How can i make my car faster?

Question

I have a 1983 Chevy El Camino that I really want to make faster but without NOS. What are some suggestions? It had a 305 in it but I put a 350 in it and a new cam.

Answer 1

1st get a ford. Or you can get a lower gear. It would help with the acceleration. Headers and a bigger carb would help with the breathing and take off the cats if you have them. It depends on how much you want to spend really. heads are expensive but they will help out a lot and if you get aluminum heads they would be lighter too. Bypass the power steering, smog, and AC if you want. The less pullys the less drag. Check with a pro to make sure all of your parts ,atch up good.

Answer 2

Good idea staying away from NOS with a stocker. The stock bottom end won't be able to handle it for long. These are a few of the basic bolt-ons I do when I build a mild street engine. Depending on the year of the 350 (different years had different heads, different compression ratios, different valves, etc.), there's a lot you can do without a complete rebuild. Pre '74 Chevy ram horn manifolds produce good horsepower on a mild street engine, so if the engine is a '73 or earlier (which would be an illegal swap in some states), and unless you're looking to get into the 400+ horsepower range, you can use the stock manifolds and go with a dual cat/dual exhaust system. Don’t go true-duals, as the Chevy is a 60-degree block and your torque curve will suffer. Use a crossover or X pipe in the exhaust to get a good balance in your horsepower and torque curve without any spikes. Since you didn't specify the lift/duration/overlap of the cam, I can't tell you what RPM range to shoot for. I'll assume it's not too radical, or you would be asking why the engine is slower than the 305 was, so I’ll go with a 6,000 RPM redline. The Wieand Action Plus Manifold is a good choice for all around torque and horsepower. The Edelbrock and Holly are good too, but the Wieand will give you a little more torque in the mid range, something the Chevy engine needs. If you have the stock Quadrajet Carb, unless you know how to rebuild it and know the tricks to modifying them (there’s a lot), I'd recommend switching to a Street Avenger Carburetor. You'll get better airflow without the low or mid range WOT bog a non-modified Q Jet will have. High flow heads are an easy bolt on for big power, but they're expensive. Porting and polishing the heads, and getting a three angle valve job on your existing heads will help, but if they're low C.C. economy heads, and have smog bumps in the exhaust ports, don't expect too much from them. If the 350 has an HEI ignition, they are very good for performance if modified properly. Stock, it can't handle a high RPM range, so modify it with a high performance coil and module, and replace the stock vacuum advance with an adjustable one. Re-curve the ignition to fit your RPM range. If you see red dust anywhere inside the distributor cap, you'll need to rebuild the distributor and replace the bushings (a common problem with the HEI). It's easier to replace it with a full hi-po system, but costs more. Use a high flow air cleaner if you can duct fresh air into the engine from a cowl induction style hood scoop. Without a scoop, use a closed system and duct fresh air in from under the bumper or next to the radiator. It's tight, but there is room to do this on an 83 El Camino. The open element air cleaners look cool, and they work better than most stock units, but the air under your hood is hot from the engine, and you need to get cool, fresh air from somewhere other than under the hood. Whatever you use, always use a high flow filter, like a K&N unit. If you're using the '83 TH 700 R4 trans, it needs some work since there is an electric override on the torque converter for gas mileage, which kills the torque at wide open throttle when you approach 5,500 RPMs. You can get an electronic shut-off kit to fix this. Also, put a good shift kit in, recalibrate the governor, and replace the stock vacuum module with an adjustable one. Rear axle ratio is anther issue. Again, to meet gas mileage requirements in 83, most El Caminos ran a high rear end ratio. A new ring and pinion set around 3:90 will help your e.t. Don't go 4:11 or 4:56 if you plan on driving any farther than a quarter mile at a time. This will all work with a stock bottom end, as long as the engine's in good condition to start with. If you want to get serious, you can always go with a .30 over bore and a forged 400 cid crank. The result will be a 383 cid, and you can easily build 450+ horsepower into it without NOS. Staying with a stock bottom end, have the cast iron crank polished and balanced. This is good for an extra 15 to 20 horsepower on the 350 Chevy, and a smoother torque curve due to the fact the stock Chevy crank is so far out of balance from the factory it pulls the engine down dramatically. These are a few of the basics. You can do a lot more depending on how much power you want, and how fast you want to go. Check out the automotive section at buddyandoscars. They have a performance section with all the bolt ons you'll need to get some good power out of your El Camino.

