305

i have a caprice, first of all, so i dont care about going fast. i just want it to sound cool. i dont like cars that run smooth. i want it to sound like its barely running. i was told that if i change the cam it will give me the sputtering uneven running im looking for. would the cam be the only factor affecting how it runs like that, or would i have to go all out with performance crap and actually have to spend lots of money?

why want a motor that sounds like crap? also, a lot of your sound comes from the exhaust system you have...

keep this in mind...for performance that is...STOCK SUCKS.

Im not into the whole "show no go" thing...thats boring to me.

because im not driving a race car. because im talking about the car that i need every day. im not going to tear the whole thing apart to end up with a really ugly big car that has a lot of power to go 30 mph to and from school and work. im a 17 year old kid, not a race car driver. i can only afford one part at a time, both money and time wise. i just figure, if im gonna have a v8 i might as well make it sound the way i like, because i feel thats the coolest part about it. it looks like shit (especially after i hit that mailbox and took all the hubcaps off), so whats wrong with making it sound like shit.

i'm a 17 year old kid too so i know about money shortage...I just have a job.

Also, having one of those loping cams is going to change your gas milage...if your hurt for money now, double your gas consumtion and then try it :)

double?? it gets like low 20's mpg as it is now. and i have a job! i just have no money because i have...expenses. and i just replaced my transmission. tell me more of this...loping cam. is that all i need for that "crappy" sound? that wont affect anything else? what are some good ones? how much do they cost? oh and do you know if i can fit cat back dual exhaust under there? theres a torsion bar thing going across the middle of the car that looks like it could be in the way.

it's not just as simple as replacing a cam. Replace the cam and you'll need lifters. then valve springs. To really get a good sound you'll need headers and an exhaust that'll open it up.

alright, 305 is a funny topic but i built the crap out of one and i know what you are looking for and will suggest parts for you. Now spending a tonne of money on the 305 is a waste as some would say.....the old saying goes bigger is better, so everyone should be running a 496" donovan block right.....no. Budget and practicallity come into play. i built a 305 stroker, the specs are in this site somewhere, im not going to post the numbers yet, till i video it......now camshaft is where you will acheive the desired sound everyone loves at idle. In keeping with this, you also dont want to have to change springs etc, but an aluminum intake and headers are going to be a must, parts are cheap, buy used if you have to, except for the camshaft and lifters always use top quality brand names, never skimp on engine internals, bad things can happen. Now for a good streetable cam that has that famous rumpity idle i would go no bigger than say a comp cams 268H.......this is a very friendly camshaft on the stock valvetrain, only other mods would be a good set of anti-pump up lifters. And because you have small cubes the cam will be a little more radical than say in a 350 or 400, this is due to a lower vacuum signal in smaller cubed engines. stay with a 600 vacuum sec. carb and a manifold of your choice, no single planes for a mild set up like yours........put this cam and lifters in and you will be happy with it and will wake it up a bit, i took mine to the extreme, and am amazed as the same with my friends on the little motor, but chassis dyno video will be linked to this site in a bit. good luck with the motor and happy hotrodding.

Headers and true dual exhaust. That is all. Wanna make it sound good then that is all you need. Wanna make it sound good and not boring like every other guys flowmaster on the corner? Go glasspacks, they are cheap and loud.

the crappy sound you may like will make your car run like a dog. the " big " cams are designed to run in the rpm's way up high, like 4500-6500 RPM, give or take, that is just an example, not only that but the bigger cams require more compression, now your 305 has a 9.5:1 compression ratio, if you buy the cam on the end of that list in say a summit magazine ( it would be the biggest cam they offer ) it is going to require somewhere around 12:1 compression for it to run correctly and actully be efficent in the RPM's it is desighned for, shure it would run but it would have no power, specially being you probably have 3.08 gears and would turn 4500 rpm's max on the street, not to mention not enough compression for it to be efficent. on top of that, you have power brakes, and that requires vacume, big cams don't give much vacume at all, you would need a vacume canister or maby even a vacume pump just to run them. Trust me, you don't want the huge cam. with the 9.5:1 compression, you could get a decent sized cam that will gain you a little lope and it will work good, just get a cam that comes in probably no later than 2k, cause it is a daily driver.

