More Power??

anyone have anysuggestions on how to make a 1994 caprice with the 5.7 go any faster? or burnout better?? i just want a few ideas (the cheaper the better) to make my car get up and go.

SO you want to break it is what you're saying. Gear ratios - a 3.42 axle will help you burn your tires off and break your U-joints, diff and transmission better than the 3.08 will - if you have the ultra-tall 2.58 then you'll really appreciate the neck-snapping, whiplash inducing acceleration you will get with your newfound short gearing.

Slitely smaller diameter wider profile tires will aid acceleration.

I thought lower (numerically higher) gears were actually easier on the drivetrain (except they run the motor at higher rpm). With a high torque motor and tall highway gears, isn't it actually harder on the transmission and drivetrain?

Lower gears might be harder on your tires, but when you start making traction, thats when its hard on the drivetrain.

I could be completely wrong in this, and if I am, please correct me.

Your caprice doesn't burn out well as it is? If its the 94 it should have the lt1 and burn the tires pretty good.

A good place to start for more power would probably be an intake (diy sewer pipe with k&n, or something made specifically for the car) and a pcm reprogram -- check out pcmforless.com, not hypertech or any type of power programmer - those are pretty much a waste of money.

Cam, heads, and exhaust (in that order). The B-cars' LT1 is hampered by a more anemic cam profile than the F-and Y-car variants. In stock form, the iron heads on the B-cars actually flow better than their aluminium counterparts on the F- and Y-cars. With a little port massaging, bowl work, and valve enlargement, they can flow a lot more. The air intakes can be restrictive at higher RPM and high throttle angles, but launch RPM with a stock setup is usually best around 1,000-1,300 RPM.

If you want to wake up the car a bit, a higher stall RPM torque converter is a nice upgrade. The stock converter ihas a K-factor of about 1,425 RPM. Installing the factory L35 converter usually bumps that to about 2,250 RPM behind the LT1, and can really help the off-the-line performance, yet it retains the lockup feature for better mileage at cruise.

Before you start adding heads and cam to the mix, you must make sure your car is in A-1 running condition.

Begin with maintenance

Spark plugs and wires
Fuel filter
EGR and Solenoid
O2 sensors
etc...

Then if it’s not to your liking...

PCM reprogramming

Cold air intake

Free flowing mufflers...Summit turbos are a good choice

Free flowing exhaust pipes...2 1/2 are a nice choice.

1.5 or 1.6 roller rockers (depending on what cam you choose) with new valve springs

3.73 gears with a new Eaton posi. BEWARE you may have to buy a new drive shaft, due to vibes.

Looser converter. This may not be a good idea, if you are concerned with MPG or your transmission.

Headers. Shown not to be the WOW factor they're made to be, but are needed to make big power. The options above are shown to give better gains or seat of the pants difference for the money.

Remember that the 4l60E is not made for power, its the weak link in the whole driveline.

The converter, yeah. I hollowed mine, and aside from giving the exhaust a nicer bark, its did give me a noticeable amount power. Not huge, but it was enough to appreciate.

By converter thery were talking torque converter and a good 2800 or so 9.5" converter is a GREAT mod and drives well and does not create the heat you likely think it does.

Far as milage I have a near 400RWHP which is near 480 at the flywheel. 3.73s 3400 stall this is a heads and cam on an LT1 stock shortblock, best to date full weight is 12.35 at 109.5mph and I still get high teens daily driving it on rural roads with occassional stops but mostly 55mph speed limits. Highway is probably about 20-21. I will be driving 150miles eachway to Great Lakes Dragaway this weekend to try for an 11 second slip.

I realize all this is far more than most of you want but my point is more power does not mean a big hit to fuel economy. I will say though part of my decent milage is the more power I have the less I use that power on the street. On the street punching it below 30mph results in at least a momentary loss of traction and at the strip with traction 0-60mph times are sub 4 second so on those rare occassions I do get on the throttle hard on the street I am back out of it very quickly.

Wow, was I off or what. Sorry about that one. He did say he was looking for some cheap things he could do.
Anyway, as for torque converters, whats involved to ensure I'd get the correct one to fit my transmission? Its a 1985 model 700-R4 that I will be soon putting into my '84 Caprice.

Wow, was I off or what. Sorry about that one. He did say he was looking for some cheap things he could do.
Anyway, as for torque converters, whats involved to ensure I'd get the correct one to fit my transmission? Its a 1985 model 700-R4 that I will be soon putting into my '84 Caprice.

I'd double-check it to verify what you have, but TH700R4s up to about midpoint 1984 have a 27-spline input shaft and share a converter with the TH2004R. Later ones have a 30-spline input shaft. If you use a 30-spline torque converter on a 27-spline transmission, you'll get a LOT of noise, some shrapnel in the oil and NO DRIVE. A 27-spline converter will not physically fit a 30-spline transmission.

As long as you have the matching converter and are using the TCC (which you should be), get a 2200 RPM stall converter. This will help the 305 by getting it closer to its torque band when starting the car out from a stop. If you go to a higher stall converter, keep in mind that the car will act a little different than you are used to - you may think the transmission is slipping because the engine is revving higher than you're used to, but you'll get used to that in time plus the benefits for performance are worth it.

you want good burnouts cheap?
go to a junk yard and pull tires from the junk pile. get them as skinny as possible...
cheap enough for you?

i think geo metro tires are like 125 width. thats 100 mills thinner.

Silicon, thanks for the transmission advice! Goose, Thats what I did in this video back in January Caprice Burnout (http://youtube.com/watch?v=5vJ5-ri_NC0). The tire wasn't any skinnier, but it was 2" smaller in diameter than the normal size.