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 honduhs are the devils car

 

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.

 

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