this friday i will have 100 bucks to modify my engine, and i will have 350 to upgrade my exaust. i already modded my air box, have 8.5mm crane cams fire wire, ac delco rapid fires. and thats pretty much it, now what can i buy for 100 bucke OR about 150 bucks to get my bang for its buck?

P.S. should i go with my dual snorkle intake and replace the filter's with K&N's or go with a conical mod and have a conical intake?

P.P.S. i have just remembered if i change my air filter to a conical then i wont be able to make my ram air intake? whats better a ram air intake or a conical intake?



[This message has been edited by 87_Camaro (edited August 29, 2001).]

 

So you have 100 for the engine and 350 for the exhaust?

I would buy the dynomax cat back for 159.99, then depending on your mechanical ability is waht I would get next...

Or what I am now going ot recommend to everyone take the 350 plus hte 100 and BUY NOS... Add 90HP to your ride which is hte maximum safe amount and FLY............

 

I agree with Brian on the Nitrous call!
What else I would spend money on is making the junction pipe from the engine to the CC more efficent. That meeting of the two pipes must cost alot of HP! Got to be more smoot flowing!

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Chat Soon,
KED85
Karl
1985 Firebird 2.8 to 3.4 swap project for Smog Happy LA, CA

 

I'm going to have to strongly disagree on the nitrous call (IF this is your daily driver also).. unless you don't mind running the risk of blowing your engine.

On the intake subject, I've been trying to figure out for the past few days if the stock dual-filter setup flows enough air.. and I've figured out it does just fine. Your throttle body is limited to approximatly 264 cfm.. which is just barely over your draw at 100% vol. efficiency at redline.. whice is drastically less than what your filters flow (meaning your filters outflow your TB anyway).. stock replacement K&N, keeps the incoming air entering *before* it enters the engine compartment.. colder charge than you'll get with a cone. Expect unfelt gains.

I strongly agree with Karl on porting of the manifolds and Y pipe. Tom put up an article about this a little while ago mentioning a severe amount of restriction in there.

How about porting out your upper and middle plenum? Even if it's just gasket matching, it'll help out.. and gaskets aren't that expensive on that end.

All of the above will leave only a few major bottle-necks in your breathing system.. throttle body, valve train (cam, rockers, multi-angle valve job, etc), heads (intake/exhaust ports), and your catalytic.

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'86 Camaro SC, black /w silver racing stripes
2.8l MPFI/700r4 /w special 2nd gear delete option
In search of new v8 engine & transmission, now contemplating t5 swap to get me out of this mess.
Misc Mods: Cut air box, '83 Firebird spoiler.
Performance Parts: MSD coil, Accel 8mm wires, SplitFire plugs, Gabriel hijackers.
Audio Mods: Pioneer DEH-P3000, two 12" Optimus Pro Audio subs in hand-made enclosure each powered by a 260 watt Optimus amp. Working on shaving the box for weight.
My Homepage, with pics.

 

I have to strongly disagree about Nitrous. It is the best BANG for the BUCK and that is what he asked. Also, if he runs it correctly it will be very safe, as safe as a turbo, or super. There are many guys in the Central Florida area that run NO2 on their daily drivers, you just need to be responsible. Irresponsibility is what usualy blows your engine.

He could always run 50HP, very safe, or 75HP on occasion or run as little as 30HP, name one mod you can do to your third gen that would give results like that...

 

when you say inside my throttle body, do you think i have a TBI engine? because i have a 2.8 MPFI engine just like you.

"sorry im an engine blonde "

what about removing hte MAF sensor? will htis give me a slight increase in acceleration, i have alreay decided to keep the dual snorkle intake and buy the K&N's, i have no idea how to get into my engine and clean up what you guys are talking about
hell i don't even know what the plenum, manifolds, and y pipe are and where ther elocated lol, it would be nice if ya told me though, and would it be a pain to polish?

i was never planning on getting nitrouse just for the reason of blowing the engine and ruining it in time.

whats about a B&M shift kit? i was slso thinking of changing the tubing from the engine to the MAF with some PVC so give it a smoother ride and less turbulence, but that is still something im thinking about whats wabout a new coil to go with my ignition??


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1987 V6 2.8 MPFI Camaro SC, get more info and more pics of my ride by clicking here:

https://www.thirdgen.org/rides/index...ew&rideid=4760

[This message has been edited by 87_Camaro (edited August 30, 2001).]

 

You need to run with the MAF sensor.. so you can't yank it. You can do anything you want with the tubing "before" the MAF, but you'd probably want to leave the tube size between the MAF and throttle body alone.

The B&M Shift Kit (as with others) is a kit with pieces for your automatic trans. Ever change the fluid & filter in the trans? When you pull the pan down, you see a funny looking cast-iron piece- that's the valvebody. You basically drop the pan, drop the valvebody, and put pieces from the kit in place of pieces in the valvebody. The B&M Shift Improver Kit's the one I have; it's easy to install, once you get over the "holy crap I'm going inside the trans!" jitters. The key to a shift kit is keeping it all -clean-... wash the valvebody down with a solvent (brake cleaner), and work with it on a clean workbench (or kitchen table), on -newspaper-. Newspaper's lint free; paper towels aren't.

However, the B&M ShiftKit isn't looked on too kindly. The guys at the transmission forum can tell you this. The kit modifies a few things, and leaves others alone- it's almost like re-using an old radiator hose instead of buying a new one. The kit recommended is the "TransGo reprogramming kit"... it even comes with a video. Downside? The B&M kit is $20 from Summit, and the TransGo is almost $100.

