kank151

what are some good cheap mods i could do to my stock 305 tbi firebird? and how much horsepower/torque would it add do you think?

Camaro355Z28

Use the at the top of the page. A lot has been covered in this forum and that's one of the most common questions answered here, you'll find anything you need to know. And welcome aboard, this forum is an awesome place for all your needs! Well at least all you thirdgen needs...

Gallileo60

Tune up.. Open element breather, Free flowing exhaust....Ignition upgrade....Shift kit, Rebuild suspension............Then you can start spending money......Welcome aboard...

Cadillac

What he said.

UnderCover89TBI

iTrader: (25)

deffinately the full tune, air induction and exhaust. Then you can decide what further thangs you wanna do

GuitarJunki17

iTrader: (1)

I wouldn't get wrapped up in trying to increase performance on a TBI motor, unless you are going all out, such as with a holly commander TBI system, cam, heads, the works.

Generally the TBI motors only had around 170hp to start (as opposed to 220-245 TPI), and the flaw in the power is a result of poor flowing heads and peanut cams that are excessively mild.

My advice, save your money up for a crate motor or a cam and aftermarket intake and throttle body. You might get to 200hp tops with bolt ons and $500+ later, but that's it, and it's a far cry from impressive.

Not knocking TBI owners here, just revealing a grim truth.

Oh, also, check out the tech articles on the main page for 'ultimate tbi' part 1 and 2, if you do decide to go ahead and do bolt on modifications. They have some information you could use.

dimented24x7

iTrader: (2)

If the engine is in fairly good shape, then the usual bolt-ons will definatly produce a good SOP gain. After that, you can always upgrade the cam and heads. Cheaper and easier then replacing the entire motor. Even if it is only a 305, it still has 300+ CI. Its not like its an iron duke or something

Things like a good complete performance exhaust and gears can really help put some fun factor into the car, and these will carry easily over to your crate if you ahve a change of heart.

dimented24x7

iTrader: (2)

Defiantly. There are also some parts like the accumulators that will likely need replacing while your there. This can really help extend the life of teh trans.

GuitarJunki17

iTrader: (1)

Yeah, I must say, the shift kit is a good idea. Definitely the best bang for my buck on my whole car.

Gunny Highway

iTrader: (1)

And by "shift kit" we mean the Trans-go one. Stay away from the B&M crap.

vipershark11

iTrader: (6)

[QUOTE=GuitarJunki17;3298878]I wouldn't get wrapped up in trying to increase performance on a TBI motor, unless you are going all out, such as with a holly commander TBI system, cam, heads, the works.

Generally the TBI motors only had around 170hp to start (as opposed to 220-245 TPI), and the flaw in the power is a result of poor flowing heads and peanut cams that are excessively mild.

My advice, save your money up for a crate motor or a cam and aftermarket intake and throttle body. You might get to 200hp tops with bolt ons and $500+ later, but that's it, and it's a far cry from impressive.
QUOTE]

completely wrong. i spent about a whole 200 bucks and im up to 250+ to the wheels.

Z_wonderer

what kind of stuff did you get with $200

GuitarJunki17

iTrader: (1)

YES!
----------
You've got my attention, please, enlighten me. The flaws of this motor aren't from restricted exhaust, or anything simple like that. Like I said, tiny cams, and poor intake/head flow are main culprits. What did you do, get a new intake, heads and used cam at a swap meet?

250 at the wheels is equal to 310hp at the crank. I HIGHLY doubt that you managed to scrap together 140hp with $200.

Fast355

iTrader: (2)

I am going to start by tell both of you that I don't agree with either of you.

You are not going to get 250 RWHP with $200

However, I've got news, ALOT of the flaw to this motor is simply the exhaust and the camshaft. Followed by the small plenum volume of the stock intake and the stock intake flow of the TBI heads.

I've got $750 into my engine rebuilding it from the bottem end up and make 300 HP.

This is how my little 310 pulls 5,800 lbs with 3.08 gears and a stock 1,600 rpm converter.

http://youtube.com/watch?v=Tvay9zOW6hE

https://www.thirdgen.org/forums/tbi/...ml#post3292737

sully91rs

Even if you do want to go crate motor, your not going to want to hook a nice new engine to that terrible exhaust system. Like others mentioned, start off with intake and exhaust. If you do go to a new motor someday, with a free flowing intake and exhaust, the car will be ready for it.

l_dis_travlr

Were I a betting man, I'd pony up on Fast355.
But re: the flaws, what else is left?

