Robb Knight

Ok so I have a Firebird Formula 350 5.7. I wanna know what is the best and easiest way with out tearing stuff apart too badlyto add power to my car. Not looking to getting into major projects with each upgrade. Im just looking to get to 300 horses give or take if thats possible without doing too too much. If 300 is too high to upgrade to without doing major work, just some random suggestions on things I can do to add power in general. Not trying to go to crazy here. I don't plan on racing other than the occasional highway mess-around with a friend or random car. Simple things that can be done for relatively cheap, if possible. Not looking to get there overnight, but I wanna start adding/replacing/upgrading things here and there. I have a decent knowledge of general mechanics. I have never really have dabbled in performance stuff, but I would like to start to get my feet wet. Maybe simple tips that I can do to my car now. For example; maybe taking something away thats restricting power, if possible. Or adding something here and there. Replacing sensor or random part. I would like to get to the highside of 200 and if possible scratch 300hp. Any tips and or suggestions would be apprecaited. Maybe outline where the easiest place to start on the car would be. Also a good site or sites to get a paticular thing you mention. Like I said not trying to go over the top. Thanks in advance for all help.

Pierced_Zombie

exhaust work, posi with 3.73 gears, take out the back seat(very slight wieght reduction), fab ur own cold air intake, switch to higher quality air filter, use premuim gas only, add a turbo

Pierced_Zombie

just little things off the top of my head, and all reletivly cheap (excluding turbo) and require minimal down time. im no expert though btw just little things ive picked up from this site

Robb Knight

I was figuring exhaust would be one. What type of exhaust work would give me what for example. What increase would I see from different scenarios? A friend suggested that I could simply remove the catyllitic converters and muffler and go straight pipe and that would add some power until I was able to get a full exhaust work done. What would be the pros and cons of this and what type of power increase if any would something like this do? (Note: Lets please not turn this into a strictly upgrading the exhaust thread. I apprecaite all input specific to this question if you have something to share, but would like to keep my original post the main focus) Thanks again to everyone who replies and helps, its good to know that theres a community of people that share a passion for the same cars you do and are willing to share with you their knowledge, advice, and experiences.

Pierced_Zombie

my friends going with 3 1/2" tubing straight from the headers out the back, this helps let your car breath, btw if u do this ull need to change the headers. and if moneys no problem get a med turbo and tune it to your car and you'll reach your 300hp goal no problem. as to answer ur question how it would help by gutting the cat is relitivly small, and will kill your emissions(sometimes some ppl have no problems w/ emmissions) but still a little increase in power(and sound i think if thats even important to you, and on that note you might want to change your muffler out as well
once again, im no master mechanic, just stuff i have picked up from this site, and if your not too busy use the search forum tool and ull answe 99% of your questions, not tryint to be rude, just helpfull.

all4u

Replace runners and intake manifold with hi flow units, port plenum, and do the exhaust. I don't think you are getting the point of how much the exhaust is holding you back. If you got that part, then you would understand what we mean by headers back exhaust.

The third gen was made at a time where emissions and mileage were important, and GM did good with the suspension in the cars but at the sacrifice that the exhaust was a restrictive maze, so by upgrade the exhaust, you are releasing all that lost power. Remember too, that the exhaust will not only increase power, but mpg as well. All that is bad with the exhaust and intake upgrades is that you get that muscle car rumble that is so addictive.

Camaro Spectre

The real question is are you looking for 300rwhp or 300bhp? That is something first to set your goal on as there is a big difference otherwise since 300rwhp = ~340bhp.

- Headers, long tubes have been proven to give better results then shorties but with LTs you take the risk of clearance issues and an good exhaust, anything is better then stock but 3'' is the norm I believe (you'll also want a good Y-pipe or run true duals, otherwise your old Y-pipe becomes the new bottleneck). I'm really fond of the hooker systems myself, good tone and flow without being obnoxiously loud but not silent like stock either.

- You can add some rockers to increase the lift of the cam slightly as its good for a few ponies, but cost/benefit ratio on stockish engines I hear is not the greatest, not to sure about mildly modified or heavily modded engines.

- Colder Thermostat is real nice, I run a 160 on one of my RS & a 180 on my Z28. The 180 seems the better all around thermostat for year-round use. Also getting your fan to kick on sooner will also benefit in helping keep the temperature of the engine down dramatically.

- Porting the intake and throttle body. The TPI is not a very rev happy, it is out of breathe pretty fast on a 305 & even faster on a 350. Open it up some and you can squeeze some more rpms out of it.

- Doing some probably neglected maintenance that is long over due. Changing the Cap/rotor on the Distributor (or could just get a new distributor), changing all of the fluids including rear-end. New filters all around and giving the system a good cleaning (seafoam works pretty good, no complaints here), etc etc.

