i have an 85 trans am with 38k miles and i took it to my local track friday night completly stock. the track was really crowded so i knew i wasnt going to get many runs so i had to make my first run really good and i rever raced before so i was really nervous my first run was a 15.5 at 88mph with a 2.2 60foot then my second run i got a 15.3 at 89 with a 2.1 60foot. i thought the 15.3 was good for being stock and i never raced before. im gong back down this friday and i got a new airfilter and i removed the box new spark plugs and flushed my trans ported my plentum and a fuel pressure regulator. do you think i can get a 14.9 or 14.8 with these mods.

 

As of Saturday Sept 7th, 14.032@96mph! Auto trans and 2.73's. 305 cars will run and run well with tuning and a few odds and in.

 

just from a cone filter on the MAF, porting the plenum, and a AFPR i doubt youll see 14.9. you may see a tenth or 2 but who knows, all cars respond to mods differently. get that cat back you were talking about and youll definately hit 14s. just a few suggestions - 1) try bumping up your timing in small increments until you detect knock retard (measure using a scan tool), then back off it a little. youll want to have good gas in the tank, too. also, GM released an updated ESC module for TPI cars that wasnt as sensitive to knock as the stock one. i cant remember the part #, but ill check and post it if interested. 2) remove your spare and jack and run with 1/3 or 1/4 tank of gas to save weight 3) if you didnt do this already, run with your rear tires deflated to about 20psi, and pump up your fronts to about 40psi. this technique has enabled my Vette to get 1.94 60fts on stock radials. 4) bypass the coolant going through your throttle body. this will keep the plenum cool, as the hot coolant running through the TB heats it up real good. ill be tuning my Vette Wed and Thurs so if you want to borrow my scan tool or need help with anything, let me know. good luck and ill see you Friday!

 

Thats good for a 1985 305 TPI. The air must have been awsome. With the mods that u are planning on doing for next friday I dont think that u will get into the 14s. If the air is good next time u go u might see a 15.0-15.09 id say.
Dont be suprised if u do worse next friday, that air could be crap.
Good luck man.

 

I am always reading about everyone with a 305 TPI running in the mid 15's. I dont know what is wrong with my car, but my best time so far was 16.06. It is a 305 with the LB9. My mods are flowmaster exhaust, accel 24# injectors and a cold air intake. If anyone knows what could be hurting my times i would appreciate any suggestions.

 

my auto 305 does 14.9@90mph with headers, cat back and free mods.

 

To much fuel! You are choking the car with them 24#'res. You should swich back to the 19#'s.

 

Do you think that it could be hurting my times that much? I have a afpr and I tuned it to specs, but I dont know if it would make a differance. The reason I changed them is I was only getting 10 miles to the gallon and the tips were broken. I decided to go with the bigger once in case I put a lot more into my car and I didn't realize that you need all of the PROM burning equipment.

 

hey thats good, thats what i ran... exactly, look in the sig... nice run... i have whatever "upgrade" that are in my sig... next summer comes the full exhaust... cant wait.. maybe a tb... dunno
anyway.. nice run... i wana get to 15 flat... then put the exhaust on... i might port the plenum, would a dremmel do a good job of that? its a 38,000rpm dremmel, and if its good, what bits do i need to get? thanks guys.. and any other tips would help.... gotta make this a post

 

It doesn't need that much gas. Get some good 19# injectors for now.

 

look at my sig. for my best time.

Thats was with a .7 R/T & a 2.4 60ft, it was also about 90 degrees & some driver error

I know and can get better than that

 

reading through i see most of you have the same suggestions, but tpivette89, sorry i don't agree with everything your telling him. you mentioned about the jack and spare tire, also a low tank of fuel. well, the spare tire and jack, sure but its not going to change his time, and the fuel, again, won't change it. actually i've found in my 88 iroc that if i run less than a half tank of gas i lose traction. and about the coolant bypass.....(BULLS$%T!!) that doesn't do anything......i dont care who tells me it does....it doesn't, espicially in his case where the car is friggin stock. and droping is rear tire pressure down....if anything on stock style tires fill 'em with air, whatever the max rating is do it.....dropping your tire pressure, (i've found), actually hurt my times.

If you want to make your trans am run with the 5.0 stangs and have some respect, stick to the old favorites.....everything that the old timers did to their classic muscle cars can be applied to your 3rd gen.....
1) do what most people have been saying, new exhaust from headers back...the stock system is not worth the metal its made from, also try an exhaust dump mounted right BEFORE the cat, on my old stock 305 it was worth a little more than a tenth and a half, but that was with the headers installed, and if you run headers, please get them jet-hotted
2) timing, an awesome way to gain a few, it bascially tricks the car into thinking it has more cam than it really does, (in not so many words)(i found when i was running my tride and true 305 still that an additional 8-12 degrees was good, depending on wheather conditions, that additional timing was based from stock)
3) build the ram-air system on this page...trust me it really works...i was running my 383 TPI off that system and hitting 12.10's consistent, and the only reason that i had to ditch it was because i'm running an intercooled ATI Pro Charger now
4) and the best one yet, just work on your reaction time, and get to know your car, because i'm still pissed that i still don't hold the best e/t in my own car.....

