I just got my new toy back today. I want to know what upgrades are the most effective to start with. The car is a purely stock 1988 Firebird 2.8 with auto trans. I'm taking it to the muffler shop on monday because it obviously has some pretty bad leaks. What kind of exhaust should I get? I would rather not spend more than say 350.00 to 400.00 dollars on exhaust. I know this car will never be very fast but I would like to improve on the 2.8's performance as much as possible.

 

flowmaster works great for me

 

kretos your building a 2.8? I honestly hate this six. I spend more money fixing it then i paid for the car.

What are you buildin the 2.8 up for?

 

dont' think that the 2.8 is just a baby, heck the 3.1 is the same block and the 3.4 is not much different, try a set of underdrive pulleys, then go for a set of headers and y pipe, the try a cam, then a computer chip. then port and polish the heads, then a new intake, then a new throttle body, and whatever you want to do after that!

 

Start w/THIS

 

just to let you know , my 2.8 ran a 18.2 in the 1/4 alittle bit back. It doesnt even put you in the seat at all its funny.

 

i'm not building one up for track use, i'm building one up for a more reliable, better daily driver, with the proper mods i can get better fuel milage, with a bit more power.


i'm building my car strictly for handling, because lets face it, you can have a car with a thousand horse, but the way the laws are nowadays when are you gonna get to use it?

 

then

 

I'm with crazythirdgen. I lost faith in mine

 

we give you advise for some easy modds and you loose faith? WTF. you got to be willing to do some work and tinker and play a little to get theese things to make power. not like a v8 in the respect that you gots to tinker to get horsepower. that is just part of owning a 60* that you gotta eithor love or hate. i like playing with them, and i don't mind racking my brain a little. have some patience and think about the smaller things, and sooner or later it will come to you what to do about things. it just took me 3 months to figure out that the throttle position sensor wasn't working right. finally i woke up one day and went (DUH i am a dumb a$$) check the throttle position sensor!. figure out what you want out of the motor, and slowly go for that particular goal, but don't get things that are gonna oppose you down the road.

 

theratdude64, thats how i feel. And you even have manual i have auto, does it get any boring; auto v6 lol. And also the shop said my oil journals are starting to close up. I just cant wait to hear a big BAM!! throw that 350 in there. When i first got the car I was like damn this is quick. (I was 14) didnt really kno much about it. Then when i got on the road and drove around cars i was like damn, i'll only pull infront of someone 100 yards away.

As for performance. You can build a 350 that doesnt have 1000 horsepower. You have the sound and power if you ever need it. ?why v6 i'm confused. They sound like pooh

 

87blueracr, the tips were for someone else... not me. I thought the 2.8 was nice and "quick" but I have since driven about 10 4th gens, both LT1's and LS1's and Automatics and 6 speeds. And to top it off, my car's frame is really tweaked and not worth fixing. The passenger side's wheel base is like 1.5 inches shorter than the other side. So the car isn't even worth dropping a V8 in. I was planning on LT1 6 speed, but the car body is junk, it's as streight as it will ever get. And it being tweaked, and not even running... Screw that thing

 

damn.. that sucks

 

theratdude, i ment the other guy, i understand that you got a bummed body and a heartbeat that aint beating any more, it happens.
crazy i know, my mustang is running in the 900hp range. i know how it feels to go what feels like mach 1. but it is nice to have a daily driver that has some ***** too, and i aint trying to jump on the bandwagon with all the 350 guys. i want something different, something that few have and something that you got to put blood sweat and tears in(did that with the mustang, and now i do it with the camaro). i remember when i could do that, then dad said fix your own freggin car, and i was like uhhhhhhhhhh s**t, now i gots to work on em(cussing under my breath) i learned that it is easier working on a car that is different and that you designed than one just like everyone else's

 

did that with the mustang, and now i do it with the camaro). And what would that be?

Try to get a 2.8 v6 into the 14's with no nos, and no forced induction. I doubt it.

 

i was talking about putting blood sweat and tears into a project
doubt it all you want, i got a date with am91 in a couple of months, and with some luck, and my bonus(if it ever gets here) it will be done by then, then we'll see. i do gots to start working on the throttle body though.
.

 

ahh my bad. Just that you said "you lost faith" and thats what I said not him so I was confused

I havent really lost faith in 3rd gens or even the 2.8 really... I really really do wanna turbo it, or to be diffrent put an LT1 6 speed in.... one of those two but my car's body is just too junk to wanna do anything to it :'(

 

i dont' know if you know it or not, but the lt1 and 6 speed are making it into more and more cars nowdays, i got 3 buddies i helped do the swap. that is not original enough for me, but in all due respect, to each his own. i was thinking bout geting one of dowards turbos, but i think that i want to go n/a

 

ya I know. I have a friend with an Lt1 6 speed 89 RS, not "origional" but not common either. How many LT1 3rd gens are there? So I would still be unique But not this car.... MAYBE get a T top Body and do it all to that and put this interior in it ect, that would be fun but I dont have anywhere to have cars layin around