I have a 1988 Camaro Iroc with a 305 with a roller cam. My question is, would this engine be worth modding to just make a fun daily driver or should i just keep it stock. I bought a set of headers and underdrive pulleys, and was looking at an edelbrock performer rpm roller cam, would i see much of an improvement by upgrading to this or is it just not worth the hassel and money? Also by purchasing a FPR would i see a difference in performance or no? I also have been reading around here and some people have said a stock LT1 cam would be a good upgrade how much of an improvement would u see with that. It also has a world class T-5 by doing the pulleys,headers,and mabey a cam and some plenum and runner porting will the T5 be able to handle the extra horses this would put down? thanks for the help suggestions are greatly appriciated.

Aaron

 

Well... when my car was stock, in a straight line start, it wouldn't burn rubber at all in first gear. I could usually get a chirp, sometimes. The power band would hit a wall and basically run out of power at 5000 RPM or less.

I replaced the heads, cam, injectors, AFPR, and exhaust all at the same time, and now it will smoke the tires from a stop and then chirp second gear. It pulls hard through 5500 RPM and I'm sure no stock 350 thirdgen could beat it in the 1/4 mile. It's lots more fun to drive now!

Just installing an AFPR won't make much difference in your car. You'll need to do everything that I did to make it become what it should be.

Oh, and I've just purchased Hooker 2055's to be installed in a few weeks. The engine should be at about 300 HP at that point.

I don't know what cam you are looking at, but I would not get one with more duration or less LSA than the one that I have: 214/220 @.050, 112 LSA. Get a cam that's at least 208/214 @.050 and between 112 & 114 LSA. Lifts should be at least .450, and up to .520 if your heads are set up to handle it. The cam I have is a good choice, but 114 LSA might have made a smoother idle.

I say if the engine is in good shape, keep it, modify it, and enjoy! Of course the easy way out is, just buy a new 350 crate engine.

Oh, and if you change to 22lb fuel injectors you WILL need to burn a new PROM so you might want to stay with the stock injectors or install something between 19 & 21lbs.

 

i deff dont wanna buy a 350, this is just my daily driver and im lookin for a little extra power out of it. Will a stock LT1 cam fit in it?

 

From what I've read an LT1 cam will fit. Here's a link to some LT1 cam info:

https://www.thirdgen.org/forums/tbi/...-ultimate.html

The thing about going as far as a cam swap is that you may as well do the heads too, and new aftermarket heads (World Products 305 S/R Torquers) are about the same cost as rebuilding the old stock heads. Either way you'll need better exhaust, and a little more fuel. The good news is that a stock TPI system flows enough air for a modified 305 so you won't have to replace any of that.

You already have a good set of gears, so no extra cost there.

Total cost including AFPR, Fuel Injectors, Cam, Heads, Rockers, (Coated) Headers, Y-Pipe, CAT, CATBack, Misc. gaskets and stuff is about $3000. You already have headers so subtract at least $700 from that number and you're at $2300 unless you throw some used parts into the mix... (you can re-use the old roller lifters).

When it's all back together you can figure that it will probably turn high 13's or certainly very low 14's in the 1/4 mile. Pretty decent for a 305.....

 

so your telling me by doing all of that it will only run .5 seconds quicker lol....right now it runs about a mid 14 i ran a 9.5 in the 1/8...

 

Well sort of. It sounds like you already have a full exhaust on your car in order to run "about a mid 14"... With the other listed mods you might run a mid/low 13. You won't run a 12. What is it that you expect? You said that you want a "fun daliy driver".... Getting more power from a 305 means using a bigger cam, better flowing heads, no smog, no air conditioning, and some suspension mods too. And, throwing away the TPI.....

 

i dont want a street monster i have my 72 cutlass with a built 350 for that. If i could see low 13's by doing that it would be worth it but low 14's i would just have to pass.

 

There are a couple of guys on this board that are turning very low 13's with a 305. But I suspect that they are into PROM tuning, and/or are running a different intake system than a stock TPI, which means mo money....

Maybe you should just bail on the idea of having a faster 305 and run the olds.

 

Mine runs 14.4@95 ( mid 14 ) and I run 9.0 in the eighth . YOu sure it runs mid 14's ?

 

I am in the mid-high 13s with poor traction. I have the trap speed to go low 13s but I cant hook it up and I have done no chip tuning. 86-89 MAF cars are pretty tolerant to modifications as long as you dont change injectors. All I have done is port the intake, headers, cam, and L98 heads with roller rockers. See my sig for details.

 

I wish I could have ran my car at the track this year. I need to do a little tranny work to get it shifting right. I hope I run the times you guys are running!!!

 

I think you can do a couple more simple bolts on to see more power, rather diging into the pocket for more money or digging really far into the engine. The stock LB9 heads flow rather well for stock. It would be good to get a set of full roller rockers in 1.6 ratio and do some porting in the tpi intake. Maybe get a set of bigger runners from Accel, SLP or edelbrock and possibly as well get a bigger base. The AFR is a must, it will help make the most of the bolt on's by slightly raising the fuel pressure. I have seen people running bigger cams in there 305, not quite sure if they were the ZZ4 or the LT1 cam. Either one would do good.

 

I say modify the LB9. I was rather impressed with my car's performance in the 1/4 mile, with basic mods and my auto tranny shifting at 4K rpms. I still need to port everything, throw on some rockers and fuel regulator. 1MeanZ you have given me hope.
LB9s rule!!
-Nick.

 

I'm going to be switching from my ported lb9 heads to a set of vette al heads this winter so I'm hoping to improve on the 13.90's

 

Haha, well I am glad I have given someone hope! I am actually taking this little fireball out to install my 383. It is somewhat of a shame to take the engine out because it runs so well, I forgot to mention that it doesnt even have a roller cam! Anyway, I have not worked any majic to my combination, I just have parts that work reasonably well together. This combo could be re-created super easily. Based on the chassis dyno numbers and the trap speed it is making right around 300hp at the flywheel. The engine is simply a cam, ported intake, and bone stock L98 vette heads. it has 1 5/8 shorty headers with an Edelbrock cat back and gets 26-28mpg highway and around 18-20 around town.

 

I am not good at magic either, so something along the lines of what you have done is all I am looking for. I want to keep it simple and affordable. About 300hp at the crank from my 305 TPI would be good. -Nick.