What would be the easiest/cheapest way to get low-mid 14's out of a 305? This is the car.



At the moment i have a 2 1/2" cat-back system with no cat, air foil, K&N's with modified box, and will have a fresh MSD tune-up with all new relays/sensors. I'm gonna guess its a low 15 sec car right now with those mods. Now, what do you think it would take to pull like a 14.4, I was thinking headers, some port work in the intake, and a cam would get me to atleast mid-high 14's...But what cam do u think would be my best bet with these mods?

I'm not looking for a race car this is just my daily driver that i'd like to have a little more respected in the street. I have this when i wanna go fast

 

apparently no1 is interested in giving some advise?

 

If the engine can take it...NITROUS! a 100-125hp shot will give that 305 a kick in the ***.

 

Well the cheaperst way is the free way. Weight reduction.

 

Well, here's my plan for my '91 tpi/auto:

1) Sub frame connectors. Alot of people say they gain .2-.3 in the 1/4 plus the added structural support. Not near as many squeaks, rattles, body leans.

2) Replace my crappy 2.73's with 3.42's. There's another .5 second improvement at least right there and I haven't even touched the engine.

3) 1-5/8 headers. I'm not sure on the brand just yet, but as long as they don't rust or leak I'm fine with that.

4) Fuel Pressure regulator set at 46lbs or so.

I think those alone should put me mid-low 14's. I mean my car already does 15.3's stock. And that was with a disconnected EGR. I bet it's at least a tenth or 2 faster now that it is fixed.

But be sure your car is in a good state of tune, new plugs & wires, filters, fluids...yadda yadda yadda.

Good Luck to both of us!!!

-Kevin

 

Look in my sig.

Without the nitrous, I was running about 14.3.

BigWhite, I don't know if I agree with you about that you can p/u 2-3 tenths in the 1/4 with subframe connectors. A tenth if you lucky.

LB9GTA

 

see sig to run UNDER 14's with stock bottom end 305 not punched or any power adders (not cheap tho)

 

TBI 305 Running 14.2s.

 

Here are my mods and results on an 1988 305 TPI car.

With 88,000 miles and totally stock the car ran a 16.2 in the 1/4 mile.

1. MSD 6A ingition with Accel coil and MSD wires.
2. Cut out the air boxs, SLP airfoil. 160 theromstat.
3. Shift kit in the trans, Adjustable full pressue regularator and Jet stage II over the counter chip.
4. Hand ported the throttle body and plenum a little.
5. 3.73 rearend gear. (2.73 was the stock one)
6. hypertech fan control switch
7. Headmen 1 5/8 headers with no cats and flowmaster muffler
8. NOS nitrous wet kit 5151, 150 shot.

The car now runs 14.95 on motor and 13.58 on the nitrous 150 shot. Ran 13.8 on the 100 shot. The best mods I did was the rearend gear (got 6 tenths with that mod) and headers and exhaust (got 3 tenths on that one) and the MSD ing. and fan switch (got a 2 tenths on that one). And off course the nitrous kit was good for over a second.

If you want 14's on motor with no NOS I would do the cam, headers, gear. The biggest hold back on the 305 TPI cars is the peanut cam. A 305 with a Cam should have no problems running mid 14's on motor. If you do not want to do a lot tuning on a cam then run a close to stock 350 grind, like an L98 or LT1 style grind. That will get you mid 14's no problem.

 

I just heard it helped out alot. One guy, Formula350 or something like that went from a 14.4 to a 14.1 just by adding SFC's. Of course he had a 350, but I'm sure you can get something out of them just by keeping the body from flexxing less. Again, I'm going by what I've read so far. I guess I'll find out for sure when I actually get SFC's.

 

Keep me posted!

Thanks

LB9GTA

 

I have the Alston SFC on my car. Did not get any E.T improvement with them. I think if you have a 350 laying down a decent amount of torque they could help with e.t. , but on a stock 305 lets face it chassis flex really isn't as big of a problem.