Skeptible though I be, Viper, please enlighten us
with the details of this herculean transformation.

Gallileo60

Yes, I would like to know what you have done also....Thanks, Tom

86firebird350

it is for this reason that i am sticking with the TBI. i realize that you are not knocking TBI owners, and that doesnt bother me. because to be honest, from the factory, these motors are embarrassing performance wise. but it is the lack of faith in the potential of TBI that gets me. all it really takes to make decent power with these motors is to open up the exhaust and replace the crappy heads, cam, and intake that come stock on these cars...


...and the only thing i can think of about the guy getting 250hp for $200 is that maybe he found a cheap nitrous kit somewhere. otherwise,

GuitarJunki17

iTrader: (1)

Oh believe me, I am not saying I have a lack of faith in these cars. But you basically just reiterated my point about the cam and heads, etc.

Sure, if I had the time and money and a 305 TBI, I'd go and make a sick combo and see what power I could make. But the fact of the matter is, as a college student, dollar for dollar, TBI is not the way to go for me. Judging by the opening post "what cheap mods can I do", dumping money into a TBI for bolt ons isn't too practical for him either, when you could just enjoy what you have for now and save up for something big such as the cam and a port job. If I were serious about building a TBI on a budget, that's where I'd start.

And I'm not just a TPI/Carb guy sitting here blowing steam out my ****, I speak from experience. I had an 89 TBI as a donor for quite some time before I tore into it, and all I have to say is it was a joke. Even with an open diff you could not smoke em. Stock TPI, with posi, smoked all through first.

UnderCover89TBI

iTrader: (25)

i have 350 tbi and turned 14.78 and a 3700 lb car with driver and getting around 235-240 to the wheels..based on a mathmatical equation.

GuitarJunki17

iTrader: (1)

Not shabby. What made you decide to TBI a 350? What's done to it so far and what else are you planning?

UnderCover89TBI

iTrader: (25)

well the car org. is 305tbi. i wanted it to visually look the same.

350 tbi .030 over forged trw pistons 9.0:1 compression
eddy tbi manifold
eddy tes headers
no cat. 2 3/4 inch pipe to 80 series flowmaster dual 2.5 tailpipes
crane emissions legal camshaft 204/214 duration .423/.446 flattappetcamshaft
350 injectores, stock tb., injector spacer
kn filter with truck lid stock housing for cleaner
timing at 8* initial advanced
3.08 posi, kyb gasajusts, tubular lca,adju. panhard bar.
stock transmission that shifts sloppy
oh yeah stock 350 heads just a valvejob
350 tbi ecm out of 93 caprice

that's pretty much it. ran a 14.78 at 92.9 mph

future plans involves nitrous, cowl hood, modified air cleaner. freash tranny with shiftkit and stall converter. complete front end rebuild.

it ';s dont better than i hoped for what is has which makes me very happy

BMmonteSS

Hopefully you are well aware that any external bolt on you buy for your 305 will bolt to a bigger better motor on down the road.

Just as fast said, the exhaust is the biggest restriction on these cars, headers and a cat back can pick up a nice gain and will only applify any other mods you make on down the road. Exhaust might only be 15-20 hp now but might be 25-40 hp on the 350 with better heads.

It hasn't been mentioned, but the stock ECM is completely tunable and can be upgraded with Rbob's EBL system. Both of which are about 10% of the cost of a holley projection setup.

With that said I don't look at "tbi" as the entire LO3 engine, it's just the injector setup sitting on top of the intake. If you look at TBI in this way, there is absolutely nothign wrong with it. The stock TB with increased FP will support 300 hp, fast has done it. A 454 TB and injectors will support over 450 hp and will get you into the 12's. If you plan to make more power it makes sense to look into another form of induction. TPI isn't any better, and with it you are pretty much locked into the restrictive long runner design.

With that said, the LO3 is not a performance oriented motor. That just means it has lots of potential. A cam swap along with a better intake, exhaust and tuning will make close to 300 hp, or about 240-260 to the wheels. This will get you deep into the 14's and let your run around with most of the mustang and TPI boys.

So I don't really see any money wasted by putting some quality parts on the LO3. Just keep an eye towards a 350 in the future and nothing will be wasted.

Gallileo60

Great post man, makes alot of sense......You are not wasting your money on the 305, cuz like the other guys said most of the parts, can be applied to the 350, or 383.......

UnderCover89TBI

iTrader: (25)

i hate wasting money that why i always do a bunch of research before i buy anything .

