Alright I have a reletively bone stock Camaro Rs. Its an 89 with a rebuilt 305 v-8. Its been rebuilt within 500 miles. As of mods to the engine all ive done is it has a Catback exhaust system and edle brock valve covers.. the vavle covers don't add any power but they look good. But im planning on spending $250 ish give or take... Just to make a little bit of power...What should i invest in?

 

$250 doesn't go far for power. is your car carbureted or fuel injected?

 

Its got a throttle body. Im not looking to build a drag car or anything like that. Just wanting to make it more fun to drive around.

 

If you want to make it more fun to drive put the money into new springs and shocks. then go for the rest of the suspension, balljoints and such. new suspension will definatly make it more fun to drive. you'll get a smoother ride and better handleing. still, shocks and springs is going to definatly push $250...even new injectors for your car are going to be pushing it.

 

would a new sway bar be a good thing to purchase then? or should i go with the shocks and spring? If i can get a second job ill be putting more into the car just right now im wrking only like 12 hours and things soo... im nto makin a good chunk of change.I got the ol Paddock out and browsing through that and lookign at all the diffent suspension parts and just wondering what parts for sure to look at first that will make the most noticeable diffrence... If i spend 250 or so on shocks and i feal a hard core diffremce ill do that but if i spedn the same on like a sway bar and get a bigger notice ill do that. just not sure were to start.

 

You can do alot via the stock air cleaner box. It really sucks kinda bad. Im not sure if your in the kinda place where you need the stove pipe and stuff but id say a new air cleaner would do alot for you, I know it did for me. And hell thats what $40 tops? Then maybe a little cam , see if you can find a setup on the classifieds here. That would definatly take advantage of your catback. You can run a LT1 cam if you knock in the dowel and forget about a mech fuel pump, but your already electric so no biggie. :shrug: i dunno thats just me, im kinda a ******* when it comes to making power lol.

EDIT: you cant say *******, r e d n e c k lol. What a jip lol

 

If it were me I'd do the suspension first. KYBs are prolly the cheapest good quality shocks that you're gonna find. I've heard people complain that they wearout after a couple years. but mine are still doing the job after 2 years. Moog springs are the cheapest stock height springs that summit has. lowering springs will cost you a little more, but you'll get better handeling. you're prolly gonna need a little more than $250 for the shocks, struts, and springs. but it'll be a great investment. When you go for the sway bars latter get the big ones from spohn. and defiantly make sure to buy urethane mounts for everything you replace. they will last YEARS longer than the rubber ones.

 

man, this is what i would do if i was starting with the engine


http://www.jegs.com/webapp/wcs/store...64015_-1_11535


http://www.jegs.com/webapp/wcs/store...60947_-1_10249

 

Just my .02 but you've got an RS. If the suspension is soft (like a stock RS) you can get replacement iroc or z28 moog springs and a poly bushing kit and see an immediate improvement for under $200. Be ready for a bit harsher ride. I replaced the springs on my TA with stock moog replacements for like $130. Night and day compared to the 23 year old saggers, and I don't scrape my air dam as much. Eh, I've done the lowered thing years ago, done with that, I like to drive my car without cringing every time I go over a bump.

I wouldn't spend the money on a new replacement sway bar(s) when they're at the yards all day long for next to nothing.

If you need struts and/or shocks do those first.

 

I'd stay away from that "T" pipe.

That would be okay.

 

You say that you have a fresh rebuild? What cam is in it? Would it be worth putting 1.6 Rockers on it for a little more lift? Stamped rockers are pretty inexpensive... Also, I'd look into getting an inexpensive set of Headers.

 

If its bone stock aside from the valve covers and catback, then this is what I'd do, and in this order:

- 5.0 HO 4bbl dual snorkel air clean with or w/o hoses
- short tube headers
- bump up the timing a bit, if its at stock specs
- 180* or 160* thermostat
- exhaust cutout (best $25 I spent on mine!)

The headers can be found actually quite cheap if you are patient and look at the Classified section here. I bought a set of Hedman 1-5/8 shorties for only $80 awhile back. Y-pipe was another $80, but I had to buy that new.

