Firstly, I'd like to introduce myself as I've never used these forums before. My name is Drake, I am from Ohio, and I am 17 years old. I currently drive a '98 Dodge Stratus that blows hard dick. I should have an IROC within the next few months, as I'm going to start saving up after I've bought a few things.

Now to my question(s)

As of now I'm doing some research on what modifications I should put on the car. I've already got a small, and non-specific list of mods here:
Better performance heads
like 2" headers
dual 3" straight-pipes from the catalytic converter back
EDIT: Single 3" straight-pipe
A well performing camshaft

This is all I have for now, but I don't know what companies to go to for the heads, headers, or camshaft. I am hoping someone here will help fill in the blanks.

My goals for the car are 400-500 horsepower, 500-600 lb-ft torque, loosely. I also want to be able to drive it casually. So basically I don't want it to buck in the city, but I want it to fly on a track/freeway.

Also if you have any suggestions for shocks, differentials, mechanical gauges, or brakes (assuming I get a model with drum brakes, I'd like to know where to look about buying disc brakes to install)

If I've said anything that's just like stupid, I'm sorry, I'm not great with this sort of thing, rebuilding an IROC is kind of my way of educating myself on the subject while also creating a beautiful car before I have to move out of my moms house.


EDIT: I am also open to any suggestions for anything really. Just note that I am keeping the 350 TPI and I am going for Natural Aspiration, so if you're planning to suggest I get a supercharger/turbo, or swap the engine then sorry those are two things I won't do.

 

Now that I've reviewed the forum description, I realize I probably shouldn't have posted this here. So if any mods were to move it, I wouldn't mind.

 

First off, welcome to TGO. You are in the wrong section though as this is the power adder section.

Second, a suggestion on the exhaust would be some Hooker 2055s headers. Best all around header and y pipe combo as far as fitment, price, and performance. I wouldn't bother with 3" duals, WAY overkill. A single 3" will be more than sufficient for what your shooting for. This should be your first mod.

You will need to look into some better heads for the goal you want to reach, but you will also need to upgrade your intake as well, bigger runners, better base. And a good cam to match up with it. The numbers you want aren't impossible, but it will take a lot of know how and the right combination of parts to get there with a TPI 350. I would look at the TPI section, and the California regional board for what all could be done.

You didn't mention what your budget is, but whatever you had in mind you can at least double it if not triple. Like I said your goal isn't that far of a stretch, but it won't be a cake walk either. Start witht easy stuff, exhaust and free mods. Then go from there. Good luck, you will need it.

 

Hey, and thanks for the welcome. I just realized I was in the wrong section

Thanks for the advice on the exhaust, I will definitely look into it. I was hoping someone would comment on that as well, because I can't seem to find the laws pertaining to straight pipes etc..

I was hoping to find out some recommended specs for the runners/headers, and maybe a cam recommendation as well. What do you mean by a bigger base?

I don't really have a budget, I have a full time job and pretty low expenses. I'm looking to drop around 5-8k into it, but I'm going to be stretching it out for a while you know? I plan on buying and installing a better tranny and exhaust firstly. Then I'm going to stock up on all of the engine mods before installing them so I can still drive it around until I tear apart the engine.

 

Your in ohio.. off topic thread but so am I. Where I live there is no emmision so as long as you dont get pulled over for excessive noise, you can do what ya want.

 

Nice man, I guess I'll just keep it at low RPM's

Where abouts in Ohio are you from?

 

Up by sandusky. Yea just keep it easy in towns. I run arround with no muffler and no cat converter alot, and have no issues. BUT I do have a turbo which quiets it down alot and its a V6 so its not crazy loud.

 

ah yes, we don't live too far away. I'm in Mentor as of now. Thanks for the advice man.

 

No problem man, ask arround just to be sure. I lived in akron back in the day for awhile and there was a "visual" emisions check there, but this was 10 years ago. I had a gutted cat on my mustang back in the day and it was loud, no problems whatsoever.

 

Here is the answer to strait pipes: It's a federal crime to remove any of the emissions equipment from the vehicle.

