im buying a 1989 black pontiac firebird

5L 305

Its an auto tranny with with a shift kit
all new ignition systems

needs new rear end

i think its throttle body

i want some power adders(no turbo, no nitrous) i was thinking performance cams but i have no idea on the rating.... and i thought headers but yet again..... no idea on what brand or size.... then a new computer chip...


uhm idk.... lemme know what yall think

 

If its tbi and you want big hp per dollar, replace the heads with 081 tpi heads, replace the cam with a used lt1 or l98 cam.

 

the heads are a no go.... to much for my wallet

 

if you want a power adder your going to be spending a whole lot morethen you would on heads

just about anything you look it is going to cost some green.

might as well start saving for better heads as between the heads and the cam (more so the heads I would say) would be some of your biggest power gains

 

081 heads... $50
Stock L98/LT1 cam... $20
Hayne's Manual... $15
Gaskets & misc... $100?
Torque wrench... $25 (cheap Autozone one works fine for this)
Decent socket set... $60-100+

There, for less than $300, you just gained probably more than 40hp, you now have a good manual to do all kinds of cool stuff to your car, a good socket set, and a cheap torque wrench.

Might as well do headers at the same time. Any brand is decent except Flowmaster. SLP makes probably the best headers, followed closely by Hooker. Hedman headers are good cheap headers as well but I believe you need to get your own Y-pipe fabbed up then. Used headers aren't bad if they aren't terribly rusted. I bought my stainless steel SLP 1 3/4" shorty headers and Y-pipe for $200 shipped from someone on the boards early this year.

A high-flow catalytic converter is a good idea ($100-120 for a good bolt-in "direct replacement" converter. Cat-back exhaust is also something that these cars need and helps wake them up.

Performance chips do nothing unless you have somebody actually tune your car. Off-shelf chips like Hypertech make these cars perform worse.

 

well im good on tools

where can i go to get these heads and cam??

im going to get probably hooker headers or the Shorty ones
then a better rating throttle body

both new from Auto Zone

the catalytic converter i agree... didnt think of... and going to come a lil bit later though

and i think i may already have a good cat back exhuast... but i dont pick up the car until tomorrow so couldnt tell you till then

oh and quick question

i need a place somewhere where i can get new bushings and door handles. and possibly a dash pad

 

I would think with a mostly stock car the TB should be one of the last mods you would be thinking of. at least my own experience a throttle body doesn't do a whole lot by itself

 

If anything do the Ultimate TBI mods. Go to the TBI board and look at the top.

I've done it, just haven't installed the new TBI yet, lazy lazy lazy *lol*

If at anytime you'll need bigger bores ... either get a BBC TBI unit .. or.. bore out the stock one to 48 mm and use throttle blades from the single barrel TBI's

 

yea when he told me heads i went online and found some that were upwards of $2000

 

Port your stock swirl port heads. Some people have gotten excellent results with those traditionally bad heads.

 

just brought the car home guys

by idling at the stop sign... my dad determined that it had an aftermarket cam already

and it lobbed quite a bit... he thinks it has a 10:1 bore and pop up pistons

on top of that it has a shift kit for the auto tranny

hi flow air filter (prolly dirty anyways)

new ignition system

and thats the extent i know right now

i think it still has the stock exhaust... that is if firebirds came out stock with dual exhaust...

whether if its stock or not

im going to start out with hooker headers... 1 5/8" inch i think
then going to buy a flowmaster exhuast kit

then a new throttle body

theres what i want..... advice guys?

 

oh and hes owned quite a bit of cars like these and knows a thing or too... and its definately faster than what a stock 305 should be...

 

I LOVE those *** dynos, sooo accurate. And telling a cam from the car sitting and idling? More like the car is out of tune and needs some help.

And how exactly does one determine the piston type sitting in the car? That's a neat trick I'd love to learn.

And a shift kit that resides outside the tranny? Cool, how's it work:

Really, not trying to rag on you but that post is the quintessential BS ignorant crap that aggravates so many people and makes car guys in general look like knuckle dragging ignorant idiots.

 

im 15 what ya expect

its why i got my bum on here learning be4 i **** somethin up

my dad's been driven chevy engines like that all his life.... and we already knew it had a bore (prev. owner had it done)........ and the way the engine revved we could tell it had an aftermarket cam... and it most likely wuld need new pistons b/c of that.... and that was his guess.... sorry for not clarifying

BUT anywho... think what you want

 

Where are you located? I've a set of '081 castings sitting in my garage that I might be able to part with.

What exactly did the owner tell you about the engine? If it has been bored over, it needed new pistons, but its doubtful they are domed pistons. Its also hard to tell whether it has a cam in it or not from sitting inside of the car. There's a bigger chance that it revs quickly because of different rear gears than because it has a cam.

 

I am about 20 miles east of St Louis, MO

He told me the the previous owner before him did a bunch of stuff to the engine

he said he didnt really remember exactly but he was 100% sure that he put a shift kit (which kicks ***!!!), it had a hi flow k&n, bigger bore, and pistons

 

Think what you want, but I'm still calling BS on all of it. You have a computer so the cam can't be crazy radical, you don't even know if the heads are cast or AL, search to find how to get the casting number. You likely have a TBI, that says enough for me.

You should have stuck to to your questions and listened to the advice. Do the ultimate TBI mods as previously mentioned and then read through the TBI board for some performance advice. Don't have overly-lofty goals and you'll be ok. Or maybe you should find out a bit about the motor first. I'm surprised the seller didn't tout it as a 350 out of a vette, you're ahead there at least.