Hi y'all. I'm hoping from some tips from seasoned KITT enthusiasts to help improve my conversion. Basically, I'm running an 83 T/A Firebird. All the rot has has been replaced and I have a bare metal respray black. I'm running the CrossFire Injection 5.0 V8 with Hypertech Stage III chip. The engine is immaculate, having only covered 32k miles and I'm running a B&M shifter with no real idea of the transmission. What I want is some advice on the following:
What's my rough BHP with the above engine and chip?
The car's very fast (obviously) but sometimes when I kick down, it doesn't drop the gears and fly. However, on re-applying the kick down, it will drop down. I've been told various things that it could be anything from the torque converter to the kick down cable.
I've read the scare stories about people's transmissions going and that it may be a good idea to get a cooling system.

What I'm basically after is an idea of the best mods for this engine / transmission. The car looks lovely on the outside and I'm in the process of restoring the inside which is looking a bit tired. But I really want to mod-up the engine and other mechanical aspects of the car.

Thanks for your time guys

 

I cant help with much, but here is some info on the stock power.

83 Z28
Trans Am A4 LU5 V8 9.5:1 5.0 (305) 175@4200 250@2800 CFI ---- ---- 2.93 3.23

https://www.thirdgen.org/newdesign/tech/techdb.shtml

 

My '82 Z28 had a 305 Cross Fire in it when I got it, didn't realize what a handicap it was until my first visit to the drag strip. They're fun though, just don't try messing with any 4th gens or Cobras.

The transmission Throttle Valve cable (resembles a kickdown cable but doesn't perform same function) is on the throttle body linkage of the forward TB if I recall right, there's a reset procedure in the Tech Articles section that spells it out...very easy and immediate results.

A tranny cooler will help, I also had good results with Mobil-1 synthetic trans fluid. Kinda spendy but cheaper than a rebuild.

Modding the Cross Fire is really like polishing a turd, no offense intended. You'll get a few HP here and there with a better cam and exhaust, some intake porting helps, but you're fighting to get up to where the TPI 350 engines start out before the first mod.