That said, modify to your hearts content. You will not need more than a single 3" pipe unless you're running a 400ci block or larger. A single 3" flows the same as a dual 2.5 (like 5 CFM difference). Do you have a manual or auto car? Dual pipes do not fit under an auto car without alot of work. Can it be done? Yes, is it worth it? I'd say no, or if you still want to do it, do it last.

Someone already asked, but what is your budget?

What year is the car? Do you have a 350 or 305 car? This will determine where you go and how far you need to go. Is it TPI or TBI?


If you want, PM me and I will give you the stats on a 400ci small block daily driver motor that is 420+hp and 500+ torque. I would definitely take a long term plan on this though.

Don't forget that when you put up those kinds of numbers, you will also need to upgrade your transmission and rear end to handle it.

There are alot of questions that you need to answer andhave down "in writing' and firm, otherwise once you start, you'll deviate and end up costing more money. Not saying you will, but that's what happens to alot of people.

 

Its not a crime to start looking ahead at what mods you might want to do, but you can only be very generalistic until you know exactly what car your working with. You speak of working with a 350tpi motor, but until you get the car you dont know if thats what youll actually have. There are tons more 305 third gens then there are 350s. Now obviously if your bound and determined you can find a nice L98 350 car, but you never know a real clean 305 car might roll your way and you might start with that. I understand your young and not very knowledgeable and you dont seem to have your head up your butt so keep that spirit up. You just seem a little naive about your power goals. Please dont take offense to that comment, we all can be that way and as youve stated your just getting into this and are looking to learn so its all good. But your not gonna have a 500hp small block 350 thats naturally aspirated and very tame on the street. Youd need more discplacement or forced induction to meet that goal. Everything is a compromise in life and cars are no different. 500hp 350 would need a healthy cam, big heads and good compression. Im on lunch so i cant get deep into this but basically my advice is to save your money, and buy a really nice third gen. Then based on what you have and what you want to acomplish start figuring out what mods to do. Dont be caught up on picking out heads and cams and all that right now. Just keep saving and browsing this site learning as you go...

 

Manual 350 TPI
Yes, after much feedback I've concluded I'll be going with a single straightpipe from the catalytic converter back

I know for a fact I'll be working on getting a better transmission. What do you suggest? I was told T56 tranny is the best, and as for gear ratios I want to be around a mid RPM range most of the time

I don't even know what you mean by rear end. Do you mean a dif?

Please just note, I'm relatively new to this whole scene, so I'm sorry if I come off like an imbecil

 

Thanks for all of your feedback, man. I also mean to say in the 400-500 HP range. I would even go on down to 350-ish with a great response, and low mpg. I may not seem like it, but I'm still keeping this on a pretty general level. I understand specifics don't come in for a while, but I still want to get a good idea on where to search for parts when I get there :]

As for keeping it naturally aspirated, I really don't know why but the sound of my car being naturally aspirated brilliance just really clicks in my mind. I don't want any forced induction, but who knows man, I may come around to it eventually with the more I learn.

 

Find yourself a solid 3rd gen to start with. Knowing that you plan to make mods as you go along, decide what model you want, what options you want on the car, and maybe what colors you like and focus on that. Once you have a feel for the car and actually have something to build on, then you can ask definitive questions and get a variety of definitive answers. It will make it easier for everyone to give you suggestions and for you to then draw up a game plan of what is reasonable for you.

 

^I guess you're right. That makes some sense

 

Welcome to TGO. Just random but I've been to the Mentor area before. I'm from South Dayton. I just did a 1987 Z28 Iroc build...errr am doing it. I don't really have it for sale as of right now but I've been contemplating it because I love my 4th gen RS. IDK why. But it was my first love and I'm thinking about getting rid of my project once I get to drive it some.

Its bright red with the hood louvres and black and gray decals. I have all of the original parts. I bought it when I was 17 and it sat in my barn for a while. It came with a LG4 series 5.0L engine and is the last of the stock carb'd cars. The guy that had it before me decided to take it all apart and then his daughter got knocked up or wife wanted it gone...one of those I forget. So I bought it non-running as a pile of parts. He took off broken and restricting emmisions crap and started to do a swap from computer controlled to mechanical/vacuum controled carb/transmission.