 

I had my best 60'(1.88), & ET(13.19) with stock rear suspension & 235/55R16 Bridgestone radials @ 22psi & 5 gals of gas in the tank.

 

i went a couple of weeks ago for my first time to the track and ran a 15.583 @88.58 w/ a 2.308 60'... all stock... 305, 2.73 rear

 

My time and mods are in my sig. It wierd, most people say that I should be running faster than I am. But some people say thats fast for a 305. Who knows?

If things go right tonight, I'll be driving the 305 with Torquer heads, LT1 Intake, LT1 cam and Fastchips chip.

 

i ran a 9.7 @72.5 mph at the local high altitude (uncorrected) track. this computes to a 15.1-15.05 , this was with a super crappy 2.35 60ft. with a 2.1-2.0 60ft. im sure i can get a 9.4-9.5 this is mid-high 14's. my mods are in the sig

 

Traction limited 14.6@95mph (2.25 60' time) with my old 160k mile 305. Car ran great, burned a littl e oil, but still did good. With Nittos I think it would've ran 14.3s or so. Had headers,cutout, MSD, airfoil, pump, AFPR, and a T56/3.42 combo. Now it should go a little faster



*305's CAN run!!!

 

Ok get this.. I have a 1988 T/A with 305 TPI.. It has custom long tube edelbrok headers and y-pipe. 2 3/4 pipe high flow cat flowmaster muffler, mild cam don't know what it is tho it came with the car, idles kinda rough now with the exaust.. Guess that brought the cam to life.. slp runners, K&N intake, TB bypass, gutted MAF, The guy I bought it from says it has an after market chip, dunno if it does or not.. I ran around a 16.50 at the Gator Nationals Race Way in Gainsville Fl.. With about a 2.00 sec 60 foot time.. Dunno for sure I don't have the slips here with me.. It's kinda slow starting off. And if im in over drive just cruising around at around 40 to 55 and barley give it a little gas to speed up it kinda bogs and shakes the hole car.. Dunno whats wrong.. I think something might be wrong with the electrical sysytem.. fixing to put in an ignition control box "probrably cran cams" new coil, distributor, wires and plugs.. maybe that will help... Any info or advice would be very helpful.. Thanks...

 

There is definitely something wrong when any TPI car cannot run in the 15s at least. Dreamstate, you have the right components to be turning low 14s. Do you get any trouble codes? Have you checked your TPS voltage or MAF sensor? You said it idles rough, maybe it has a vacuum leak. You may want to check your timing also.

 

Yeah, I kinda figured something was wrong when I saw all these people with stock 305's "TPI" running 15's.. No I get no error codes and I have checked all vacum lines.. I found one with a huge hole and replaced it.. nothing changed, it just shifted a little harder.. Timming has not been checked but the distributor is being replced anyways so I'll probrably check it before I take the old one off just to see.. It's weird tho, cause it starts out slow then when the rpm's get a little higher it kinda takes off then when the rpms are really high in 1st it's feels like it doesn't have the horse power to speed it up more even tho it is speeding up just not very quickly like I think it should, then shifts into 2nd and throws the back end out from under you like it's fixing to rocket... I don't know I'm gonna keep working on it.. thanks for the help..
o yeah and the rough idle thing is a cam type rough idle.. The good kind you know whump,,,,whump,,,,whump,,,...

 

dream state. oi beleive it may have a lot to do with your long tube headers, they are for high horsepower cars, and they rob low end torque from cars that cant use that much top end power. a guy around here had an modded lt1 that could beat me by a car car and a half, he payed $1600 for some hooker long tubes, installation , and fabrication. Then i raced him after i got my headers and took him by a car..... he asked me what i did to it since last time, i told him....... "headers":sillylol: a car needs cam/head/intake work to be able to take advantage of long tube headers. just my .02

 

yeah the headers were my first thought but the problem started before the headers were put on.. But i did lose a little.. they arn't really long time, I had edelbrok make them custom.. Its hard to have long time headers on a T/A and still have ground clearance, espcially with a 1 inch drop on the car.. I knew I would lose some HP tho the car is still in work and I know they will come in handy later.. ike after the heads...

