i have an 84 camaro sport coupe 5.0 and in my town theres an 88 iroc-z and he has 100hp more than mine so i was wondering whats a cheap way to add that much or more horses to mine

 

Nitrous....boom!

 

yea but i dont want to do nos

 

You said cheap. You basically want to double the horsepower of your 5.0 the other way is heads cam intake combo.

 

ok then in those what would u sugest

 

big block

 

If that 88 has 100 more HP than you you need to realize that there could be several factors. Carb 5.0 compared to 5.7 TPI maybe?
Also everything else being about the same he did not get that 100 HP very cheap. If he did not use nitrous then he spent money on cam and probably heads and even exhaust. Better rear gears will help to wake up a car and make it faster without more actual power.
Nitrous can be the best bang for a buck for horsepower increases. Otherwise building that amount of horsepower with your current engine will not be cheap. There is no way around it.

 

thats the thing his car gm made with the hundred horses so his car is stock

 

get rid of that 305 and get a 350.
305s are boat anchors.

 

i agree with that

 

Two words that Never go together is "cheap"and hot rodding.

 

the stock exhaust on an LG4 is very restrictive-improve the complete
exhaust system , replace the ultra mild "fuel economy"stock cam
with a mild performance cam,and rejet the carb to compensate.
that should easily add about 30-40 hp or more.

 

so far ive noticed
and thanks ill see what i can find

 

There is no cheap when it comes to hp. Like the saying goes, how fast do you wanna go? How much you wanna spend.

So is the '84 stock? A classic, non molested, low mileage factory original '84? If so leave it alone. If it is in some other condition, have at it.

My advice - join a car club. Go to cruise nights and ask questions. Read magazines. Make friends with gear heads. See what others have done. Plan on spending ten times what you think you'll spend.

 

Nothing is really all that cheap when it comes to adding huge power... even a safely set up nitrous system can cost upwards of a grand when you factor in fuel pump, nitrous kit, bottle heater, purge and plugs. Nothing wrong with smaller amounts of nitrous on a healthy motor that is tuned properly.
If it was me, I would do what I've done in the past. Blow a 100 shot through that 305 until it pops and drop in a 350.

 

its not complete stock in 99 the engine was replaced with a new 305 ive had to put an edelbrock carb on it but the car its self has 190000 miles i belong to arizona all gens camaro club but there based 4hours away the town i live in is far away from anything good

 

Find a low mileage LT1 5.7L out of a 1993-1997 F body and drop it in there.
John C.

 

Damm it.Sorry man,but it just frustration come out.WHERE given a exhaust upgrade does the power come in??. WHERE??. What RPM??. We do know that is 3500 and up.Right??. Street car??. Come on,let's stop making the same mistake over and over again.Sounds like?????. But isn't. Same exhaust companies selling B.S. to people looking for the "cheap" easy way out and it isn't happening.Real tired of that.

 

My advise is "if you wanta play,ya gots to to pay". Big boy pants time!!.

 

I dont have big boy pants, i have funderwear!

 

100 hp dont even waste your time trying with the 305. Know there are 305 fans here but even they will admit overall its a tiny motor that just wont cut it these days unless you know what youre doing and throw a LOT of work to it. Just not worth it

Go to the junkyard get yourself a used mid 90s truck block with the roller cam 4 bolt then put together a 383 or 396 over time as you can afford it.

Even if you got 100 more out of your 305 remember the larger engines out there will make more torque and could potentially STILL walk you with less hp.

Larger motors always better period!!

Save your $ drive what ya got then build something real.
Hell find a known good 400 block internally balance it then put that together!
They came in 70s wagons impalas novas some trucks. Start huntin!

