shop manual and fuel octane

[wade]

thanks for the info guys on the shop manuals that should get me started,fiddlers gold comment was appreciated as well,although
we dont require quite so many phone digits up here in canada.
.....also, is there anything wrong other than a slight lack of performance in running reg 87 octane fuel. I understand that the
ecm should take car of any pinging problems. Previous owner said
he ran both without any huge change.
.....Last question, is there a after market performance air filter that can be purchased for the c4s? all that i can find so far is the standard K&N filter, but its not like the whole kit you can get for the c5s. why is there not a kit for the c4s like there is the c5s?
the only other suggstion i have found is to cut a hole in the cover
of the air box, not real crazy about that,.... ideas?

 

[poorboys831]

hi wade -welcome-do you have any of the catalogs for after market parts? mid-america, ecklers all have kits for c-4's.just go to their web sites and look up your year and engine.Mid-america has a year specific catalog ie:c-4 ,c-5 ect.You can also check breathlessperformance.com.There are lots of schools of thought on cold air options but Ithink most agree that the more air you can into the engine the better off you are-up to a point.Remember it's a good idea to get it out also ie: exhaust application.Hope I've been of some help- Dennis

 

[rrubel]

Wade, check your owner's manual - my 86 says 87 octane is all that's needed. Unless you mod the car, then there'd be no benefit from running higher.

Regarding C4 air filter kits, there are plenty - but most seem to be for the LT1 (SLP Claw, Black Wing, etc). If you're adverse to cutting the airbox cover, you can just buy an open one - most Vette catalogs sell a plastic cover with an open center.
[RICHR]

 

[vettl83]

Wade, checkout www.corvettecentral.com and www.tpis.com you will be pleased. Good luck 84 CF 91 ZR-1

 

[lt4 gs]

there is a reasonably priced k & n filter for the L98.............and you should run at least 92 Octane...........if you run independent station fuel.......(unbranded)................you are asking for problems...........not my opinion......just fact

 

[Fiddler's Gold]

Welcome!

Hiya. I am pretty new here and I can attest that these people around here are the best!

As far your questions:
You can run lower grade fuel in your engine w/o problems except for the factor of less performance & oomph from your engine. If you don't have any significant engine mods that required a higher grade of fuel (higher compression ratios etc) then you will be just fine and the ECM will take care of the fuel difference. You are swapping ponies for dollars at the pump basically.

There are plenty of options with getting more bang for your buck with regard to air intake modifications for your C4. If you search the archives of this forum you will see hundreds of posts with suggestions and caveats for most of the "basic" mods. You can also do searches on google.com and find the simple mods that can go a along way to make some dramatic HP improvement for little or no expense. (just your time and some basic tools) - Remember to keep in mind that you should learn to look at the car as a complete project and not just one thing here and one thing there mentality. In other words, some people like to just talk about adding higher pressure injectors and/or AFPR to their setup and forget that there is a whole systemic factor to keep in mind. If the exhaust system is not setup to handle various adjustments with the intake (air and fuel) then you not see the results that you want and in some cases it can actually hamper your net output gain.

In most cases the C4 air intake aftermarket mod is one of the best bangs for the buck. (along with the infamous MAF mod etc)
Since I have a heavily modified L98 (stroked to 383 with manifold and Holley 750) - I dont have the same setup and thus some of the same limitations that normal C4 do - but I still have my share of problems. Hope this helps at least in part.

Read the archives and learn about the best tricks. if you need some links and documents, then email me. fiddlersgold@charter.net

Best of Luck,
Fiddler

 

[Fiddler's Gold]

couple of links...

Some good info here:

http://www.c4vettes.com/performance.htm


Look at all of these and especially the 5 mods for increasing HP!

http://www.corvetteforum.com/techtips/viewtopic.php?TopicID=2


Fiddler