Gallileo60

Im with ya on that one......

vipershark11

iTrader: (6)

correct you are. i found a cheap plate kit made for tbi here from a member for real cheap. put it on wired it up and am running a nice 125 shot to the wheels of course. then again i did up it for this year to a 150.

ShiftyCapone

iTrader: (7)

Which is a result of slightly better gears and cam and nothing to do with TBI or TPI. Stock TBI heads flow better than TPI heads on the exhaust side and only lag slightly on the intake. Which evil would you chose? Both heads are "poor" for all out performance but TPI is just as crappy as TBI when it all boils down. When you "tore into it" did you port the heads and spend time on a flow bench evaluating results and comparing alternatives? How many cams did you go through before you found one that suited your taste? How many chip burns did that take you? No offense but please don't spread hearsay. With the introduction of EBL it isn't that hard to make a fast and cheap TBI set-up now. Plenty of us are already on our way. Just ask Fast355 who clocked off an 11.8 with a 312 TBI. You wanna buy my '03 Cobra? I am afraid it won't be able to keep up with my LO3 soon. If you want a fast combo right now with little effort to assemble it than a crate motor is the way to go. If you want to stretch your dollar and still have a fast combo, not to mention the learning that comes with this, than you aren't limited as the naysayers preach.

86firebird350

ditto

kdrolt

Do you really think the Holley Commander is "all out" ? Knowledgeable people here have suggestions on making power with TBI -- and that's not at the top of the list. It's not in the top 5.

Generally you'd be wrong.

The 305 with TBI (LO3 engine) was rated at 170 fwhp & 255 ftlbs
The non-copcar Bcar 350 with TBI (LO5) was rated at 180 fwhp & 290 ftlbs.
The copcar Bcar Caprice 350 with TBI (LO5) was rated at 190-205 fwhp & 300 ftlbs.
The truck C/K/G 350 with TBI (LO5) were rated at 195-210 fwhp and 300 ftlbs.
ALL of the above used swirl port heads, very tiny cams, and very restrictive exhausts. None were intended for use in sporty cars. All were intended to be quiet and get decent fuel economy.

And last but not least was the TBI 350 that got Vortec heads in some medium size trucks (1995-1996?), and that one had 230 fwhp and 330 ftlbs IIRC. This one used the peanut cam from the 305 and still made 230 hp.

The TPI engines started at 225 or 230 fwhp in the 1985 Vette 350, and went as high as 250 fwhp for the Vette, and ranged from 220-230 hp for the Fcar during 1986-1992. The 305 TPI engines all fell into the 190-220 hp range depending on the cam and transmission. All the TPI engines got better cams and exhaust than the TBI engines with the single exception being the 305 TPI with automatic tranny -- that one was rated at 190 fwhp and used the same cam as the 170 fwhp LO3.


Again that's wrong.

The main reason for the power differences, and the main reason for the lack of power in any of these factory engines of the period is

1. exhaust. -- they're all poor from a power viewpoint. That's why the #1 mod for anyone with any GM engine is exhaust.

2. cams --- even the TPI cams were fairly mild... so it's not just the peanut cam.

Altering both of these will wake up any GM engine of the 1980s-1990s, but it will have more of an effect on the TBI cars than the TPI because the TPI engines got better exhausts from the factory because they were used on sporty cars.

Those are the #1 and #2 reasons for lack of power in the factory engines.

3. Both the TBI and TPI factory heads flowed poorly; on 350s they both flowed in the 170-185 cfm range; one the exhaust it was 120-145 cfm. The TPI heads flowed slightly better on the intake side and more poorly on the exhaust, as compared to TBI. The only head of that period that flowed somewhat well was the aluminum TPI head used on the Vette --- and that head got a progressive series of upgrades during it's lifetime.

Porting any of the factory heads will provide a performance gain. None of the above heads are really performance heads; the LT1/Vortec heads are superior and much more performance-oriented even with no porting. But with DIY effort the 80s TBI and TPI heads can equal what the LT1/Vortec heads can do, if you are willing to work them.

On a 305, and exhaust + cold air intake will get you very close to 200 hp; tuning will get you beyond that. A cam swap added will push you well past 210. Those can be done for a lot less than $500.

It's much less grim once the facts are made clear. And many people here, but especially Fast355, have shown just how much can be extracted from a TBI engine and that's very helpful for anyone that wants to keep it and avoid the LT1 or LS1 swap.

The ultimate mods are helpful, IMO, only after the real mods are done: exhaust + cam.

