IrocZ swap?

Hey guys, i just joined you forum and wante to know if anyone can help me out. I have no knowledge of american cars whatsoever. I did hondas up until yesterday. I do not know what kind of car to get yet but im leaning towards a 1986-1990 Irocz mu question is i want to get an engine put in that produces alot more power i have no idea what engine to get i wanted to get over 400 horses to the tires and over 500 ft. lbs or torque what do you guys recommend? i also want to runs a nitrous set up maybe a 150 shot. My question is which is the best route to take? i would do some more research but what are forums for right? thanks guys

the late 80s IROCs are great cars. nice styling, very good suspension even from the factory.

400hp to the ground is not "hard" but can be difficult due to all the other problems you'll encounter. stock transmission won't hold that much hp/torque, and neither will the rear...least not for long.

i say since you are relatively inexperienced with v8s you're best bet would be to do ALOT of research. that way you arn't throwing away money.

if you needed an engine soon...your best bet would be a crate motor. GM performance parts, edelbrock and many other companies make crate motors with 400+ hp that are ready to run.
or go to a machine shop and talk to the owner and see what he says.

A 1990 IROC w/ the L98 engine will produce near 300lbs of torque stock, and about 220hp or so (to the wheels I am reffering to) (a little more than thos pos honduhs, eh?). Get GOOD headers, a GOOD exhaust, maybe a new intake manifold/throttle body, cam, and a custom tune and you will be damn near 400hp and 500lbs of torque. Make sure the car is a 5spd though ;)
Then you wanna talk nitrous? Why? You a weekend drag-racer? Hell.. a 150 shot will take you to 500+hp.. why that much power?
But hey.. at least you came from the darkside :cool: honduhs are the devils car :death:

Make sure the car is a 5spd though

I wouldnt even attempt it with a 5 speed car. Thats just more money your gonna have to drop into it. Even the world class 5 speeds that some of the 3rd gen cars got wont hold anything in the power range. You might as well say bye bye clutch, bye bye pressure plate, and bye bye tranny...

Thanks for the responces guy well this is going to be strictly for my weekends when im out cruising with my buddies. if i were to get this car and make it 400+ horses that would be great and plus the 125 shot of nitrous would be awesome. i just dont know which year i should buy i think 82-92 is the same body style but some are carb and some are tpi i was planning on 88 and up what do you guys suggest? can i get 400+ horses without a turbo? i'd rather run all motor than with a turbo. is there any difference from the 82-92? body wise performance wise? anything? thanks i was thinking 5 spd but i think i should go with the automatic tranny let me know.

ok, alot to catch up with here. third generation of camaro is 1982-92.

82-84 first style ground affects, most HP you can get stock is 190hp and 240 ftlbs from a carbed motor.

84-90 second style ground affects, most hp 245 hp and 345 ftlbs fuel injected, the last year that carbed cars available was in 87..

91-92, last style of ground affects, same 5.7 fuel injected motor as the 87 and up years, there was a smaler 5.0 fuel injected motor available was around 220 HP.


to be honest if you want to get 400 hp at the wheels i think a carbed 350 or 400 would be the best, seeing as the carbed SBC has a huge aftermarket and 400 hp could be attained very easily and you can spend pretty much any amount of money you want on them. in fact you could easily obtain more than 400 hp from a NA 350 or 400 thats carbed. alot of it is in the cylinder heads, make sure you have good heads because they are what can make or break the amount of power a motor puts out.

id say a 350 with new pistons and rods, a nice set of heads (higher compression) with around a .500 lift cam, a good flowing intake manifold with a 750 dp carb and a good exhaust, topped off with a good ignition system will make about 400 hp

all of that stuff is easy to come by, the hardest part is deciding what brand to go with

www.thirdgen.org

Anything and Everything about third gens

"A 1990 IROC w/ the L98 engine"

there was no way of getting the L98 (350) with a 5spd...so that would mean you're either talking a motor swap or a tranny swap

and i think 400hp out of a TPI without doing something like the LT1 intake conversion, superram or stealth ram...is VERY hard to do.

you'll be suprised how much fun it will be to drive around with all the torque of a TPI car, even with only mild mods.

