OK, I imagine this has been asked about 10,000 times but I cant get a clear cut answer. This is for a 350 TPI. After headers and a nice set of exhaust, what should be modified next and next and so on and so forth. I hear people talking about new runners, intake, heads, cam, this and that, but they all say "but if your engine is stock, this will not benefit you and may hurt performance." Well, I need to know what I need to do to gradually become a beast. Keep in mind I am also looking for cheaper things first too. I am only 17 and make $5.15 an hour. I'm on a budget. I need to stay under about $1500 or so (Ive saved some money.) I would imagine I should get some new K&N air filters or something. I am new to third gens. Please dont flame me and tell me to go do a search because Ive looked and didnt find exactly what i needed, which is why a made this new topic. Thanks, and Please -- any info is appreciated.

 

This is what worked for me:


My 89 Iroc

 

Let's see well I hope I can help you out some here. You definately are correct about getting headers and exhaust first. That is always the best place to start. I guess in reality it all depends on how fast you eventually want to go and how much of the work you can do yourself or with a friend. Machine shops and places like that cost an arm and a leg for parts and labor. If you want to stay cheap, then find a friend who can help you do some things. Most people's answers will probably be to get new heads and cam next. There are a ton of different ways to go about that and best way is to choose your heads first and then go about getting a cam. There has been articles in the top chevy magazines that say that the Holley Stealth Ram intake is a good upgrade to a stock TPI. It will push your powerband higher though and make it pull alot harder, but you'll lose some of the torque that our TPI intakes make. The TPI makes so much though that really I dont think you'll feel too much of an adverse affect using the HSR. The Holley Stealth Ram only costs 500 bucks complete with fuel rail and AFPR. Im pretty sure they bolt right up to the L98 heads and will be ok with most aftermarket heads in the future. Those are the big things you can do but there are a few small things too. GO HERE first https://www.thirdgen.org/newdesign/tech/tpimod1.shtml That is one the tech articles of this website. There you will find the things to do first for your car. If you just got the car, it may be in need of a tuneup. If your car is not in good tune first, then all other mods you do after wont be to their full potential so I suggest that. Now that I think about it, start with most of the things in that article and you'll see a pretty good difference with how your car runs. It wont be the beast you want it to be yet, but it is a damn good start. I know you didnt want to hear about doing a search but there is an amazing amount of info to cram your head with on this website. Before I got my 83 Z28 and now my 88 Transam GTA, I hated cars. After doing research EVERY night on this website, Im very happy with all I know about cars now. Im glad to hear though that being the age you are that you arent taken in by all that fast and furious crap we see all too much today. Dont get me wrong, some imports are quick but the majority of them arent. You're on the right track. Im sure other people will be able to help you some more. Do your research and ask questions. Good luck.

 

#1, get a better job and quick cause in this hobby, $$$ makes ya run fast.
#2 Free mods... You didnt say if you had a bird or a camaro? Whichever, a CAI for the Bird or cutting of the air boxes on the Camaro are good ideas... next, plenum porting. You can pick one up already done on ebay or in the classifieds for various prices. Or you could get a untouched one and port that one out and then swap it out with the old one, and port that one!! (thats what im doing). Or, you could have your car down for a day and port the one you have now.. All you need is a dremmel, and what i like to call, a "cutting tin can" and some free time. It doesnt take much, but after its all done, its something that you did. Then i would go with a high flow base, because that would be the biggest restriction for 350's. Then as more money comes in, work up to heads, cam, new intake, custom PROM (chip) burning,... etc.. you should gain a lot of info by just reading the tech articles and listening to what people say about mods.

 

Yea, I'm not a big fan of 4-bangers. My friend has a ,95 Civic. It's Ok but he just put new exhaust on it and it sounds like its farting in a tin can. It sounds horrific. This just strengthens my bond to a healthy V8 with pure American muscle. So, I guess I'll get all the little stuff done first, that shouldnt cost too much money. Then I'll get a tune up. After that I should get an intake, cam, and heads. Is there a paticular order I should get them in or should I do that all at once? Is there some kick *** combo of the 3 that work well together? Also does boring the engine help that much? Can you put a bigger crank in it? Also, I hear people say "power means nothing if you cant put it to the pavement". So how do I prevent unwanted wheelspin? Thanks for the replies, you guys are a big help.

 

depends on what kinda money you are willing to spend...

There are tons of cams out there, and heads too for 350's...
Cheapest i would think would be an LT1 cam and a Worlds SR heads... to the most expensive would be afr 190 with a ZZ409 cam.. i dont know how well they work with eachother.. your gunna have to do a search on different set ups. Also, suspension wise, spirngs, lower control arms(LCA), Torque arm, Panhard par, Subframe connectors is a must!(SFC), and for the front, a Strut Tower brace(STB) and a Wonderbar. Also, bigger gears(numericly) like 3.42's would be good right now. Wide, sticky tires are a good idea to plant the power, and help handling. Suspension tunning is more up to you. Do you want a G-machine, a car that is all around 100% awesome, a drag car, which is just for the strip, a corner carver, for SCCA racing, or just a basic street car that will see some time at the track?

 

In the end I would like my car to run mid to high 13's. It will still be my daily driver. I will do the occasional runs at the drag strip and also stoplight to stoplight races on Main Street. As for the money, I think I'll have about $1500 (probably a little less) to toy around with at first. Money wont come easy after that. And is all that suspension stuff that necessary? I dont want to do road courses or anything like that. I dont know if I have said that I dont have the car yet... I'm in the process of selling my 1972 Lemans Sport 350. Its cool, but I think i would like a 3rd gen pontiac better. I think I should have a 3rd gen in about a month or less (hopefully). Im just trying to get a little pre-planning done so I can jump right in. I think I could do most of the work on the car myself, well my dad will help me and he is very "car smart". By the way how good is that ws6 suspension and stuff?

 

If you hav'nt got the car yet start by narrowing your search to a 90-92 l98 car. Do the headers and exhaust and with traction you have a 13 (high) second car.

 

i was gonna look for 89-92 formula or 90-92 trans am. What is different in 89 that makes it worse than the 90-92's? Is that possible to get high 13's with just some fat tires and new headers and exhaust? It seems like you'd have to do more than that... Seriously though you guys have been a huge help. Thanks.

 

Learn how to do chips, so that you can tune it.

All the add-ons in the world won't help if the car isn't tuned correctly. There might be some performance in just getting what you have to run it's best, and it's easier to learn on a stock motor rather then wait until you get all the gooodies, and then wonder why it don't run right.

 

BEFORE you mod your engine

put some subframe connectors on it..

think of it this way.... bend a paperclip. straighten it... bend it again...

everytime you bend it, it gets a little bit easier to bend.


your car is the same way... with a stronger motor or more agressive driving, it bends(more then usual).

as you drive it longer, it bends easier.



the stiffest 3rdgen cars i ever drove all were babied low output ones...

meanwhile the flexi-fliers were all driven hard and had modded motors...


MAC SFCs can be had for $80ish new.
just somthing to think about..

 

This is true too, I just bought one that is a real flying carpet being a convertible. I also just got some alston sfc's dropped off at my door.

 

my cars pretty stiff and its not a low output?

SFC's are the way to go, but they require welding. Bolt on ones work, but the bolt holes will elongate over time. Welding them in is your best bet. I usualy hear about 300 for welding SFC's into a car. get the basic stuff done... Tune up, then free mods, basic mods, better mods, etc....89's are just as easy to get into the 13's as 90-92's, just that some pefer certain years of the car. choose what you want, its your car. SFC's are a must for thirdgens if heavy mods are introduced.