I got a 87z 5.0 its' been sitting for awhile, any suggestions on what kind of mods i should start with, i was thinking some headers and a flow exhaust system to start, and any suggestions on what kind of rotars for the brakes would be good.

 

first i would do plugs, wires, cap/rotor on distributer...then go from there.

build a simple ram air, airfoil, port the intake plenum, bump the timing from 6 to 10* and run good gas, ditch the AIR pump, long tube headers with a good catback and cutout, underdrive pulley, and 160* thermostat.

since the suspension is old, i would look into some new shocks, maybe springs, replace the LCA, PHB and torque arm mount. these should tighten up the old saging suspension.

 

i would start w/ headers and exhaust. if u plan on lowering the car,dont use long tubes b/c the ground clearance will be almost none. Hedman makes a great header for the money.

taking off the air pump is useless,it doesnt even take away 1 HP,especially useless if u live in an area w/ emissions.

 

Ok man.. if you want the FIRST mods you should even THINK about doing to ANY car.. here ya go:
1.) Exhaust (headers, cat-back, high-flow cat, etc..)
2.) Intake (Better CAI, better intake manifold, better throttle body, etc..)
3.) Traction (better LCA's, better tires, better/bigger swaybars, better rearend with Posi.)
As for brakes.. how much are you willing to spend?
And by the way, just leave on the air-tube. It doesn't take away any h/p, and it only makes your car run better

 

Start with the suspension/brakes first and any other chassie improvements (ie.STB,SFC's,bushings,control arms,etc.) that way you will be starting out with a good safe rolling platform to hold all of your other mods. Then you are ready to start planning engine/drivetrain combo.

 

IMOP, you will not need the chassis stuff mentioned by IROC-T right away.. not unless you have a "basic" 400 h/p or more

 

So you are saying first throw in 400 or so horse power into an old ,and probably beat on car,then worry about safty? Then why stop with only 400hp,go for broke and put as much horse power as you can possibly squeeze out of your small block,heck throw in a big block,now we're talking hp. I would think one would want to start out with a safe platform when throwing that much money at a project. I've seen many fast cars wraped around trees,and in wrecking yards because the owner was more interested in going way to fast with a car that could not handle the hp that was in it than making it safe first. Sure everyone wants to have an unbeatable vehical,but safty should always come first and formost. You can't go back and add brakes if your dead,but you can always add hp if you are still alive,right? Plus you don't need 400hp to win in something like autocross,or road racing if your car handles good. I could be wrong though.

 

Calm down, IROCT, you misunderstood what I was saying
I was simply saying that, unless you were making 400 h/p or more, (actually, I should have said like 350, sorry) you need not worry about chassis upgrades right yet. Trust me.. these cars are not puss*es cars! They are made for this type of thing. But, oh ya, throw in 400 hp, you BETTER be worried about stopping, chassis flex, etc..
Thats all I ment; not saying he shouldn't be worried about brakes though.
But that is not a "basic upgrade". That is like a 1,000 dollar upgrade, lol.

 

You know I hear a ton of different opinions on what should be done first. But if the car has been sitting for a while, I would do the basic stuff first before anything at all. ALL fluids and filters, then plugs, wires, cap/rotor, check the other routine maintinance items, like PVC, greasing suspension parts, etc. Then start the fun. The most fun mod to add would be the exhaust. It will add a instant smile, since you will hear the difference.

Then you can go from there, if you want a better ignition then add a MSD box and coil. If you want better suspension then add a PHB, LCA, LCA relo brackets, springs, SFC, torque arm. If you want a brake upgrade there are a ton of kits out there. I personally am looking into the C5 rotors with 4 piston Wilwood calipers (I have a friend that is building the kit for retail). Putting in a beefier rear end would be a good idea if you are looking for tons of power. Then there is a aluminum driveshaft.

Now you are onto the motor since you have the other stuff beefed up. There are wonderful head and cam packages out there if you do not want to do a rebuild. Brodix, AFR, Canfield, Trickflow (to some people), are all good heads. Cams are abundent, if you have a TPI it is a good idea to go for close to single pattern, but you do not HAVE to do that. I am building a 383 and will be running a 224/232 cam. Lastly with all of this motor work you are going to need to get a new prom and the smartest way to do this would be to burn your own. This way you can get all of the setting just right instead of trusting some yahoo you dont even know, 500 miles away to get it right.

As you can tell there are tons of options, most people look for speed first but IROC-T brings up a great point in the suspension. My car has been, get everything else ready and then throw the motor in last. That way I do not break something. A friend of mine with a 600hp 406 ended up having one wheel off of the ground at all times because he wanted the motor in first to "see how it would run" before getting the car prepped for the motor. Good luck and happy motoring.

 

If you plan on modifications, you plan on full throttle. If you plan on full throttle, plan on Subfrane connectors before full throttle. Let the suspension do the flexing, not the car. As anyone can tell you, the dash and plastic stuff in the car doesn't sound good when it flexes.

Nobody plans on tweaked frames, crinkled body panels, and leaking roofs.

KVR makes a decent set of Rotors that are plated, drilled, slotted with pads to match for less than $200. Powerstop rotors may be avaliable also for the fronts at least.

SLP makes a good set of stainless headers and their exhaust systems are nice as well.

Hooker's cat-back system is well worth it's price. Ditching the cat-converters is fun and saves weight. Goodluck!

 

thanks for all your opinions, so far i've i given it an oil change, and fluids if this hleps any the engine only has 89xxx miles on it but like i've said before it's been sitting so it's got some rust and so forth on it, i will be looking into everything that has been posted so far and anymore post thank you and i'll let you know how it goes.

 

Good luck man!