GuitarJunki17

iTrader: (1)

When I said I "tore into" my donor car, I meant I started taking stuff off to put into my Iroc, and sell...as it was just that...a donor car. Got it off of a friend of the family. Motor was fine, but it had been in an accident and the body was fubar.



I was merely speaking of the third gen camaros, T/A's and firebirds in here, as these are the cars that are the topic at hand. I understand that truck TBI systems and other 350 systems make more power, but we are not talking about that here.

Regardless of whether or not a truck is making power with a small cam, this is still a decent flaw on the third gen's. .350/.384 lift and 179/194 duration is the cam that they put in all TBI firebirds from 1987-1992. I don't care how much better the exhaust side of the heads flow than a TPI motors does, that is a tiny cam, and if you want to make some nice power, this pretty much needs to be addressed. You could see great hp gains if you put in a mild performance cam.


While I do agree with you on point #1, a headerback system on a TBI third gen will not 'make the problem better', is what I am trying to get at. Sure you can do exhaust upgrades and rake in 15hp or so and be $400 in the hole. 20+ maybe if you feel like going through the headache of long tubes in a third gen (but thats a topic for another thread ). The guy I bought my Iroc off of; his girlfriend owns an 89TBI (great shape too, the body is immaculate). He installed a complete hooker system from headers to tail pipes on her car last summer. I've driven the thing and you still cannot chirp the tires. He loved it but he, as well as I knew that it was nothing like my (our) Iroc. (and when he had it, there was no exhaust upgrades done to it, I have since done a headerback myself.) And I wouldn't be so quick to think that TPI motors had better exhaust. Ever see what the joint in the Y-pipe looks like?



Tada! This is a shot I found online, but the joint in an Fbody Y-pipe is exactly the same. About 1" of opening. Now, I don't care HOW much more the manifolds flow on a TPI, or how efficient the rest of the system is. When you have a bottleneck like this, nothing else matters.


To your #2 point: while the biggest cams in some TPI motors were 'mild', they were still more impressive than the TBI ones. At .413/.428 and 202/207 (for my year, the previous was slightly bigger), it's not too shabby for a stock motor, and isn't as crucial to get rid of straight away to make decent power.

That may be, but never did I say that L98 heads aren't one of the things you should look at first in terms of yielding more power (although we all know the fatal flaw is in the intake system itself, I think that goes without saying.) I know they flow poorly as well, which is why I got rid of mine .


Totally agree with you here. I've seen it done and if you have the money for the port job, or the expertise to do it yourself, I say go for it 100% if you are on a budget.

Eh, not so sure about that.

Exhaust = Roughly $400 from headers to tailpipes, unless you wanted to get creative and fab up your own system, but I am talking aftermarket bolt in kits here.

Chip Tune - You are looking at at least $150, which is the going rate from a chip tune from PCMforless.com. Unless you are talking about a DIY prom, but then you'd have to buy the software and hardware to start anyhow.

Cam - Two words: roller cam. $250

Cold Air Intake - You know, I really don't know which cold air kits you can get for a TBI, I'll be honest with you there, but I can only imagine that they cost money.

So in reality you are looking at over $800, and that is not including the other "crap what do you mean we don't have any more of that in the garage" items that we always forget to account for, and find ourselves running back to Autozone for. Items such as coolant, gaskets, RTV, Loctite, the list goes on.


And hey, he did it with what parts? The ones that I said you needed to address right? He's got an aftermarket cam, and ported vortec heads, along with the Edelbrock intake, and I am sure much more. And I'm sure those exhaust manifolds don't flow as nicely as a set of headers either. You guys are quick to defend the TBI and say that their focal flaw is the exhaust. Well look, Fast 355 is making all his power without headers. (unless he got his numbers after he put a set in, in which case I didn't know, I am merely going by the thread he provided.)



Look guys, I didn't come into this thread to bash TBI owners. I've got respect even for the guys that are still running iron dukes . Never did I say that you cannot make power with a TBI system. Despite what you may think you have read, this is not the point I am making. All I am saying is that through my experiences and the experiences of others that I can account for first hand, TBI systems are a weak system to start with, and the problem stems from small cams, poorly flowing heads, and yes, restrictive exhaust (but like we've cleared up that goes for any stock motor. AND it's been seen first hand that you can make 300hp WITHOUT exhaust upgrades [or at least with a system thats half stock, not sure if Fast355 has a catback system or not]). Again to reiterate my point, yes, you can get a few more ponies with an exhaust system, and it is a great starting point but it does not make the problem go away.

