Hey guys, new to the forums, and the v8 world. I have a 1991 camaro rs 305 v8. Everything runs great, and im looking to add some mods to it. My goals are to make an 11 second run in the 1/4 mile. And I dont wanna do an engine swap, wanna supercharge my 305. But I need a starting point. Should I start with a cat-back exhaust, or just run just headers for now w/o a cat. well, sorry for rambling so much. please post =)


(a little background about me in case your wondering to further your reply, Im 16, this is my first car, but I do know about cars, super/turbochargers ect. ect. And i like doing all the work on my car. I am soon going to go part time to a tech school to become a diesel mechanic. Just a little histo on me.....im bored)

EBL and prom burning setup.

Subframe connectors.

Ok, sounds good. thanks guys =)

An exhaust system from the head ports back, good DIY prom tuning, 1.6:1 rockers, open element, 1" open center TBI spacer and more fuel pressure should push you up around 185 RWHP.

11's with an lo3 is gonna cost a good amount of time and $$$$. I personally haven't seen it but that doesn't by any meens mean it can't be done. good luck with it.

hey man looks like were in the same boat lol...im 17 and just got my 85 TA as my first car...first of all i just went simple and got a K&N high flow air filter and an Accel distributer...nothing much but i notice a difference....im thinkin of hooker headers next.

if you want to have an 11 second L03 you have to think about what you really want to do with your car,because an 11 second L03 will be a gutted,bare bones,about 3500 dollar in the engine alone type vehicle,with nitrous.Don't expect a full weight 305 to pull that of with bolt-ons.A first good mod to do to your car is make sure everything is in running order.plugs,wires,all the routine stuff.That's a great first mod.

The easiest way to get 11's is a motor swap. My LO3 runs mid 16's about average for our cars. It is extremely hard to drop 5 seconds off you time with out dropping TONS of $$$$$ for the parts

Is this gonna be a strip or street car? How much $$$$ are you willing to invest in order to have it both ways? Good luck with that.

First off, wanna say thanks for the post.

To Wadebryant, I'm going to use it as my daily driver, to get to school, work and to the races. And im pretty much going to spend all my money on my car,(and g/f).

To streetassain, I was looking into a motor swap, but I cant have my car out in the shop or my garage for more then the weekend.

To robertfrank, im 16, i think gutted cars are sexy lol, but in all seriousness, I dont mind a gutted car with a gutted car at all. And I was planning to get nitrous once the motor was a little built up.

To Fast355, that sounds like a plan.

To 85TransAmDude, thats awesome man, keep me updated on more mods/ future plans.

Ok, now my plan i kinda worked out, after Christmas, Im going to strip the car, except for the backseat. Going to get an open element air filter, and some Hooker headers with a custom true dual exhaust, none of the y-pipe going into one exhaust pipe. Then im more then likely going to need an aftermarket fuel pump. Then going to get a camshaft put in, and going to prom burn the chip at the same time.

Thats pretty much what I have for now on my mind, Im still deciding on whether to put a vortec supercharger on it or run all out nitrous, kinda leaning towards the nitrous, I think that would be awesome running pure bottle. I am, like always open to all suggestions, and I always appreciate everyones 2 cent.

OH..yeah.....MERRY X-MAS EVERYONE. And happy holidays.

Another thought is to keep it as a daily driver, would be to keep the car as is and build a replacement motor that will give you the best of both worlds. Perhaps a Procharged, 383 (or larger sb) w/ forged internals? While building the motor you could also focus on upgrading / rebuilding the suspension and replacing the rear end with a 9 or 12 bolt. With enough displacement and the right combination of torque / hp, you could ultimately acheive the times you're looking for and retain the driveability comfort of an intact vehicle.

Dont forget that you'll need to include a transmission up-grade at some point$.

Most young guys I know like a good sound system in their cars and most young ladies like a/c when it's hot and a heater when its cold. Plus your g/f will probably want to talk to you when you're out and crusing, not yelling at you above the motor and road roar.

