Hello guys I just want some advice on what to do to my 89 IROC with a $2500 budget. The car is stock. Or what would it take to beat an LS1 Camaro with a few free upgrades and CAI.

 

You can do whatever you want to your car, but if you want your signature photo to display, you'll need to use a string like this:



I'm thinking you could build a fairly decent 426/427 SBC and beef a transmission for about $2500. That would make it keep up with most LS1 cars. You'll have to do most of the work yourself, since that should just about cover the costs of purchased components.

 

Hanging with an LS1 is going to be tough for $2500. I really doubt you could open up the bottom end and stay within your budget, but other may disagree. Here's what I would do:

First, go get a baseline at the track. Then add a stall converter and some sticky tires to your car. That should be good for 1/2 a second, maybe more.

Next, the CAI you mentioned and some headers.

Depending on the $$$ left over, I would add a nitrous kit. Lot's of people knock nitrous, or discount it immediately because they don't know anything about it. Before you dismiss nitrous because you've heard it is hard on engines, will break parts, burn things up, or what you've seen in the movies; do some legitimate research on how N20 works. Draw your own conclusions. If, after you understand how the bottle works it's black magic, you still don't want to use it, that's cool. Atleast you'll know how it works.

 

M/T Drag Radials, Vigilante Converter, Nitrous! Cat Back, Headers, Cam.