- CAI probably wouldn't hurt any. Haven't ever ran one myself, but keeping cold air coming in and hot air going out is always beneficial. I personally run/ran an open K&N on the Z28 above mentioned. Alot less restriction and big airflow but heat soak is a big problem after driving it around for a long period of time.

- Gears. I wouldn't go above 3.42 for a TPI. 3.73 are real low gears for a motor that is done right around 4400.

Robb Knight

Im probally gonna start with the exhaust. I probally be looking for the eassiest install. By that I mean without having to customize everything or whatever. Pretty much a replace what I have. Now, money is tight so Im not sure what my spending limit is just yet. Probally on the cheaper side atleast until income tax time. So can I start doing the exhaust now piece by piece or should it be an all in one shot deal? I would prefer piece by piece if thats possible to help off set the cost of throwing down alot of money at once. If I can do it piece by piece where should I start? I know I need a new cat because it has big air leak and the other is a cheapo universal one that Im sure is restricting power. But yeah would the muffler be a good starting point? As fat as tune up goes. I did the cap, rotor, wires, plugs, about two two years ago. Got all the best stuff. So I think Im fine there. I think I really need to do the rear end fluid. Dont know if thats ever been attended to. Atleast not by me anyways and I have had the car almost 3 years. So thats due Im sure. But yeah back to exhaust. The rumble is what I would definately like along with performance.

Drew

iTrader: (58)

You can do all the free mods in the world and never get close to your goal. Unless your stock parts are bad, you're not going to gain anything measurable by upgrading ignition, sensors, random parts. Save your money for modifications that actually work. Gears, heads, cam, intakes, exhaust, are all good upgrades that will make a difference you'll actually notice. By far the easiest of these is exhaust work. If you really want a huge kick in the pants, without really working for it, get a nitrous system.

Blackdog36

iTrader: (3)

300 flywheel HP is definitely doable with simple upgrades like you are looking for. Plus it will keep power level under where you have to start worrying about upgrading transmission, rear end and reprogram stock computer. I'm assuming you are going to keep emission equipment. If you remove, computer will need to be reprogrammed.

Good idea to plan out total build and then buy parts and install them incrementally. Search is handy here since there is a ton of posts about people doing similar thing. It is frustrating at times trying to find right info though. I'll add my thoughts to the above good posts.


Exhaust - good aftermarket short style headers will be fine for your power level. Favorites on here are Hooker 2055's or ones made by a member on here "Dyno Don". Long tubes are not worth it for your application. Both of these short headers come with great Y-pipes which connect headers to cats. Do you have one or two cats? Aftermarket 3" exhaust setups are available that bolt right into place. They are similar to stock with pipe into single muffler and two exit pipes. Muffler choice is yours. Popular ones are flowmaster, dynomax and magnaflow. Flowmasters have more raspy sound. People seem to like magnaflow for their quite cruising sound while loud at throttle. I would work my way back from the engine with headers & y-pipe first.

Intake - TPI intake was designed for 305. Chevy never redesigned it for 350. Most restrictive part is the eight tubes on sides of intake. Some people favor a different intake to yield more HP. However I like TPI since it makes great torque which is perfect for the street as in your application. At minimum I would by aftermarket larger tube runners. TPIS makes good large ones. Accell also makes them with tubes partially siamessed which will raise rpm band a little more than TPIS. Either type would be a big benefit for engine. The stock TPI manifold is a little restrictive and you could port it out. Aftermarket TPI manifolds are available but some don't flow too well and still need porting. I believe the edlebrock one is good out of the box. Top part of intake, the plenum is ok and you can do some mild porting. Stock throttle body is 48mm. I don't think you need to upgrade to a 52mm, just a waste of $300.

Fuel injectors - your stock 22lb/hr injectors will be fine. Might be good to get adjustable fuel pressure regulator to feed engine more fuel since you are increasing intake/exhaust flow. They are $90.

Heads - stock heads are good for power level. No need to modify them

Cam - there are some cams (LT1, ZZ4) that I believe you can use without reprogramming computer. Better cam would help but not sure if this is something you want to do. If you switch your engine has a hydraulic roller cam.

Roller rockers - found this interesting article online. Higher ratio only worth it if heads can flow at higher lifts. Stock heads can't so no use in spending $200 here. http://www.carcraft.com/techarticles...est/index.html

Air filter - I think firebird intakes are somewhat restrictive due to limited space with lower hood. I know many people have modified theirs if you search. Would be a worthwhile mod.

Rear end/gearing - you car has 3.27 gears which are great for a TPI street car. Would be good to install aftermarket aluminum housing cover. Our rear ends are small and excessive torque twisting kills them. I think you have a borg warner 9bolt rear end. Parts are harder to find for them but you should be able to find an aluminum cover. You can swap in a 93-02 rear end. Won't be any stronger but will have posi, disc breaks and typically gear ratio of 3.42. I've seen these on craigslist for a few hundred bucks. If you change gear ration, will also need to change speedo gear for speedometer to work correctly.