Good luck and plan wisely

You could try to swap in a long block and keep your stock tbi unit on top. It wont run perfect but if you have a little know how you could pull off a long block swap over the weekend. Then the next weekend put on a single plane with a hp 4150 750cfm carb and fly. But seriously being young and trying to mod is extremely hard ,im 17, but you need to be realistic if your are modding while still in high school. You honestly will not want a stripped car when your are crusing with your friends, no a/c no radio sucks. I say do what I am planning on doing go full exhaust, open element, tune, gears, and stall, and if that is still not enough through on a 100 shot of juice or LT1 cam. I already have my open element, and a flowmaster catback, Im gonna ditch the flow for some Hedman L/Ts with dual 3''. And hopefully around feb or march I will get some 4.10's they should run well with my 28'' tall tires. But it gets expensive quick. Have fun modding, welcome to the camaro world and bust some r!ce a$$

Plus a nice big subwoofer box will increase traction

Have you done any mods yet?

No aftermarket mods yet, i did take off the exhaust and just running headers till i get a flowmaster exhaust. And im buying some drag radials next wed, really need new tires.

Thats alot of power to be pushing through an old 305. Your definatly going to need heads, cam, full exhaust, high output fuel pump and aftermarket fuel pressure regulator, built trans, new DS, built rear end (possibly 9" if you plan to race alot), and good brakes, in addition to the SC. Might also want to get an intercooler as well to help boost the power output at WOT. I wouldnt be surprised if this costs way in excess of 10 grand.

I agree. Learn the craft of tuning your car first, especially when it's bone stock. That way, if you f-up, you can go back to the original setup and start over.

The EBL is modified ECM for the TBI setup and can be obtained from RBob. If you want to make a serious TBI car, EBL is the way to go.

Then, as you build up your engine, you will be able to properly tune the modifications.

Sub-frame connnectors (plus some other suspension & body stiffening parts) are very important and they would be the second items I would install.

After that, you will be ready to start modifying your engine.

At that point you should plan on the exhaust from the head ports out, the cam, the gears and the converter (if automatic)

Ok, an update on what ive been doing, I went to coinstar with all my change an got 30 dollars togeather to buy a edelbrock drop base airfilter. and i took out my washer fluid tank too. well, thats just an update, ill keep you guys posted on future mods i do.

If it were me I would forget about 11 seconds with a 305. Not that its impossible, just impractical.

Id do the subframe connectors, grease the suspension and do any suspension work thats needed, replace the spark plugs, wires, cap and rotor. Change the tranny fluid and rear end fluid! Install headers and true duals. Gut or replace the air box. 1.6 ratio stamped metal rocker arms, rebuild the TBI and do the FPR mod as well as installing an injector pod spacer (or doubling up on pod gasket) and if your really feeling mechanical do the other "ultimate TBI mods". Maybe do an LT1 cam swap at some point too.

It wont get you 11's, but compared to what it is stock Im sure it would bring a smile to your face.

As for 11 sec. 305's,

If you can't tell by now, there's some really serious
and seriously talented gear-heads, lurking around this place.
(There's also the occasional .)

The biggest obstacle you have to overcome is budget,
and daily driver. In that context, get the basics solid
(tune-up comp's, including fuel filter, cooling, etc.
brakes & suspension, misc. amenities like a-c & heater).
Then small focus changes like exhaust system upgrades.
Then custom tuning, which will pay dividends for almost
every other mod. Then try some of the tbi mod's, but
start with an e-bay unit, so that you can always put your
original back on for monday morning.

Good luck, and welcome to the brotherhood of 3G gearheads.

Shame on me for not paying more attention to the
rest of beatercoprice's post, since I repeated most
of what he said.

Ok, an update of whats going on.

I kinda...sorta...broke my back left rim. Which I was very pissed when I did. They were American Racing rims, so now Im buying new rims tomorrow. I also just drove my friends camaro ls1 which puts out about 350 hp, which has completely changed my point of view of what im going to do to my camaro.

New plan:
Get an exhaust system.
Buy a 350 create motor.


After feeling how fast my friends ls1 was, it occourd to me that he 305 wont do.


so thats my update
hope everyone is doing good, take care

Your learning, now lets put things into perspective. Your friends LS1 runs mid to low 13's, now imagine a car that felt twice as fast as that. Thats about how an eleven second car feels. As you might realize now getting your 305 to run 11's just isn't going to happen.

IF you do some research you'll find that a standard GM 350 crate will get you inot the mid 14's with some baic mods like a full exhaust and intake. A H.O. GM crate motor will get you into the mid to high 13's, and into the low 13's with a cam swap.

Keep reading you'll start to get the feel for things.

11 second daily driver 305 aint gonna happen.

Thanks BMmonteSS. Yeah, i guss the thing that turned me off about getting the 350 was just the whole swap. But after feeling that ls1 I realized that I really do need to swap the motor.