Whats a cheap way to get more horsies?

What I've done so far:
Carb rebuild
Cat-back
New Air Cleaner w/ Filter

 

remove all the smog stuff if you havent allready... if you dont have an electric fan get one... the main thing si if you dont have to do smog or safety checks then remove the smog stuff it reduces weight and freees alittle from the motor... did you do a k&n filter on their...

 

I bought an Edelbrock Pro-Flo air cleaner and I guess it does have a K&N filter on it. But I've heard quite a few bad things about K&N, should I replace this filter?

Guess I should have read the fine print...

 

i like k&n it has always worked for me... that and it last for freaken ever...

 

Your eldebrock pro flow is NOT a K&N filter but if it is the foam filter you can apply the K&N oil to it to make it more effective in preventing dirt from entering your carb.

 

want cheap horsies? run it without an air filter!

 

Headers-$129
Intake-$100-200

 

Ah yeah I read it wrong. The triangular and oval cleaners come with K&N filters.

Will I see that big of a difference if I buy edelbrock performer manifold and some headers? Right now I have a stock 305 manifold, nothing special. Will there be a difference in fuel economy?

I have a 4 barrel carter q-jet, freshly rebuilt.

 

NITROUS!

 

Hopefully you would see 20-50hp gain. With some tuning you would have a noticable increase in hp. Intake and headers would increase the efficency of your motor which in theory any time you increase efficency of your motor, you better your gas milage This is IF you go easy on the loud pedal. Drive like grandma and you should get better milage. Then when you want to show off or give your friends whiplash just pound the pedal.

 

headers and y-pipe, best bang for buck right now.

SFC's, won't make you go faster, but will make the car feel wayyy more rigid.

port heads?

 

We have a winner!!!

 

Fast. Cheap. Reliable. You can pick any two.

K&N filters aren't worth the money. Don't let their propaganda fool you... they flow more air than a paper filter would, but conversely they let more dirt into the engine as well. Stick with a plain old paper filter and change it when it gets dirty. It's only $10, and the life of your engine should be more important than a slight increase in airflow. The only real time a K&N filter shines is when it is dirty compared to a dirty paper filter.

The electric fan idea is a good one if you don't already have an electric (or dual electric) fan on your car. The mechanical clutch fan that came with many of these cars takes a good bit of HP to turn.

Another good idea would be to switch all your fluids over to a synthetic variety, especially the oil and rear end gear fluid. They will also reduce parasitic losses and help protect your parts better than conventional fluids would.

Reducing the weight of your car won't add any horsepower, but it will definately make it easier for the engine to push your car and will improve gas milage slightly.

Aside from this, there's not too many ways to get cheap horsepower. This hobby is all about knowledge and money. If you have the know-how, but no money you can speculate all you want on what will give your car more HP, but without the parts (which cost $$) it's all just bench racing. On the other hand, if you have a lot of money and start bolting on parts but have no idea what they do, then your engine may end slower than it actually was to begin with.

The trick is to find a middle ground where you know what parts make your car faster, and spend money on that the first time around so you get the best $-to-HP ratio.

 

I know tricks aren't free but I was thinking sub $500 range, I figured I'd still get something good around that budget. I'll go ahead and throw a pm at ya.

Anymore suggestions? Thanks everybody for stuff posted so far.


Edit: Just read your post after I typed this, you got any tips on stuff to remove to free up weight?

 

Just don't like the idea of a lifetime filter huh you wou rather have less air flow and spend 5 to 10 bucks every 10,000 miles if you oil the filter right it will stop more dirt than any and I mean any paper filter and if K&N filters are so bad why does just about every race team use one. I guess they don't know that K&N filters are worse than paper filters. Your entitled to your opinion but remember more air flow means more power and thats the name of the game isn't it.

 

Hmm, maybe it's because they are PAID by K&N to sport their logo on their car to advertise their product? How many NASCARs do you see with Castrol on their hoods? Plenty. Does that make it the best oil to use? Not necessarily.

And seriously man, how much HP do you think a clean K&N filter is going to give you over a clean paper filter anyway? This dude's car is pretty much stock and the heads, cam and exhaust are going to limit his HP WAY before the air filter even becomes an issue!

 

 

Check the 305 thread in the FAQ forum. 305 power increasing mods are already discussed there.

 

I would humbly recomend that you get a new intake manifold and do some at home porting of your heads, Take an intake manifold gasket, lay it over the head intake ports, take some machinist blue and blue up the metal that is blocking the intake ports. Take a die grinder and goto town.

nitrous?

 

I have a 350 though.

 

500 bucks? Do headers and as much exhaust work as possible because they are good stepping stones for any future mods.

 

have u ported ur heads??? if so can u pm me and tell me how to do it? i would appreciate it alot!!

 

Try this!

Standard Abrasives - DIY Cylinder Head Porting Guide