im able to buy a 1979 firebird with a 350 engine rated at 155 hp.... it has a full edelbrock exhaust
holley 4 barrel carb.
would i be able to get that horsepower a lot higher??? if so, how?

 

Well, all depends on what kinda 350 that is? But yah, you should be able to get it into the 300's atleast with bolt ons and heads... and cam... well and everything cept the short block really.

 

That really sucks ***!

 

if it's a pontiac 350, there isn't to much you can do, you'd need some old heads and machine work to the block to accomodate the valves

most dont bother with the 350 ponti motor
a 400-455 will drop right in
and make tons more power

if it's a SBC options are endless

but a 350 ponti motor is gonna require alot to make 300hp

 

79's came with either a 400/4 spd or a 403/TH350. Why someone would change to a 350 makes no sense. Honestly it could be anything. If the mounts weren't changed then Pont. 350 if it's a standard and Olds 350 if it's an auto. Either way change it to a Pont. 455 or an Olds 455. I don't have any experience with Pont. motors, but if it's an Olds talk to Mondello Performance. www.mondellotwister.com

 

I think that's true for TA's, but base birds went all the way down to a 6 cyl or 5.0. I'm guessing 350 chevy, because GM was phasing out pontiac V8s in 79. But regardless of chevy or pontiac, you can get it up into the 250-300hp range with an alum intake and a generic hipo cam/lifter (summit's brand is cheap and decent). Timing chain and HEI hop up kit are mandatory. But until you do something about the sucky late 70's emission heads and 7.5 compression, 300hp is the ceiling. If you're on a tight budget, I'd hope it's a chevy. It's probably going to have a 2.76 or 2.41 gear, 3.42s are what it needs (and came in some TAs, check the junkyards). Also a cheapo saturday night special converter that stalls around 2200-2400. It would be suprisingly fast setup like that. Enjoy!

 

Should add, if it's a Pontiac, then the heads are whats holding you back....
You'll need to change to older style heads with higher compression, and smaller valves.