Answer 3

Listen to Ryan m and buddyandoscars comments. They hit the nail on head. Just do the basics. Edelbrock manifold, Performance carburetor, good ignition system, and good exhaust. The basics for performance. My advice. Go to a junk yard and try to find a differential with 3.55 rear end gears that will fit into your hot rod El Camino.

Answer 4

These are the basics:(1) get 1 5/8" headers with smog injection ports (makes them legal) if you have a smog pump, otherwise plug ports or get ones without. (2) Performer manifold with EGR port (for smog only) without EGR (non smog). You will have decent hood clearence. Personally the best manifold for street is the Pefomer rpm if they have it for GM Quadrajet carb. Its a real tight fit with low profile air cleaners but its awesome power range is why I loved it.(3) Upgrade the ignition system with HP stock style coil,good set of wires 8.5mm or better. you will need 90 degree wires for headers and dont get fat boots, they will just burn up. A/C Delco plugs run shorter than most brands, use them or some type of header spark plug to give clearence around those red hot headers. You can gap the plugs .050 with the ignition upgrade.(4) Keep the air cleaner and spark plugs new every 3 or 4 months. If you go further they start loosing effectiveness real quick. Use 10/40 or20/50 half blend synthetic oil. That covers the basics but I have endless other things too. We can go as far as you want down to the last part but you need to contact me thru here http://painintheexhaust.blogspot.com Its free advice from me and I'll help you any way I can. Now aside from that we are going to have one major problem. The rear end used in most 83 el camino's with a 305 engine came with rear ends that save gas but dont help your acceleration. Its probably a 2.72 or 3.08 gear ratio. Some came with 3.55. This is a major factor in going fast. With 15" rims and 60 series tires your rpm at 60 mph with the 2.72 or 3.08 gears is around 2200 to 2500 rpm. Your engine power is best in the 3000 to 4500 rpm range. Everytime your car shifts its not in the best power range. If your cam is too big, say over .0495 lift your engine power range moves up to 4000 to 5500 rpm and you lose acceleration (OVER CAMMING KILLS) You are hardley ever in that range to get the potential of the big cam. These figures are examples and are not exact but I hope you see my point. So dont waste your time doing more than the basic upgrades unless your willing to swap out your gears for 3.55 or 3.73 ratio. My 69 NOVA 350 4sp had a 3.73 ratio that I built myself. The exact numbers where this: 60MPH the RPM was 3133 with rim/tire combo measuring at 26.5" high. It was a stock rebuilt 350 w / performer rpm intake, holley 650 double pumper carb, HEI ignition, 1 5/8" headers and a MILD cam with around .465 lift. The car was freakishly fast because the motor matched perfectly with the rear end ratio. I could burn 3rd gear and chirp 4th all with a base stock motor and a few key upgrades. So how fast do you want to goooooooooo?

Answer 5

If I could vote for 2 best answers I would vote for ryan m and BuddyAndO!!!
Like Jesse D said "they hit the nail on the head".
I've seen many people try to make there car go faster by not having a clue what they are doing and end up wasting there money and time and not make there car go any faster and use more gas than before they started.
Ryan and Buddys advice is some of the best advice I have ever seen on cars.

Answer 6

definitly headers and dual exhaust, and it will sound better too. I am sure you have an automatic, and if I am right, you should build up your tranny a little, with some new bands, good shift kit, and a light stall converter. These two systems will definitly liven up you El Camino.

Answer 7

How much do you want to spend? In the long run, the best is to replace your engine with a (new) Chevy long block create engine & trans combo from GM.

Answer 8

should have put a short stroke put high performance exhaust harly carb 4 barrell 277 gear ratio aluminum intake with forged rv cam. ported and polished heads balanced and blueprinted. dual high performance exhaust.

Answer 9

Is this a freshly rebuilt engine and what mods have already been done? With more info I can give you some help.

Answer 10

Go to your local Ford dealer.They can help!!!!