Figured I will redo the top end and replace the head gaskets, have the heads cheaked out since they are high on miles while they are off (172k) replace the plugs, cap, rotor, wires.

I want the engine to be as dependable as I can make it since it will be my daily driver but wouldnt mind a little more power out of it. Minus cold air intake and exhaust, is there anything that will free up some power without affecting drivability?

 

C'mon, you should know better by now.

A little more power, and retaining daily driver status (1 day mods):
Tune
Increase fuel pressure
Increase timing
aluminum 1.6 rr
underdrive pulleys

gears would help too.

That's all I got.....

 

I figured most of that, didnt know what the 3.1 has for "free mods" or what I can do as far as weight reduction/clean up the engine bay.

 

What do you want to do? A few more specifics are needed, And what is your budget? If it's hp, torque and performance + RELIABILITY all together, it 'aint cheap!!!

 

Not much. If you're willing to drop a/c, pick up grimmcs' delete pulley in the other thread. If you don't have emissions, ditch the air pump and run a smaller belt. Pull rear seats. Go with 4th gens or other lighter front seats. Swap to 4th gen mirrors; they're less than half the weight of our mirrors. Fab a true cold air intake and/or relocate filter to a cooler spot. Junkyard Ranger injectors. Synthetic fluids in everything.

 

+1 for all the stuff jensen listed. Thats pretty much the stuff I have lined up and the Ford injectors, with a few of those already done.

 

I've been hearing good things about this Ford injector swap... I wonder if new Ranger injectors will be cheaper than performance equivalents for the Camaro? I'm a bit of a newbie to auto mechanics so is it a big job?

 

Good thing about chicago is I dont have to take emissions if the car is pre-96. I have the car as a daily driver so going to keep a/c. I already have cloth 4th gen seats in it front and back. So mirrors from a 4th gen bolt up and look good? Is that the same for both camaros and firebirds? I have a 4th gen door in my garage, half the search is done then.

As far as emissions, what can I ditch other than the smog pump and the cat? Any good weight reduction without hacking up the car?

Like I said, I dont expect this to be a race car or anything, just if I can pull 10-15 more horsepower from the car or improve throttle response a little bit that would be great.