Last summer the car was new to me so i tuned the engine with the parts in my sig and took it out to the drags. My little brother has a fiero running low 13's and my mid to high 17s were enough to give me the itch, but hard to brag about So with the tranny rebuilt and a rear end in the works Just a gear swap and posi for the 10 bolt likely(3.23 to 3.73) i can't afford the exhaust swap yet cuz my 87 has one more emissions test to pass at the end of this summer so i was looking for some low budget mods to pull down that time for this spring. $500+ and i get help with installs and gm parts at cost so fire away. don't worry about me at St. Thomas this summer, maybe next year I'll be a threat, but help me not to be the second car every time
Thanks, Tim

 

Sorry, in the face of discouarging those with LG4's, I'm not a fan of putting money into that engine. But, you can always hitch it to the back of one of these puppies!.......j/k.......



Monster Jam SkyDome 17 Jan 04;

 

Acutally, there is no harm in modding your LG4 with boltons... all of the parts you buy can be directly transferred to a 350 some time in the future, so you aren't losing anything. With an intake, a decent cam and headers... you could find yourself in the low 15s quite realistically and possibly high 14s.

 

Exactly

Start with some basics, make the car breath both in and out so headers are a good start on the one end and a K/N open element is another good one.

Intake would be good but again you got that EGR issue for emisions and all the good intakes dont have EGR.
U can get a EGR spacer that goes between the intake and carb for an external EGR, but in a bird your running into clearance problems with that stock hood.

U got a shift kit in that trany? How about a good tune up complete with good wires and a good coil? Syn oil?

 

I say JUICE it

 

I have the car breathing well thru the K&N and a modified airbox. The tuneup was done with parts in my sig good wires, NGK plugs and MSD cap and rotor. Got a corvette servo today and a bigger TV boost valve to put in the tranny, still not all done yet! Used the stage 2 of the Transgo kit. Bought semi syn oil for the last change so i guess i will go to Mobil 1 synth in the spring.
I don't want to spend too much on this motor but if anyone knows what intake bolts on to the LG4 to help it out i can't find where i read which one worked well. Basically any idea to get me through the summer a bit faster without putting in a new engine.

 

I think exhaust is your next step - headers and cat-back - and you can use that for another motor later.

I know you said you can't afford it but that's where you'll see the best improvement imo - even if you did intake, cam and heads it would still get plugged at the stock exhaust which, along with the single snorkle, are the biggest disaster areas with those cars.

Some LG4s have aluminum intakes which are better than the cast iron ones but I think most Canadian cars are cast. Your 87 may have flat top pistons which is better than the dish piston schitters in the older LG4s.

 

Well it sounds like i can't get around the exhaust if i want the car to perk up so i guess i will wait until spring, count my pennies and get the headers, hi-flow cat and cat back, feel free to make suggestions about what to pick. The car will likely run a carbed SBC as long as i own it so this seems a good time to choose carefully. i was thinking 1 5/8 to a single 3' real cat and catback but which ones? where to buy? to coat or not to coat? Stainless or just a cheapie? Thanks for the help! Really shouldn't go over $1200
Tim

 

IMO 1 5/8" Heddman Shorties and Y pipe are the best way to go... unless you are hardcore and want to run long tubes and fabricate a Y pipe.

 

Go for it Tim!!! Like Jay said..."IMO 1 5/8" Heddman Shorties and Y pipe are the best way to go... " If your planning to keep the car, and build it as you go. Go with the 1 5/8" long tube etc. Might as well spend the bit extra $$ on the better exhaust now, instead of buying the better header etc. in the future, and losing the $$ when selling the old stuff. If your really and truthfully planning on building this car over time, and are not ever expecting to sell it. Go for it!!!

Spend it once!! Not twice, and lose!!

 

note: The Heddman long tubes is not a direct bolt on on manual cars

Daz

 

That's what I was thinking - probably cost more money to install long tubes.

Heddman shorties are generally considerd to be good value for the money but here's some other stuff to look at:

http://www.ccfbg.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=1273

EDIT- these don't have AIR which may or may not be a problem for you.

 

Yeah, i love the car and i bought the plate (87 4MULA) so i guess i'll keep it forever and ever (wanted one since i was a kid and love all the toys , i could modify this thing with more stuff than i will ever understand, still don't know what half the stuff is but i'm having fun!)
Long tubes are worth the $? How much more, still hedman, need to coat them?
Before i pay for my local speedshop, where do you guys shop?
Thanks

 

Thanks George what does everyone think of these edelbrocks?
We are single income, lots of kids now and i don't mind saving a bit of coin and paying to upgrade later, hey its all loans anyway
Used would solve the problem for a while and the $ could be spent on a better catback
Tim

 

hedman long tubes kick ***. you can get a y-pipe made, but they should be used with dual exhaust though, it makes it easier and it results in better performance. if you dont go with the long tubes go with the hedman shorties. they are sweet too. edelbrock suck ***. dont buy them, they are way over priced.

as for the modding the 305, as long as you dont change any internals other than the cam, its not a waste of money, cause all the stuff goes onto a 350 or 400 just fine.

my car went 15.3 with a 8.5:1 305 with a cam, duals and a broken secondary air valve on the qjet (it was open all the time). this was on street tires and just leaving the car in D.

OR you could buy my flowtech shorties for 50 bucks.

 

Anyone run a real hi-flo cat? suggestions?, got to pass one more e-test and this will ease my conscience too. I want to get a 3" catback so any suggestions there would be appreciated, i don't mind loud when i got my rims (orig 87 formula 16" to replace the missing ones on my bird) the guy threw in tail pipes, chrome from the muffler back so i don't need those but...
Thanks all, man am i looking forward to spring!

