well i ate up the search feature looking at whats out there but, honestly i can't seem to decide on what would be best for my particular combination so heres go's.

i have an 89 tpi 305 5 spd car.

mods:
airfoil
k@n filters
modified air boxes for good cold air flow
edelbrock shorty tes headers
edelbrock y pipe
borla 3 in, 3 way adjustable catback
tb coolant bypass
176/166 fan switch
180 t stat
centerforce 2 clutch
b@m shifter
aluminum driveshaft
22# injectors
afpr

mods to be come spring:
416 casting heads, fully ported (possibly 1.94 intake valves installed but, havent decided for sure).
crane cams 2032 compucam grind (214/220 452/465 112 cam)
1.6 ratio summit brand full roller rockers
msd 6al with 5500 rpm pill

basically i want a fast car from idle to 5,500 and i dont want to lose to much of my lowend trq. I cant decide on an intake option now, im very confused on what i should do.....

i see the holley stealth ram is quite cheap but, reading old reviews i'm not so sure it fits my application, summits site says idle to 6k rpms which sounds like what i want but, it seems reviews are saying it pulls from 3500-6500 hard (usually with a 350-383 so i would probably even peak higher i'm thinking????)

the good is it's definetly going to up the peak hp big time + it's cheap very (320 on summits site i beleive).

i realy don't want to spend money on tpi because, down the road i'll have a bigger engine that will definetly outflow tpi capabilities but, at the same time i don't want to use an intake on my current engine that doesnt fit it's build.

stealth ram seems like it would be ill suited from the high rpm aspect but, maybe i'm reading wrong as i cant imagine theres not an aftermarket intake thats truly geared for 0-6000rpms.

the mini ram also looks like it would be even more high rpm related + it's like 750$ (eeeeeek i want cheaper it's a budget setup i'm aiming for).

and the lt1 intake manifold seems to be a no go as the guy who was doing it. seems to have quit, at least thats what i've heard from some old posts on here, so what should a man do?????

Btw if the lt1 manifold option is still an option , what are it's downfalls? The powerband should be dead on i'd expect, + it looks to me like there would be a bit of meet for porting in the future. Only downsides i can c is running the small cap dizzy and remote thermostat but, those r no big deal.

Still its 650$ for the lt1 manifold....

btw with the above setup should i be able to have my maf setup run decent enough to drive a couple hours safely to take it to a speed shop and have it tuned? I figure so as it's not a very hot setup but, the heads are quite different from a factory 081 head, spark timing wise from what i've gathered.

any help is appreciated, as for the typical throw a 350 in thanks but, the 305 is fine for the time being it's a jasper rebuild with less than 30k on it that the previous owner had installed + (i already have all parts except 120$ for the used cam + whatever for my intake, and gaskets so this is a huge budget setup).

 

Whew!

That's certainly longer than the average post!

First, I think you should stop deciding on the 1.94" intake valves and PLAN on them instead. Your future 350 and your current 305 will be happy you did. There is no downside to that mod, whatsoever, especially with your upcoming cam selection.

Next, I think you should go LT1 intake. I am a SEVERE budget guy. Unless you buy the HSR used, which is certainly possible, your best budget bet is a used LT1 intake. Yes, you have to modify it, but so what? You're modifying everything in your engine anyway! I have not done this yet, so I don't have any pointers. All I can tell you is that I saw it done in SoCal years ago and it was awesome. I think the hardest part was taking it to the machine shop and making the distributor hole perfect. Something was wrong, but I don't remember what... It fit under the firebird's hood, I remember that.

I am surprised about the price you quote; I can get the whole LT1 engine for that price at the junkyard! Keep looking for one that's cheaper!

Last, but certainly not least, its tunerpro time! You're gonna do that, right?

Anyway, all of the above is in reference to my love of tight budgets and used parts. Good luck whatever you decide!

 

yah i'm seriously thinking about the lt1 manifold swap but, the stealth ram is only 320$ unless i read wrong on summits site.

I should be able to use my old tb and fuel rails to it seems, maybe i'm missing something???

the lt1 manifold is 200$ and i do know some guys with milling machines and cnc's that could help me modify 1 but, it just seems like a lot of work if it works about the same as the stealth ram.

people were saying the stealth ram flows like 275 cfm from factory, my heads will probably be a max of 230 cfm currently but, i like that room for improvement + i'm sure 300cfm is reachable with porting.

i can't realy find flow data for the lt1 but, i know they pull to 6k pretty much from factory, at least pull to a peak of around 5500 anyways. so i'm sure that would do fine as the cam i'm running wont be far off from a lt1 cam anyways.

anyways thanks a lot for the opinion and sorry for my lengthyness but, i figured it was needed to make a wise decision.

last but, not least i was planning on having it dyno tuned because, of the price of easy tuning equipment + a laptop. Basically i think it would cost me the same either way i went but, if i have it tuned by akron speed and sound or whatever that place was named, it will be done much faster with less frusturation.

