Hello all..This is great site for the 3rd gen maro's and birds..I just aquired a 92 formula firebird and absolutley love the low end tq in this thing.I'd to bump the 245 hp motor to 400 though.This isnt going to be an all out drag car at all, I want to keep it streetabe But a fun street car with tons of low end tq ..gotta go with what its best at.I will drag once in a while would like to hit low 12's.
-i want a license plate that reads "12 SEC TA" )

Ive done some searching ,Bout an hour of reading and found some things i wanted to know..But not all of my questions were answered.

I see that most ppl are going with the ZZ9 cam and the 180cc/64cc afr heads are popular or simular.

i think that the t.b and f.i. are fine for the 400 hp that i want.
(might have the injectors cleaned since they are so old tho)

My question/s are :
-I def want to keep the side runner look..It is my fav part of this motor,Hands down.Is the big mouth plate and slp siamese runners they way to go for keeping the TPI?

-is there any place that specializes in porting/polishing/matching the plenum and runners?

-is there any type of CAI for this engine..or should i just throw a
K & n on the end of the t.b.?

-Ive heard that under drive pulleys f*ck your bearings up somehow..is this myth or truth?

I didnt see anything in the banned topics like this one.
So i hope i didnt cross any lines.
-Thanks for any help guys.

 

You can either do the SLP or TPIS runners. The Semi-siamesed will be better. Some people prefer the AS&M siamesed runners more.

If you are going to stick with the TPI, AFR 180* heads with comp cams XR270HR or Lingenfelter 219/219 will work really well. That will be way over 400 ft/lbs and the HP should be hugging if not over 400hp.

 

Okay..good stuff.
You are talking about "hugging" 400 hp at the crank right?

 

Here is a picture of my custom cold air intake. I have a maf car so yours would be easier. I used the LT1 elbow. I have dyno'd 304RWHP which is 380HP at the flywheel with TPI. With my next round of mods I hope to be around 400HP at the flywheel.

 

wow..very impressive..very clean set up.
-what kind of mods do you on the car othe other than the custom cai?
-is that last & middle piece just some mandrel bent tubing?
-How did you make the lil metal surround for conical air filter?

 

Get'r done. IMO
Take your block to a speed shop and have them (clearance)build your bottom end to swing a 383 or 396 crank, with a good set of heads and your goals will easily be met.

 

what crank would stroke a 396? 4"?

 

3.875 inch stroke

4.030 bore
makes 396

4.060 bore makes 401 with same stroke...

 

so thats bord .30 over with a 400 block crank and 5.7 rods?

 

nope

standard 350 block, bored .030 over and with 3.875 stroker crank. Lunati makes a real nice forged one, but i am sure there are others

as far as rods go, i have no idea... 5.7 or 6 inch more than likely

 

Don''t forget the Edlbrock runners ...which are better than SLP. Well they were bigger inside anyways. Here is a pic of mine ...siamesed in 4". I was trying to make this intake breath up to 5500 rpm ....hopefully. You are going to have a hard time makeing 400 hp with tpi ..... they are more of a low rpm torquey setup .


Good luck to ya man

 

Yes, there has been conversations about getting 350rwhp from a TPI and a lot of people don't think it can happen with a 350CID or without really nice power adders.

If you are willing so spend some cash, then get the engine stroked out or purchase one from http://www.strokermotor.com


It is true about the edelbrocks if you are not going to get (semi or full) siamesed runners.

 

ell..which is better ..semi or full..w/e will help the motor breathe better is the way i will go..

kwik off topic q?

Can i ceramic coat or powdercoat the runners ans plenum..just for looks..or will that make it hold in heat?

 

The eldelbrocks have more torque, but the semis will breathe a little better up higher. Not to much of a difference, just try match the heads as much as possible. Get an aftermarket manifold and port match the runners to it.

Ceramic coating would be worthless for the intake system. First it would just hold the heat in. Two, it's too costly for no difference in power. And three you can just have it powdercoated in your choice of color for a lot less. Unless you were already talking about powdercoating and just got mixed up.

The cermaic is to keep the heat in the headers and the rest of the exhaust for better flow.

 

hey 1989GTA you never answered 400hpL98's question. What type of mods do you have to your 5.7 besides the cai and the runners?

 

I dont think there is a set of fully siamesed runners on the market . The ones that are semi siamesed ...are only in about an inch or so ..... so I did mine 4"in in an effort to rasie the topend of the motor. ....as said above



Mine are podwer coated black crinckle style ...I did it for nothing more than looks. At our power levels .... ceramic coating everything ...is a bit of a waste . It's more about allowing you to get away with pushing the limits...and where we are .... is nowhere near that SO I wouldnt waste the $$$$$

 

it's all about makeing the intake breath where you wan it too . Stock TPI dies in the high 4000's ...like 4800ish . I couldnt find a cam that was down that low .....so I have the ZZ4 ...which makes power to 5500rpm's .... siameseing the runners allows for more topend by shortening runner length .... shorter runner= topend ....long runner = low topend but really torquey



hope it helps

 

Regarding my cold air intake. The metal pieces are 12x12 squares of aluminum sheet metal I got at the local hardware store. Cut and bent them to shape. Joined in the corner with an aluminum L shaped metal. The tubing by the airfilter is 3 1/2 inch mandrel bent tubing. The other piece after the MAF is the LT1 elbow sold by Summit. Not seen is the "L" shaped foam rubber on the underside of the hood to further seal the cold air box from the engine.

Regarding the mods on my car. I will do the major pieces and start with the airfilter.
1. Airfilter is a K&N RE-0920 with 3 1/2 inch inlet.
2. Moded MAF without screens and fins. Been that way 13 years.
3. LT1 elbow.
4. 52MM throttle body soon to be a Holley 58MM.
5. Highly ported stock plenum as shown on my other post.
6. Highly modified SLP runners as shown on my other post.
7. Edelbrock TPI manifold extruded honed to 1.70".
8. Trickflow 23 degree heads.
9. 1.6 roller rockers.
10. ZZ9 style cam
11. SLP Tri-Y headers 1 5/8 in diameter.
12. Dual Cats 2 1/2 inch in diameter
13. Custom Y pipe.
14. 3 inch from the Y-pipe back to the muffler. The exhaust is custom by Dyno Don Lorentzen.
15. SLP Muffler
16. SLP 2400 converter soon to be Yank SS3600.
17. B&M governer kit in 700R4 transmission. Shifts at 6000rpm from 1-2 and 5600rpm from 2-3.
18. Almost forgot the Kieth Black Hyper-Eutectic pistons giving me 10.5-1 compression. Otherwise stock short block.
19. Last but not least a custom eprom and tuning by Kevin Lorentzen.

 

No, there isn't a set out there, but they don't take a long time to port some out, just a lot of patience.

 

Whats the lift on the ZZ9 cam again?

 

 

I call my cam a ZZ9 clone as it is very close to that cam. Anyways with 1.5RR the lift is .486IN and .495EX. With the 1.6RR that I'm using it is .518In and .528Ex. Also 212 degrees on the intake and 224 degrees on the exhaust with a LSA of 112 degrees. Allen