Horse Power for 1982

[minifridge1138]

Hey everyone,

I love my car. It looks great, and drives well. But it is not as fast as it looks. Currently i've got a 750 cfm Holley and a Holley dual plane manifold. What else can/should i do for more power and torque? I would love some suggestions from people with experience.

Here are my thoughts:
1) super charger / turbo charger (instant power, but my car already runs hot)
2) cam shaft, lifter, rocker arms
3) upgrade exhaust
4) upgrade heads

My car is not slow, and i will never NEED to go faster, but i'll sleep better knowing that it CAN go faster.

 

[Ripp 73]

Sounds like someone has caught the Speed disease. None of us "need" to go fast, but we all want that assurance that we can right? I take it you are using the original block? No longer have the Cross Fire injector. Do you have an auto or manual trans? Exhaust upgrade is usually one of the first upgrades and realively straight forward. Get a high flow cat and exhaust and get an extra few ponies. Hopefully some more people with 82's will chime in.

 

[KANE]

Hey everyone,

I love my car. It looks great, and drives well. But it is not as fast as it looks. Currently i've got a 750 cfm Holley and a Holley dual plane manifold. What else can/should i do for more power and torque? I would love some suggestions from people with experience.

Here are my thoughts:
1) super charger / turbo charger (instant power, but my car already runs hot)
2) cam shaft, lifter, rocker arms
3) upgrade exhaust
4) upgrade heads

My car is not slow, and i will never NEED to go faster, but i'll sleep better knowing that it CAN go faster.

Get an Offy, Edelbrock, etc crossram and outfit it for your CFI....

http://www.swko.net/~lionsden/crossfire.htm

Or, stay with carbs.

Here are a few from ebay-
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/EDEL...tegoryZ36474QQihZ006QQitemZ160088393160QQrdZ1
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Vint...tegoryZ33550QQihZ015QQitemZ250087178746QQrdZ1

 

[minifridge1138]

Yeah, the Crossfire is gone.
The cat has been taken care of, and i have flow masters.

Any other ideas?

 

[Vette79]

Headers and exhaust first. Upgrade your cam, heads and intake manifold. All of this together would be pretty sufficient if you are planning to keep the block if it is numbers matching and you want to stay original. Any more significant HP and you may have to upgrade the rearend as well to handle the increased power/torque. My .02 anyway. It is really personal preference! Good luck with your project.

 

[Curtis]

Heads and proper camshaft can easily get you over 400 very streetable horsepower. I do not know how much the original drivetrain in a vette can take, but my 76 has been flogged as hard I can on many occasions and no problems with my 390 hp and 430 torque, and I just love doin donuts under the interstate underpass between the guard rails.

 

[minifridge1138]

Any particular manufacturer that you recommend?
I'm not sure who makes the best heads/camshaft?

I'm either going to modify the stock motor, or drive it until it cracks and buy a crate BB.

 

[jdp6000]

Look up Oceangal's thread here.

My opinion....cheapest would be to pull the crossfire out...put it on mothballs and buy a 383 crate engine.

Jim

 

[Vette79]

I am modifying what I already have to keep some originality and I am finding that it is a little cheaper. I have numbers matching car so I will stick with it. All personal preference. I love to go fast and desire attention like veryone else but I also understand that my Vette is 28 years old and cruising is pretty cool to. Anyways, start with the exhaust for immediate improvement in sound and HP.

 

[Curtis]

Test 18:Super Chevy Dangermouse Part 10
Scoggin-Dickey Vortec iron heads (PN SD8060A, 64cc chambers, 170cc runners, 1.94/1.50 valves), Edelbrock RPM Air-Gap Vortec manifold, Speed Demon 750 carb, Wilson 1 1/4-inch open carb spacer, Comp Cams XE268H camshaft (268/280 adv dur, 224/230 dur @ .050, .477/.480 lift, 110 LS) straight up. Comp Cams 1.6:1 Magnum roller tip rockers.


Test 18 Test 19 Test 20
RPM TQ HP TQ HP TQ HP
2600 371 184 358 177 490 243
2800 379 202 363 193 500 266
3000 400 229 382 218 514 293
3200 425 259 414 252 526 320
3400 431 279 417 270 543 352
3600 436 299 417 286 555 380
3800 435 315 415 300 557 403
4000 430 328 413 315 561 427
4200 431 344 413 330 567 453
4400 439* 367 418 351 568 475
4600 437 383 434* 380 571 500
4800 438 400 425 389 571 521
5000 429 408 412 392 564 537
5200 417 413 408 404 560 554
5400 407 419 407 419 558 573
5600 398 424 405 432 547 583
5800 387 427* 399 441 532 588
6000 N/A N/A 384 439 518 592
6200 N/A N/A 374 441 508 600
6400 N/A N/A 356 434 494 602*

Max 439 427 434 444 574 602
Avg 418 335 401 340 539 462
* = peak

 

[minifridge1138]

whoa...
my jaw literally dropped as i read that.

If you don't mind my asking, how much $$$ did you spend to build that beast? And how much $$$ have you spent paying speeding tickets after you built it?

 

[Curtis]

I spent less than $1300 on the heads , intake, carb, cam. had my original number matching block bored 30 over and used stock crank and rods with new hypreutectic pistons and that was $600. Assembled it all myself. NO TICKETS, JUST A LOT OF FRIED 275 R60 15 REAR TIRES. AND ONE HELL OF A LOT OF FUN THRASHING IT.