I just pulled the block and had it built by a professional race engine company. I also got a brand new cam (pretty big too for a 5.0), timing chain, all the other goodies to rebuild. It is bored .030 over and has new pistons, rods, turned the crank. The heads are stock head castings that are more desirable. Those have a gasket match and mild touch up port and polish job that I did under the supervision of a pro-head work guy. Then the race engine company did a really awesome job at a 3 angle valve job.

The things I am still doing...
-paint the engine and heads (on stand for it now that i have visualized it in the car lol)
-put the engine back in
-new fuel regulator
-all new vacuum and fuel lines
-door keys (lost them)
- 4-3 downshift harness and vacuum switch to keep from burning out the 700r4 automatic
-new headliner
-fix the paint fading (pro is doing it and warranty on it...he does great work)
-Cold air intake (custom)
-tuning her to her new heart and soul

Things I'm contemplating
-5 speed swap
-putting the a/c back on it
-what exhaust past the headers end up being as it doesnt have anything but headers yet (hookers)
-polish and powdercoat the wheels

I'm clearly in the reassembly/troubleshooting stage of my build. But it will be back on the road soon. I'm not pressed to get rid of her but I'd like to once I can just sit back and hear her run again. If you decide to go through with buying one, please consider my car. I'm going in the same direction that you were talking about with it. I know its a 5.0 but we did that because it was original and we wanted a 5.0 to run with LT1 cars...just because. Its cool and 80's and no one does it.

I don't check this often so if you shoot me a msg be patient. I just randomly got on and saw this and as i read I thought you would want a chance at my car. Cuz u could still do a different exhaust or maybe a trans swap, but it would be running already and have a reliable engine and stuff. Just a thought. Not trying to threadjack cuz mines not ready to sell. Although if you wanted an engine on a stand and a car full of parts towed to your place you can have it for what I've got in it. But I'd really love to make her run and have that guy restore her paint (fading from old clear coat process oxidation, can be fixed and as long as its waxed every 6 months it will be better than factory and original).

So keep me in mind as you save your money. For 5-8K you could have the coolest iroc of your dreams, customize it a lil to yourself, and be happy without all of the headaches that I have already had from this LMAO. I'm not looking to make money, just get most of my money and time out of it, and get rid of a car that I named after a girl I love that left me. I'm 20 and brokenhearted and ready to sell my classic chevy muscle. Take advantage of it in the next few months. Its a great car.

 

No worrys man.

Yes, Rear End = Differential, or Diff. T-56 is pretty solid until you go over 400hp or so from the motor, then it'll need some work, like any other tranny to handle it.

I would suggest making sure you have or get 3.73 gears. Lower gears (3.08, 2.73) are more for highway, higher (numerically 3.73, 4.11 etc), are better for take off/push you in the seat performance.


For 400 hp and up , your going to want Aluminum heads. You'll also want to check out Edlebrock's upgraded TPI runners. For CAM's, I'd ask around, but in the end, call up the cam companies themselves and talk to them and discuss what you want.

You're also going to need to upgrade your suspension to handle it. SPOHN Subframe connectors, polyurethane bushings, tubular lower control arms, tubular a-arms. Alsom, a GM 10 bolt diff like those in our cars don't like 400+ HP. It'll handle it as long as you run street tires, but if you put slicks on it for the track, it'll break. So you'll need to consider switching to a 12-bolt or ford 9".

 

I know you want to keep her in the N/A form but just listen to to my car. Boosted cars do sound sexy I think. This is justa V6 so you can imagine what a V8 will sound like.


500Hpfor your goal would be so much easier with some sort of boost platform. Just a idea.

 

Those are some pretty good track times man. Wouldn't have expected that from the v6. I may go supercharger. twin screw or centrifuge, but I'm still somewhat undecided

Thanks man you've been really helpful. I won't be bringing it to the track for quite some time, so I'll work on getting that diff eventually. Also you're not the only to tell me to use 3.73's, so I suppose I'm going with them

 

Hey thanks man, I'll definitely keep you in mind. I have some sudden expenses at the moment, and have to postpone buying my car for just a couple months, but I will definitely keep you in mind man.

