Help! I need more power out of my 89 305

[bigfonz80]

Hello folks! I need some tips on how I can get more power out of my 89 Caprice without pulling the motor. Just some simple bolt on upgrades or whatever you can suggest.

[DirtyEnt1]

You can add a new intake and carb. Put some headers on it and a MSD ignition. Also, a better exhaust.

[PeteA216]

A better flowing exhaust and intake will help very little simply because stock 305 heads are very restrictive in terms of air flow because of the small valve and port sizes. If it's carbureted you can't really get a "better" carburetor unless you render the ECM useless, thus having to swap the distributor as well, downgrading to a vacuume advance controlled HEI. It's always preached around this forum that the stock E4ME (computer controlled) carbs can deliver up to 700+ cfm on demand even if they're bone stock. In my opinion and some experience, you can't really gain much out of a 305 without, at the very least, a top-end rebuild with a slightly bigger cam, better flowing heads,and then the nice intake and exhaust to go with it. Whats nice is with a roller cammed engine is when upgrading the cam, 9 times out of 10 if you don't want to spend the extra buck, the stock roller lifters can be reused because of how there isn't generally a mating wear pattern that forms on the cam as there is with flat tappet cams and lifters (according to Car Craft magazine).

[DANZIGS]

If your converter has not been changed yet, I would install a new high flow one with a free flowing muffler. Headers on this engine real isn't worth it unless you want a deeper and more tuned grunt. I advanced my timing by 4 degrees to give it a better off the line jump. A shift kit would really make the tranny feel more alive too. I live in Ohio and deal with 92 degree days and 5 degree days. I would keep the TBI. I modified mine and what a difference it made! I promised to post pics of the work I did on the TBI but have not repaired my camera yet and the weather has been lousy to tear it down and show what I've done. Plus its hockey season . Basiclly I've added a home made throttle body spacer and turned the fuel pressure up. TBI's love 13psi. Your stock is probably putting out 10.5 to 11psi. Check out the thread on page 2 ( I think it's on 2 maybe 3) . It's titled injector noise. Since I've done this the car has had no issues and is running great except for a leak in my taishaft now. Also I put a 180 degree stat in it. I tryed an electric fan and didn't notice much of a difference. The stock fan keeps it cooler than the electric plus I fryed my alternator with it too. Hope this helps.

[j cAT]

Originally Posted by bigfonz80

Hello folks! I need some tips on how I can get more power out of my 89 Caprice without pulling the motor. Just some simple bolt on upgrades or whatever you can suggest.

something else to consider is the carbon build up in the combustion chamber and compression rings as well as removing the intake and cleaning it should bring back some power.