Give my Caprice some more power

FreshBubble · #1 04-23-2006, 06:07 PM

I was wondering if anyone has some suggestions on things I can do to give my Caprice some more power. Mainly small little things I can do, but I'll take suggestions that require a big job also. So if anyone has some suggestions on things I could start doing to give it some more power that would be cool. I know someone with a Mustang that is talkin alot of shit, and I want to be able to dust his ass lol.

Eventually Im goin to put in the 5.7L engine in it, but I dont have money to do that right now. Also, I wanted to ask if I were to put in a 5.7L engine, and replace the 4.3L, would I have to replace anything else in the car to put in the 5.7? Or can I just simply swap the engines and be good to go?

Blazin_Jason · #2 04-23-2006, 08:42 PM

When I had my stock 267 I also wanted more power. Knowing that it was kinda pointless to do anything to the 267, I waited to drop in a 350. I would just drive it like it is, till you do the 350. Just do it right the first time. Once you get a nice 350 in there, you shouldn't have any problems with the stang. In the mean time you could get the exhaust done. Get a set of headers and dual exhaust. That's something that you will probably want to do anyways.

Jason

GranniesCaprice · #3 04-24-2006, 09:13 PM

Unfortuantely, Caprice's just aren't built for speed. Even the 94-96 Impala SS only ran mid 15's in the 1/4 mile. Its a 4500 lb car for cryin out loud. Unless its a V6 mustang(in which case he still might beat you), he has all the right in the world to talk shit. If you want to make it a fair race, have him strap a Geo Metro to his roof, and then race.

silicon212 · #4 04-24-2006, 10:00 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by GranniesCaprice

Unfortuantely, Caprice's just aren't built for speed. Even the 94-96 Impala SS only ran mid 15's in the 1/4 mile. Its a 4500 lb car for cryin out loud. Unless its a V6 mustang(in which case he still might beat you), he has all the right in the world to talk shit. If you want to make it a fair race, have him strap a Geo Metro to his roof, and then race.

You're wrong. The LT1 9C1 cars have a top speed of 139MPH (governed). The California Highway Patrol replaced all of their 5.0 Mustangs with tri-nine Caprices for both their speed and ability to haul prisoners.

dave92cherokee · #5 04-24-2006, 11:44 PM

Obviously you didn't read his post before you decided to post your own message. He wasn't talking about top speed, everyone knows you can get the caprice's to a very nice top speed but in a race unless it's 2 evenly weighted cars (in this case they're no where near evenly weighted) then naturally the lighter weight car will win as the engine will have less weight to move forward than the heavier car. Hence a mustang with a well tuned v6 against a caprice with a well tuned 4.3 v8 the mustang will win because it's alot lighter and has a quicker take off time. However if you lengthen the distance to 1 mile then the caprice could win as it would have a higher top speed and when the mustang hits it's top speed the caprice could keep going. And you're a fool if you think that the mustang gt can't go past 139 factory, test drove one the other day on the interstate and got it past 150.

silicon212 · #6 04-25-2006, 12:38 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by dave92cherokee

Obviously you didn't read his post before you decided to post your own message. He wasn't talking about top speed, everyone knows you can get the caprice's to a very nice top speed but in a race unless it's 2 evenly weighted cars (in this case they're no where near evenly weighted) then naturally the lighter weight car will win as the engine will have less weight to move forward than the heavier car. Hence a mustang with a well tuned v6 against a caprice with a well tuned 4.3 v8 the mustang will win because it's alot lighter and has a quicker take off time. However if you lengthen the distance to 1 mile then the caprice could win as it would have a higher top speed and when the mustang hits it's top speed the caprice could keep going. And you're a fool if you think that the mustang gt can't go past 139 factory, test drove one the other day on the interstate and got it past 150.

Hmm .. let me see here ...

Quote:

Originally Posted by GranniesCaprice

Unfortuantely, Caprice's just aren't built for speed.

Hmm.. looks like I read it just fine, thank you. You're a damned fool if you got a car that fast on the interstate - it's guys like you who wind up wrapped around telephone poles after killing other innocent people. Also, I wasn't talking about L99 vs V6 - I was talking about LT1 vs. 4-point-sick. Get with it. I've been at the track and have seen firsthand how LT1 Caprices smoke 4.6 Mustangs. And while you wax eloquently upon the physics of a lighter car vs. a heavier car, think about this for a minute - the engine in the Mustang does not generate near the torque of the LT1. That translates into less horsepower on one than the other - do you know what the HP/weight ratio is on both cars?