The thread starter asked what mods he can do for a cheap price. My response stands: If you are on a budget, I wouldn't dump money into a TBI. But that is just me, and that is how I see it from a practical standpoint.

Cadillac

Great thread even if there is the appearance of bickering.

GuitarJunki17

iTrader: (1)

Ha, just slightly. Actually I think this thread has been very civil to this point


Oh yeah, one other thing I want to clear up: I did not purposely come into this forum to talk slander, one of two things happened.

Either 1.) I accidentally clicked on 'TBI' forum rather than clicking on the 'TPI' forum (I like to check back with my roots from time to time, haha.)

2.) This thread was posted elsewhere and moved, I'm too lazy to check, but I do recall seeing a post in an area it shouldn't have been in and posting in it. It may have been this one.


With that said, I can see why some might feel hostile towards my comments. I would be too if someone came into the carb thread and said "don't get a carburetor, they are bad on gas mileage".

-Cheers

dimented24x7

iTrader: (2)

The poster already has the car, so its a little late at this stage to get another platform.

If I had a reasonably good 305, Id get a flat tappet cam kit + pushrods, cheap new or j-yard heads and work those over, and get a full exhaust. This wont break the bank and all the mods will be cheaper then a whole new engine. A good crate isnt cheap. The cheapest new motor is the LM1 350 replacement, which will set you back ~1500 dollars + frieght charges. I bought this motor, and it is a PIG in stock form. The only thing I kept was the short block.

kdrolt

Yes, I've seen that pix on another thread.

TBI engines were never used in sporty applications so they got a base exhaust (with no optional exh), which was aimed at low-cost and quiet even at WOT. That cannot be said for the factory performance exhaust on TPI. As for the y-pipe, that point ( TPI motors didn't necessarily have a better exhaust) is only made valid if the TBI y-pipe connection hole is the same size (or larger).

The only exception to this would be the larger Ypipe used on the 92-93 Caprice LO5 copcar (9C1).

I'm not talking aftermarket bolt in kits. If the Ypipe hole is suspect as being too small, it's easy enough to cut/open/reweld to fix that problem. And anyone doing anything on a budget, especially for a low-buck TBI car, will want to be creative.

The stickies on the DIY PROM board is a better place to look for costs, but I don't think this has to cost anymore than $150 especially if you buy used.


Three more words: used LT1 cam. $25 + shipping

Junkyard ABS bonnet from a fwd v8 Cadillac ($20), $5 for a length of PVC sewerpipe, and $? for the air filter of your choice. Search on Caddy air cleaner for the pix.

This isn't the only option: it's one of them.

Using your math and your parts list, yes. Not mine.

It depends on which of his many builds. When he did the 193 swirl port head jobs (two different engines), IIRC he used an LT1 used cam. In another build he retained the factory TBI intake and found that it worked just as well as the aftermarket ones (new or used). The only significant part that he happened to have on-hand was the headers. You'd be right about that item; not on the rest of it.

Agreed. But he still managed to get good numbers from the truck log-style factory manifolds in his most recent build (another 312 v8).

He drives a truck (a fullsize van); I don't know the specs on the stock exhaust (pipe diameters, muffler, cat(s) if his truck even had them, or if it still has them) but IIRC it is less restrictive than what was used on the passenger cars (Fcar) so it doesn't surprise me that much that he can still make decent power.

By factory specs, and when compared to TPI, yes. Most of that can be fixed even if one wants to keep the simplicity and low-cost of TBI. That can happen because the exhaust and the cam are the two main weak points; TPI already had a head start in fixing both from the factory by design.

Your further argument is essentially that TBI isn't worth bothering with; I don't agree with that viewpoint. There are enough examples of Fast355's posts, among those of other people, that show what what budget work can do for TBI.

GuitarJunki17

iTrader: (1)

Never said it wasn't worth bothering with...only if you have the money/expertise.

Hey, for motor heads like you and I, a TBI would be an awesome project to undertake, I think, seeing as you could take a weak system and turn it completely around. If I had the money, trust me, I'd be on it just so I could tell people "told you so". But not everyone is like you, I or Fast355, and not everyone would think to do (or have the resources to do) some of the things such as custom exhaust, or DIY head porting, or buying a used cam...the things that make this project a budget project (Though the used cam idea alone makes me uneasy seeing as lobes could be worn, and unless you have Mortec's casting guide with you, you are at the mercy of what the guy at the swap meet tells you in terms of what kind of cam he is selling you.), but OEM LT1 cam kits can be had on ebay or the like for under $100, so in that respect you have a point.

