Question I have a 1988 firebird formula 350. It has a stock 350 tuned port injection, with 3 - 73 rear end posi-traction and a 700R4 transmition.
I bought it for a 'toy car'. It has pretty good take off, but poor top end. I want to race it in the 1/4 mile and still keep it a street car.
My plans are to build a 383 stroker for it. I have a 350 four bolt main that i want to get punched out .40 over. i want to get a bigger cam and crank for it so it has the 'lobing' sound to it. And still have great performance in the quarter mile. But i don't have any idea on the gear ratio's of doing any of that. Also what do you think i should get for an intake. Oh, and i plan on haveing the transmition rebuilt. Is there anything that i can have them do to the transmition to help me?
Any information or ideas that you have to help me would be greatly appreciated. Or if you have any additional suggestions i would be greatful.
Thank You for taking the time to help.
Andrew Michels
AnswerHi Andrew.The Firebird was a Good choice although there are a few things that have to be addressed with this car.The 383 is a good idea depending how fast you really want to go .the rotating assembly will account for a large part of the expense of this buildup.As a side note ,don't count out building a 355 ci.engine (.030-350 ci.).I built a '82 chevy malibu wagon with a 9.6 compression ,standard bore 350(it started as a crate engine that i moved a few clearances around and put a Gm performance parts 430 hydraulic roller cam kit in ,i touched up the oem "fast burn heads "(no porting!) ,the intake is a Gm RPM performer copy with a Holley 600 dp(i'm trying to stay out of the 11's,no rollbar)and this is all with a 1.76 low gear powerglide.not knowing more about your block ,have a good machine shop sonic test the cylinder walls for thickness before boring it ,(i have over 20 blocks here and not one will pass sonic testing .if you can ,keep the overbore to the minimum needed to give you a straight cylinder wall (thick round bores make power),and always specify torque plate honing .( i've seen a 21 horsepower increase with this step).as for the intake type ,do you want to use EFI or a carburetor ?have the crank /piston,rod assembly balanced for longevity ,power and smooth revving.the one main thing i don't like about these cars is that Damn little 7.625 rear end .It WILL break ,not If ,just when .I've built 9"ford rears with Moser and Strange housings and there are nice new 12 bolt housings available from them too ,i just did one(3:73,33 spline eaton posi) for a 2003Trans Am with nitrous ,and when installed it looks as if GM put it there ,even the ABS works perfectly also frame connectors are a good move ,these cars twist a bit ,especially with T tops . .Your trans can be reworked ,i use '88 and up 700 cores .i'd add a corvette servo,kevlar 2-4 band B+m or superior shift kit ,i also like the Raybestos blue clutches (more expensive ,but definitely worth it )i set end play at .010-.020.match the converter choice to the cam,engine size and car weight ,for street cars i keep the lock-up function .add a trans cooler in series .I get most of my rebuild parts from TRANS Star co. They have many branches and i'd bet most rebuilders near you use them for parts .Good luck with the project ,low 12s are real easy to come by with the right parts .JM
