Hmm well lets see. Ive always been a fan of muscle cars, yet never much of the tech guy. My parents were always against me getting 1 even though my dad had 7 Vettes and my mom had a 68 Camaro for her first car. So really to get to the point. I bought an 81 Camaro, its a V6 Sport Coupe Body with a 350 in it. I added some simple add ons Edelbrock Manifold, Holley 4 bbl Carb. Everything I do to this car is my money like I said parents against it in the first place. Im just looking to get some knowledge and info on some parts to get on an 18 year olds Budget haha. I have no clue what Cams and headers and all that stuff means, Im learning as I go. Just looking for some helpful info. Thanks in advance.

 

Try NastyZ28.com It is a site completely dedicated to second generation camaros. You should be able to get a lot of help on there.

 

Now lets not have the newb running off.

J/K. Great info available on nastyz28, but also here. Welcome aboard.

 

Welcome to the board!

You NEED headers. Not only do they improve performance, the improve the sound of your car too, giving it a true muscle car rumble

Looking down on your engine you see a pair of valve covers. Each valve cover sits on top of a head. Attached to the side of each head is an exhaust manifold. The exhaust manifold an inefficent means for the exhaust gasses to exit your engine. Replacing the exhaust manifolds with headers makes it easier for exhaust to exit your car. The more air that can move through your engine, the pore power you can make, much the same way that blowing on a fire makes it burn faster.

A camshaft is a shaft with a bunch of egg shaped lobes on it. As it turns, each lobe causes a valve to open/close allowing either a mixture of fuel and air into your engine, or allowing exhaust gases to exit into your headers.