Power vs. Looks

Good afternoon everybody. i'm new to this post as well as a new caprice owner and i must thank you guys for your questions and answers alredy posted. they have helped me with a lot of questions i had about my new car. it's an 84 caprice classic with approx 48,000 original miles. perfect for me cuz i'm no mr. fix it.

to my question,
i have a lot of idea of what to do but no experience or expertise in doing them. i read all your posts about hp gains and they sound like fun but my budget won't allow the performance upgades and visual upgrades i want to do at the same time. with that said, can anybody recommend or point me in the right direction of a great sounding exhaust system, preferably dual which will work with a 305 and is compatible with a 350 if and when i get that far. also, headers, intake, etc. not really concerned with power gains, yet. just looking to upgrade the appearance and give her a nice little growl. i'm also looking for the chrome trim and panels to replace. thanks for your help.

You can't just go bolting performance parts onto the engine without doing the whole package. Headers might get you some better economy, and they might give you a little more top end on your LG4 305, but they will likely hit low-end torque performance on that 305 and this is where that 305 is already short power-wise. You have to take into consideration things such as primary tube length, collector diameter and length, and reducer size etc. Also, you will have to retune the carb a bit to compensate for headers (on these cars, you need a dwell meter to adjust the carb as it's computer controlled).

For an intake manifold, I'd recommend an Edelbrock Performer 3701 intake. Works very well with a 305, and can be used on a 350 with equal results.

There's not really a legal dual-cat dual exhaust (true duals) that you can get for it. You can get a 'split pipe' or Y-pipe and make the system dual after the cat. Where to get one of these? I can't really tell you. I fabricated mine myself out of an LT1 Caprice dually setup and some angle pipes from Autozone.

You can obtain a deeper sound with a FlowMaster series 40 muffler and a resonator in the tailpipe. You can get the tailpipe/resonator combo at a junkyard for perhaps $20 or so.

In short - forgo the headers for now, upgrade the intake with the Edelbrock 3701, and try out a Flowmaster 40 with a resonator.

thanks for the help. like i mentioned, i know nothing about cars. i just wanted to get the help of guys who do so i can plan accordingly. thanks again

P.S. anybody know the answer to the chrome trim and panel question?