Since you are starting out brand new to the third gen era you are going to need to do A LOT of research. Hell, I've owned my '89 for 7 years now and I am still learning new things every day. You are really going to need to figure out what intake system you want to run. Fuel injected is going to net you more MPG's but it is going to take a lot of tuning to get a 400hp motor to run optimally. Carbs are easier to use and cheaper to put together, but there are people out there, like me, that would rather say I have a 400hp FI motor that's getting 25mpg on the highway. Once you figure that out, you will then have to decide what size motor you are going to be running. There are mulitiple configurations out there 355, 383, 406, etc... If you are going to be running any of those then your best bet would be to get a block and build it up before you put it in. This way there will be very little downtime. Also you will want to think about whether you are going to be running a roller block, better more hp, or a non-roller block, cheaper more abundent but less hp. Since you want to run N2O then you should probably put at a minimum forged pistons in there. To be completely safe and to be able to plan for the future run a fully forged assembly. These are just some thoughts off the top of my head. Remember to go fast costs money and there is no replacement for displacement.

A nice receipt for a 400 hp motor, but not cheap is,

.030 over 350 roller block
fully forged Eagle rotating assembly
forged pistons
AFR 180 heads
Stealth Ram intake
LPE 219 cam
1.5 or 1.6 roller rockers

One last thing, remember that stickers do not add horsepower, nor do body modifications.

AFR 180s will get you 400 horses but theyre not the easiest of heads to get seeing how AFR doesnt make them anymore. He could get AFR 195s but then again those heads cost damn near 1500 dollars. Vortec heads support little over 400 horses, cheap as hell, have mid flow like a motha ****a. Best bang for your buck if you want 400 horses. I just had those on my 305 and 355. I can tell you you'll love em. But once again the speed bug does come back around so i had to let em go for something else (AFR 220s on a solid roller 406 but thats a different story). It is best to get a completely forged rotating assembly but if you are on a budget, like most of us are, you can either build it very slowly but in the end have a completely forged assembly like i am doing. Or build it fast and hope you can get away with it. Saying since you are squeezeing forged pistons are a must. Wouldnt go over 10:1 compression if you are running iron heads 11:1 if aluminum. LT4 Hot Cam some 1.6 RR and a performer RPM Intake Manifold. This is all on a 355 btw. Got yourself a 400 horse set up for a lot cheaper than mr AFR 180s.

Make sure the car is a 5spd though ;)


they never put 5 speeds with 350's because the 5 speed can only handle 300ft lbs of torque stock

there are rebuild kits and aftermarket trannys

Yes, I relized that after I clicked "post quick reply" that I said a no-no. You cant get the T5 w/ the 350 L98.. my mistake. But, NO you will not need a freaking "turbo" to get 400+ horses out of a 350. These AREN'T honduhs, remember :stickstoungueout:
Hell.. I am going to be getting around 300hp or so w/ only minor mods on my freaking 305, lol.
As teke said though, the ammount of torque you will get from that l98 will keep you pinned to your seat, and you will have great fun with it.
I'm telling you, unless you actually DRAG RACE the thing, there is no need for nitrous.
But TPI, in MY case anyhow, would be hard to build up. I know jack shat about fuel injection (except the basics; GET IT TUNED, lol). Carb is EASY to get power out of, and parts are cheap for carbed cars compared to TPI.

If you want an engine that can put down 400HP and 500ft/lbs to the ground, and support a 150 shot, you can't use a single drivetrain piece on any 3rd gen F-body that's comes stock thats for sure. You'll need a fully built motor, transmission, and rear end, among many other things.

Coming over from the Honda crowd, you're just dreaming about these power numbers. You have no clue what it takes to reach it, nor do you realize just how much power that is. The person that does know, even though maybe he is only experienced with Hondas, would not need basics on another engine platform. The car you're looking at contains a SBC, the most widely built engine for performance IN THE HISTORY OF THE WORLD! Even the most clueless idiot can make decent power with one of these without guidance.

Your best bet is to save up a lot of money. Like 10K+ Take the car to a local speed shop and drop it off, with the money, and tell them what you want. That's the only realistic way you'll achieve your "goals". You're better off just building a 400HP engine, that puts down 330 or so. That plenty.

Reality...