For a cam get something simple like a Edelbrock Peformer series cam. That is a basic one step bigger type of cam and will work fine. After your headers, etc if you want more power then an Edelbrock RPM intake manifold and carb would help a lot.

i agree dual exhaust with a decent pair of mufflers will make a difference in sound it's not going to make it sound much different. The difference between a H.O. 5.0 and a standard 5.0 is basically the camshaft and there's a whole lot of difference between the sound of a say 86 mustang GT and a Bronco. Both with 5.0's both with dual exhaust.

thats a lot of replies...cool. most of you seem to know what im looking for, thanks for all the info. i think if i get the slightly loped cam..whatever you call it...it shouldnt affect the gas mileage a whole lot i hope...and the headers...and exhaust...my dads 68 ford has cherry bombs on it, i like them. they were really cheap and i think they make his mostly stock motor sound pretty good. i dont think i can fit true dual exhaust under my car though without ground clearance issues. all i need now is money.

Cherry bombs are nice and cheap. Good deal. Just save your money and you will be all set!

ok.. I hear, ya, most of the other replies didn't. Probably because my favorite engine is a 305, and I build them to drive to work, not drive on the track. Also, I am probably closer to 17 than they are..

To get the lope ( lope is the word for that lumpy idle sound you want ) put in a bigger camshaft. don't go above .454 lift and you won't have any problems. I'd recomend a .454 lift intake and exhaust, with a 290 duration, intake and exhaust. I think Comp cam has that one. It is in my firebird, and I really like it. Fuel economy is good, about 18 MPG @ 80 MPH. To install the cam, you'll have to either yank the motor, else pull the radiator, and all the front metal. the cam is long, and you need some room to work it out. You'll also have to get a gasket kit, as you will be pulling the intake and timing chain cover. Would be a really good idea to replace the timing chain at least... pretty cheap and since you are in there... under $15. You can accentuate the lope by fine tuning your timing and idle speed. Something to consider... when you have it really loping ( thubba-tub -thub- thubba ) it will tend to kill out in sudden stops and such. You can compensate for that by throwing it into neutral.

Some other parts to consider, without breaking the bank..

get a performance timing gear set, and set it for your prefrence, low end torque, stock, or top end. under $50. Do it when you do the cam.

long tube headers. Will give you low end torque, fuel economy, and they sound great. under $100.

cherry bombs ( glasspacks ) will give you that awesome idle resonance, and still keep you legal, and they are cheaper than flowmasters. See if you can convince a buddy in auto shop at school to do the exhaust mods for ya.

good luck, and above all... keep it streetable.

"it will tend to kill out in sudden stops and such. You can compensate for that by throwing it into neutral."

Yeeaaahhh buddy, that'll make the car a real pleasure to drive. :whacked:

If the car dies in sudden stops then something isn't right... Not supposed to do that. Not fun either unless you like to have to put it in Neutral everytime you stop. Go through all that just for the sound isn't worth it. I say just do the headers and glass packs and leave it at that for now. Maybe later a cam upgrade and more will be a good idea but for starters do just the Headers and Glasspacks.
That's my oppinion at least.

the 268H is a friendly cam in a stock motor, thats what it was designed for, the guy wasnt asking for a killer cam and a 290 duration cam is over kill, do not use a cam with over 218 degree at .050, that would be the most i personally would use for a basic stock set up, anything more and a looser convertor and gears are required plus top end work as well. the 268 is a bit bigger than an RV cam............if still concerned go down to a 262H play it safe.........or phone comp cams and they will proboly give the same advice i gave, keeping it street friendly was your request, was it not?

Order the cam ground on a 104 or 106 degree centerline. That'll give you the lope you want.

One last consideration - if this is an '87, does it have the full-on computer control, and TBI? If so, adjusting idle isn't practical, as the computer controls it, and fooling too much with the mixture, as is done with a cam mod, will - er - confuse the computer due to out-of-spec inputs. If this is the case (and I'm not sure about the '87 car - my '88 Chevy pickup had the full-on computer control), you'll need to see about a remapped chip for the ECM (Electronic Control Module).

If you decide to just defeat the computer, it may affect transmission operation. And you'll need to replace the TBI setup with a carb.

It's all do-able, but why I don't fool with the newer cars. Every time I take my fuel injected Harley in for a performance mod, I get to pay the fee for remapping the fuel. The alternative is an engine that may run too lean, which creates heating problems. On the bike, it turns the nice chrome pipes a lovely blue... On the car, it can create problems with the cat and so forth. My friend's daughter wanted to put a flowmaster on her 2003 GMC pickup, and was told that she'd need to buy the performance remap to do that. Or to add the K&N air filter.

