as strange as that might seem, about 99% of the guys buying those car magazines and drooling over the cars, are either not able to afford most expensive parts or they don,t have the skill and tools available to install them if they did have the disposable cash, to buy the parts listed.
OK so lets look in this post at things you can do that will give you an edge in increased horsepower over your less ambitious buddies
first, keep in mind that horsepower is only part of the formula, any weight you can remove will help, increasing efficiency will help and increasing air flow thru the engine will help, lowering exhaust restriction will usually help.
naturally having the basics of engine operation down like good fuel flow, correctly adjusted ignition timing,and not having problems with the basic components, like high resistance ignition wires or bad spark plugs, helps a good deal, if you can,t due some basic testing, with a VOLTAGE / OHMS METER, and VACUUM / PRESSURE GAUGE AND TIMING LIGHT, and do a decent tune -up and valve adjustments etc, your working at a distinct dis -addvantage
the best horsepower per dollar value, in many cases is the result of a combo of a mild pocket port job on the heads, a thinner head gasket to slightly increase compression , ,a low restriction air filter and a new slightly larger duration cam install.
lets look at some very low dollar tweaks
there's lots of info on port work in this thread, some applies to the low cash flow group, (MOST OF US)
viewtopic.php?f=52&t=462
a couple examples(there's more)
http://www.ws6transam.org/ported.html
http://www.diyporting.com/Shrouding.html
depending on your welding skills or access to a welder or a buddy that has and knows how to use one, you might think about adding an (H) pipe to your exhaust, kits are available, its fairly easy to do and you usually will reduce exhaust restriction in many cases.
http://store.summitracing.com/partdetai ... toview=sku
http://store.summitracing.com/partdetai ... toview=sku
LOW RESTRICTION AIR CLEANERS are helpful
http://www.ramairbox.com/kits.html
you can buy kits or if you've got some fabrication skills you might be amazed at the potential the local hardware store has to provide 3"-4" dryer duct hose and air cleaner components, they may look weird, but function perfectly.
but the best dollar spent is probably a cam with a slightly higher lift and duration than the stock cam, adding only about 10 degrees duration over the stock specs can do enough to give you a seat of the pants boost, you could rather easily reduce many cars et almost a full second, in some cases more, with only those changes
you might want to take the time to look thru these links to see results others have gotten, keep in mind the basics, of displacement, compression ratio, head flow and cam timing, you'll soon notice TRENDS
http://www.ryanscarpage.50megs.com/combos1.html
http://www.chevymania.com/dyno/
http://www.grandsportregistry.com/dyno.htm
http://www.dw1977.cz28.com/custom2.html
http://www.compcams.com/information/Pro ... ynoSheets/
http://www.geocities.com/MotorCity/7610/dyno.htm
OK so lets look in this post at things you can do that will give you an edge in increased horsepower over your less ambitious buddies
first, keep in mind that horsepower is only part of the formula, any weight you can remove will help, increasing efficiency will help and increasing air flow thru the engine will help, lowering exhaust restriction will usually help.
naturally having the basics of engine operation down like good fuel flow, correctly adjusted ignition timing,and not having problems with the basic components, like high resistance ignition wires or bad spark plugs, helps a good deal, if you can,t due some basic testing, with a VOLTAGE / OHMS METER, and VACUUM / PRESSURE GAUGE AND TIMING LIGHT, and do a decent tune -up and valve adjustments etc, your working at a distinct dis -addvantage
the best horsepower per dollar value, in many cases is the result of a combo of a mild pocket port job on the heads, a thinner head gasket to slightly increase compression , ,a low restriction air filter and a new slightly larger duration cam install.
lets look at some very low dollar tweaks
there's lots of info on port work in this thread, some applies to the low cash flow group, (MOST OF US)
viewtopic.php?f=52&t=462
a couple examples(there's more)
http://www.ws6transam.org/ported.html
http://www.diyporting.com/Shrouding.html
depending on your welding skills or access to a welder or a buddy that has and knows how to use one, you might think about adding an (H) pipe to your exhaust, kits are available, its fairly easy to do and you usually will reduce exhaust restriction in many cases.
http://store.summitracing.com/partdetai ... toview=sku
http://store.summitracing.com/partdetai ... toview=sku
LOW RESTRICTION AIR CLEANERS are helpful
http://www.ramairbox.com/kits.html
you can buy kits or if you've got some fabrication skills you might be amazed at the potential the local hardware store has to provide 3"-4" dryer duct hose and air cleaner components, they may look weird, but function perfectly.
but the best dollar spent is probably a cam with a slightly higher lift and duration than the stock cam, adding only about 10 degrees duration over the stock specs can do enough to give you a seat of the pants boost, you could rather easily reduce many cars et almost a full second, in some cases more, with only those changes
you might want to take the time to look thru these links to see results others have gotten, keep in mind the basics, of displacement, compression ratio, head flow and cam timing, you'll soon notice TRENDS
http://www.ryanscarpage.50megs.com/combos1.html
http://www.chevymania.com/dyno/
http://www.grandsportregistry.com/dyno.htm
http://www.dw1977.cz28.com/custom2.html
http://www.compcams.com/information/Pro ... ynoSheets/
http://www.geocities.com/MotorCity/7610/dyno.htm