im not sure if this is the right section to put this in or not, i currently have a 91 camaro rs that im painting. it has the 305 tbi, 3in catback, im going to start with the obvious first .posi gears, frame ties, headers,
here comes the big question, my goal is to run 12,s or better, whats the cheapest way to do this that wont blow on the 1st pass down the strip?

 

I would read the posts on the "Power Adder" forum topic, "Mustang Beater" befor you go any farther.

 

Buy a 350 or 400. You'll make more power with more cubes. You'll need cam, headers, heads (or worked over factory heads), a transmission and rear end that can take some abuse and slicks or drag radials.

 

i have a 350 tbi motor from a van in my garage sitting there 4 bolt mains too. i can build this up but i need to know what the cheapest route to going faster would be. im already convinced a 150 wetshot is the power adder of choice due to price. what will it take to make this motor handle that 150 shot over and over again when needed lol.

 

That's my point. Nothing is cheap. You're best of just spending your money on something for the long run than trying to go the cheap route (which won't end up being cheap) for the short haul.

 

I think you picked the wrong hobby if you want "cheap".


What's your budget?

 

12's with a small nitrous shot and a 350 is obviously doable. Where reliability really happens is in the tune. And mail order tunes wont cut it. You need to be able to tune yourself or spend bookoo bucks on someone else to do it.

You also need your driveline to hold up. Dr's and nitrous (or no nitrous even) can wreak havoc on a stock 10bolt.

Now you need to decide if you want to stay TBI or go carb (or some other alternative)

Vortec heads can be had for cheap and should be able to support the power your looking for.
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you need to spend some time on the power adders board and the TBI board before you start spending money though.

 

its going to be carbed, ill get parts as i can afford them ill get the bottem end forged parts first so its reliable, i have shop access and someone to tune so thats not a issue, im just wondering what a good combo would be that would be on the cheaper side of things

 

i would just start searching websites and do some internet shopping and should give you a rough idea howuch things would cost to get you down to 12 seconds. if you know wht you already what and stuff youcould get stuff from the wreckers for fairly cheap as well. like a good side carb, intake. heads. and just them all up and rebuild them would be fairly cheap them having to buy every part new. could save you some money.
theres also ebay. they have really cheap stuff. but to me it seems kind iffy to gesoe stuff from ebay. you could be cheaped out on the product and the seller coud be a pain if your not happy with the item.

 

Yeup. Shop around. I bought my rebuilt 400 for 600 bucks. Then I bought vortecs for 200 bucks. 150 for the intake, 150 for the cam. I'm in the 12s.

 

are vortechs that good?

 

mebbe its just me.. lots of talk about "carb"ing these motors.. why? a TBI will be "in tune" no mattewr what the weather is outside.. chips are readily available, why go back to the headache of a carb?

 

"Vortec"

Depends how you look at it. Good compared to a AFR or Dart Pro 1 head? No not good at all. Good if you're on a 300 dollar budget? Yeah, pretty good.