hey yall f body fans, my name is justin west i am 16 years old, and am building a standard 86 camaro. i have successfully rebuilt and installed a 350 motor. i have the edelbrock Performer EGR intake, and performer plus cam and gm factory 1973 chevelle/el camino 76 cc heads. i currently have all the factory emissions connected from the factory 305. i have also installed a flowmaster 80 series to my 2 1/4 exhaust. and i have installed a B&M shift kit in my th-700R4 tranny accompanied by a B&M megashifter. are there any ideas for higher performance upgrades with a highschool kid's budget. if so could you please say so. thanks F-body fans!!!!

 

Gears....

 

that is a very good point and a MUST for my weak non posi rearend with 2.73 gears. seriously weak. i am in the process of wet sanding the body and going to paint it. after the exterior is done i have already purchased new carpet and will get a reliable local company to do headliner, sails, and visors so i should be alright of the decency of my car looks wise. after this i have considered purchasing a wrecked 82-92 for parts. hoping to hit the jackpot and snag a rearend assymbly in the same deal. thanks alot for your help and keep em strong!!!

 

Gears and converter. What exactly is meant by "heads?" If I may ask...

 

are you talking about the cylinder heads on the block

 

Considering the heads you have (76cc smogger heads) and your budget, worked over 305 castings (like the "416") would be a really good bet as well.

 

The first thing, very first thing, that should be done is exhaust. YOu say you still have the 2.25 inch exhaust. This needs to go, now. YOu need headers, and a full 3 inch catback before you do anything else. Then do the heads. I agree with stekman too, you may want to look at some ported 416s for your combo. Very easy to find and very cheap to acquire.

 

yes i do need new exhaust badly. as of now i have only the 80 series flowmaster but want to bolt on the 3 inch cat back american thunder and a set of tork stepped hedman headers with 3 inch y pipe collector. here lies a small obstical. in order to do this i will need to either fill the cap where the current 2.25 cat with straight pipe or find a 3 inch cat out of a tpi motor which i hear has them. i'm not really sure or the years of camaro or the motor size but i know some tpi's have a 3 inch cat. i would preferable instal the cat, but bust it out so it only looks as if there is one. that is what i am currenty runnin on my weak 2.25 stock exhuast.

 

'86-'90 TPI with single cat had a 3" unit. Put a high-flow version of that on there and there's no need to gut it. It will flow just fine.

Nobody mentioned air cleaner. The standard 305 single snorkel version is very restrictive, even to a stock 305. Get or fabricate a dual snorkel air cleaner.

 

you are right. the air cleaner on my LG4 305 v8 is very restrictive and even has the hot air tube with a valve letting alot of hot air from the manifold into the air cleaner. i removed the ring inside the air cleaner that is saposed to help if the motor backfires, to flow a little more air. i have taken measures under the hood and i believe that a 9/16 raised air cleaner assymbly will clear my distributor. i have located a dress up kit which includes a air cleaner assymbly which i may purchase and replace the acdelco filter element with a K&N filter. i think that would really make the engine look nicer with the dressup kit. valve covers, wing nuts, hold downs, timing cover, air cleaner and breather cap.