THAT IS TEST 18.

 

[Evolution1980]

minifridge1138, the first two questions when talking upgrades is this:
1) How fast do you want to go?
2) How much money do you have?

After that, I'd ask, "How much mileage do you currently have on your engine?" If you hafve over 60K on your engine, I'd seriously just consider what jdp6000 suggested (and it's what I normally suggest too). Look to a ZZ4 or ZZ383 engine as a replacement. Drop in a new engine, call it day. No muss, no fuss.

However, something you're going to need to keep in mind as you go up in power...the next weakest link is the next to break. That is, you'll need to be sure that your transmission is capable of handling the new power. Just keep that in mind... :cool

 

[Curtis]

this is what i actually have in my car

T15--DM Part 6: GM Vortec iron heads SDPC PN SD8060A (64cc chambers, 170cc intake runner volume, 1.94/1.50 valves) with Comp Cams 1.6:1 Magnum roller tip rockers PN 1418-16, Edelbrock Performer RPM Air Gap Vortec intake manifold PN 7516 COMP Cams XE262H cam (262/270 advance duration, 218/224 duration at .050, .462/.469 valve lift, 110 lobe separation) straight up.

T15 T15
RPM TQ HP
2600 379 188
2800 384 204
3000 404 231
3200 427 260
3400 433 280
3600 435 298
3800 437 316
4000 432 329
4200 433 347
4400 434 364
4600 439 385
4800 433 396
5000 423 402
5200 411 407
5400 401 413
5600 389 415
5800 365 403

Max 440 416
Avg 417 333

 

[minifridge1138]

well my car has upwards of 120k miles.
So i'm thinking that modifiying it will be investing in a sinking ship.

How much do crate motors go for? I've looked through the chevy performance catalog. I've seen the 383, 454, and 502 blocks in the catalog, but there are no prices.

Anyone bought one and installed it? I'm curious about $$$ and HP at the rear wheels (the catalog measures at the flywheel with no accessories).

 

[Evolution1980]

well my car has upwards of 120k miles.
Anyone bought one and installed it? I'm curious about $$$ and HP at the rear wheels (the catalog measures at the flywheel with no accessories).

120K miles? ...Replace the entire engine.

There's plenty of reputable places out there offer GM Performance Crate engines and/or variations thereof. I got my ZZ4 from Scoggins-Dickey. I've been very happy with it. Although after a few years of having it & thrashing it, I wish I'd gone with the ZZ383. (350 -vs- 383)

You can get comparable power big block engines, such as the 454HO, but you'll have other issues to deal with, such as increased weight on the front suspension and all new pulleys and whatnot. Scoggins-Dickey does list prices on their website. (Also looks like prices have gone up...possibly due to the demand of springtime installations?) Anyways...

You can do a search of the these C3 forums for crate engines and find plenty of threads. I know that a couple people here have even bought new engines from people that build 'em and put 'em up on eBay. There's also Craig's List. Not sure what'll be up there, but it may be worth a look.

If you are just looking for a better 'go-fast' engine, it's hard to go wrong with the ZZ4. In my current config, I'm running low 13's in the 1/4mi and 155mph on the top speed runs... It's pretty much plug-n-play with your current setup. Won't really need any significant mods. I've always said a crate engine is nicer than rebuilding if only for the piece of mind of having a warranty, ALL brand new parts, and having your old engine as a backup or sell it to offset the cost of the new engine.

 

[Curtis]

check this out Crate Engines - www.sdpc2000.com/catalog/63/Crate-Engines.htm click on performance engines Scroll down and click on one, get the specs and prices of any of them.
So far everything talked about above has been crackshaft power. You will have parasitic losses anywhere from 15 to 30 percent to the rear wheels, depending upon your equipment. Get on the net and search GM crate engines or just crate engines or performance engines. We can give you suggestions and some guidance, but sooneer or later you will have to make some decisions . costs to install can be almost nothing all the way to thousands. it depends what you have, what you buy, who installs, what else you need to buy to make it work. You will be considering things like exhaust, cooling, wiring, painting, transmission, rear end, . You gotta make the list man. I know you will Have fun.:W

 

[Glensgages]

How much do crate motors go for? I've looked through the chevy performance catalog. I've seen the 383, 454, and 502 blocks in the catalog, but there are no prices.

http://paceperformance.com/index.asp?PageAction=VIEWCATS&Category=132

Free-shipping inside the Continential 48 States for most of Pace's products.


I'm thinking about the ZZ383, or using the existing 27,000 mile short-block under my Cross-Fire, adding a cam, heads & headers, intake & carb, junking the 700R4, and using the car for bracket-racing, with high 12-second ET capabilities:
I'm not-sure how much lift I can try with the OEM/stock pistons w/ aluminum Edelbrock heads, if I choose that route.....
:confused

I'd consider the ZZ502, but I don't know if that-much TQ could consistently be hooked-up using IRS-technology, and having slicks that will fit the rear wheel-well.....

 

[minifridge1138]

If i just wanted to replace the heads/valves and keep the block and cam shaft, how much of a performance increase would i see?

 

[Evolution1980]

If i just wanted to replace the heads/valves and keep the block and cam shaft, how much of a performance increase would i see?

I'd say that's an almost entirely impossible question to effectively answer due to the fact there are various heads out there that have specific applications / performance benefits. I'd love to say, "Oh, easily 80HP!" but we don't typically use ricer math.