I'm wondering, what kinda stuff can I do to milk some extra power out of my '84 Z28's 305? I mean, I've gone and removed A/C, cleaned up the carb and made it work right (Thanks fivekid, the Carb cleaner was a hellza lot cheaper), changed plugs, wires, distributor, rotor, starter, Power Steering pump ( I know this drains a bit of HP, but I just got a new pump on there, and, its kinda nice having PS so its gonna stay). What kinda stuff can I start on a Sat night and finish on a Sunday night? And what kinda gains am I gonna get? Yeah, I use my car for every-day driving, but I'm gonna start racing brackets at the local drag strip, and I'd like ta get some nice, 'consistant' performance gains. And I'd like ta get make her go just a little bit faster, but I think I'ma save up and get a ZZ4 Fastburn 385 (Is that a good idea??), so until then, I just wanna play with it, but not pull the engine, or change the cam, or the carb or anything. So, any little performance tips, or mods I can do to it without having it on Jack Stands for a week would be EXTREMELY welcome

Thanks

Adam

 

Somebody listened to me, and it helped? Amazing!

If you're talking about an LG4, the single-snorkel air cleaner is very restrictive. Get or make a dual snorkel, open element if nothing else.

Look over the q-jet tips in the tech articles if you haven't already. There's power in them thar' pages.

After that, exhaust has to be opened up, from the heads to the rear bumper. Even L69 or LB9 exhaust manifolds with a 2-1/4" to 3" y-pipe and 3" cat back would be better than what you've got. Headers are the real trick, though. They'll even work on and help that ZZ4.

Beyond that, you're going to have to do cam, heads, etc. If you're serious and close to the engine upgrade, that's the better route at that point.

(Love the way mine runs, though...)

 

I got that Dual Snorkel Air Cleaner, though, I don't have any of the snorkel peices, you know, the hoses, but I got 2 snorkels comin out of it, I wanna get the thing Chromed I think it looks good in there. But yeah, the Headers were somthing I was looking into, those replace the manifolds, right? And if so, what about all the emissions crap? Cause I was gonna run like 3" pipe straight back, bypass emissions, and pop on a 80 Series Flowmaster, but I wanna know what headers you suggest. But, theres nothin else I can do, simple stuff, that'll gain me any HP? I mean, just replacing stuff, cause If I'm gonna be gettin a new cam and what not, I'm just gonna put it in the ZZ4, no sense in me pullin my engine out for that, plus if I get headers, I can always move um over to the ZZ4 (Though the upgrade to the ZZ4 is somewhere in the future, cause I got other stuff to deal with currently) But I was also reading Chevyluvas post, and everyone was saying SFC's, which one of those 2 should I buy from Spohn? And are the both the same? OH! Another thing, would it even be worth it to buy a 350 SBC from a guy I know for $425? What could I do to that, its come out of a Camaro or a Trans Am/Firebird.... but, I dunno if that has the potential I want. But it would be a good working condition 350, he has a bunch, but I figure anything would be better than a '84 Stock 305
But, I dunno if its worth it, cause I dunno what I could do with it (I don't yet know enough about engines, but the bottom line is, is that if I bought the 350, It'd be in my garage next to my Fiero, and I'd mess with it all the time, and the knowledge I could gain from it may be worth more than $425, so, I dunno, but I wanna learn so freakin bad that its almost unbearable, and its not like my engines gonna blow up anytime soon, she runs well, cept for when the choke was sticking.) But I would work on the thing for a while, you know, messing with it here and there, doing all the things I've always wanted to do, buying all the parts I've wanted, and so on a so forth. But I really don't want TPI or TBI, I HATE them things (My Fiero has TBI, ain't THAT bad, but its only got 1 injector and its a pain in the ***).

Also found some of those wheels I Was lookin for, that same guy that wants to sell me the engine has um, there on a Firebird and hes gonna sell um to me for $150, for all 4 and they all look straight, so My car will have ROUND wheels!!! OMG!!! So, I really need ta know about those SFC from SPOHN, and what kinda shop would put um in? Kewl, thats it for now Thanks 5

Adam

 

Installing headers won't be an overnight job. However, if you want more power out of your motor right now but want to get a new motor down the road, don't spend your money twice...get parts you'll be able to transfer/use on the other motor. I'd definately start with exhaust because the stock exhaust is crap and you'll need it anyway the a crate motor you dropping in. A good 3" catback and cutting off the cat will do the trick along with a set of good headers with 1 3/4 primaries (again think about that 350 you're putting in later). After that maybe a carb, an intake, a good ignition...again those will help you now and you'll be able to reuse those. After that, I would't sink anymore money into your current motor.

 

Get headers and a cat-back. Took my brother and I 6 hours to install my headers. I'd recommend the Hooker cat-back as well.

 

Do you have ta pull the engine outta the car to install the headers?? Oh yeah, whats the advantage of having a CAT Back system rather than having Flowmaster Exhaust and 3" pipe runnin to the back?

Adam

 

With most headers you don't have to raise the engine. The longest part was moving stuff out the way and getting the manifolds off. Then don't worry about a cat-back if you already have 3" pipe running, that's what a cat-back is basically.

 

I don't have the pipe yet, just wondered, wouldn't it be cheaper to run pipe back? And whats the advantage of the Hooker Muffler over the FLowmaster?

Adam

 

if your running an automatic i'd deffinitly consider installing a higher stall torque converter. they make bracket racing alot more fun since getting off the line quick is a big deal for that kind of racing and the track is usually prepped for it. i also agree with the headers and cat back system. great idea and it'll allow you to hear the engine better when your racing.