I own a 1989 Firebird Formula 350 and I recently took it to the dragstrip and ran a 14.43@96.7 mph. I was impressed, but not satisfied with this E/T. I want to know what modifications can get me running into the mid to high 12s with this car. I was thinking about a supercharger but it is hefty and I don't know how much this will shave off my E/T but I'm sure it won't be under mid 13s. Cam swaps, shift kit, Hypertech ECU, new injectors, are also things I've been looking into, but I am not sure which are optimal for maximizing power output in an L98. I am going to be get 3.73 gears for the rear axle soon, which should help me launch better. I'm aiming for a 12.5 second E/T w/o using nitrous or swapping the engine. if you can give me a list of mods that can get me close to this E/T or if possible beyond this please e-mail me your suggestions or IM me at DoS Overload on AOL Instant Messenger. Thanks a bunch

 

In the latest issue of Chevy Hi Performance they ran a tpi 350 with aftermarket manifold and long tubes with a zz9 cam, ported l98 aluminums and got 12's. Traxion ran 12's on long tubes.

You could go 3.73's, higher stall, miniram, ...big cam, AFR 190's, 1 3/4'' headers and drag radials

I'm going to attempt to do it with DART 180's, 3.42 gear, Super Ram, HOT cam, Tremec TKO, 1 5/8''super comps.

You better look into some prom tuning

------------------
355 c.i.
Dart 180 Heads
Lunati 224/224 cam
Harland Sharp 1.5 rockers
Performer RPM Manifold
Holley 600 cfm double pumper
Hooker Super Competition Headers
Flowmaster Exhaust
Competition Engineering Sub-frame connectors
Super T-10
GM posi 3.42 rear
Hurst Roll Control
13.9@102

 

Im not sure if the 3.73's will really help you out that much. If you keep the LTR (tpi) setup they could actually hurt you (tpi=no power >4500rpm ). If you can afford it I would say go Miniram/Superram. Get a cam/headers/heads and you should be where you want to be with a new intake. What is your gear now? More importantly, how much $$$ do you have to spend?

 

I would have to say that the 3.73's will help you.I have the stock, unported tpi setup and ran a 13.3 w/2.73 gears but when I swapped them out to 3.73 gears, I ran a 12.9! You will not run out of rpm at the end of the 1/4

 

89IROCZZ4, I was just curious what was your speed with that time? Oh, and what rpms were you at at the end of the quarter?

[This message has been edited by Momar (edited November 09, 2001).]

 

Also, was it a 200 hp shot of Nitrous you are running zz4?

 

thanx for the tips everyone, I will take a look into them

 

I also got a 89 Formula 350 and this is what I am doing. I got a set of the Trick Flow 23* heads, Comp Xtreme 218/224 .496/.502 112 LSA cam , Edelbrock HighFlow Intake with AS&M Runners and a 52mm TB, and 2600 stall Vigilante. I have every suspension mod possible. I'm hoping for high 12's

 

What gears do you have now? I wouldn't go with the 3.73s, unless you burn a chip, or have one burnt for it. I ran quicker with 3.23s, than I did with the 3.73s. (13.0 at 105.4 to 13.1 at 105.6). Though that was with a stock chip. I will probably get quicker now since I'm now burning my own chips and can adjust for the gear change. I go through the traps at about 5300 RPM.

I think 3.42s would probably be the best gear for a LTR car.

Just thought I'd add a little to this topic.

Sparks a flyin'