 

i have never ever shoped for a cat, but the cheapest high flow is what i would get. maybe catco, i hear they are cheap. also, i hear the cats off the new style Chevy/GMC trucks flow better than most high flows. maybe you can grab one at the wreckers.

as for a good catback, they are super expensive here in canada. like over 400 bucks in most case (usually well more)

hooker catbacks are sweet. dynomax are good and cheapest.

what i would do is buy the 3 inch mandrel bent dynomax I-pipe and by a regular single in/single out muffler, like a hooker (100 bucks at CT, on sale sometimes for 80 bucks)

 

I have a set of headers with Y-Pipe if you want...(Edelbrock 1 5/8 without air) $300.00

 

I say save up for a engine swap, u need to get a real engine in that baby. but if u must mod and dont want to do an engine swap any time soon then i suggest only doing mods that u can use after u do a swap.

 

Hey Tim!

I've gotta grab myself a high flow 3" cat also for my etest this summer. I'll be making a trip across the border to grab one tho so I could grab you one also. How soon is your test?

I've got the Hooker 3" catback on my car. If you can wait another month or two I'll have my car out and you can hear what it sounds like. I also have a couple vids with sound you can listen to.

 

That sounds great. My only hope now is Performance World. I think I'm going Saturday Mar 5. Do you have a cost on the cat, i know 3" is overkill now but there is always another summer and an engine swap... Yeah i'll check out your exhaust this spring while your teaching me to Autocross Let me know about your journey south, probably be too hard to smuggle a whole cat-back eh?
Tim

 

Brad, did you wind up getting the Hedman FLT's?

 

oh yeah i got the hedman longtubes. i put them on last summer and got an h-pipe for my duals as well.

i like it. lots of clearance, they dont hang down below the stock oil pan.

 

I think the cats might only be like $100 at CT but not sure. Otherwise I know they can be had for $50 US easy across the border. As for smuggling car parts across... that's pretty much as easy as taking candy from a baby. Doubt I'll be going before the 5th tho, sry. Check out ebay... lots of 3" cats on there all the time and probably will still be cheaper with shipping and duty once it gets here.

 

Thanks i'll let you know what i do. Can't do much to the car right now anyway. Let me know when you pull your KYBs i need something up front anyway. Found BFG 16" Drag radials for the rear @ "Sam's" for $142ea that should help too, old ones were dry!

 

I'll be pulling the KYB's in about a month or so... basically as soon as I get the car out.

 

Any problems getting them to fit?

 

to get the passenger side in you have to take the starter off and then put it back on and bolt it in before you bolt the header to the head. the passenger side goes in from the top once the starter is off.

the drivers side takes a some swearing, but it can and will go in from the bottom.

 

How much should a cat-back cost and is stainless worthwhile? A
couple of suggestions please, i chose the flowtech headers as a realistic compromise for a limited motor, but i don't want to compromise on the rest of the exhaust cuz this 305 is not forever, but the car just might be! Thanks for all the help so far all!

:hail:

 

Personally, I wouldn't bother with stainless for anything other than tips. You can get the Flowmaster Force II kits for around $230 US but they're all single exit mufflers. They sound great. You could also piece together a system. Just get a 3" I pipe and over axle pipe, the muffler of your choice, some tailpipes, and tips. Borla finally released a F-car crossflow muffler in the Pro XS line. They're cheap, sound great, and look awesome too.

 

OK i know i will get a bunch of opinions on this but i got a quote from a local shop who does a lot of this kind of work. Let me know what you think about cost and quality, its just a quote so i'm not committed to anything but it sounds good to me.
i install my headers and deliver the car with my chrome tips in the car
he fabs a y-pipe into a magnaflow 3" hi-flo cat into a custom 3" aluminized cat back (he does stainless too but does not like it for this car "with the bends for the axle-lots of welds and pieces")
V-force dual outlet muffler (knock off Flowmaster) and he installs my chrome pipes (they come out of the muffler and look good, got them free from the guy i got my rims from)
$650 + tax
Kinda lazy i guess to get this done but i don't get that much time to putter and that cat alone is $300 from PartSource
Whaddaya think?

 

magnaflows are nice cats, but too much. find a cheaper cat and tell him to put it on. there is place on clark road that will do a catback for 180. there is a guy from London, goes the name 88305tbi that got one from there and was pretty happy with it i think. i think he supplied a performance muffler.

 

just dump 100hp juice on and have fun....remember if your are getting headers.....get them for your future plans, a 383 or 400 small block like the 1 3/4 headers, the slp stainless are mint....thick flanges, i had a set, never leaked....reused the gaskets even about 5 times.....and the lower flange is a 2 bolt flare flange which means.....no collector gaskets to blow out, all depends how much you want to do to it in the future really

 

made the decision not to cam this motor, too many things i would want to do "once its apart anyway" so the engine is going to run as is with some help to the carb and flowtech headers. The next engine will be...? so why drown an LG4 with 1 3/4 for a couple of years only to pull the whole deal and have tied up $ on non air and non coated (no $ now) headers. This exhaust should run for a few years with no winters and no short trips. The magnaflows thru ken only run 175 alone so costed in they are not that much and with the hope of lots of motor down the road it seems ok to spend an extra 50 bucks or so. Thanks for the feedback tho, helps me think and i still need to hammer out the details with the guy so...:hail:
Tim

 

finally test drove the car with tranny mods and it was sweet! Got a few other little mods done too, can't wait til spring. Found another guy in town to match the out of town deal on the exhaust i mentioned. No rush on that tho, now i wait for my seat belt recall Wonder how long that'll take? Not gonna miss my corsica!