The B&M kit made my car feel like a different and meaner animal. Yeah, the shifts are harder (but only when I floor the gas, normal driving = can't feel the shifts), but the trans also downshifts faster! I'd push the gas down compared to my old pre-shift-kit trans, and all of a sudden I'm in second, and the car's taking off like a shot! It's a great upgrade. You could buy the kit, watch the video, and then decide if you feel like you can do the install. If not, you could take it to a trans shop- but they'll want $100 (or more!) to put it in.

Avoid the B&M TransPak- for our transmissions (don't know about others), it's just the B&M Shift Improver Kit, with an added trans filter. The filter is the only difference!!

I agree tho, just get the cat-back for $160- that'll give you the most kick. (You can do that one yourself, too- clamps work just as well as welding... I always use clamps.) Then you can spend the rest on other "big" items. What else were you going to use the $350 for on exhaust?


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-Tom P (Hot rodded 1986 Firebird 2.8l)

 

double

[This message has been edited by 87_Camaro (edited August 30, 2001).]

 

thanks a grip TomP, i owe you and as for the removing the MAF sensor, i completly f***ed up, what i emant to say was what if i removed the "MAF screen", would this give me better air flow?
wellthe reasoni was gonna sepdn 350 on my exaust is because i went to a exaust repair shop and i asked them how much it was for the dynomax catback exaust, a good cat, and to weld itm they wanted to charge me 350 for everything, i personalyl think thats pretty steep, i have decided that im gonna get it clamped so if i ever have to change something it wont be a pain to take off
i went to Don's hot rod yesterday and for a good high flow cat it's 50 bucks and for my dynomax cat back exaust its about 150 bucks

so your saying to get the trans go kit? ill get it!



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-------------------------
87 V6 2.8 MPFI Camaro SC
-------------------------
Modded dual snorkle intake "bottoms hacked off", K&N air filters, Crane Cams 8.5mm fire wire, Accel Cap and Rotor, MSD coil.

upcoming mods:
Dynomax CatBack exaust system & possibly crane cams camp shaft

 

You went to DON'S!YOU TELL HIM HE HAS A BIG FAN IN SoCal!
He now sells them for $50!!
Ask hiim what he has in mind for the exhaust manifolds to the CC?
I want a smoother flowing y pipe junction set up!
The current one SUCKS!
It must rob me of about 5-10 HP, EASILY

------------------
Chat Soon,
KED85
Karl
1985 Firebird 2.8 to 3.4 swap project for Smog Happy LA, CA

 

I can't give a good answer on the MAF screen. I yanked mine, and got an error code- but, I had the Firebird's twisty-curved-angled-lame-design intake, not a "straight" design like your Camaros. The bend in my intake tubes forced air to go around the center of the MAF sensor, so it would follow the outside wall of the sensor- and I wound up with a "low air flow" code. A Camaro owner could better answer that question...

Yeah man, do the exhaust yourself; you don't need welds. People think clamps come loose- maybe if they're not tightened, or something; but mine have always stayed on. I use the stainless steel clamps on mine; they cost a couple dollars more, but they look good and never rust solid. Search for "catco catalytic convertor" in this V6 area; I give a part # for a direct bolt-in cat. I have the cat that Karl talks about, the "products for power" one, and it was a direct bolt-in. If Don's shop carries it for $50, go after it!

A tip for installing the cat-back: Drop the rear axle. The intermediate pipe (cat convertor to muffler) is supposed to be "swung over the axle". That might work if you have a lift in your garage!! The pipe is too long to swing over teh axle; there's not enough room- but if you lower the axle down, there's plenty of room. All you do to lower the axle down is remove the lower shock-to-axle bolts, un-do the the anti-sway-bar end-links on each side, and lower the axle without stressing the brake hose.

Hell with the $$ you save, you could buy new rear shocks, and polyurethane anti-sway-bar end-links for front & rear. Summit carries the end links we need (2.5" sleeve length) for $14/bar. Two sets = $28, and you'll feel the car act sturdier when you take a turn. The part # is 9-8117* ... * = color code. Summit's got them in red, black, yellow, and orange- blue is back ordered. So the part from Summit Racing would be ENS-9-8117R if you wanted red, ENS-9-8117Y for yellow, etc.


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-Tom P (Hot rodded 1986 Firebird 2.8l)

 

thanks TomP


well i just installed my 8.5mm fire wire and replaced my plugs with ac delco rapid fires, i can only say one thing.... i can actually FEEL a good improvment in throttle response. when i was removing the old spark plug wires i literally had to rip them out because htey were so sh!ty, infatc on about 5 of them the actual connector stayed on the friggin spark plug! i had to pull them ff with ym leather man tool, the plugs were stock and didn't say anything on them. took me about 1/2 an hour to finally finish it all. after i finished i had to take it for a spin, i can actually feel the improved throttle response and it has a smooother feeling.

after i got back i opened the hood again t chekc out everything once more, i only tooka bout a 5 min. drive, i dont know if htis is normal but the wires were friggin hot! i never felt them before but they were damn hot. non the less i am pleased witht he result

i must thank TomP for broadening my outlook of the ignition system



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-------------------------
87 V6 2.8 MPFI Camaro SC
-------------------------
Modded dual snorkle intake "bottoms hacked off", K&N air filters, Crane Cams 8.5mm fire wire, Accel Cap and Rotor, MSD coil.

upcoming mods:
Dynomax CatBack exaust system & possibly crane cams camp shaft

 

Glad to hear it worked out; ya know, I don't think I've ever felt my wires after a drive. I'll have to try that today. Do you have your spark-plug-gapping tool handy? Check the gap of your old plugs; see how far it opened up. The wider the gap = the less of a chance your ignition coil was powerful enough to create a strong spark.


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-Tom P (Hot rodded 1986 Firebird 2.8l)