Transmission - will be fine but might want to add a cooler.

Robb Knight

Thank you. Your post is really insightful and just the type of thing I was looking for. You pretty much nailed what I would like to do and gave me some good ideas on how to go about doing it. Yeah I have two cats to answer one of your questions. Also I thought my car was posi. I could be wrong though. My rear end has the disc brake setup dont know if thats stock or what, but I got it that way. I do know when purchasing brakes once they told me that my car wasnt suppose to have rear disc. It has the ws6 package if that helps in knowing if it has posi and if its suppose to have rear disc or not.

iroc stangs

HI, well i'll try to help a bit here but mostly everything i can think of has been covered. ok if your going go with an exhuast i would say go for magnaflow. those exhaust sounds killer, look great, lifetime warrenty i belive, and you can get them for cheap also they supposely raise hp about 18ponies. go to http://banditexhaust.com/catalog/ and look up your car hit the magnaflow exhuast and if your going buy it hit * make a offer* and go for around 300 bucks maybe even try lower if you like but thats saving you 140bucks compared to other places and you get free shipping. and i would suggest getting the magnaflow cat if you can afford it i say shoot for around a 100 bucks but you can always try lower but this isnt a neccesity to get it.

learn how to make your own air intake and k/n filter even if you dont make your own air intake. i would stick to the 3.23 posi you have i got the same gears also posi and i still spin them tires easily even on a 305tpi.

and defintly go for new runners and make sure the whole tpi intake/tb is cleaned go it and clean away it will help a lil bit with everything and get them ported if you like.

and i wouldnt get a cam/roller rockers beacause thats getting more into the engine and more hassle but you can if you like.

also you can buy a shift kit form b&m for i think around 200 but probaly less and it will gain you a lil bit quicker times and wont wear as much on your transmission and i think they are fairly easy to do but i would ask around more. its easier i hear to take out the tranny but you probaly dont wanna go with that.

and you might wanna buy a bit better tires if you have bad ones and if you are going hit higher speeds make sure they are high speed rated.

and about the nos you can always try that but remember you NEED to run higher grade fuel i think around 91 or something grade gas. and i wouldnt run anything over 100shot as you probaly have stock pistons and it isnt the best on but i dont think a once and a while light shot of a 100 wont hurt to bad but dont get carry away and i wouldnt suggest this if shes your daily driver.

also go with a 180 themostat and after you are done for a while with your mods i would get a tune nothing TO expensive but a good 1.

and headers are optional but they can get expensive but you might be able to find good cheaper ones if you look around.

and removing some wheight will help like you can remove your a/c, heater, rear seats, sound deading material, jack/spare and thats all i can think of but dont do this if its your daily driver you can do the sound stuff but not really worth it and i really wouldnt remove the rear seats as in my opinion it looks kinda trashy but if you cover the area with carpet nicely it doesnt look bad.

but i hope i helped and keep us all updated and i will try to add stuff when i can think of it. GOOD LUCK.

and on a side note sorry for kinda copying the others im just throwing in my perferances.

all4u

I almost agree with Iroc Stangs accept for two things.

1. B&M shift kits suck, plain and simple, the trans fluid will get super duper hot. Go with a trans go instead.

2. Headers are not optional, they are the first thing you should do to your exhaust, even before a catback. Trust me, headers are what to do, you could always unbolt your exhaust at the track or run cutouts, but use good quality headers ie. hooker.

Everything else is on the money, the nitrous is iffy, go 92 octane and not over a 75 shot on a stock engine. Play it safe, don't run on the edge.

iroc stangs

sorry i didnt mean to dissin form the guy iv heard a couple good things bout the B&M kits and though i would mention. not trying to be a jackazz about it lol.

and the headers i do agree with you but how he said he is on more of a tight budget good headers might be hard to find for cheap but i guess you might be able to find good headers for around 300. i say if you go with headers WHY NOT GO WITH A NEW CAT?

all4u

A tight budget doesn't mean squat, you still do what will give you the bolt ons that give you the best bang for the buck!

Ok, check this....
You have $2,500 to spend and you want to go faster in your car. You are a complete noob so you ask for advice, and you get two answers. Both of them sound good to you but you must decide on one path or the other.

Mods.
Path 1. Airfoil, MSD coil, MSD wires, Bosch plugs, muffler back exhaust, AFPR, cam and lifters (stock heads), drop in K&N filter, lightweight wheels, lightweight fiberglass hood, lexan windows, trans shift kit, and sticky tires.

Path 2. Hogged out plenum, free mods ,big tube runners, edelbrock manifold ported, AFR heads, cam and lifters, headers, exhaust, and sticky tires (stock wheels).

You do less mods in Path 2 than 1, and spend the same money, but on the street, which will be faster? That's why I said, do the mods that do make a difference and you will be pleased with the results.