AKcamaroAK

Ok I dropped a 350 into my 86 camaro around 2 years ago, a crate motor, and I wasnt really focusing on building it I just wanted to get the car running. But now I want to start getting more horsepower and torque out of the car, so where should I start with engine upgrades? I was thinking of a cam swap or swap the heads but I dont really know what kind of options I have that wont be $1,000 but still give me a decent power gain. I'm an 18 yearold kid in college for auto mechanics, so I dont have a **** ton of money to throw into this yet lol.

So what options do I have that are sort of mid priced?

Atilla the Fun

Already have SFCs, gears, headers and exhaust?

ZZ28ZZ

I'd start with exhaust. Without free flowing exhaust, eng mods won't help much. A cat-back would be a good place to start, get rid of the cat if you can, then headers.
Intake would be second, cam 3rd and heads last (depending on what cam/heads you go with, they may need to be done at the same time).

Before doing any mods (i.e.spending big$), verify eng is ok. A compression test would be quick, easy and cheap thing to do. A 2 yr old crate motor should be OK, but there's nothing worse then putting lipstick on a pig. Also verify ignition sys is operating efficiently; cap, rotor, wires, plugs, timing all good. The stock HEI ign is fine as long as everything is in good shape.

AKcamaroAK

I'm finishing up installing my MSD ignition tomorrow night, and this weekend I'm going to install a pair of headers I got off craigslist. The exhaust at the moment doesnt have a muffler on it, so I'm planning on just taking off the cat and then adding a flowmaster muffler. What kind of intake mods should I do? The only thing I've really heard of from my friends is a cold air intake but I have a carb so I dont think that would work for me.

blue birdy 87

You should buy a new intake manifold for your car, I think the rpm performer is the cheapest and most common one (check craigslist). You can go to autozone and get yourself a better air filter kit for like $50, but you wont notice a massive difference. Like Atilla said, what gears do you have? Swapping to some low gears and a posi will make a huge difference for not alot of money.