upgrade help?

[ANGER_TRAIN]

Originally Posted by fire91bird

yea i dont know anything about these cars, i had a built 78 camaro but it was stolen and stripped. all i could afford for now was this v6. Is it worth it to try and build this engine up, or should i just save up and buy a v8 to drop in it?
And about the tranny, i figured that would be expensive, but i just wanted to know if it would be possible to swap em out, or if the electrical system or whatever would get wierd, i dont know anything about newer cars lol.

no offense, but if you tell me you ran a "built" car on the street, i would expect it to run at least in the 12 second bracket at worst and 11's or better in the 1/4 mile, verified by actual ET's at a raceterack. i doubt your '78 ever achieved anything close to that level.

not trying to sound like an asshole or be mean or anything, but c'mon man, if you are serious about racing, put your money into another Camaro with a real motor, drivetrain, and tires behind it. if you can't afford it, save your money and leave the Firebird alone.

[89IROC&RS]

Anger Train - um..... why the smack down?? i dont see any reason for it, and built can mean many different things, not just running 11's in the quarter. and upon what do you base the opinion that his 78 didnt run it? he hasnt said anything about his 78. as for being serious about racing, he has already stated that this is his daily driver, and he's realisticly looking for around 250hp. but would like 300. if you dont have anything constructive to say, why not just move on to a different thread?

fire91bird - these sixers arent exactly known for being power houses. and i really dont know of any bolt on modifications for them. off the bat, id say if youre just looking to make this a more fun to drive setup, with a bit more oomf, do the tried and true hot rod mods. Put on a more powerful ignition system, im personally looking into crane cams Hi-6, port and polish the heads, royal purple motor oil, cold air intake, maybe try to find a set of headers, or have some made. I wouldnt put a supercharger or turbo on, but a small cheater nitrous setup probly wouldnt hurt. say... 50hp shot? If youve got a healthy engine i think you could get away with that. Also, check what rear gears youre running. if youve got the 2.73 gears, upgrading to 3.23 or 3.42 gears wouldnt hurt highway mileage much, but would be alot more fun around town. also, a transmission rebuild on that auto wouldnt be a bad idea. I had my 700R4 rebuilt to the nines, and its probly the largest seat of the pants increase in performance to date, its an entirely different animal.

[Morley]

A "built" 78 Camaro could be just 250 HP, since even the Z-28 of that era was pushing a measley 185 hp. The 3rd gen V6's wern't much of an engine. Since it is a 3rd gen you could easily slip in a 350 TPI or LT1 engine without much trouble. You'd need a new transmission of course.

[fire91bird]

Theres no strip close to me so i never ran it, and i defiantly wouldent run 11s in my camaro. But it was built up pretty nice, and easily had over 350 hp, the block was from a 73 and it was bored out to 383cu. and nothing in it was stock. and was pretty dam quick.
i never said i wanted to get in serious racing or anything, i just have fun racin friends and stuff.
But yea i really like my firebird, as far as how it drives and handles and even looks, but it doesnt have much power and automatics take out alot of fun. its just doin the job for now. but ill probly end up doing a few of the things 89 iroc just listed for now and then save up and just buy a new car. Probably same year firebird, cause i like the car, but with a stick and v8.
It doesnt seem worth it to try to swap out engines or trannys, or spend too much $ on it, when i can buy the same car for pretty cheap with a v8, which im assuming are alot easier to build up. I was just askin what people thought, and if they knew some cheap ways to get some more power out of it for now