 

Tonssss of guys run 3.73's and love them. I have to say it is a good ratio for the street, if you wanna keep some track oomph and feel. BUT, if you don't know yet, each gear in a transmission is a different gear ratio. Your transmission gearing, tire height, and traction affect what you should get. The general rule of thumb is higher number=worse mpg. But higher number also=better launch and acceleration. So look at it and decide if it is an every day car, a weekend car, or a track car. Also think about your trans if you are going to change it. Manual trans cars can be a lil picky about gearing.

Going from 2.73 highway gears to 3.73 is a bigggg difference. If it is a daily driver you may want to look at it this way.

2.73- Highway gear, car runs outta breath fast but good mpg
3.23- Good in town economy gear, and you feel a little bit more oomph
3.42- Great street gear if you wanna have a lil extra to put up a fight and still have gas to get to work
3.73- Most common street tuner gear in my opinion. Might start breaking 10 bolts with good street tires or hard shifts.
3.90- Custom gear that if you get a 12 bolt or 9 inch I would seriously consider if the cost isn't much more when chosen as an option
4.10- Race/Weekend gear
4.11- Look up the difference between 4.10 and 4.11 issues. One of them solves the others issue with transmissions and stripping gear teeth or something.
Anything higher and you are into unstreetable or gas hog status really.

If you do a rear end swap you might as well get an aluminum driveshaft and do some race brakes. Maybe disk all the way around and a abs mod if possible (I think I've seen it done here before...).

You have to look at it as if you are going to dump the money into this, can you afford to do it again? Probably not so do it right the first time.

A 12 second street car is ambitious. Trust me. And it is fast. If you believe you want a 10 second car and you've never run out a quarter mile as fast as you can in a stock car I'd go do it. I did a 3 gear pull the other day in my lowely 200hp V6 car and I'm telling you that if you go all out it will put some hair on your derier. 300hp is a fast car usually. My buddy has one and I swear the 110 hp difference between my car and his gives me that feeling that I am going to die in his car. My other buddy has a 600hp street car. I took one ride in that. If you don't know how to handle 200hp, 300hp will kill you just messing around. If you don't know how to handle 300hp, 600hp is out of the question.

My suggestion is get a running car that is solid. Slowly add to it and improve those numbers. Take it as far as you are comfortable with and the money will allow. I bet it is a 350-425hp car when all is said and done. And you will be in love with it and won't want any more.

 

those gear ratio descriptions help a lot man, I think I may go with 3.90's, it all depends what's out there

as for the horsepower bit, I spent a whole Summer dragging in my friends' cars. One of which (I only drove a couple times) was an 800rwhp mustang lmfao

but yeah, I get what you're saying. I don't want a whole hell of a lot of horsepower, I'd like to run 13's, and still drive throughout the city with some gas mileage.

 

I don't think I saw anyone post this up, but with 400hp you should not forget all the au
Suporting mods, like suspension,brakes

A lot of people here like the holly stealth ram intake,AFR 195 comp heads, a good cam to match .take a lol at my build thread . It might give you some ideas.
But read read read and do searches. It might even be cheaper for you to get a roller ( car with no motor and trans ) or some one else project that they do not have time to finish where you can save a lot of money

Good luck!

 

Yea its still on its way of being a tad faster i know that. Its just the beginning as this is the first car I've ever attempted to turbo.

Do keep in mind the supporting mods as Ive done about none, else then fueling, tuning, and basically anything to do with the motor. I bet if I was smarter and put $$ into the suspention, rear end then I would be faster with the same HP i have now.

As for power adders and which ones you may want if you ever went down that road. It all comes down to cost and what you can do yourself if cost is a factor. Being that my turbo was only 120 bucks new off ebay, thats the route I took. That was the small ticket item. Tuning on the other hand and fueling exc, is larger ticket items that cant be skimmed. Weather its a centrif. screw, or a turbo its all boost and power to be had. Im not pushing the boost thing upon anyone but there is no way with $1K that I could have made a extra 160Hp on top of what my stock motor made and NOT rost my motor. V8's are different so I know there might be a bias of what I did but all in all you have so many options to make power down the road.