I recently purchased a 85 Iroc and it's completely stock with a auto trany and t-tops. I want to wake up the motor without building a new motor so i was wondering which performance parts gave you the best results for your money.

Cam--what do i look for in a cam if i dont want too crazy just a nice lopey idle and more power. I would like to still have the option of running 87 octane.

Chip-What performance chips off the shelf really work and how much do they actually do. I have 180 degree thermostat already..

Exhaust-So i want a really nice sounding exhaust but some people say 2" and some say 3"? I want to get a cat-delete pipe and performance hi-flow muffler but what brand will do me justice?

Intake-They say 50hp increase just bu putting on a new intaje manifold like the BBK 5014 manifold but that ones not available so which other one will give me same results?

Throttle Body-Ok so if I have a 52mm can i put on a 58mm and what should i expect out of an edelbrock throttle body? Should i use a throttle body spacer and do they even work?

L98 Cyl Heads-I have heard you can run 350 heads on a 305 block and it will get you higher compression and more power? Is this true and what are they disadvantages to doing this?

California Smog Stuff-It appears my car has california emissions stuff on it which does not suprise me since it was built in california. My question is can i rip all this stuff out since i dont have emissions testing in MN? Will my car still run and what do i do to plug holes in exhaust manifolds and lines?

Well thats a good start I would also like to know why these cars run so hot all the time? My car gets just in the red and then fans kick on but is fine driving down the road. I have put a colder t-stat in and still does it. It dont overheat just runs hot...

Thanks for the help!!

 

Cam-- What cam do you have? If you've got the stock 85 TPI cam its not the best but its not the worst either. If your on a budget or just looking for a little more pep Id leave it alone.

Chip- None? They don't really do much. They change the settings in the factory ECM to advance the timing a bit and change the converter lock up stuff like that. Not worth the money.

Exhaust- Heres where to invest some money as our exhaust are pretty terrible. I would opt for the 3 in intermediate pipe but certainly no less than 2.5 in. I don't know if they even make them smaller than that. Dont forget the headers! On the cat... I would be inclined to leave it in place. A good cat wont hurt performance too much, cuts down on the sound more than anything, but youll be legal. Also cats are a easy thing for a cop to see as missing if they want to give you a hard time. Dont give them an excuse. I know you say you dont have emissions but that dosnt mean you can rip the stuff out thats still illegal. For what brand of exhaust? Theres tons of choices but the most popular ones right now are flowmaster and magnaflow. Depending on what you like will decide what you buy. Magnaflows are very deep. They seem to filter out the higher frequency noise and dont to do as much to filter out low frequencies. Sort of like hearing a car with the bass cranked way up. You can feel it and hear it but you cant really hear the music just the deep tones. Flowmaster I find is more of the opposite lots of music not as much bass. They have a very aggressive tone but not as deep relatively speaking. Personally I like flowmasters but thats strictly a matter of opinion.

Intake- That 50 hp claim is on an l98 which is a 350. You wont see those sorts of gains. Stock TPI isnt so bad on a 5.0. Wouldn't spend too much money here.

Throttle Body- Wouldnt spend too much money here either. The stock throttle body can flow enough to support a 305 so you'll see no significant gains from going larger. Throttle body spacers also I have seen no evidence that proves they do anything at all.

L98 Cyl Heads- You can run 350 heads on a 305 there just SBC heads. If it would increase your compression is a result of the combustion chamber size which is not based on weather it was on a 305 or a 350. As a matter of fact the heads on a factory 85 tpi car are fairly decent for stock heads. Probably not worth messing with for something like this.

California Smog Stuff- Legally no you cant just rip it all out even if you dont have to do an emissions test. Although no you dont need the emissions stuff to have a running car it can be removed if done properly.

Lastly on the temps your car shouldn't be running that hot. Typically they run around 200-220 something like that. Replacing the thermostat with a 180 degree unit wont really help your temp issue either as strange as that sounds.

 

Thanks for the input i really appreciate it. Anyone who can give me good tips are welcome to reply. Magnaflow is what i was planning on doing and hopefully some headers also. When i take off the manifolds to install headers i will have to get rid of all the california emissions stuff so hopefully that would give me a good little bump in torque and low end power. Thinking about putting 3:73 and having the rear end built to handle some abuse and possibly even have Corvette servos installed in the tranny. I figured it would be nice to have a little firmer shifts. Performance chip i will probibaly do but only in conjunction with other mods as well like K&N filters, Bigger injectors, BBK 58mm throttle body,and maybe some underdrive pulleys.

Is there anything we can do with our stock Air Box/Intake such as "Gutting it" or getting a performance cold air intake system?

after dyno and tune i figure it should give me an extra 60-70hp but who knows.