Ya, like marc said, you have NO IDEA how EASY it is to put down TONS of power on a SBC. TRUST ME.. a honduh owner witha 120hp car w/ 120lbs of torque, going to a sbc w/ 220+hp, and 300 or so lbs of torque, that ALONE will amaze you. Then, do your basics. Intakes, exhaust, FI or Carb, heads, cam, computer, etc.. and guess what? 3-400hp easy. You seem like that kind of dude that NEEDS to have like, 600hp, and NEEDS a "shot of *nos*" on his car just because it's kool.
I am not being a dick, I hope your not taking it that way. Just trying to help you out.

i'm going to school for automotive engineering and there are alot fo people who love imports european cars and of course us american guys

i have plenty of respect for those who deserve it, i'm a chevy guy but i'll repsect a ford or two, i'll respect some rear drive imports like nissan 240sx or toyota supras, they can handle well

but theres one thing i noticed
not a single person in the entire major believes they can get good performance from a honda

the only thing these guys have going is that they are cheap

anyway, glad to see one import tuner converted

oh and as for tpi, fuel injection and the sort
fuel injection is real easy to understand when u compare it to a carburator, the computer is really just a big calculator

i'm going to school for automotive engineering and there are alot fo people who love imports european cars and of course us american guys

i have plenty of respect for those who deserve it, i'm a chevy guy but i'll repsect a ford or two, i'll respect some rear drive imports like nissan 240sx or toyota supras, they can handle well

but theres one thing i noticed
not a single person in the entire major believes they can get good performance from a honda

the only thing these guys have going is that they are cheap

anyway, glad to see one import tuner converted

oh and as for tpi, fuel injection and the sort
fuel injection is real easy to understand when u compare it to a carburator, the computer is really just a big calculator

Carbs are amazingly simple to understand.

Yes, I relized that after I clicked "post quick reply" that I said a no-no. You cant get the T5 w/ the 350 L98.. my mistake. But, NO you will not need a freaking "turbo" to get 400+ horses out of a 350. These AREN'T honduhs, remember :stickstoungueout:
Hell.. I am going to be getting around 300hp or so w/ only minor mods on my freaking 305, lol.
As teke said though, the ammount of torque you will get from that l98 will keep you pinned to your seat, and you will have great fun with it.
I'm telling you, unless you actually DRAG RACE the thing, there is no need for nitrous.
But TPI, in MY case anyhow, would be hard to build up. I know jack shat about fuel injection (except the basics; GET IT TUNED, lol). Carb is EASY to get power out of, and parts are cheap for carbed cars compared to TPI.


I dont wanna burst your bubble or anything but just curious. 300 horses and 350 torque out of a 305 is possible yes. Even easy. But with minor mods id like to see that. Could you elaborate on these "minor mods" or are they not that minor.

Yes, carbs are INCREDIBALY easy to understand :D
But I would rather not disclose what I have done, as I dont want all the 350 owners put to shame ;)
But seriously, after I have it dynoed I might post what I have done.

glad to see another person thats souping up their LG4!!! im doin the same thing, the engine is coming out in a few weeks, hoping to have it out of the car for a week while modding the engine and itll be in the car again by late april

I'm a good old american boy as well... but all the honda bashing is unnecessary. We have some ridiculously fast civics here in Wisconsin. With a j-spec motor, a turbo running a decent amount of boost and some traction mods, I've watched these things make jokes out of LS1's.

I don't want a hail storm of "omg u ricer go home!!" replies. I chose the american way of making horsepower, but if you're intelligent, you can make anything fast. I've watched civics hit 10's and I've watched a "Mighty L98 trans am" hit mid 17's (no it wasn't healthy).

Not bashing anyone or fighting on any particular point. Just trying to point out that we should all keep the bashing to a minimum, and supply more helpful information. If someone is converting from Import to Domestic, he doesn't need to hear a bunch of hicks talking trash about his old platform. I've had fourth gen guys do that to me cause I work on third gens. Its not very welcoming, especially if you still carry some fondness for the previous platform.

Just show a bit more respect guys, or if you can't, stick to the information perhaps? Just my $0.02

I'm a good old american boy as well... but all the honda bashing is unnecessary. We have some ridiculously fast civics here in Wisconsin. With a j-spec motor, a turbo running a decent amount of boost and some traction mods, I've watched these things make jokes out of LS1's.