What passed for computer control in 1987 was definitely looser than the OBD-II setups today, but you should consider this as you change parameters.

Good luck.

doing the exhaust first sounds like a good idea. no, theres no fuel injector computer thingies or anything like that. its about as simple as a chevy 20 years older. not that i know anything about chevys that are 20 years older. but still. it makes sense in my head. but that could be a problem...considering i just hit my head pretty hard when i wrecked my caprice a couple hours ago. i flew (yes i flew) off the road doing about 55, hit some signs, a mailbox, and smashed into a big hill/bank thing with mulch all over it. the car is pretty banged up. financially, this stuff ive been asking about is quite a ways away now. thanks for the help. ill put pictures up if you wanna see how messed up the car is. im glad it wasnt a honda or something or i might not be here. i was able to drive it right to the glass shop down the road.

Man, I am glad your ok! Post some pics if you can then, I wanna see how bad it is. Yeah those Honda's and Jap crap are not safe at all.

ouchies. i already got a new windshield, which was smashed.

ouchies. i already got a new windshield, which was smashed. the fan shroud got pushed into the fan which i tore off to clear it. the passenger side door didnt close very well. it was bent so i hit it with a hammer till i got it as close as i could to fitting right. other than that stuff my car is fine.

Probably be best, easiest and cheapest to go to a junk yard and find another door....

yeah...new door and fender from a scrap yard.......much easier than trying to pull those dents out. what year is the engine?

im going to look at an 85 caprice i was told about in a junkyard near me. are the parts interchangable? i think they are the same pretty much. anyway. heres a pic of the other side. not as bad. the front fender is a little crooked and stuff.

Only way to tell is to just go look at it. I think it will fit though. A 85 should fit a 87 and 88.

The caprice body used the same parts up till 91. Parts will swap from 82- 91 for sure, anything before that is iffy. As for your timing, there is some leeway. you can advance your timing up untill it pings. At that point, the computer backs the timing off 2 degrees from total. If you have a carb on your motor, its a Feedback style. Mixture is controlled by a solonoid, which is regulated by the computer based on info from the o2 sensor. If yours hasnt been swapped, do It. Youll appreciate it.

up to 1990 will work, not 1991.

You have an 87 to it's a CC carb on a 305, or CC carb on a 350 (if it's a police 9C1 model), or a TBI atop a 4.3 v6. You probably have the 305.

IMO you could obtain the entire wiring harness + ECM + intake manifold + TBI and swap out the computer controlled carb for the TBI injection. That also could be some work, especially for you. So if the CC carb works ok, then leave it and procede straight to the exhaust.

Headers are nice but they'll be louder, the engine bay will run hotter, and you can do nearly as well on a near stock engine by keeping the stock manifolds, and adding full dual exhaust + aftermarket mufflers + low restriction cats. The double hump trans crossmember from a 94-96 Caprice/Impala can be made to work on your car, and it would also allow the clearance for the 94-96 N10 factory duals. More detail on exhaust swaps is better left to the Impala SS forums (so I don't need to repeat old info here).

A dual exhaust is the best thing you could do for your car, hands down.

The next best thing would be a cam swap, or DIY head porting, but those are a lot more work. So to keep it cheap/simple, you want to read the DIY pages on how to make a factory-looking dual-snout air cleaner using junkyard parts. Then you port the snouts with flex hose to the radiator frame.

"you want to read the DIY pages"

Where do you find the DIY area???

Charles

Dual snorkle air cleaner
http://thirdgen.org/techbb2/showthre...hreadid=325291


Computer Controlled (CC) Quadrajet performance tuning
http://www.thirdgen.org/newdesign/tech/quadrajet.shtml


One of many DIY head porting threads on the web:
http://thirdgen.org/techbb2/showthre...hreadid=117410


and for the GM300 B platform car owner:

Impala SS (Bcars: Caprice, Impala, Roadmaster, Olds CC) forum
http://www.impalassforum.com/cgi-bin...i?action=intro

NAISSO's Impala SS / Caprice forum
http://www.impalasuperstore.com/naisso/Forum2005/

These two sites are mainly 94-96 Impala SS.... but the basic chassis is identical from 1977-1996, so you see questions on carbed cars (1977-1988), TBI (1989-1993), and PFI (1994-1996).

HTH.