I agree with the people here and I would think a cut out and bigger TB would be worth 15-20 HP or so.

A ported intake might help you another 8-10 HP at 6000 RPM and up. You might not wanna tear into the motor that much or have any down time.

Nothing wrong with a 58 MM TB as long as the tuning is doen for this size TB and the intake is opened at the TB holes.

Not sure what type of tuning you have but there might be a few more HP in the tune.

That is a SMALL cam to hit the 400 RWHP mark though and very few people with a "low 220 duration" cam are doing it. It might end up making 397 RWHP with the TB, cut out, dyno tune AND ported intake. It might end up at 405 RWHP. Regardless it would be for personal satisfaction if it hits the 400 RWHP mark.

ET will be about vehicle weight and 60 ft. If you want the car to be faster at the track, you can probably knock off more ET by focusing on 60 ft (Pete Z bars, sticky tires, launch technique) and removing as much weight as you can.

Your 375 RWHP can put a 3400 lb car in the 11.6 range at 116 MPH if you get a 1.65 60 ft. It can also put a 3750 lb car in the 12.6 range at 114 MPH with a sucky 2.2 60 ft. Same HP just different weight and 60 ft to make a 1 second difference in ET. If you want the car faster at the track, focus oin these things.

The TB and cut out (and everything elkse mentioned) will be icing on the cake and make the car even faster.

Lloyd Elliott

 

Pardon my ignorance, but what exactly do you do when you port the intake? I had just planned to gasket match mine and open up the bores for a 58mm tb, but if its possible that I could gain a few more hp's by porting the intake further I would like to do so since the motor is still in pieces. Or is porting the intake something I should leave to the pros like Lloyd...?

btw the motor is question here is a forged 350ci with 270cfm @ .600 heads...

 

heres some pictures of my intake ported by lloyd:







you can see clearly where he did porting. he also did alot of work at the rear of the intake on the passenger side. took a bit off the back wall.

if lloyd says it counts for 8-10 hp from 6000 up, then it does

 

Thanks How much does Lloyd charge to do this?

 

dont want to steal the thread, but how much power can be gained from a ported intake on a LE2 cam only car? just want to see how far i can push my car cam only and then get some LE3 heads to see how much power is left on the table w/ stock heads.

to thread starter i can honestly say that a cutout is worth a little more than10hp with your setup, but 2.5" duals/x-pipe will be your best bet for max gains. also a real good dyno tune and pulley. everyone already has you going in the right direction, im gonna say that duals and a dyno tune are a priority. if you dont succeed just spray it and shoot for 500hp

 

I know that true duals would be ideal, but for my purposes I cant do it. Its a semi-daily driver, so I'm being forced to keep it quieted down as little. Like I said before, I know the money spent to get to 400 rwhp could be better spent elsewhere if I'm shooting to lower my ET, but its a pride issue. Its had pretty extensive dyno tuning by the previous owner (I owned it before him...) If I can get there for under $400 it'll be worth it for me.

 

get a larger exhaust pipe from the "Y" back to the muffler (3.5" at least) and ditch the restrictive muffler and get a free-flowing (LOUD) muffler....if the neighbors don't like it tell 'em tough ! I have straight pipe, !Cat, to a 2-chamber Flowmaster and it is LOUD.
Get a 54mm TB also.
That would probably do it.
I don't think you are going to get there for under $400 unless you find used stuff.

 

I understand about the 400 RWHP mark. It is always to be in that club. I was just wandering if you were after ET or RWHP and even though more HP will result in a slightly lower ET, the weight reduction and better 60 ft are what track times are ALL about.

I understand your search for the 25 HP and just about everyone here has some good idaes for you.

I would just do the cutout and then see where you are. This will lt you know if you only need another 5-8 HP (pulley, bigger TB, etc) to reach the 400 mark or if you still need 15-18 HP (ported intake, more tuning along with the TB and pulley.

I have seen cut outs help any where from 10-22 RWHP. The cars that gain 18-22 HP are usually using bigger cams and more RPM but every set up is different.

Lloyd

 

Porting for 58mm is something you can do pretty easily at home.
Because the TB bolts right up to it, as long as the holes are at least
the same size (or bigger) it will be fine. Just clean up all the metal shavings
before you install it on an engine

There are some howto's floating around the site somewhere.
The biggest thing was keeping the bit lubed with WD40, otherwise it gets
gummed up with melted aliminun shavings.

The runner porting is best left to a pro.
Specifically, you want the runners to match the head intake ports.
The head's ports are limited by the casting (water and bolt passages)
You don't want to break into those passages or make the walls so thin that break.

GMHP had a great book on the subject, if I find it I'll post a few quotes
and the ISBN. It's been a few years since I read it last.

 

Get an E-cutout, ASP under drive pulley, 52mm throttle body, straight through cat back like Borla or similar, updated tune from madz28.com or even better a dyno tune and should be able to get real close to your goal.

The next thing although expensive would be true dual exhaust. I dont think a new MAF will help a bit. Look into very high quality plug wires too such as MSD or Accel.

All of the above (NO NEED FOR TWO EXHAUST SYSTEMS) plus all free mods will easily get 25HP.

 

A good catback and a custom tune will probably be the first things I'd do. (in that order)
Borla, Hooker, and many others make some great setups.
Madz28, PCMForless and Fastchip all do great work on mail-order custom tunes.
I'm a big fan of Ed (Fastchip)'s work.

The 52/58mm TB and ported manifold might help a little more.
Lloyd can port that for you to match the LE2 heads.
(I'm doing that as part of a similar setup)

I'm not a big fan of cutouts or UD pullies. (just form personal experience)
But, there are a lot of people here who have them and love them.

Oh, and make sure you are running at least 30# injectors with that setup.
And if you don't have one already, snag an aluminum driveshaft off a 98+ or 1LE car.

 

Get a cat back system, and make sure you have all the free mods going for you. What type of induction system do you have? Is it stock one? Another thing you can do is get the intake manifold port matched to your heads. Those things would be woth a few HPS. Everything matters, even if its just a cooler T-stat, and some water wetter. Just push for the little things. You may get close. If all fails you can allways go to No2! Doesn't even have to be a big shot, even a 50 shot, you would be good to go. All depends on the rought you want to go.