 

look at time in sig
that was my first time at the track and the day was almost perfect

 

i ran a best of 14.23 at 97 mph on a 2.0 60' with my 305 and i didnt even have the headers on it so i know with a good launch and the right day it would have gone high 13's easily

 

jer how are u outrunning LT1's with very little in the mod's and with only running high 14's. the GT stangs i also find hard to believe after seeing what one can do from a roll, it was new maybe ur talkin about older ones. i'm tellin u 305 guys, i been there done that, nothin compares, but i respect you and will never bash u for tryin to build up ur 305's. and TPItrans, those mods prob. wont put u that low, unless the conditions are perfect and ur driving is really good, but like TPIvette said with catback it should put u pretty close, and if u really wana see take out all extra wait incase u already haven't thought of that, seats, spare, jack, stereo equipment(if any extra) and junk in the back or w/e.


and good luck!!!!

 

listen to me i have had my share of races with these cars i dicussed
i have race quite i few GTs and lt1s
i have one some and i have lost some
but i have plenty of people see me beat a couple of these
i dont know if it was bad driving on there part but ive won my share

i have raced both new and old gt stangs

my fav was an 88 gt 5 speed said it would be a waste of gas to run me because he could beat my friend in his 98 ram air and he would not race for fun only money
but when i started my car he said ok i will run you

we line up and we both hit it i pull on him right off the line and keep gaining on him then my friend in the 98 blew right past both of us

i was laughing my @$$ off at him and i raced him 2 more times and still beat him
and he had work done

 

and y did you steal my avtar

 

FUGK...I was suppose to go to Sac Raceway tomorrow but the radiator blew. Cant go now $#!^ $%&#%#%

 

well as i find this hard to believe, i will agree that bad driving with the LT1's had to be a factor, and sry about the avatar, i didn't know it was ur's this is the first post i've ever seen of u, guess i will have to go avatar hunting again.

 

na man it cool
i like poppie

 

Ok I found the problem.. It seems my ignition system has been messed up since I bought the car over a year ago.. I am replacing the ignition system and should have very good results.. I fixed the ignition problem on just one of the cylenders and ran a 15.8, down from a 16.5. Jst thought I would let ya'll know...

 

Has anyone here used the LT1 cam in there 305 TPI. I hear that they work well and I was thinking about trying one out in the 305. I would like to hear from someone who has put the LT1 cam in. Does anyone have any info on this cam in the 305 TPI.

Thanks

 

i havee a friend running 14.5 in his S10 305TPI truck witrh a 2.2 60' with a LT1 cam. Alli know hje had to do was machine off some lil **** on tye cam or something.

<<==\\ will get mroe detials when NOT drunk

 

Cool. Has anyone done the LT1 cam mod here.
What kinda results did u get.

Thanks

 

I thought I read somewhere on this board that the grind on the LT1 cam is the same as the grind on the late 305 / 350 TPI cams. Did I miss something?

 

Ok it's been awhile but the car is running a lot better now.. It's amazing how much little things effect your power.. pulled a 14.83 today @97.4.. Much better than that 16.5 @85..

 

A buddy of mine switched to the LT1 cam in his LB9 and gained .5 !!!... I think thats pretty cool if you consider the "cheapness" of this mod. I´m doing my LT1 cam this winter.
As for the LT1 grinding issue... try using a cam from a ´93 fbody, on all the other LT1 cams you´d have to grind down the pin a little.

 

i know this is an old post but there is some questionable stuff here.

First off, for the coolant bypass visit http://www.ws6.com/mod-8.htm dynos dont lie, and and engine is an engine is an engine and hot air is hot air

second... Just try pumping up your tires to max inflation and launching lol.. ill go do that.. 44 psi.. yep should hook real well. The surefire approach is to play around with pressure i would start in the high twenties, find a spot where you can lay a little rubber. Launch and then check out your launch marks.. too low a pressure will leave darker marks at the edges of the tread pattern. Too high and it will get thinner and only be in the center. You want an even black stripe, ive thought of maybe trying chalk on the tread aswell.


third, reaction time has nothing to do with ET. The ET timer isnt tripped until the car crosses the beams.. reaction time is the time it takes from green to where your car crosses those beams.

 

The TB bypass is worth some power...besides seeing the actual dyno tests, this is common sense. The ONLY reason that GM set it up that way was so that there wouldn't be any "freezing up" or driveability issues with the TPI in EXTREMELY cold climates. A cooler engine makes more power....cooler temps make the air/fuel mixture more dense, and ALL OTHER THINGS BEING EQUAL, cooler engine will make more power.


As for the traction issue... if you're spinning that bad off the line w/ radials, you're giving it TOO much off the line. I see this time and time again, and I am guilty of it as well. It takes the proof of a lower 60ft time ( and thus a lower ET ) to convince our minds that we don't need to leave the line with it braked up and screaming

My IROC was run before the headers and some other tweaks, and it does NOT have posi. With the 275/40/17 KDWS tires, it's a bear to catch any traction. I ended up leaving a BIT above idle and then backing off when it started to spin...and my best 60ft was a 2.1

I'm very confident that with some practice in the car, lowering the air pressure in the tires, air bag in a spring, I can get a 1.8-1.9 60ft out of it. And THIS ALONE is worth an EASY .4-.5 in the 1/4 miles.

