Performance Mods

  • Thread starter Thread starter Cameltoe Candy
  • Start date Start date
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Cameltoe Candy

I will unabashedly admit that I don't know a lot about cars, however, I just got a 79 TA and I am a bit disappointed with its level of performance. The car was my father's and it is completly stock. What are some of the performance mods that I can make to this car that will give it more power without doing anything radical? I don't plan on racing it I just want to boost the power to a level equal to the way it looks (i.e., fast). I am operating on a budget of no more than $5,000 (which would include labor for the modifications). Any suggestions will be appreciated.

Candy
 
is the car a daily driver or just something to drive on weekends? there is alot you can do for 5k. if you want performance, and milage, i would buy a used ls1 or lt1. the ls1 makes more power but costs alittle more while the lt1 is still pritty healthy it is alot cheaper. do a search on ebay for ls1 engine and lt1 engine to price.

if you dont want to go that route, the first thing that sould be done on any car is exhast. do you have yearly emission testing where you live? if not the get rid of the cat as well. im assuming that this engine has never been rebuilt so doing that with upgrades is an option but when i get my first or second gen it will have a ls1 in it.
 
fullrearview said:
is the car a daily driver or just something to drive on weekends? there is alot you can do for 5k. if you want performance, and milage, i would buy a used ls1 or lt1. the ls1 makes more power but costs alittle more while the lt1 is still pritty healthy it is alot cheaper. do a search on ebay for ls1 engine and lt1 engine to price.

if you dont want to go that route, the first thing that sould be done on any car is exhast. do you have yearly emission testing where you live? if not the get rid of the cat as well. im assuming that this engine has never been rebuilt so doing that with upgrades is an option but when i get my first or second gen it will have a ls1 in it.
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Fullrearview,

Thanks for the suggestions! If possible I want to stay with the original engine. I am not savvy enough to buy an engine off of ebay. Yes, we do have vehicle inspections in Kansas City. The car will be a daily driver which is why I don't want anything too radical. If I understand correctly even though I own a Pontiac I have an Olds engine. Is the Olds engine not inherently strong enough to modify? My older brothers (long out of the house) always used to say nothing beat cubic inches and it is a 403 (I believe). I had to do some research to figure out what a "cat" is but that is probably a no no around here. What about a more healthy exhaust system with headers? Does retaining the cat defeat all that?

Sorry for my ignorance but I am learning more daily. Thanks again!

Candy
 
I would recomend changing the intake maifold, carburator and exhaust. As far as keeping the cat, you have to for emission testing. You can buy free flow cat's that have a very little effect on performance. I would go with the Edelbrock rpm intake a 650 street demon carb and exhaust from pypes.com. Good luck.
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bad76 said:
I would recomend changing the intake maifold, carburator and exhaust. As far as keeping the cat, you have to for emission testing. You can buy free flow cat's that have a very little effect on performance. I would go with the Edelbrock rpm intake a 650 street demon carb and exhaust from pypes.com. Good luck.
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Thanks, bad76. I've made up my mind to have a mild cam and head package installed along with the intake, carb, and exhaust (to include performance cats). I want something that will give me more power without anything so radical that it will destroy the running gear. I must admit that the lope of a moderate cam is as appealing to me as the actual performance gains. I know that sounds strange coming from a girl but I have three older brothers, all of whom had fast cars when they were at home (a 58 Corvette, a 71 GTO Judge, and a Buick GNX or something like that). My father is a car nut too so it is in my blood.

I appreciate your suggestions!

Candy
 
You can also change the rear end gears. Depending what is in there now, a 3.55 or 3.73 ratio wouldn't be too bad without overdrive. Also a higher stall torque converter (2000-2400 rpm) would help with takeoff,
 
Unregistered said:
You can also change the rear end gears. Depending what is in there now, a 3.55 or 3.73 ratio wouldn't be too bad without overdrive. Also a higher stall torque converter (2000-2400 rpm) would help with takeoff,
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All excellent suggestions, however, I am but a mere mortal and am limited by a modest income. I do agree though, in another year new grears and a converter will be on my must do list.

I've only just begun and already I have the mod fever. My father is a physician and he had told me that this is a fever from which there is no hope of recovery.

Candy
 
Nothing will change how the feel of that car more than changing the gears. You probably have 2.56 gears right now, if you changed to 3.73 you would feel like it had 45% more "go" from the stoplight. It is not terribly expensive to change gears, either, like 500 bucks including labor I would think.

Also, for 5000 bucks, you could have an entire engine built and installed, and the gears changed, and exhaust. Then you wouldn't be limited to an olds engine in your pontiac, could have a pontiac 455 or whatever else you wanted. I definitely would not recommend ls1/lt1 without changing the gears.
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Tresker said:
Nothing will change how the feel of that car more than changing the gears. You probably have 2.56 gears right now, if you changed to 3.73 you would feel like it had 45% more "go" from the stoplight. It is not terribly expensive to change gears, either, like 500 bucks including labor I would think.

Also, for 5000 bucks, you could have an entire engine built and installed, and the gears changed, and exhaust. Then you wouldn't be limited to an olds engine in your pontiac, could have a pontiac 455 or whatever else you wanted. I definitely would not recommend ls1/lt1 without changing the gears.
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I must admit that I never seriously considered an engine swap but that just might be the way to go. The anniversary edition had a 455 didn't it? I assume that a swap wouldn't require a lot of modifications. I will have to think seriously about this but act quickly. I go back to school (in Boston) in late August and that will be here before I realize it. Thanks for the great ideas!
 
The last year for a 455 in a trans am was 76. The 403 olds motor was defiinitly a dog in 79 but so was every other motor out there. I think you are on the right track with upgrading what you have. If you want to replace the motor I would recomend rebuilding what you have so you can keep it close to original. You can build a old's motor that will have just as much power as a pontiac. If you change the rear gears I definitly would not go over a 3:55 unless you do not plan on doing any highway driving. Good luck with whatever you decide and good luck in school.
 
The main problem with the 403 is the compression. You can do all the mods in the world and it will run worse unless you change the heads. Get some #5, 6 or 7 heads from an earlier 350 Olds. Have them reconditioned and use a thin head gasket (.028 ). Also have the heads milled .030" to bring compression up from 8.5:1 to 9.5:1. Then use a cam with 216/226 dur. @ .050" lift installed 4 degrees advanced, headers, true duals 2.5 inch, high flow cats, Performer intake to retain hood clearence for the shaker scoop, keep your Q-JET and have it rebuilt, 2000-2500 stall converter and 3.42 gears. This will get that 4000 lb behemoth into the mid 13's and is well within your budget. Expect about 360 hp and 435 torque. It will have a slight lope to it but retain plenty of vacuum for power brakes. It' s a very good engine if you know what to do with it. Unfortunatly many people don' t know anything about Olds engine and just do the old standby chevy small block swap. When infact the small block Olds is a much better engine. Besides, doing an engine swap to a chevy will incur many problems and more money spent. Switching to a Pontiac engine won' t be as bad because some of them came with Pontiac engines. But if you do decide to put a Pontiac in it make sure you get a complete engine with accessory brackets. Also if you want to retain your shaker scoop you will have problems fitting anything other than an Olds engine in there because the shaker bases and scoops were different for each type of engine that went into those cars.
 
A 455 would drop right in with motor mounts out of any pontiac powered t/a (very easy to find in a salvage yard. I saw 3 sets on saturday). So would a 400. Can get the correct shaker assembly also. The trouble with the olds is the compression, as analogkid455 said, and also, the block itself. 3:55 would make a humongous difference, no matter what you decide.
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