 

You need to be aware that, assuming he has a 350 TPI, he has 45 more cubes and a higher compression ratio as well as better heads and cam than you do. Not to mention the torque from the TPI. It all works to add up to the 80 extra HP he has.
It is the whole package not just one thing giving him the extra 80 HP from the factory. Your best bet to get the horsepower would be to build a 350 using a truck block and heads from 96-2000. You get a roller lifter cam setup and the better vortec heads. Replace the cam and buy a new intake and upgrade your exhaust and you will have your 100 HP. Assuming the carb and ignition are good.
The vortec 350 truck engine already has a good compression ratio. You will need a different flexplate though. Get one for an 88 Camaro . Sorry I had to say that, but it is what you need. 87-92 Camaro V8 flexplate.
When I V8 my puny V6 Bird that is where I am starting, a 96-2000 350 truck engine. It is the most reccomended 350 engine to start with. Then choose to stroke it to a 383 or not. It requires a special intake with the vortec heads.
If you found a low mileage engine for fairly cheap this could be your best way to get your 100 HP. Then for a little extra I would look at rear gear ratios. Exhaust and gears do not neccessarily give you more horsepower but helps free up some and allows it to work for you better.
Make sure your shocks,springs, and brakes are good. Possibly upgrade front and rear swaybars to 36mm front and 24 mm rear and Consider subframe connectors and you could very well have a better handling car also.

 

Orrrrrr-use the 305 as a learning model and spend minor amounts of money just to get a feel of a how to on a SBC.But be very sure your going to set a limit on that setting your goals of a better situation.

I am sure you have seen time and again suggestions towards the LS series engines.They do over shadow the first gen engines for very good reasons.Although the buy in might seem high at first,it could be the best answer to your question in the long run.

 

thanks i appreciate that im still trying to learn these things. so new question my cousin has an engine from an 85 truck would that work

 

The 85 truck engine has the old style 2 pc rear main seal and the same style (hydraulic flat tappet) cam as you currently have. You can use it with your current flex plate. You would need to choose a hydraulic flat tappet cam and increase the compression ratio. To put a roller cam would require a retrofit fit cam and lifters. The heads it has are not nearly as good as the vortec heads from 96-2000.
You can easily put a cam that is better number wise than the 88 cam but the heads are not as good as the 88 heads. You need to decide what you are wanting. With this engine you lose the roller cam and the Vortec heads that the 96-2000 has. Yes you can bolt the Vortec heads onto it but they usually are not very cheap by themselves.
One question that keeps coming to mind is are you going to be happy with this engine or are you going to end up just wanting more and more. I wonder this because you want to beat that 88 now. What will it be next? If you will end up wanting more then the normal suggestion is LT or LS swap. Obviously the LS swap has more potential.

 

i really just want as close to 300hps as i can get and then im done

 

If you have your mind set on building up your 305, here are a couple of ideas...
http://www.hioutput.com/tech/343hp/343hp.html

http://www.hioutput.com/tech/400hp/400hp.html

 

LOL, that's what you think. I would bet $1,000 you'de get "bored of it" 4 months later and want the next modification on the chop-block.

Want to go fast? Save up your pennies, and do it right the first time. Getting decent horsepower takes money. There's no way around it. If it were me - I'd go buy a set of Vortec heads, a carb intake for it, and throw that Edelbrock carb away and go with a Holley mechanical secondaries. That and get a decent cam that works with your application... all for a 350, of course - or potentially even a 383 if money provides the minor cost offset.

What's that take? $$$$$$$$$$$$

 

so ive noticed so im getting some great ideas thank you all

 

LSx platform is defiantly a superior platform. I will not strip credit from the LSx's though, it is a better starting point than any Gen 1/Gen 2 SBC with greater potential.
With that being said, I just can't justify the overall cost/headache/downtime in doing it. For the price to have an LSx drive train running in a 3rd gen you could have a pretty bulletproof 450-500 horse small block/trans.

 

There is no replacement for displacement. Look for a 350 motor. the most you can get out of a 305 is 400hp. go to car-part.com plug in what your looking for, that will send you to junk yards that have the exact part you want. so a 1982-1992 GM 350 engine, sort it by distance, price, part grade, whatever you want. keep in mind what your stock transmission and rear end can handle.

 

WTF is cheap? I guarantee you what cheap is to me, is not cheap to you. or Vise versa.

You want a hundred more horses in a 305? There is no secret way the ancients used to add hp for no money. Its all going to cost something.

Your not going to get it from bolt ons. Forget about the 50$ bolt on pepboys open element intake. Forget about the Summit special magnaflow exhaust, forget about intake manifolds, headers ect. Even if you put all that into your car its still not going to make even close to 100 more hp and you will be at least 1000$ in the hole if you buy new.

