best power upgrade

[ChevyWade]

whats the best performance upgrade that i can get for my 89 silverado w/ a 350 for a fairly small price ( under 400 bucks)
thanks

[southernman32001]

Just some ideas! Enjoy!http://www.sshotrods.com/performance/gmtruck/

[huminski]

You can get a Nitrous Express FI kit for about $400 if you shop around, and that'll be good for at least another 150hp. I ran one on my 2002 V6 s-10 running a 100hp shot for a long time and as long as you set it up right it does no damage to the engine.

Here's one of many stories with the N2O... I remember I pulled up to a new lightning with the "355hp" sticker under the f150 emblem at a light. I revved my little V6 and the guys in the truck laughed at me, but they weren't laughing when I left them with their thumbs up their butts when the light changed. I had to walk away from the light at about 80% throttle until I hit about 20mph then floor it (which activated the system) so I could maintain traction. It was classic, they got me off the line then I nailed it and looked over as I blew past him, the look of disbelief was just priceless. I was running a 125hp shot at the time, so coupled with the 200hp the 4.3 made (also had a K&N and flowmaster exhaust) I was looking at about 325hp in a compact pickup vs. 355hp in their fullzise. It wasn't even a race.

[Dano2002]

Do you have a website where I can order a N2O.

[Slowprocess]

Dano, how many miles have you got on your engine? Nitrous is a serious upgrade. The reason I was asking your mileage is because I was interested in the condition of your engine. You can throw nitrous on anything(I've got a link to a guy spraying a little goped) The problem with nitrous is it not only affects your motor, it also puts some wear on other things such as your tranny. You could probably get away with running a small shot, like 75-100, but I wouldn't recommend anything higher with the stock internals. The 99+ Gm trucks are recommended for nothing greater than a 100 shot, and we have forged pistons. If you do decide to go with nitrous, do your research and don't skim on the price. They make tons of safety devices to keep you from hurting your engine. I would start with a small shot and go up from there. Nitrous kits come with varible nozzles to determine what size shot you want to run. Do your research and find out what would be considered safe to run on a stock internal engine. Especially if you have fairly high miles. Nitrous should be taken seriously and can take your motor out if not used correctly.

[huminski]

Dano, SlowProcess is absiolutely correct. I totally forgot to mention that with the 100 shot my 1 to 2 shift got pretty slippy. It was easily fixed by installing the heavy duty servo (aka the corvette servo) in the tranny. I did this myself with the tranny still fully installed in the truck. It's a tight job to work on but there is a round access panel on the side of the tranny, held in place by a spring clip. The old one pops out and the new one goes in, took about an hour being really careful to keep the springs and things in order. After that was done I was smoking the tires on the 1 to 2 shift, a night and day difference. The part itself is about 30 to 40 bucks. TCI makes a good one.

$400 will get you started with a basic kit. If you are serious about using it a lot you will end up investing about another $400 in a bottle heater (keeps the bottle pressure constant), a pressure guage, and what is probably the most important safety item, the low pressure fuel switch. Bacically, nitrous is safe as long as there is enough gas burning along with it. If something happens (clogged fuel line, run out of gas, fuel pump quits) and you start spraying straight nitrous, that's when bad bad things happen and things start to melt down. With this switch installed in the fuel line, it will sense if there is a drop in the fuel pressure and immediately cut off the nitrous solenoid to save your engine.

As far as web sites go I forget where I ordered mine from but it was a touch over $400 for the basic kit, and I later upgraded to the gen II kit including the parts I mentioned above. Just do a google or ebay search for NX or Nitrous Xpress or Nitrous Express and that should get you started. I think CompuCar is another company that makes the fuel-injection nitrous kits as well.

Have fun!

[ChevyWade]

thanks but im lookin more for boltons

[Slowprocess]

You can probably get some headers or an exhaust system for under $400, unless you already have either of those. It's a good upgrade and it gives that v8 a nice growl too.

[ChevyWade]

thanks ill sleep on it.
one more question, i already have another thread or 2 mentioning it, but ill try here too since im getting feedback.
on the intake on my truck, there is a pipe drawing hot air off the engine and into the intake(im guessing to heat up faster for the heater for people who are less interested in power??).i was wondering if it is bad to remove that pipe, and seal up the hole on the intake, and whether to leave the other hole open
and does any1 have any ideas on what to use to seal up the hole on the intake?
thanks in advance for any help,
wade

[72 rs]

throttle body spacer.....$75-$80
performance computer chip.....$100-$130
catback exhaust.......??????? made my own
cold air intake.......$100- ?????
performance catilitic converter......$120
eletric fan and accesorys........$100-?????

justby mixing a few or these bolt ons u can tell a major diff in the power.