 

The EGR is essentially turned off at WOT. That probably wasn't making a difference. Trying not to nitpick, so I hope you don't interpret that way.

 

1. port your TPI

2. Headers

3. Geat gears if you have 2.73

4. Cam swap

5. Stall converter and some sticky tires

6. Prom tunning

You might even hit 13s if you do all the above mentioned

 

SFCs will rarely gain you any time at the track, unless you have some funky body flex issues. I could believe a tenth, maybe .15.

--


Do free mods, weight reduction and then start on the money stuff. This will get you guaranteed 14's, 13's if you're lucky:

1. Gears
2. Stall
3. TPI Goodies (runners, etc.)
4. PROM
5. New LCAs (traction!)
6. A nice set of DRs (more traction!)
7. Port the plenum
8. Port the heads
9. Cam it (if you're feeling adventurous)
10. Practice, practice, practice.

 

on a money saving note, how would a stock cam work? like say an L98 or LT1 cam? is it worth p&p the stock 305 heads?

 

First of all, based on your profile your car is a 86 model year. Which means it has a flat tappet cam and not a hyd. roller like what is in the L98's and LT1's. So actually using one of these cams used or new is a little costly because your block is not set up for a roller cam.

However, the cam in the 85 IROC is almost identical to the 350 L98 cam and is a flat tappet cam that will work in your motor. But since flat tappet cams are so cheap to begin with you could probably go with a Crane Compucam 2040 part number 114132 the kit comes with new lifters and cam for 154.99 and is computer and emission friendly.

This cam is kind of in between a LT1 vette cam and a 350 L98 cam.

I would not waste any money on doing work to 305 heads.

Also, before you consider a cam change how many miles are on your motor? It's not always a good idea to do a cam change on high mileage motor. A lot of old motors do not handle the surgery well.

 

 

It has a lot of miles but its in good condition...i'm sure it would be fine.

 

do a search for the following people

Tim Burgess
TunedPort335
mw66nova

and myself. i should be in the mid 13s with some traction once i get my car dyno tuned. check the sig.

it is very worth it to port your stock 305 heads, they respond well to porting. i wouldnt pay someone to do it you can do it yourself for way cheaper. you also have the worst cam imagineable, you wont get anywhere until you get rid of that, get a good set of headers and a cat back. cam, headers, exhaust, and some traction should get you in the high 14s at least. port hte heads and intake and you may see mid 14s.

how much do you want to spend?

 

1. Make sure your Ram Air is functional
2. If you are going to put time and effort into a cam, A 350 swap isn't that much more work and will probably save you money in the long run.
3. New Hi Flow cat

Review.... Ram Air, 350, hi-flow Cat = Eazy 14's

my .02

Good Luck!!

 

On a side note, your hood and color scheme look sweet

 

I agree on the 86 cam being limp. I did all the free mods, ported the base, 1.6 ratio roller rockers, chip, exhaust, afpr, and put on light weight wheels,tires (compliments of my chevelle) and couldn't get better than 15.2 @89. I did a cam swap with one of crane's compucams, and after tuning it ran 14.4@93. Ditch the cam, get new springs, and if you do decide to get 1.6 ratio arms, make sure you check for coil bind. I broke like 9 valvesprings over 3 months before I realized the cam+1.6's were too much for the springs I got.

 

well if hes looking for cheap power, then his heads are great candidates for a good flowing set of 305 heads. 305 tpi heads are casting number 081 IIRC. instead of spending high dollar on a set of worlds or darts, porting those 081 heads will give great performance for the money. they are equivalent to the 416 head.

plus porting the intake and exhaust doesnt cost much money at all if you do the porting yourself, just a lot of time if done right.

 

Thank you, I think im going to get a cam, and try porting the heads along with some headers and see where i end up. That should probably put me where i wanna be, if not i'll just get some silly gas.