You need to look at displacement, compression, and combustion. Heads, cam, ect. Thats going to make the power. You can get a decent set of heads nowadays assembled for under 1000$ a cam and valvetrain for under 500$. Once you take care of that your going to get a larger % gain from bolt ons. And will easily be on your way to over 100hp more.

Other routes...Motor swap, or power adders.

Once again, a simple shot of nitrous is going to be your cheapest bet no matter which way you cut it. Though I certainly wouldn't recommend it.

 

Why an 82-92 350?

If you are going to look for anything pre 87 you might as well go with a 400 small block. Then you'll be in it for the same price to run a roller setup or save a chunk of change running the flat tappet setup.

If it's being built on a tight budget I'd go with a 87+ 350. Displacement may be king (400 sbc) but you are going to be in it for more money or less reliability. Stock 400 bottom end isn't as stout as the newer 350's and the flat tappet cam/lifters aren't as good as the newer roller cam/lifters (not to mention breaking in a flat tappet cam is hit or miss if you haven't done it before).

 

I hope for your sake that he took you up on that bet because you already won. First he wanted 100 more HP now he is asking for 150 more.
As I said before what will be the next car he wants to be faster than.
We have been there before. I know mine when done will not be the fastest but it will be fun to drive and that is my whole goal.

 

Go ***** deep right off the bat. My stupid LT1 was originally supposed to be valve job, freshened up bottom end and a mild cam. Somehow in the mix up I ended up with a forged rotating assembly, billet main caps, direct port n2o kit, head studs, aftermarket cnc ported heads and a 236/244 .608"/.608" cam.
I went from wanting 350hp to 500+ NA hp in a matter of 2 weeks.

 

I started with an 355 using a pair of 882's and a XE274. That didn't last long, lol. I'm also making just under 500 HP now, and a huuuuge chunk of change later doing it all at once.

 

haha same boat. It all changed when I saw Jason Warren's n2o LT1 on youtube blowing 9's on 2 150 shot stages and driving home.

 

Most 350s are boat anchors. In fact any 87+ TPI 305 can outperform the VAST majority of 86 and earlier 350's. Not that you're wrong, but I think any non roller-cam small block is a complete waste of time.

 

or find an 88 or newer truck engine with an rv cam in it. slap it in. instant hp gain. posi rear end, if auto trans get a shift kit and a 2500 stall torque converter, 2.5'' or bigger exhaust and it will breathe 5 times better than the puny stock exhaust. if you can remove smog pump(if you dont need to pass emmisions) and ac if you dont mind the heat in the summer. less things that run off the crank the better.

 

88-95 truck engines have the terrible 193 swirl port heads. basically a larger chamber version of the 187 TBI heads on RS'es. They're horrible for power. Some factory 305 TPI cars make more power than the factory 88-95 truck engines.

And there are so many better cams out there than that "RV cam"...

 

Alittle dated,but pick one from the 108 combo's:

http://www.ryanscarpage.50megs.com/combos1.html

 

When you find the cheap horsepower fairy, please be sure to send her my way, I've got a hundred dollar bill and a great spot for a blown 589....

 

Ls3 and you're done.
Then once that gets old, twin turbo it, then 250 hp shot of nos.
As quite a few have already said, HP isn't free.
lighten the car that's cheap and the parts you take off can be sold to fund an engine build.

 

Those heads aren't that bad. They were designed for low end torque not top end high speed that's why noone likes them. Im putting out around 300 horses with my setup.

 

Well the fact is it will cost money and alot of it you can add 100hp but will require heads and a cam. intake and carb will support the added flow just fine. exhaust will add to it. honestly don't mess with the 305 beyond adding a cam. I've had great results using a selling mtc1 in 305's but beyond that its not worth it you will always wonder what you can do with a bigger engine.


Posted from Thirdgen.org App for Android

 

You got timeslips and weight numbers to back up that 300 horse figure?

They ARE pretty terrible. The only thing good about them is you get a decent compression ratio and good exhaust flow.

https://www.thirdgen.org/forums/tbi/...heads-why.html

You can do worse, though. As you said these things are GREAT at making low end torque. They promote great swirl which helps performance a lot, but the ramps they use really hurt total airflow numbers. With the good compression, the right cam, and good low end torque numbers Im almost curious if you can figure out a way to maximize their advantages and hit that power level.