Exhaust is the single biggest problem these cars have. Once you get some decent headers and exhaust on there, performance will improve ALOT.

 

yea the L69 dual snorkel air cleaner with a K&N filter will make a big difference- especially if you do what i did and take out the emissions control devices off it such as the thermac valves, etc. also if you get the air cleaner lid off an 80's chevy truck you'll be able to fit a 1'' bigger filter in and get even more air. and i'd run it with the tubes if possible, colder air means more power.

you can probably find a setup (may need a little resto work) on ebay for a decent price....thats where i got mine.

good luck to ya and keep us updated.

 

Best seat of the pants feel I ever got for $250 was a boneyard posi rear - I went from 2.73 peg leg in my 1990 RS to a 3.08 posi rear, and rebuilt the rear drum brakes all for $250 and got the most bang for the buck of any $250 I'd spent - and 3.08 ain't that great a gear - but much better than the 2.73 for "feelin' it".

 

Or you could just get a set of 3.73's for your stock rear end. You'll have to install them yourself though, cause shops charge as much as $500 to put them in.

 

Now would i be looking for a camaro with 3.73's or a diffrent car? what all cars should i look for it in? If im shootin for a posi rear end what cars would i hit up and how can i tell that its posi just looking at it or what ever?

 

I was just thinkin new gears alone. (PITA)

But if you could find a junkyard one with 3.73's AND a posi, more power to ya. The posi units have a tag on the cover that says "limited slip diff lube only" Or just see if both wheels turn in the same direction.

edit: the only cars I know of would be 82-92 camaro/firebirds for the whole axle. 4th gen rears will work, but there's more stuff you gotta do to put one of them in.

 

alright i wasnt sure if you were sayin new gears or a new rear end... How much of a diffrence would i see in puttign in a 4th gen driveshaft? Arent they alluminum so the would cut down on weight how much of a dif would that end up being?

 

From what I've read its not a huge difference. I think it would be good for a tenth or so at the track.

 

Hmm what about things like that? Like i could do the spring and shock and then what about like moving the battery and things of that nature. how much of a difference would the weight transfer be? cuz if its not noticeably different i wont bother with the time...

 

I've never heard one way or the other, but I don't think moving the battery will make much of a difference.

 

not sure if this is entirely true or not... but i was told for every 100 lbs. you remove its like adding 10 Hp. well i know moving the battery isn't the same as removing weight but your still shifting it back over the rear wheels and removing it from the front of the car. so its got to be some sort of gain. may be small but its some.. and im planning on replacing the battery cables anyway with a lower gauge wire so it seems like that would be a good time to slide i in the back... Im just trying to build a list of things i can do here and there this summer. Ive already got one quarter panel in the garage waiting on the other to arrive... then doing body wok on the whole car then in theory ill have alot of the work done by the end of summer and will have a better car to drive around in.

 

Im not sure about your rule of thumb, it may be true or not. But I do know wieght in your car can make a huge difference in alot of things. I did some research on it and found you can scrape 200 or so lbs out of an F-body for a reasonable cost and some for free ex: removing your AC/Smog/Carpet/Backseat/Passenger frontseat/etc. And for a little dough an LT1 Starter/Mech Steering Box (worth HP as well)/4th gen Aluminum driveshaft/Aluminum brake drums, on the driveshaft and drums you will see a difference in under the curve hp due to removing reciprocating mass and that carrys the rule of 1 lb recip. mass = 10 lbs elsewhere on the car. So saving 15 lbs on the driveshaft and drums is worth 150 lbs ...yeah.

But moving the battery back is only really worth it if you have pretty bad tirespin. If you think about it you actually add wieght via the wires running up to the engine.

Another freebee thats good at the track is removing your front swaybar, this helps alot with wieght transfer and saves you 10 lbs or so. Ive never missed it on the way to the track but it does help with F&F manuvers .

Then just to reinterate what I said earlier your stock air cleaner needs to be upgraded. You will see a gain. Remove the silencer and the stove pipe stuff and reap the rewards of more upper RPM power!

Hope that helps some