Judging by the initial post the poster didn't seem as if he had the expertise that we had, judging by his arousal of the question in the first place. Maybe I am wrong, but trend tends to be that if you have to ask how to make horsepower, then your level of automobile expertise doesn't extend too far beyond the point of doing your own oil changes. It seems to me that to undergo a project like this, you need a pretty good amount of knowledge to know what you are doing.

And me, I was just saying that this may not be the route for him, and maybe I should have included initially that if he IS willing to learn and if he DOES have some cash lying around that this could be a fun, self fulfilling project. But as you and others know very well, you can't learn about building and modifying motors from reading books alone, you learn from experience.

UnderCover89TBI

iTrader: (25)

cant we all just get along

Cadillac

No, no, no.

This is getting good.

BMmonteSS

No this isn't getting anywhere.....Guitar Junky is just completly missing the point and spewing false information.

Take a similar TPI engine and swap in the same full exhaust and cam onto both engines....which by the way would cost the same since it's still a small block. You would be very hard pressed to tell a difference between the two motors.

The point is the exhaust and cam are the reason why these engines suck, change them out just like you would with any other small block, do some tuning (which only cost 150$ for the equipment and software) and wallah. You'll have a motor that will put you in the same territory as a similarly modified TPI or ford 5.0 motor.

By the way you'll gain much more than 10-15 hp on a TBI engine with a little tuning.

dimented24x7

iTrader: (2)

This is sort of like arguing what hue of blue the sky is, or how wet water is....

As with ANY dark days of smog era car, your going to have to mod it to get more performance. Some mods will cost money, and some will take some expertise to install. Thats life. Just how much, and how far, is up to the original poster, and is based entirely on his goals. If he wants some extra power on the side, basic bolt-ons will have him covered. If he wants to go all out, then hes going to need some money.

dimented24x7

iTrader: (2)

Also, FWIW, I didnt even know how to change my own oil when I did my first engine swap. I have friends who are similar. no experience, but they still pull off major mods without issue. Best advice is to take it slow, and ask lots of questions. Thats what this board is here for.

Gunny Highway

iTrader: (1)

I have a very similiar setup.

A cam with just a hair more lift .429/.452 but I'm also running 1.6 RRs.
I do have Trick Flow head on mine and I'm using the EBL with 65# injectors.

I 1900ish stall and some 3.23 gears.

ShiftyCapone

iTrader: (7)

That is not a factory y-pipe but instead the imfamous Flowtech unit. This was a common problem on many Flowtech/Summit Y-pipe set-ups. My set had the same exact bottlenck. GM has had its quality problems, but that one would have never made it out the door.

Gallileo60

Gunny, how does it run????? Someone up this thread said their freinds LO3 would'nt bark a tire, mine will boil them...Even when it was stock, it would spin the stock wheels (Err WHEEL back then) for a long way, must be something wrong with their freinds car.....

Gunny Highway

iTrader: (1)

My 245 Pirelli PZero Nero's never had a chance man. The EBL really smoothed it though. Like most TBIs, it doesn't perform all that well from a roll, but off the light it eats most things up. I haven't had it dyno'd since the EBL was put on and tuned, but with a dyno tuned PROM it set down 262 RWHP and 365 RWTQ. The car was designed as a daily driver when I built it so I was concerned more about TQ output than huge HP numbers. However, it has since been retired to fun status. I've been contemplating either nitrous or going ***** out with a turbo kit . . . leaning towards the nitrous though.

As for my LO3 . . . with just an open element, advanced timing, full exhaust and a nice shift kit, it would bark the tires hard to every gear minus 4th. Even totally stock it would chirp into 2nd. Don't know what's up with that guy who said he couldn't get the tires to bark . . . must have drag radials or something on it and doesn't notice.

GuitarJunki17

iTrader: (1)

I know this is a flowtec unit, like I said, this is similar to what the FBody joints are like. Believe me, when I did my exhaust, I couldn't believe my eyes, but this is exactly what you are looking at when you pull the stock Y-pipe off an fbody. My friend who did his gf's RS found the same thing.

UnderCover89TBI

iTrader: (25)

have you run it at the strip???

Gunny Highway

iTrader: (1)

Nope, not yet.

Gallileo60

Am curious, why would you get a flat tappet cam, instead of a roller??? Is it cost, or performance???...BTW, what junkyard heads would you snag for your 305??????? Thanks, Tom