Oh and BTW, Tri-9 9C1s can go faster than 139 as well - the 139 figure is what they're governed at.

On a side note, I'm thinking about an LT1 treatment for my own car. Since it's 3600 lbs, almost 600 lbs lighter than the Tri-9, it should make for an interesting comparo.

slavejay · #7 04-25-2006, 02:42 AM

not that i really care for arguing about this, but i just wanted to state that i beat a mustang gt in my 85 caprice, fucking around.... it was my friends stang... weight of the car and engine size dont mean a thing when it comes to a good driver and a horrible driver... not that im a great driver, he just doesnt know how to drive his car... probably irrelevant but its 3:30 am, give me some credit lol

GreyGoose006 · #8 04-25-2006, 06:34 AM

anyone know how to remove a speed governer. it seems like my '84 civvie caprice just wont go over 85 MPH. it'll pull hard up to 85, then it just stops.

Blue Bowtie · #9 04-25-2006, 08:56 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by GranniesCaprice

Unfortuantely, Caprice's just aren't built for speed. Even the 94-96 Impala SS only ran mid 15's in the 1/4 mile. Its a 4500 lb car for cryin out loud. Unless its a V6 mustang(in which case he still might beat you), he has all the right in the world to talk shit. If you want to make it a fair race, have him strap a Geo Metro to his roof, and then race.

That's funny (not "hilarious" funny, but "strange" funny.) My wife's '94 (the beater) just had a bad weekend and did indeed turn mid-15's. That, of course, was mostly due to lifting at the first traps because of the near 100 MPH while still in second. If you study this timeslip, you'll see what went wrong. After a crappy launch and up to the 1,000' mark, it was on the way to high 13s. It's done 13's regularly when it was shifting right:

So, yes, it's a 15 second car for the next week...

Go ahead, laugh at the R/T.

Blue Bowtie · #10 04-25-2006, 09:30 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by GreyGoose006

anyone know how to remove a speed governer. it seems like my '84 civvie caprice just wont go over 85 MPH. it'll pull hard up to 85, then it just stops.

Increase the parameters for fuel cutoff and restart. Mine are at 254/253 respectively. What ECM does it have?

FreshBubble · #11 04-25-2006, 11:25 AM

Alright, but does anyone know if I swap out the 4.3L and put in a 5.7L if I will have to replace any other parts also? Or can I just swap the engines and be good to go?

Blue Bowtie · #12 04-25-2006, 03:10 PM

You'll have to swap the engines, manifolds, ECM/PCM, and exchange more money from your wallet for in-town driving. Highway mileage is nearly identical.

GreyGoose006 · #13 04-25-2006, 04:06 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Blue Bowtie

Increase the parameters for fuel cutoff and restart. Mine are at 254/253 respectively. What ECM does it have?

Im gonna have to ask you to translate that into english.
when i say it wont go any faster, i mean just that.
it dosen't pull and buck like its hitting the rev limiter, and it dosent cut in and out like its loosing fuel. (ive had that problem before).
it simply wont go any faster, up hill, or down.
its kinda wierd

FreshBubble · #14 04-25-2006, 05:40 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Blue Bowtie

You'll have to swap the engines, manifolds, ECM/PCM, and exchange more money from your wallet for in-town driving. Highway mileage is nearly identical.

Oh ok. Thanks for filling me in

Blue Bowtie · #15 04-25-2006, 09:36 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by GreyGoose006

Im gonna have to ask you to translate that into english.
when i say it wont go any faster, i mean just that.
it dosen't pull and buck like its hitting the rev limiter, and it dosent cut in and out like its loosing fuel. (ive had that problem before).
it simply wont go any faster, up hill, or down.
its kinda wierd

It shouldn't pull, jerk, or buck like it's hitting an ignition rev limiter. Fuel gets folded back to half the batch fire pulses until the VSS signal drops about one MPH, then goes back to two-pulse, then folds back, etc. You'll hang at a top speed of whatever the cutoff is, but shouldn't notice any going lean, popping, or bucking.

If your's is only making 85, you may need a different speedo. IIRC, the speedo head was only graduated to 85 MPH anyway. Install a tach, or swap speedos. I'm thinking you're not seeing the real story. If you're running the typical stock 85# valve springs that are 20 years old, you may be floating valves at that RPM and will never get beyond it anyway.

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