Okay, my question is, is there anything I can do that is fairly cheap (under $250) that will give me more horsepower. (Such as new air intake, or something like that). I'm not meaning a lot, I'm talking about 10 here, 15 there. I'm looking for something that can be done by one person in a day. I'm new to camaro's, and I don't know a whole lot about them. I'm driving a 1991 RS. I've got a V-8 LO3 305 engine. Any help is appreciated, and thanks in advance.

 

Putting on all the bolt-on goodies available might total a 20 hp increase. To make any real gains in HP, you need to spend money.

Intake, heads, exhaust are the biggest factors in creating hp. Everything else just contributes to these.

 

Truer words were never spoken better !

~BB~

 

gut the cats and put a cutout on

open element air filter, with a possible dual snorkel for cold air intake

full tune up and bump the timing a few degrees and run premium fuel

remove a couple hundred pounds of crap out of the car 100lbs = aprox .1sec in 1/4mi = 10hp equivalent

 

Like a true thridgen'r !

~BB~

 

Horse Power = Money

Money = Horse Power

Simple rule the more money you spend the more power you get. It's directly perportioned so you won't forget.



Do a search on TGO for free mods there is a list of things to do,then spend,spend,spend.

 

Like everyone said, if you want to play you got ta pay

But if your looking for something easy definetly get an open element. Only cost like $30 and will help your LO3 out alot. You can get an intake manifold for less than $200. Headers and/or catback will help. Most headers will be more than $250 though unless you get them used. Or I think Flowtech and some Hedman headers cost around that much. Also do a full tune up.

 

Wow, if you listen to the guys over at thirdgen.org they will tell you that full exhaust and an open air element on an LO3 will make you run with an LB9.

 

How fast can you afford to go?

 

Your pretty much screwed for major power (200 rwhp) from the beginning. You have the worst of the worst. The heads and the cam are the worst that ever came in 3rd gens. The intake is the least of your worries, it is way down at the bottom of the list in power restrictions.

I would start with headers and exhaust first. This way other mods will have a bigger increase in power because the exhaust won't be the restricting factor anymore. You can get Hedman headers and y-pipe for $200, i'd start there, and did on my 82 Z28.

In reallity i would be looking at getting a new engine. There are too many parts that need to be replaced for it to be worth while. I'd get a junkyard 305 and slap on the tbi. Or even find somebody that is getting rid of an 305 near you. Most people just through them away, so you can get one pretty cheap.

 

Thanks everybody for the advice, especially ME Leigh (that was very informative). However I have some questions for you ME Leigh, since I already have a 305 L03, are you meaning that I should jump up to the 305 LB9? If I do an engine swap, would it be better to just go ahead and get a 350? Will a 350 even fit? Also, could someone please explain what TBI is. I've seen that a lot, but never really knew what it meant.

 

Your 305 and the 350 engine share the same measurement on the out side.
So yes it will fit.

TBI- Throttle Body Injection

 

.....save the 250 bucks until you can swap a larger engine in?
Might not be fun for now, but probably its your best bet for horsepower.....

for now, just do what you can to get the engine running its best :-D thats what i'd do....

 

If it was me i would find a 350. But there are still problems with that if you find a 350 from the smog era 72-85 you will still have to swap the heads. The heads from that era a junk 882, 993 76cc chamber heads. These will kill a hopes of power, they have compression ratios in the low 8's around 8.3:1. They also don't flow very well and tend to crack.

I would try to find a L98 TPI 350 and convert it to a carburetor. You will be miles ahead in the hp book by junking the TPI setup. But any 1pc RMS roller block will be good. So you could even use a 96 Vortec truck engine!

 

Remember, the TBI cars have the '87 and up intake manifold bolt pattern. The center bolts are at 72 degrees instead of 90 as they were from 1986 clear back to the beginning. So, using early model heads will require you to modify the bolt holes on the intake manifold (for the 4 center bolts) or check and see if the edelbrock manifold will fit the early heads (I can't remember).