my friends drives an 87 GTA with the 305 LB9 and an automatic trans (second owner replaced the manual with automatic.) and i drive an 88 RS with the L03, what would it take for me to get my car quicker than his. he's done mild mod's, flo-master cat-back, and he says he's got a cold air intake but i'm not to sure about that. I'm running an open element and will be replacing my stock catback soon. so what else would i need to put me over the top other than big mods such as new headers or throttle body. he hasnt touched his timing cause frankly i'm not sure he knows anything about it, would advancing my timing to 4 put me over the top?

 

Putting your timing at 4 should be fine, mine is around 3-4. Headers are your best bet probably without getting too deep. You could also look into roller rockers.

 

His car runs 15.2's stock according to car and driver 87. Your car stock if I can remember ran a 15.9 in motor trend 90. 88 and 89 tbi cars gave the same performance. So id say a good cat-back,headers,intake manifold, 3.73's along with what you already have and you got him. I realize you dont want to touch headers but they are a MUST for any lg4/lo3 car. Good Luck

 

Dewey316 ran 14.5 with 3.42 gears, full exhaust (headers back), and chip work. The exhaust, tune, and stock cam are the biggest bottlenecks of the LO3. You will need to pattern your car the same to see similar results. Some cat-back and open elements have hit 15.3's.

 

Ya a cam swap would proably give you 35-40 extra horses. You gotta hate that stock cam.

 

With tuning and fueling mods yes.

Yes it is lame but Dewey did run a best of 14.5 with it.

 

True, but mid 14's does not impress me like it use to.

 

I can respect that. Stick with an LO3 for six years and you may change your mind

 

I know what you mean. I remember the lg4 days.

 

thanks for all the help guys. what's a good cam for my car and how much is it gonna run me aprox?

 

a good starting cam would be an LT1 cam.you can get them pretty cheap on ebay.I think that with some 1.6 rockers you'll do some good damage to the Lb9.

 

There is a local guy with a NICE LB9 car. It is gorgeous. It ran a 16 at Bristol (Thunder Valley). I ran a 16.5. He had a Hypertech, K&Ns, Flowmasters, MSD ignition, and some other stuff. I had a K&N in the stock intake and Flowmasters. Not the cat back, just the muffler. Since then I installed a posi 3.23 (vs the open 2.73), open element K&N, and a Jet II. I am going to run him this spring and see if I can beat him. I hope to get some SLP headers, but I might go LS1, so that would be useless in the future. I might get might catback in, but I may not do headers til I can get the LS1. I think that I can take him this spring. What do you guys think?

 

a 16 in an LB9 sounds slow... but what do i know.
thanks for all the feedback guys, i'm lookin into getting some rocker arms and and LT1 cam off ebay. from what i've gathered the rockers dont seem to tough to install, not sure about the camshaft though, does anyone have any experience doing this themselves?

 

go to the tbi board.Shifty has a tech article explaining how to put an LT1 cam in.just remember to get your tuning squared away once you put the cam in.

 

Ya I thought that sounded a little slow. He may need a tuned up soon. I know the 86 LB9 cars were alot slower beacuse of the lg4 cam but even those ran mid 15's.

 

I though so too. But, then again we were at Bristol, and it is high. An LS1 that ran 13.3s at a lower elevation track ran a 13.7 there. I could get better track times in my LO3 at a lower track. I hope.

 

Try a TBI 2.8 (120 HP/160 ft/lbs) in a 4,500+ lbs 4x4 GMC S15 Jimmy with an automatic, a headwind and the A/C on. 2nd gear at 4,000 rpm, 12 MPG and 55 mph all day long.

 

I would actually go with the B-body LT1/Vortec Truck cam.

 

A buddy of mine used to have one of those and to this day I have not riden in a slower vehicle.

 

Ever been in a mid 90s s-10 with a 4 cylinder and an auto? May have that beat but, if not try a 1977 ford pickup with 3.55s and 35in tires with a 1988 300-6 turning them.

Getting up to 70 mph was insane in this truck and pretty much as fast as it will go. I once had it up to 90mph down a very big hill while having it on the floor for a good 1/4/1/2 mile before i ever hit the downhill slope lol.

 

Chip (tbichips.com or better), posi, gears, exhaust

If the car is in good condition, that should get you there.

 

I Own Both and i do little work to the lo3 so im not to sure what hooks them to be fast. But ive done minor work to the Lb9 and its a dang rocketship so better chech into whats under the hood of the lb9.