushes the TB higher in the air.

Ultimate TBI mods, don't fear the dremmel. It's rather easy to do and shaving the tb ridge anyone can do. When you do the shaft angle sideways and just apply gentle pressure till your sure you can yield it properly in such a tight space. You do not need to hold your flaps open. All you do is turn the unit upside down and go to town. Check my page, I stole a few pics that should give you an idea about what's done to the unit.

Performance chips, if your only going store bought at this time ADS would be a good step. There's a guy on ebay that sells them for 25-35 so I got to say you really can't go wrong. But when and if you really get into your engine you'll need a custom chip. There is no way around it. Some people claim to have used only adjustable MAPs and got around it, but have no hard evidence to back it up.

Power pulleys, I got Mac brand on my car. They're only 60 bucks and my car doesn't have any problems. Voltage is about .5 lower then it should be, but I don't care. There's no ghetto stereo in my car. nuff said

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1989 Camaro RS LO3 WCT5 "The Hose Queen" 0-60' 2.34 1/4 15.8@87mph
http://350.StreetRacing.org
ICQ: 61342629 AOL IM: BlackSunshineZ28

 

I hate ghetto stuff. I am glad you don't have any of that junk in your back trunk. Bulldog, make sure you do the same. As I said before. Get mods that you can swap onto a 350 crate engine! I used Edelbrock TES Headers (got them coated) PN-6872 I have the K&N 14x3 open element, tb spacer, hypertech thermomaster chip, 160 stat (our cars run REALLY good in the cold. Actually man, I just remembered.

http://members.aol.com/j007golden/modeval.html

Go to that site. I made this part of my webpage about all the mods I did and if they were worth it or not, what to do and what not to do, what do get and what not to get. Check it out. There all my mods and my experinces with them and if they made a difference or not. This will help you out a lot with your question. Check it out

 

Thanks for all the help, guys! I knew that this was the right place to come for some advice. I'm going to get started on my mods in the next couples of months, so I'll probably have a few more questions along the way. Thanks again.

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1992 Camaro RS
305 TBI, 5-Speed
http://www13.brinkster.com/scbaeb/camaro.html
scbaeb@hotmail.com