TPI upgrades, need advice...
 

ok, well after dyno day yesterday, i saw that the Monte is really lacking in Hp, so...now something needs to be done. I WANT 300+rwhp.

IF I keep the current motor, I was thinking about doing heads, cam and the stealthram intake setup. These are the parts i was considering...

• AFR 1800cc Heads, street ported w/74cc chamber, 2.02"/1.60" valves, dual coil valve springs(.550" max lift) and steel retainers.
• Comp cams "extreme" hydraulic Roller Camshaft, 218/224, .495/.502 112LSA
• Holley StealthRam Intake manifold and base, fuel rail kit w/adjustable regulator, and 58mm Throtle body
• Custom ecm tuning

That would give me a noticable Hp increase i'd think, but i dont think it'd be 100rwhp...and all together it would run about $2600.

On the other hand, I could do the motor swap I have in mind, which would cost around $2000-$3000. And then i could sell this current drivetrain(rebuilt 350tpi SD w/harness headers, and complete T5 setup for maybe $1200) In the end the whole swap could cost around 1800 out of pocket and Im 99% confident i'd dyno 300+rwhp(N/A) with that setup, and i'd have a better tranny.

so...$1800 for something more uncommon or $2600 to stick with a tpi based setup.... i think my choice is clear :twisted:

very clear and why do i have the feeling ull be putting a ls1 in it hehe.

those particular heads seem almost too big for the application...id also recommend a bigger cam. either more lift or more duration, beings your going for HP id say stick with a lift in that area but you need more duration. i know guys with a similar combo, with 64cc AFRs and the LT4 hotcam with stealth ram that get right around 400+ at the crank.

i wouldn't worry about spending all that loot on the AFR heads. they are nice pieces, but the price tag doesn't really jsutify the gains.
TPI relies on a strong exhaust side on the cam to make top end power. look into a comp cams extremem energy roller. something along the lines of a XR276HR or XR282HR to get things moving better, look at the XR288HR if you really wanna put up big numbers.
for heads i woudl say keep it simple. torquer305's with a mild p'np/gasket match to the intake or some L98 vette heads and base manifold matched would get the 300hp job done easily for half the price of the AFR's.
porting out the intake, high flow runners, and a ported upper box are a must. get everything gasket matched up and hogged out as much as possible. there may be a need for a little larger TB, and of course tunign will be key to your success.
300rwhp is not a big deal. i woudl say aim more for 350ish to make it fun :)

How much are the Torquer heads? and where can i get them?

so this combo would be good?
torquer305 heads(w/gasket matching and polishing)
comp cams XR282HR
58mm Throttle body
...as for the runner and plenum I would port them and get larger runners, but since the SLP runners are like $340 alone, i'd rather spend the $525 instead and get the full Holley Stealthram setup with the afpr. That way I could then sell my entire current tpi manifold setup for like 200.(upper, lower, SD runners, TB, fuelrail) Id also then gasket match the base to the intake manifold gaskets/heads.

so approximate costs:
heads... $?
cam $245
TB $340
Stealthram complete manifold setup $525

even if the heads are like 800 a pair assembled... i'm still looking at $2,000 plus tuning costs. i dunno...

I'd drop a 350 in there, no question. it will make the power you want and it'll make it without straining the motor as much as it would with less cubes.

http://www.worldcastings.com/tech/RTorquer305Tech.pdf = technical specs of torquer 305's

http://www.jegs.com/webapp/wcs/store...0187&langId=-1 = jegs lists them for $379 a each full assembled and ready for up to a .560 lift cam.

It is a 350 already, lol, steves is the 305

oh yeah, crap. sorry :lol:

lol its ok, camaro2you was right about the possible engine swap...hehe

I talked to my gf about it, and doing heads cam etc, and it probably wont happen. The motor will most likely get swapped next winter and backed up by a T56. ;-)

you gotta admit...it does look pretty sick, lol, now for some more power
http://i32.photobucket.com/albums/d5...ngSS/dyno5.jpg

I didn't realize you put the ground effects on already, very nice!

Paul, I'll let you know how mine turns out. I'll be using the S/R Torquer 305 heads on the 355, with a ZZ4 cam. The intake base is stock, but I have a ported upper plenum and SLP runners on it. I'm hoping for near 300 hp at the wheels. We shall see soon enough how close I get!

mine only dynoed 201hp 278tq... even if i had the K&N cleaned once in the past 4 years, or if id had been running 93 octane instead of 87, maybe i would have only gotten 10-15 more hp... i looked back and saw you did like 235 with your 305 setup. I may go with the Torquer heads, some cam, larger TB, SLP runners and porting... but its sad that a mild 305 beat me that bad, lol.

I dont have the full ground effects on yet. Thats just the urethane front my gf wanted, we put it on now because i sold of the stock lower spoiler and it looked weird without anything there, I will be mounting foglights in the bottom opening, but theyll look nice, not aftermarket bugeyes. And the front still needs to be finished fit and painted, thats when ill fit and paint the sides and rear ground effects as well.

damn that car is nice looken!!!

It really wasn't that bad. My 305 dyno'd 223 hp and 277 ft/lbs, but that was also on a lean factory tune. It might be closer to 230 hp now. :)

I like the idea of foglights too, I think they'll look sick down there. Someday when I'm bored, I'll grab a holesaw and install some on either side of the license plate, kinda like the LT1 T/As had.

drop the lt1 in there from the car ur trying to sell on ebay?