I don't want a hail storm of "omg u ricer go home!!" replies. I chose the american way of making horsepower, but if you're intelligent, you can make anything fast. I've watched civics hit 10's and I've watched a "Mighty L98 trans am" hit mid 17's (no it wasn't healthy).

Not bashing anyone or fighting on any particular point. Just trying to point out that we should all keep the bashing to a minimum, and supply more helpful information. If someone is converting from Import to Domestic, he doesn't need to hear a bunch of hicks talking trash about his old platform. I've had fourth gen guys do that to me cause I work on third gens. Its not very welcoming, especially if you still carry some fondness for the previous platform.

Just show a bit more respect guys, or if you can't, stick to the information perhaps? Just my $0.02


What it all poors down to is this. Raceing is a rich mans sport. Done and done. American car or Japanese Car or European car can all go as fast as you want as long as you have the money to fund it. What it comes down to is American cars, for the most part, you can make faster for a lot cheaper than Japanese cars. Thats pretty much it. RWD for 1 is 10 times better than FWD for pretty much any performance type of stand point. More displacement = Higher Possibility of Power/Torque. Those 2 factors alone will make me stay American for the longest of times. Now if Chevy only got their **** together for a future RWD performance car that is affordable.

I'm a good old american boy as well... but all the honda bashing is unnecessary. We have some ridiculously fast civics here in Wisconsin. With a j-spec motor, a turbo running a decent amount of boost and some traction mods, I've watched these things make jokes out of LS1's.


That's the thing. In most cases they need an engine swap WITH a power adder to run with factory late model true performance cars. And fast Hondas are definately NOT common, no matter where you live. 90% are total **** boxes, 8% have a few mods but still no real performance, and 2% can actually get up and go. Even a best case scenario CRX or hatch Civic with a B16/B18 swap will STILL need a power adder just to keep up with a stock LT1 or LS1.

Yes, carbs are INCREDIBALY easy to understand :D
But I would rather not disclose what I have done, as I dont want all the 350 owners put to shame ;)
But seriously, after I have it dynoed I might post what I have done.


lol, as you can see in my sig ive done the 305 build up. Some words of advice before you get too carried away (if you havent yet). Leave the stock bottom end dont even bother building it up. Hey throw a top end up on it blow her up and build a 350 or bigger small block. 305 just isnt worth building the bore is way to small for the stroke and it chokes the thing like crazy. The power is really limited on it. So like i said top end away at it. After teh bottom end goes save the top end and throw it on a bigger cube application (no not a 307 either :p ). Now back onto your secret build. If you are not using a stock cam/heads/intake/FI,Carb system. Then its far from being a minor mod project. Just a heads up on that. I just dont want dude to think he can throw a flowmaster muffler on and a KN filter and damn near push 300 horses.

I know they require an engine swap and a power adder to become as fast as "late model" stuff. I wasn't arguing that V8/RWD power isn't far easier to accomplish. I just wanted to voice that we should be more welcoming, and less trash talking, as anything is possible.

As far as "rice" goes that doesn't require engine swaps and power adders...I've seen eclipses/talons that have "minor mods" and are ridiculously powerful. (and to stem the next two dozen messages saying this) Yes, they'll probably blow up after a summer... ;) Felt like making a point though. If someone's got the money or the ambition/intelligence, anything is possible.

I agree with devilsadvocate on the 305 build... don't waste your time/money/patience. If you're impatient, throw the topend on the 305 and let 'er pop. 350's are too damn common to waste big money on a small displacement 5.0.

glad to see another person thats souping up their LG4!!! im doin the same thing, the engine is coming out in a few weeks, hoping to have it out of the car for a week while modding the engine and itll be in the car again by late april

Hell yes dude! I took the engine out in September or October sometime. I have it together, I just have to go back and re-torque everything. Then, when all this freaking snow MELTS and STAYS AWAY, I will put the engine back into the Camaro.

Yo dude.. I didn't mean to "rip on you", I am not making fun of you or anything. I am just saying that ANYTHING you can do in a honduh, you can do 100x better in an American V8.

And according to DevilsAdvocate, I guess my 305 buildup *isn't* minor :o

But this "small displacement 5.0" is gonna whoop some major 350 arse ;)