I've seen TONS of articles in the magazines saying why it's BAD to lower the air pressure in radials for traction, blah blah blah. They are regurgitating info that applied back when 50 and 40 series HARD COMPOUND tires WERE NOT EVEN IN PRODUCTION.


Every car is different, as is every driver and damn near every track.


That's why some guys tell about the stock cars that ran this ET at the track, and another guy sees his post and calls BS, because those same type of cars at HIS tracks are running slower.


And coming from someone who grew up street racing for extra income ( I'd never do this now, and where I grew up was WAAAY in the boonies, where you could find PLENTY of roads where you'd hardly EVER see another car on the road late at night..it's still WAY too dangerous ) I've learned a few valuable lessons from some smart racers / tuners over the years.


TUNING... I used to know a guy that said he'd ONLY change or mod his car doing the cold months. That way when it was time to start racing, he'd TUNE that PARTICULAR combo to it's fastest ET, and then NOT change the combo. Too many people go to the track ( I've done it too... ) then after to talking to other people ( isn't the internet great.. ) think their car is slow, so they start buying and installing parts..all the while, not realizing that they never got the BEST time out of the initial combo they had.

This is the reason I've seen one guy drive a car and go 13.50's...and another car has the SAME IDENTICAL car and runs 13.01.... One isn't that much of a better or worse driver, it's just that one of them took the time to keep experimenting with what makes the car launch better, and thus get down the track faster.

All tires are different. And Drag Radial types not withstanding, most newer lower profile radials are sometimes very hard to get any traction. Experiment with different air pressure settings without changing ANYTHING ELSE. If you bump the fuel pressure, or launch / shift at a different RPM, you'll never know if the air pressure helped or hurt you. ONE CHANGE AT A TIME.


Don't have a posi? Use a Airlift air bag in pass rear coil spring to help traction. Again, playing with different air pressure settings in the bag and the tires will help.

Unhook the front swaybar from the frame. Just unbolt it and let it hang...if you're trying to squeek out that last tenth..I've seen this mod ALONE worth a tenth on a car.

Liquid traction aid is great too... Just make sure your track is okay with it. I learned this tip from a old fart a LONG time ago...he took a wiper washer pump from the junkyard and hooked one up on each side of his trunk, down near the 1/4 panel. The then drilled a small hole on each side and ran plastic tubing so it pointed to the rear tires. He kept VHT in a radiator overflow jug in the trunk. Hooked a vacuum line up, and a switch. All he had to do was turn it on and it would spray the tires / ground with VHT. MOST people NEVER caught on, and it was impossible to see if you weren't looking for it. I did this in my 67 SS Chevelle back then.

It MADE me a ton of money on the street. I would run someone, spinning badly, maybe JUST beating the guy because I had no traction, so his buddy with a faster car would jump on me. After the money was exchanged, I'd soak the tires with the pump, do a BIG BURNOUT, and those cheap radials were suddenly gooey, hot and ready to stick

If traction is a BIG problem, try relocating the battery to the pass rear compartment. Helps traction by putting some weight back there, and also helps take off by reducing sprung weight on the front wheels for better weight transfer.

Hot wire your fan(s) to come on with a toggle switch. This is GREAT for the track... lets you keep the engine fairly cool, even when going straight back to the staging lanes from your last run.

Ice the intake. This is good for a TPI car, as WELL AS A CARBED CAR!!! I couldn't tell you how many crazy looks me and my buddy used to get icing the intake in my BBC powered Chevelle. It didn't make the car run any faster than it's best time, and was only worth time on the hot days...BUT it helped us see what the car was going to do when the air cooled off as night fell. I've seen TONS of guys hooking GREAT...until the sun goes down, temp drops, air cools off, now all of a sudden NO TRACTION....

Sorry for the long post, hope someone got some info from it..


HTH

Later

 

Right on Chris, I agree 100%

 

Setting my car up for NHRA Stock Eliminator Wanted to see what I can get out of the stock 305 TPI Before I Rebuild it to Stock Specs. When done will see around 11.90 to 12.10. 305's are good motors just a little weak on the top end. My 1/8 mile was 8.893 and 1/4 was 14.210 @ high elevation. So they are good, talk to Crane Cams for the cam shaft and they will help you out.

 

I ran my Iroc the other night for the first time. 1/8th mile only 305TPI with 3:42's. Ran 9.41 to 9.45 all night with 2.1 60ft times at 73Mph. Car has 145,000 miles on it but runs excellent. Only mods are a cat-back, pressure regulator, and a matched set of 19pd injectors. I was VERY surprised to get that much out of it, I was expecting 9.6 to 9.7's.