I just got my 1988 formula 350 up to snuff. All the electrical bugs have been dealt with, and there appear to be no mechanical defects. I have the original L98 350, i does have 139k miles and still running strong. For bottom end...should it be rebuilt, what is a tough brand to go with as far as rods, pistons, and crank. Also what is a good place to start with up to for heads, cam, and intake. DOes anyone have some simple mod prefrences to start with, like MSD ignition, exhaust, filter, etc.?

 

obviously the manifolds and stock exhaust are probably the first things to go.

Personally i love the hooker headers, i think theyre the best out there. The shorties are nice and a very good overall header. The long tubes are even better, and sound amazing, but definitly hurt your ground clearance.

As far as the rest of the exhaust generally youre just looking at a 3" mandrel bent y-pipe.

As for your motor, you asked the vague question that people seem to ask. What should i do to my motor? Should i rebuild it? Should i replace the bottom end?

How the heck should we know? How much horsepower do you want to make? and how much money do you have to spend?

Also realize the stock 700r-4 transmission, as well if you have the 10 bolt rear end which i believe your year would, those are both very weak parts. The tranny can be beefed up, where as imo, while some will tell you otherwise, beefing up a 7.5" 10 bolt is a waste of time and money.

 

actually an 88 formula could have the austrailian 9 bolt rear...dont know if its any stronger/weaker than the 10 bolt, but its a possibility. also if you have the 9 bolt, i THINK, that means you also have an aluminum driveshaft.

 

Sorry for the vagueness, I do have a 9 Bolt BW 3.27 rear posi. The th700r4 also has the aluminum drive shaft. Engine wise i just want it to be tougher than stock and able to produce about 400-450 horsepower..all ill really need for a street car, especially one driven by a 17 year old. Eventually a magnacharger is going on top of it, but for now im just looking for entry level mods, and when and if i need to rebuild I plan on putting top dollar internals in it.

 

Headers y-pipe and cat-back, as has been stated. Then I would go for chassis reinforcement and suspension if you havent already. After that an intake manifold would probably be the best bang for your buck. I wouldn't spend money on ignition upgrades untill you plan to rev above 5500 RPM or so. Realistically, as long as you are running the stock heads and cam, your bottom end and tranny can probably handle the power. The stock rear end will probably be good up till then also unless you get slicks. The most important thing is to choose a target peak RPM and purchase everything else based on that. Everything from your intake plenum to your header collectors has an affect on your RPM so keep that in mind.

 

im planning for about 6k rpm redline, anything more than that is worthless for the street, plus i plan on running siemesed runners...no more holley stealth ram, i wouldnt be able to keep my 9th injector or EGR system, so thats not an option. After that its cam and heads, and a tune by my local perf. shop to get teh most of that combo. I already have exhaust but its a single out with a dynomax bullet...im going to stuff one under each door and have the shop run dual side exit exhaust right in front of the rear wheels.

 

I also just ordered the B4C valve body package GM#8673948...It should grant me WOT in 4th gear. Any precautions I should take with that ability?