I should be able to drive it though just keep the timing down and fp up on the way to the shop to tune it right?

 

I don't think you need milling machines or CNCs to modify it. I'm pretty sure you need to take your 416 cylinder head intake gasket and lay it on the LT1 intake and then match the cooling ports better.

It should bolt on with not much more than some die grinder work, I think? Like I said, I didn't do it, yet! I will, though, on my next sbc TPI upgrade project. I think even the bolt pattern on the intake is the same as the 87-up sbc... I think???

 

i know i looked at the conversion site where the guy was selling kits for 600 and read up on it but, i didn't look at it super close i'll take a better look, i was realy worried myself about getting the dizzy hole centered i figured i'd hjave to take intricate measurements and compare them manifold to manifold and pray..... Makes perfect sense to use the gasket set but, anyways i found this article in my searching on manifold options on accident, quite a nice reading on the ultimate intake comparisons. Shows everything u can imagine specs wise, modified tpi, stock tpi, mini ram, super ram, stealth ram so on.

http://www.compcams.com/Community/Ar...?ID=1737510521

 

Check out the forth sticky down here on the TPI board. "TPI Shootout". The article was discussed in detail here when it first came out in January 2005.

If you're comfortable with a grinder, you can port your stock base and plenum to easily go 5500 rpm on the 305 with a set of SLP runners with the divider ground down to about the half-way point. That's about as good a bang for the buck you can get. More than likely you could get by with a stock tune and bumping the initial timing and fuel presure with the MAF system - although a custom tune could help.

 

thats what i was planning on before was slp runners and porting (plenty comfortable tearing metal out no big deal).

After reading that article though i think tpi leave smore to be desired than i would truly want

hell the stealth ram shows a 50 hp improvement over the much more expensive fully modified tpi setup and only loses like 30ft lbs down low.......

not sure i'm still looking but, for price and hassle i'm currently leaning towards the superram, future plans for it would work out much better as i'm thinking ported patriot heads and a 377-385 stroke will be coming in to play.

 

Assuming your 305 TPI is stock, why would you take the 1081 heads and replace them with the 416 heads? They're practically identical except the 416's are the 82-86 perimeter bolt style.

How old are your Edelcrock headers? Did you clean up the welds and air tubes sticking into the port restricting flow before you put them on? If not, do it as soon as you can.

I would consider either doing the siamese mod to your stock intake manifold, or replacing it with an aftermarket one. Then decide if you're going SuperRam or something else on your 350. The 305 doesnt flow a lot of air to need a short-runner intake like a 350+ does. A 305 will be happy with a long tuber running intake.

 

i realy don't want to spend money on the factory tpi, as much as i love the look, it leaves a lot to be desired when worrying about a fast fast car. The next engine in the car i hope to have running 10s and at that point i think a fully modded out tpi will still be restrictive. Thats why i thought the stealth ram may be a good investment.

what kind of tuning will i be in for if i go stealth ram, ported 416 heads and comp cams 2032 cam on a factory maf computer from an 89 tpi setup?

i dunno i realy am leaning towards stealth ram after seeing the dyno resullts/price. I know it's a higher rpm related manifold but, hell running street tires i already can't launch my lb9 for crap and its not even in perfect running order currently...... With new falcon ziex 255/50s it lights up 1st gear about 50% of the time ........ i plan to install lcarbs, and new rear shocks soon along, wth a new trq arm bushing and jegs brand slapper bars so we'll c if that fixes the traction problem but, i doubt it, it seems to stay firmly planted just tends to rip lose at full throttle and i'm not much of one for pedaling a 240hpish car........

I'm guessing after ported heads, stealth ram, 1.6 full rollers and a comp cams 2032 grind i should be over the 300 mark and probably closer to 300 at wheels so pedaling at this point with tpi would almost be a must if i was still using tpi ltr setup. last i ran this car at the track i cut 2.4 60s with dead 255/60 dayton rear tires...... Definetly don't need a repeat, i need a 2.2 60 or better with closer to a 100mph trap speed, quite doable imo. already ran 2.4 60- with a 92 mph trap.

the only thing i'd realy be worried about is the the wc t5 holding, i'll just learn to shift slower after until i can afford a better manual tranny i hope.

 

well i just finished pocket porting the 1st 416 head, still needs sand paper rolled but, it looks good, an easy 15% or so in gained flow imo...... Definetly should be a winner over a factory casted one left alone. + i think i'm going to have them decked .015 to bump the compression a tiny bit + 3 angle valve job and 1.94 intake valves.