Need more Power-1983 Z28
02-17-2008, 08:31 PM
#1
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Need more Power-1983 Z28
I just bought a 1983 Z28. I need to know what I can do to get more power out of it excluding turbo/supercharging it and excluding NOS. I am going to get exhaust from the headers back. What kind should I get (for best/loudest sound and best performance) also what about a cam, intake manifold, carb, and intake? what kind? and what else can I do? PLEASE HELP SOME ONE!
02-17-2008, 10:05 PM
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get an edelbrock intake carb, and cam set (less cost) upgrade the carb to a holley (still less than buying separate usually) exhaust magnaflow is good, just resist the urge to go huge (3inch is on the border for a mild small block to where power will drop off)
02-17-2008, 11:02 PM
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what about headers? so a holley carb? Do i need anything else if I put a cam in? should I run a cat or no? I have heard a yes and no on the cat. Im more into bikes then cars, but I would like to make this one nice. Thanks for the help by the way.
02-17-2008, 11:20 PM
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cat is required if you have testing, but if not the ones on the early cars were junk a high flow one will be fine, headers is brand preference, just get coated. I hate edelbrock carbs with a passion, run a holley or a demon (demon is based on the holley design)
02-18-2008, 01:27 PM
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what engine do you have? 305 or 350 or what? and what about the trans. if you put a cam and intake on a car with a stock turbo 350/700R4, and an open 10 bolt, the car wont be much fun. will basically spin the tire and thats about it.
for what you asked for tho, you can do all of that stuff for around 1500 bucks. a 650 double pumper will be great if you have a stick. if you have an auto a 650 vacuum secondary will work well. for headers, long tubes are prefered if you want to make some more power. you will need to buy/have a Y pipe made up to fit into your "catback", in this case, the car is an 83 so its technically considered a "classic" and a cat is not required. at least thats how it is in Illinois. for the headers and exhaust, you can prolly have a shop weld everything up and a fab a Y pipe form your long tubes to your "catback" i would suggest a magnaflow or hooker, for prolly around 1000 bucks, including the price of the complete system and the headers. be sure to get ceramic coated headers.
for intake manifold, the performer/rpm by edelbrock is good. otherwise any dual plane aluminum manifold should do well.
for cam, bigger isnt better, stick within your power range(prolly up to 6k or so at most)
something in the mid 22x's at 50 thousands is what you want, a LSA of around 112 or 114 will be good too.
like Arch said, a package from Edelbrock will prolly be your best bet. you can call up summit and spend a few minutes on the phone with one of their tech's to get a good oppinion and some advice on what would work well, see what they have to offer as a package for you.
if you do it with individual parts, keep in mind, a cam swap entails lots of other valvetrain parts such as valvesprings, retainers/keepers, valve stem seals(make sure you do these), lifters, pushrods, timing chain/gears/timing set, and prolly roller rockers would be a good idea.
just remember, if you think it will cost 1500 with all the parts, add in at least another 500 for misc crap that will come up during the job or you will remember last minute. its NEVER as cheap as you think. good luck.
for what you asked for tho, you can do all of that stuff for around 1500 bucks. a 650 double pumper will be great if you have a stick. if you have an auto a 650 vacuum secondary will work well. for headers, long tubes are prefered if you want to make some more power. you will need to buy/have a Y pipe made up to fit into your "catback", in this case, the car is an 83 so its technically considered a "classic" and a cat is not required. at least thats how it is in Illinois. for the headers and exhaust, you can prolly have a shop weld everything up and a fab a Y pipe form your long tubes to your "catback" i would suggest a magnaflow or hooker, for prolly around 1000 bucks, including the price of the complete system and the headers. be sure to get ceramic coated headers.
for intake manifold, the performer/rpm by edelbrock is good. otherwise any dual plane aluminum manifold should do well.
for cam, bigger isnt better, stick within your power range(prolly up to 6k or so at most)
something in the mid 22x's at 50 thousands is what you want, a LSA of around 112 or 114 will be good too.
like Arch said, a package from Edelbrock will prolly be your best bet. you can call up summit and spend a few minutes on the phone with one of their tech's to get a good oppinion and some advice on what would work well, see what they have to offer as a package for you.
if you do it with individual parts, keep in mind, a cam swap entails lots of other valvetrain parts such as valvesprings, retainers/keepers, valve stem seals(make sure you do these), lifters, pushrods, timing chain/gears/timing set, and prolly roller rockers would be a good idea.
just remember, if you think it will cost 1500 with all the parts, add in at least another 500 for misc crap that will come up during the job or you will remember last minute. its NEVER as cheap as you think. good luck.
02-18-2008, 05:29 PM
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if its all original, you should still have the computer controlled quadrajet carb. that cars kinda works hand in hand with the factory distributor. If you switch to a plain aftermarket carb, you should also swap out the dizzy to an aftermarket of non-computer controlled one.