Camaro RS upgrades

[mikeypooh1]

I just got a 1989 Camaro RS with a 305 V8. Found out that it has only 170 HP and 255 lbs./tq. That is too little power for me.
Questions.
What is the biggest engine I could fit in the bay? Also what upgrades should I get? Or should I keep this engine and put a twin turbo? What are the advantages? I have $10,000 to spend.
This is the first time I get a V8. I have only had 4 cyl. cars. like my 12 sec. Neon

[ct91rs]

You can fit a big block, it's tight though. If you have 10K I'd ditch the 305, and build a 383 stroker.

[KPot2004]

I hate to be an ass, but we have had to many of these people who come in here who all seem to have 10-15k to upgrade there camaros, I let someone else say BS if they feel like thats what this is, I could care less really

but if u really do have 10k to spend, it depends on which direction u want to go, with that money u could buy a gm per parts big block, get some sub frame conn, a new rear, turbo 400 and go run like hell. or you could buy a crate ls1. I would do the ls1 swap if it was me.

[tcfco2005]

Originally Posted by ct91rs

You can fit a big block, it's tight though. If you have 10K I'd ditch the 305, and build a 383 stroker.

what he said. exept for a 350 can be converted to a 383 stroker and the 350 is just as big as the 305...on the outside.

[mikeypooh1]

thanks for your replies. My goal is to beat my dad who has a 1969 plymouth road runner with a 454 chevy big block. I do have the money, because I just sold my home. I want to build at least a 10 sec car. maybe even 9 sec in the 1/4 mi.
So the best bet is to go with the LS1 swap then adding a turbo. Will I need a different tranny too.? Will this be a direct swap? All the help is appreciated. Thank you

[tcfco2005]

yes you will need a new tranny. no it will not be a direct swap it will actually be kind "FUN". and i think youll need more the 10k to make a 10 second car out of an ls1. thats a little less then the regular ls1 swap would cost. remember your going to have to get a lot of conversion parts to get and ls1 into a thirdgen. here is a link where you can find some of the parts you will need.
http://www.hawksthirdgenparts.com/ls1_conversion_

[supercarvideos]

You have $10,000 to spend? Sell the RS and buy a LS1 car...

~John

[Genopsyde]

put an LT5 in it.

[89IROC&RS]

ok, if you want a 10 second car for less than 10k its possible, but ditch the idea of a turbo LS1.

find a bare 350 block thats in good shape, have it fully prepped by a machine shop, including hot taking, magnafluxing, and installing billit four bolt main caps. find a forged 383 crank, as cheezy as it sounds, you can get a scat forged 4340 crank on ebay for around 300 bucks. id do that. make sure its a large journal (2.1 inch) now buy a set of connecting rods with a quad 4 size journal (1.889 inch) have the machine shop offset grind the crank journals down to the 1.889 size, now you have a 3.96in stroke (i think, id have to redo the math) with a 4.030 bore, and a 3.96 stroke you would have more than 383cid, but again, need to crunch numbers. get a set of good flat top forged pistons, gapless rings, and tie it all together with ARP fastners.

for the heads, i would go with a set of edelbrock E-Tec 200cc heads. do the math with the heads chamber volume to determine your compression for piston selection and such. youll also be juggling with connecting rod sizes and piston compression heights to do this. upgrade the heads with a set of milodon megaflow valves.

camshaft selection is a tricky one, i like comp cams xtreme energy but i would talk to the comp cams tech help line and get their input on your car.

for induction, i would ditch the TBI system entirely. go with a single plane carbed setup and a 750-850 cfm carburator. Vortec superchargers also offers a centrifugal supergarger for carburated setups, its worth looking into and will fit under the stock hood.

transmissin selection is pretty new to me, but if you have a T5, throw that in the junk heap, it wont survive. the 700R4 has the potential to run 10's but its gonna need alot of work. it would probly be worth it to install a T56 six speed transmission that was built for the power.

also the rear end is weak in the knees, no way a 10 bolt is gonna run 10's without serious modifications, and even then it wouldnt survive long. moser builds a direct bolt in 12 bolt rear that would be a good investment for 1200 bucks.

[89IROC&RS]

oh and the reason i said ditch the 10 second turbocharged LS1 idea, is that you will not acheive it for less than ten grand, too much modification, too much spent on parts, the turbo LS1 in the third gen would be fast as hell, it would just be very expensive.

[MPe488]

myabe it's just me.. but for 10k and the price of the car you can do much better than working on your RS

You can get a pretty new 200HP V6 very reasonably priced, or go for a Z28 with 300 horses. But I prefer newer versions of the Camaro so that's my opinion

[mikeypooh1]

I know that with the 10k I could have bought a nicer and faster car but I really like the body of the 1989.
So far this is what I got: going with what "89IROC&RS" said

Getting a 350 block and upping it to a 383 with a set of edelbrock E-Tec 200cc heads, comp cams, and going with some kind of carburator. Vortec centrifugal supercharger.
And for the tranny I "ll try to get the T56 six speed along with the Moser 12 bolt rear.

Thanks for all the info. If you guys think of everything else just let me know.

I will keep you guys updated as soon as everything starts to come together.